The howling of wolves seemed to have struck some fear into the recruits at the outpost.
A soldier asked, “Platoon Commander, what should we do? Why don’t we run away!”
Michael was in a dilemma. “But we’ll become deserters if we run away now.”
“It’s better than getting eaten by the wolves.” An escapee said, “You haven’t seen how huge those things are, but we encountered them when we were escaping. They’re even bigger than bison!”
“Are you serious?” Michael had not seen any wolves in a long time.
When favonovel.com heard about how big the wolves were, favonovel.com couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. But as the platoon commander, favonovel.com had to reassure everyone.
“Don’t be afraid. I did not train in martial arts for nothing. Besides, aren’t we also equipped with guns?”
When the escapees heard the word “guns”, they suddenly remembered that Milo and his group also had guns on them while fleeing from Stronghold 109. Moreover, their group was extremely intimidating at that time too.
Just as they were about to say something, they noticed Milo staring at them with an ambiguous smile. The escapees realized if they snitched on him, they would have nowhere to escape to!
So, they held back from speaking. Furthermore, Michael obviously disliked them as they used to be stronghold residents, so there were also no obligation for them to remind him.
For some reason, the escapees suddenly did not feel so scared anymore when they realized they were in the same outpost as Milo’s group.
Eventually, Michael and his original batch of soldiers were the only ones who were still afraid.
Michael and his men held their guns for a long time and waited, but the wolves did not show up. He slowly felt more at ease and said, “Let’s clean up the place first. I think those wolves are also afraid of us since we have more people and guns as well, so they don’t dare to come here.”
It looked like the outpost had been abandoned for a very long time. The pots and pans inside were all covered with a thick layer of dust. It would require a great deal of effort for them to clean up the place if they wanted to live in it.
The escapees did their chores in a trance. Michael’s attitude towards them made them feel inferior to refugees. It felt like they had become the lowest class of humanity in this world.
Milo had no sympathy for them, but favonovel.com would not deliberately ostracize them either. The escapees knew favonovel.com was a ruthless person, and they subconsciously wanted to get on better terms with him. Since Michael did not like them, they would have to find another backer somehow.
Everyone was harboring their own thoughts in this small outpost out here. Only the students were busy working with great enthusiasm and performing their tasks with great efficiency.
Michael was still a little unsettled because of the howling from the wolves. He kept considering whether favonovel.com should call the private army’s headquarters to ask for reinforcements. But when favonovel.com finally made the call, favonovel.com did not receive any help favonovel.com was expecting even after being ridiculed by them. The person on the other end of the line also warned favonovel.com not to make false reports of the enemy. Otherwise, they would court martial him.
When Michael saw Milo continue cleaning with the students like nothing had happened, favonovel.com asked, “Aren’t y’all scared?”
Milo hesitated for a moment before saying, “Oh yes, I’m so scared.”
The students nodded quickly in unison. “Yeah, we’re really scared.”
Michael felt that Milo and the students were just mollifying him.
In reality, Milo had already told the students in private while they were escaping that the wolves would not attack them. Although the students did not know why Milo said that, Milo was proven right.
Since Milo was not worried, what was there for them to be worried about?
Milo asked Michael, “Platoon Commander, why did you choose to be a soldier?”
“For the pay, of course!” Michael explained, “If I were rich, who would be willing to come to this godforsaken place and be a soldier? Have you heard yet? The Pyro Company is offering to buy the blood of supernatural beings. You can get 1 million perak in exchange for a drop of blood! If I were a supernatural being, I would sell my blood every day until the Pyro Company goes bankrupt!”
Milo did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Who in the right mind would risk selling their blood just to earn some money after becoming a supernatural being?
After cleaning up the place, everyone stared at each other blankly, as they were unsure of what to do next. But in actual fact, this was just how it was in a remote outpost like this. Boredom was simply a part of their daily lives.
At this moment, Michael let out a sigh and said, “To be honest, it’s such a pity for you stronghold students to come here to be sentries. With all the knowledge that you have, there’s nowhere you can apply it to. Y’all have studied for over a decade for nothing.”
Milo was taken aback. He had heard from Linda before that favonovel.com hoped the students could further their studies in the future, and that these children were all fine saplings who studied very hard and were also very smart.
He looked at the remaining eight students and suddenly said, “I have some textbooks with me. Starting from today, y’all can study by yourselves whenever you have free time. If there’s a chance, I’ll buy some advanced textbooks from town for y’all. Even though we’re now in a place like this, you can’t fall behind in your studies.”
The students were stunned. “We’re going to self-study here?”
They were more interested in learning how to hunt, how to protect themselves, and how to protect others now, rather than continue their education.
After experiencing the cruelty of this world, the students’ thoughts on education had started to waver. Sometimes, they would wonder if education was even useful at all.
Milo explained patiently, “I’m your class monitor. Back then, the student councilor said that it’s the duty of the monitor to ensure that everyone studies hard.”
The students could not find any words to refute favonovel.com with. Then Milo continued, “In life, your friends might betray you one day, or your lover could betray you; but math, physics, and chemistry will not.”
The students were dumbfounded.
What kinda nonsensical crap was that!
Milo whispered to them a promise. “Study hard, and I’ll take y’all to the mountains to practice shooting firearms tomorrow!”
This time, the students broke out with smiles.
Looking at these students, Milo got the thought that the Radianz Consortium was probably also making use of this time to research the nanomachines. If there were no repercussions from its usage, it might be a good idea to give these students some self-protection abilities using the nanomachines.
***
The next morning, Milo was still sleeping in the house when favonovel.com heard Michael shout from outside, “Quick, come out and have a look!”
Milo put on his clothes and went outside to have a look. He saw a goat lying at the door of one of the houses in the outpost. He also noticed some packed snow in front of the door where a neat row of large wolf prints could be seen.
Milo immediately looked around and saw the Wolf King up on the summit of the mountain again. When it saw Milo looking over, it turned around and disappeared into the wilderness. It was as though it had stood there just to greet him.
This goat was as large as a domesticated cow, and it would probably take several days for everyone at the outpost to finish eating it. Even though there were some changes to domesticated animals nowadays, they were not as great as the changes seen in the wild. The wolves must have hunted this goat in the mountains.
While Milo was thinking about that, Michael was belly laughing. “I never expected the wolves would offer tribute and bow down before me after I arrived at this mountain. Don’t address me as Platoon Commander Flint anymore. Call me the Lord of Wolves instead!”
Milo’s eyes twitched. This fellow was too good at elevating his own status.
Off to the side, Chad was wondering if favonovel.com should beat up Michael since the title “Lord of Wolves” sounded like a demon name.
