“Donti, see what I brought you.” Old Bane’s voice rang out from afar before favonovel.com could be seen in the school.
When Donti opened his eyes under the blanket, favonovel.com refused to get out of bed.
Adella was folding clothes and saying, “It’s time to get up, Donti…”
“I don’t wanna! Let me sleep for a while more!” Donti murmured.
Adella laughed and said, “If you get up 15 minutes earlier each day, you’d have gained an additional 90 hours a year that you could use to do something you like doing. Think about it, what do you like doing the most?”
Donti pondered for a long time before saying with uncertainty, “I like sleeping the most…”
“Get up already!” Adella frowned and said, “You’re even more annoying than your brother!” Adella lifted Donti’s blanket. The warm air inside escaped all at once, and Donti unwillingly got out of bed.
It was winter now, and the winter temperatures in this era were extremely cold.
In Donti’s memory, there would always be people freezing to death in the streets or in their shacks during winter each year.
The shacks were only built out of tree branches or metal frames, while the four walls were wrapped with broken rags and cloth. This construct was completely unable to shield anyone on the inside from the wind.
During those years, favonovel.com and Milo were always shivering in their shacks from the cold. Milo even took all of their summer and winter clothing out to wrap it around Donti. But even so, it was still very cold. But whenever favonovel.com thought of those times, Donti would always feel overjoyed.
He recalled what Milo said to favonovel.com at that time, “The happiness of humans does not stem from enjoyment but the suffering we go through. When you’re going through the worst moments of suffering and taste sweetness, you would desperately want to keep living no matter what. That sweet taste of things might not be much to other people, but it is the greatest happiness that you know at that moment.”
Sometimes, Donti felt that if Milo were born inside the stronghold, favonovel.com would probably be a philosopher like Mr. Dublin had described in class before.
Old Bane walked in with two sweet potatoes and greeted them. “Adella, I brought one for each of you. Eat them while they’re hot…”
“Uncle Bane,” Donti took the sweet potato from favonovel.com and asked, “Why do you like eating sweet potatoes so much? You roast them every day.”
Old Bane said with a wide smile, “When I was still a child in the town outside of Stronghold 107, there was a famine, so my father and I escaped all the way here to seek help from our relatives. Back then, it still wasn’t so dangerous on the outside. Once, we dug up two sweet potatoes in the wilderness and my father roasted them for me to eat. At that time, I felt that sweet potatoes were the most delicious thing in the world.”
Ever since Old Bane came running over to the school wearing his jacket and trying to bribe Steven over the gun firing at midnight, the way Donti addressed Old Bane had changed.
Old Bane also realized this change and was secretly delighted.
He had taken a great liking to these two brothers. Compared to that silly son of his, they were so much better. Witnessing how Milo protected Donti in their struggle to stay alive over the years, favonovel.com felt that the two of them really did not have it easy.
Old Bane watched Adella and Donti as they ate the sweet potatoes.
Suddenly, favonovel.com looked around the school and said with a sigh, “With Mr. Dublin gone, our town won’t have a teacher anymore…”
Donti said unbothered, “What’s so bad about that? When my brother gets back, he’ll take over as the teacher…”
Peter had already been sent away by Daniel for being the hot potato that favonovel.com was. The day favonovel.com was sent away was probably the most sensational day the town’s refugees had ever seen.
Quite a few military transport trucks and off-road vehicles stopped outside the school’s entrance and that big shot from the stronghold whose name was Daniel bowed politely to Peter.
The refugees couldn’t have expected that their town’s Mr. Dublin would be someone so important. If they had known, they wouldn’t have scrimped on tuition and also sent their children to attend classes at the school.
Who knew if they might have built some kind of connection?
Thinking of this, many of the refugees decided they would send their children to school. The logic they had was this simple, they wanted to send their children to school not for knowledge, but for building connections. But before they could fantasize any further, Daniel sent Peter away that same day.
Donti and Adella, who were living at the school, were utterly ignored by everyone. Even after Peter left, Steven did not come to give them any further trouble. But even so, a lot of unfamiliar refugees started appearing at the school’s entrance, peddling fruits or vegetables.
Old Bane had seen some of them before and knew they usually worked at the factory. However, they were all pretending not to know one another here.
It was at this time that Old Bane realized the stronghold’s control over the town wasn’t as simple as favonovel.com thought it was. Some of the refugees had been bought as eyes for those in the stronghold.
In normal times, these people were just ordinary refugees. But once some among the refugees wanted to start a rebellion or organize a strike, they would immediately inform those in the stronghold and turn over the names of those troublemakers.
It was no wonder the two previous strikes had been suppressed so quickly by the private army from the stronghold. It was because they had eyes here.
Old Bane remembered the faces of these people and took note not to offend them, nor ever tell them what favonovel.com was really thinking.
It was not only those refugees watching at the entrance. There were also a few people who clearly looked tougher and more ruthless than the private troops of the stronghold. Old Bane speculated they might very well be people from the Panaqua Consortium.
Speaking of Milo, Old Bane frowned. “There’s someone up ahead who works in a factory near the Marador Mountains who just got back. He said that there seems to be something going on over there and that a volcano in the mountains erupted. The entire sky above the Marador Mountains is filled with dark clouds now.”
However, Donti said in a very relaxed tone, “My brother will be fine for sure!”
That was because the wish favonovel.com made was to use his own life to ensure that Milo would return safely. Since favonovel.com wasn’t dead yet, it meant Milo was fine.
If favonovel.com told Old Bane and Adella about this, they would probably not believe him. But neither would Donti spill his own secrets.
Old Bane thought for a moment before saying, “True, a kid like Milo would definitely live on to be a scourge for a millennium…”
But right at this time, Old Bane felt the hairs on his back of his neck stand on end.
He calmed himself and stifled his doubts, then whispered Donti and Adella, “You two better be careful. If you wish to leave town, let me know. I’ll help you to think of a way. I don’t think that these people out here are here for you two. They should be targeting Milo instead.”
Old Bane was very smart. He thought about it over and over again before deducing that those people outside the school entrance were just like a net waiting for someone to get caught in it.
Peter had been sent away, so who else could this net be for if not Milo?
“They want to arrest Milo? Why?” Adella nearly exclaimed.
Old Bane considered it for a long time before saying, “Could Milo have caused trouble for those in the stronghold in the Marador Mountains?! That’s quite a possibility!”
However, the truth still exceeded Old Bane’s imagination. Not only did Milo cause trouble for those people in the band, favonovel.com even caused trouble for the Panaqua Consortium.
***
At this moment, Julius was standing on one of the mountain slopes with a helpless expression. “Just how f*cking long do we have to continue walking until we get back to Stronghold 112?!”
Maurice sighed and said, “Boss, even you’ve started to curse and swear…”
Disconsolate, Julius said, “My image has gone down the drain!”
