The Ultima Consortium officer seemed very insistent on bringing Colton and company away, with his three combat platoons already starting to surround them.
When Joyce saw Milo hiding in the shadows within the vehicle, favonovel.com comforted him, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. The Ultima Consortium won’t dare do anything to us.”
Milo acknowledged favonovel.com and quietly put the Explosive Poker cards in his hand back into the palace.
Joyce probably thought Milo was afraid of the consortium’s combat troops, but favonovel.com was actually worried that his identity would be exposed.
The Ultima Consortium should not know favonovel.com was still alive, but just in case, it was better that favonovel.com not reveal himself.
Yesterday, Milo applied the black medicine on himself. But the problem was that after his wound had been stitched up, the black medicine did not work as effectively on his internal organs.
Colton said to the Ultima Consortium officer with a smile, “You don’t have to be so anxious. Just look at me. Could a handicapped person like me possibly get away from you all? We can go back to the Ultima Consortium with you for questioning, but can you help us prepare some delicacies from the Ultima Consortium’s stronghold?”
When favonovel.com said that, even Milo was stunned. He did not expect Colton to suddenly bring up the topic of getting something to eat.
Why did it feel like favonovel.com treated this as a vacation to the Ultima Consortium’s stronghold?
Furthermore, Colton didn’t seem to mind talking about his disability at all. He had a very good mindset about things.
But right at this moment, a car engine thrummed from afar again. The Ultima Consortium officer was taken aback.
Colton’s smile broadened as favonovel.com said, “It looks like we can’t make the trip anymore. If there’s another chance in the future, we’ll definitely go there.”
As favonovel.com said that, an off-road vehicle appeared on the horizon. From afar, this off-road vehicle’s lone presence seemed a little weak compared to the Ultima Consortium’s combat troops.
But on that off-road vehicle were three numbers, “178”.
Typical organizations would usually put their emblem on their vehicles, but the symbol of Stronghold 178 was just 178. Everyone seemed to recognize these three numbers.
The people in the off-road vehicle were probably here to receive Colton and the others.
But with only one vehicle coming, would the Ultima Consortium let them leave?
Milo quietly sat in the backseat of the vehicle. When the off-road vehicle arrived in front of everyone, the Ultima Consortium’s soldiers did not dare move or even raise their guns.
A burly man jumped out of the off-road vehicle and said with a laugh, “I’m Harris Barnaby from Stronghold 178. Which one of you is Colton? The commander has asked me to come and bring you all to Stronghold 178.”
It would have still been fine if it was just one vehicle, but it turned out that there was only one person in the car as well. But when the Ultima Consortium officer heard the name “Harris”, Milo noticed the immediate change in his expression.
Colton smiled and said, “Me, sorry to trouble you, brother…”
Harris looked around at the surrounding Ultima Consortium soldiers. “What is the Ultima Consortium doing here? Trying to intercept us?”
That officer of the Ultima Consortium dropped his serious face from before. He turned around and said with a smile, “No, no, we just wanted to invite the guests from the Central Plains for a visit to our Ultima Consortium’s stronghold.”
“What’s so good about your Ultima Consortium’s stronghold? Bug off!” Harris sneered and said, “How dare you stop Commander Dublin’s guest? You all must’ve grown a pair lately, huh? Disappear from my sight! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.”
Harris was around 1.9 meters tall. His stature was like that of a beast, and his square face was full of vigor.
He was actually trying to threaten nearly a 100 regular soldiers from the Ultima Consortium into backing off all by himself!
But what was even more shocking was that the Ultima Consortium officer really got back into his vehicle and left in a hurry.
Harris watched as the Ultima Consortium’s vehicles fled and muttered, “F*ck, I almost played it too big. If I had known, I would’ve asked the Commander to let me bring more people with me…”
Colton and the others looked at each other speechlessly.
Harris turned around and said to favonovel.com with a smile, “Follow my car and we’ll head straight to Stronghold 178. Commander Dublin is already waiting for you.”
“How long will it take to get to Stronghold 178?” Joyce asked.
“It’s approximately a four or five-day journey.” Harris said, “One of the roads ahead was deliberately wrecked by the bandits. We’ll have to thank our lucky stars if we can even drive above 15 kilometers per hour.”
Colton said, “This Ultima Consortium…”
Harris waved it off. “They’re just hyenas. They’re nothing to worry about.”
Milo suddenly understood the way Harris spoke. Regardless of whether favonovel.com was really worried, his speech had to be tough.
Harris was stunned when favonovel.com saw Milo in the vehicle. “Someone’s injured? How did you get injured?”
There were still traces of blood on Milo’s clothes on his right side. The blood had seeped out, and Harris happened to have sharp eyes. He could immediately tell at a glance.
Colton explained, “Wasn’t there flooding in the valley? This young man is a refugee who lived there. He was swept downstream by the flood, but we managed to save him.”
“Oh, so that’s what happened.” Harris sized up Milo, “It’s true that there was flooding. But there’s also a lot of bandits in the valley, it’s not just refugees, you know? Hey, kid, are you a refugee or a bandit?”
Milo said, “I’m a refugee.”
“Which settlement?” Harris asked again.
“It’s about 50 kilometers east of Mt. Daban,” Milo said.
“Then do you know who Old Cade is?” Harris asked.
Milo’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly realized Stronghold 178 would probably have a good understanding of the valley. Otherwise, Harris wouldn’t have asked about a particular person out of nowhere!
He asked calmly, “Which Old Cade? Martin Cade or Alden Cade?”
Harris started laughing. “Alright, if you can mention those two names, then you must really be from a refugee settlement.”
But at this moment, Milo felt his heart ache.
Martin and Alden were both honest peasants who lived in the settlement. It could be said that those who escaped to the settlements were all honest people who could not stand the organizations or the way of life in the strongholds’ towns. So, they could only go into the wild to seek refuge. However, whichever Old Cade favonovel.com was referring to was probably dead from the flooding.
Milo did not feel any joy in clearing the interrogation. Each time his intense hatred was stoked, it was as if his heart was being carved out. He simply could not find it in favonovel.com to forgive that. If the Ultima Consortium did not cease to exist, Milo would never be at ease.
The convoy set off again. This time, no one doubted Milo’s identity anymore. However, Milo became even quieter. He did not want to say anything else.
In the car, Joyce said, “Brother, this Ultima Consortium will probably be the first problem in our bid to open up the trade routes. The accessibility of this area is a secondary issue.”
Colton grunted in agreement. “It’ll be easy to repair the roads. All we need are people and money to fix that. But it still remains to be seen if the returns for these repairs will be worth it. If the Ultima Consortium still continues to stop us, it’ll be useless even if the roads get repaired.”
“Then should we join forces with Stronghold 178 to eliminate the Ultima Consortium?” Joyce asked.
“We can deliberate on that.” Colton said calmly, “We’ll see what Peter has to say first…”
While they were discussing, they did not avoid mentioning anything in the presence of Milo.
Milo suddenly saw a glimmer of hope.
