At noon, the early winter sun brought some warmth to the camp.
It had just rained yesterday, and the gravel road in the camp was a bit muddy. Rhode walked along the road to the camp's clinic. On the way, he met a few drivers who were leaving work. Most of them looked at Rhode with a mocking expression. One of them asked loudly, "Rhode, why have you been quiet recently? Aren't you going to get the woman back?"
Rhodes glanced at him coldly and continued walking forward.
"Hey, I said that people are the same as horses. No one can be strong in front of the whip. You have to be submissive when it's time to be submissive."
"He was beaten badly that day. It's been two weeks and he still hasn't recovered. He has to go to the clinic every day to get medicine."
"Who told him to be so stupid?"
"I hope he goes and makes trouble again. There has been nothing new in the camp for several days."
Those people talked behind his back.
Rhodes turned around suddenly, raised his fist, and pretended to rush forward to hit someone.
Those people were not afraid either. They walked away quickly with laughter.
"Don't bother with these rubbish." A voice came from behind him, "Let these idiots be proud for a few more days. Then you'll have plenty of opportunities to teach them a lesson."
Rhodes turned around and saw Hawke behind him, with two other people following him.
"We are new friends. The tall one is Thorin, he is from the logging team, and the strong one is Hill, the boatman of the ore transport ship." Hawke patted Rhodes on the shoulder, "You can find a chance to get close to each other later."
Rhodes nodded to them. The other two seemed a little nervous, looking around, not as calm as Rhodes.
"Have you recovered from your injuries?" Hawke asked.
"It should be fine after two more visits." Rod said, "Lorenzo said..."
Hawke waved his hand when he heard the name and said, "I'm just about to take Thorin and Hill to see him. Whatever he told you is a secret between him and you."
After they parted ways, Rhode came to the clinic. After pushing the door open, he saw the elf Elena healing a man, so he sat down at the door and waited.
The man sat on a stool, and two men who looked like workers stood by and supported him. The man's arm might have been scratched by a sharp object, and there was a palm-sized wound on it. At this time, the wound had been sewn up with needle and thread, and the bleeding had almost stopped. However, the man still looked embarrassed, biting a towel in his mouth, breathing heavily, and his face was very pale. He didn't dare to look at Elaina directly, and lowered his head to count his toes.
Elaina applied some herbs to the wound, then tied the herbs and her arm together with a bandage, and finally suspended her hands outside the bandage and chanted softly. A light green fluorescent light emanated from between her hands.
About a quarter of an hour later, she ended the magic and said to the injured and the two workers, "Take him back to rest and come back at this time tomorrow."
Several people thanked Elena respectfully, then helped the injured person out of the clinic.
Elaina nodded to Rhodes and pointed to a door at the back of the room. Rhodes stood up and walked inside.
"Your injuries are almost healed. Do you need me to treat you and remove the last scar?" Elena asked suddenly.
"Hey, I'm not a woman." Rhodes shook his head and pushed the door open and walked to the back.
Elena waited for him to close the door, cast a silencing spell at the door, and then began to clean up the mess left over from her previous healing.
The room behind the door was originally Elena's bedroom. At this time, the curtains were drawn, and only a glowing crystal was placed on the table, illuminating the two people sitting beside the table.
"This is… "
"This is Katarina." One of them was Luo Ling. The other one was naturally the mercenary girl.
"I've seen her. Is she wearing makeup?" Rhodes looked at Katarina. Her originally green hair was cut short and dyed dark brown. She was wearing the common work clothes in the camp, which well concealed the curves of the girl. Now she looked like a boy in his teens. There were many such half-grown children in the camp, most of whom worked as apprentices in various positions.
"She is the helper you want. She will meet you at the scene on the day of the incident." Luo Ling said.
Rhode frowned and asked, "Have you aroused your fighting spirit now?"
"No." Catalina replied, "But I'm smart enough and won't hold you back. I still have this." She took out a dagger from somewhere, made a few circles on her fingertips, a few cold lights flashed, and then it magically disappeared.
"It might be dangerous."
"I'm a mercenary, always have been," the girl replied.
Rhode raised his lips and did not argue any more on this topic. He turned to Luo Ling and said, "The trick you played in the mine seemed to be quite successful. Lorenzo seems to have believed it."
"Although Kara is a silly woman, she can get an easy working situation by helping you cover up a lie. She knows what to say," Luo Ling said.
"I met Lorenzo for the third time yesterday. He invited us core members to drink and asked us to be prepared and teach the masters in the camp a lesson. But he never said the specific time of the launch."
"He is careful enough."
"However, I tracked them later and found out some information. According to my judgment, they will launch the attack on Thursday three days later, but I don't know the exact time. The location and method are also unclear." Rhodes said.
"Do you have a good grasp of the time?"
Rhode hesitated for a moment and gestured. "Eighty percent."
"It's finally about to begin. Have they mentioned anything about Crete?" Luo Ling asked.
"No, I don't think they would easily reveal such a trump card. After all, we are just minions. Or..." The middle-aged man showed a rare hesitation on his face, "Do they have another plan?"
——————————
After dinner, Ji Yijun went to the rooftop as usual. In recent days, this had become his habit without him realizing it.
Although the nights in early winter have become cold, for Ji Yijun who is practicing fighting spirit, such weather actually makes him feel somewhat cool.
The campus was peaceful under the starry sky, giving him time to think about what happened every day.
Ji Yijun was never one to think too much. He would rather do it and find problems while doing it, rather than think too much beforehand. However, this secret investigation of the undercurrent in the camp forced him to restrain his temper and carefully find a little clue.
It’s so frustrating!
Countless times, he wanted to rush forward and kill those jumping bugs with one knife, but Luo Ling whispered in his ear, so he had to hold back his temper and play hide-and-seek with these guys.
But it will be soon. Ji Yijun is looking forward to the coming storm rather than worrying about it. He gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, and the blade and scabbard rubbed lightly, making a clear sound.
A sneeze was heard from the rooftop. Ji Yijun looked and saw that it was Wu Qi who had arrived early.
"Why don't you wait inside?" Ji Yijun said with some blame.
"Who said I was waiting for you? We just happen to both like the starry sky." Wu Qi said, rubbing his hands.
Ji Yijun sneered, took off his thick shirt, threw it to Wu Qi and said, "Put it on."
Seeing that he was only wearing a sweatshirt, Wu Qi said, "I'm not cold, just be careful."
Ji Yijun smiled and stretched out a fist. With a slight hum, a faint light appeared on his fist. He raised his chin towards Wu Qi and said, "Touch it."
Wu Qi had never seen Ji Yijun use his fighting spirit before, so she curiously reached out her hand and pressed on his fist. Suddenly, a warmth penetrated through her skin and into her flesh and bones. That feeling... was the same as when he hugged her and jumped downstairs.
"See? This is strength. Why do I need to wear that dress? I wear it on weekdays because I don't want to be too different." Ji Yijun withdrew his fighting spirit, but his fist was still hot.
"Okay." Wu Qi put on the thick shirt, tightened the collar with his hands, and looked at Ji Yijun quietly.
"Well..." Ji Yijun scratched his head, "Why didn't you bring your sword today? Should we continue teaching swordsmanship?"
Wu Qi shook her head and said, "Starting tomorrow, I won't be able to come for the time being. Captain Wang has received an order to increase the security level. The boys in the guard battalion will all be deployed for night patrols. We girls will also have to help with logistics support. I think I'll just take a break today and look at the stars."
"Wang Jiyuan acted quite quickly. Luo Ling's words were quite effective." Ji Yijun said.
"Luo Ling? I saw that Team Leader Zhou went to talk to Captain Wang in the afternoon, and Captain Wang quickly announced the news of strengthening defenses. Luo Ling never came to our place."
"Zhou Xiaoren?" Ji Yijun asked puzzledly.
"Yes, he also talked to us for a few words, saying that there might be unstable factors recently, and asked everyone to be vigilant and not to miss anything suspicious."
"What the hell is this old guy doing?" Ji Yijun rubbed his chin and pondered for a while, but couldn't figure it out. "It would be better if Huang Zheng, the dog-headed military advisor, was here."
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. You must be careful recently. If you encounter any situation, don't act recklessly." Ji Yijun looked at Wu Qi seriously and said.
"I'm showing off?"
"Don't I know you? When we were clearing out the goblins, you charged so hard and ran so happily! You were more aggressive than many boys. Don't always try to prove something to others."
"No, I don't. We are short of manpower now, so female soldiers have to be used as male soldiers." Wu Qi argued in a low voice.
Ji Yijun shook his head and said, "Don't look at me as careless. I can sense that you have a knot here." He tapped Wu Qi's chest and said, "Whether you are brave in battle or come to me to learn swordsmanship, it all comes down to this knot in your heart. I don't want you to ruin yourself because of this."
"If he dies, he dies." Wu Qi said softly.
"What did you say?" Ji Yijun couldn't bear to hear this and immediately glared.
"It's not a bad thing to leave this world early."
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Ji Yijun raised his voice.
"This is not Earth. I still have some concerns. But here... even if I die, they will just say, oh, that coward, that escapee, that traitor is finally dead." She sighed softly.
Ji Yijun held his breath and listened to her words, then yelled, "Bullshit! I'll say it again, I saved your life. I don't allow you to say such things. I thought you had improved these days, but I didn't expect it... I'm telling you, if anyone talks nonsense, I'll beat him until he shuts up, do you hear me? Do you hear me?!"
As he spoke, Ji Yijun found himself approaching Wu Qi, with their noses only ten centimeters apart.
At this time, Wu Qi's expression was a little strange. The sorrowful look she had before had disappeared without a trace. Her eyebrows were drooping, and her lips were trembling. It was hard to tell whether she was crying or laughing. But at the end, she just said softly, "Yeah."