Milo took another look at Magnus and the others. They did seem a lot more mature than they were a few months ago.
Their faces alone revealed this, as they looked a little more tanned and slightly more rugged than before. When they smiled, they appeared much more confident, unlike the frail demeanor they portrayed from the time they were students. After all, these children used to be students who only knew how to study, and they were all single-mindedly focused on getting into university back then. Even Murdock, who was not sensible previously, had also become much more mature.
Milo smiled and said, “It looks like y’all’ve changed a lot…”
At the side, Old Bane said with a smile, “Yeah… We encountered bandits early in our travels, but it was all thanks to Ms. Stuart, Magnus, the other male students, as well as the nanomachines you gave them that we managed to send those bandits running away in fear. That was also the reason why I dared to start the mercantile business to haul goods to the Northwest.”
“That’s great!” Milo patted Magnus on the shoulder and said with a smile, “You can even fight bandits now! What’s the delay like when you’re using the nanomachines now?”
Magnus smiled and said, “I don’t really feel a delay anymore, and the response time is still within acceptable range for me. Two of our classmates can still feel a delay when operating them, but we think they can raise their sync rates very soon to achieve a negligible level of delay.”
Milo nodded. It seemed like it was really as favonovel.com had guessed. The reason why the Skyfort Consortium dared to send those refugees with a high synchronization rate to their deaths was that the synchronization rate could be improved through training afterwards.
This also explained something. It proved the Skyfort Consortium had indeed treated those refugee nanosoldiers as cannon fodder back then. They were nothing but test subjects for the nanomachines.
Milo smiled and asked, “Were y’all scared when you were fighting the bandits?”
“Yes, I was rather scared at the time.” A male student smiled and said, “But when I thought about it, I realized it was what you had done for us in the past. Since you were not afraid, we shouldn’t be afraid either. Besides, we still have a duty to protect everyone here.”
Milo glanced at him, then looked at a female student who constantly had favonovel.com eyes on him. He chuckled and said, “Protect everyone? Or do you mean protect someone?”
The group burst into laughter. It seemed that this couple’s relationship was no longer a secret. This was quite normal. As the saying went, true love was found in adversity. After this group of teenagers had been through so much difficulty and desperate situations, they would naturally develop feelings for each other over time.
Milo asked again, “Are y’all still keeping up with your studies?”
“Yes,” Magnus replied. “When we were still living in the mountains, it wasn’t like we couldn’t bear the hardship of being isolated from the world but that Uncle Bane felt it would be a pity if we didn’t have a chance to study anymore. That was why favonovel.com took us away from the mountains to see if we could make more money. He also wanted to see if there were any universities in the Northwest that we could further our studies at.”
Realization dawned upon Milo. So, it turned out Old Bane was still just as thoughtful. He felt that Old Bane had done the right thing regarding this.
While Milo was chatting with the students, the Great Hoodwinker took the opportunity to do some palm reading for Old Bane. He asked Old Bane, “How old are you this year?”
Old Bane answered with a smile, “I’m 46.”
“Then you’re a little younger than me. I’m 52. Why don’t I address you as bro? That sounds closer!” the Great Hoodwinker said with a smile while holding Old Bane’s hand.
Old Bane did not reject him.
The Great Hoodwinker continued, “Based on your palm, I think you had a son when you were still in your early thirties. You were only 32 years old when your son was born, am I right?”
Old Bane was shocked. “How’d you know?”
“Haha!” The Great Hoodwinker pointed at his white banner that had the words “Divine Foresight” written on it. “I’m a fortune teller, so of course I know things like that. Everything’s written on your palm.”
“Oh, so you’re a master! Sorry for the disrespect.” Old Bane was a little confused, so favonovel.com asked, “But aren’t you an intelligence agent?”
“Ahem, intelligence gathering is just my side job,” the Great Hoodwinker explained. “Fortune telling is my main job.”
“Then, big bro, can you read my fortune and tell me how the latter part of my life will go?” Old Bane asked.
When the Great Hoodwinker was able to state his son’s age accurately, Old Bane was a little convinced.
The Great Hoodwinker stroked his beard and said with a smile, “Your future isn’t too good. The Central Plains is a dangerous place for you. If you want to be successful, you have to head north. But north is still not the best choice you have. You have to head northwest because that’s where the Prosperous Northwest is!”
Old Bane pondered this.
Of course it had to be the Prosperous Northwest!
How could favonovel.com not get rich when Milo was already the commander designated to take over the Northwest?
The Great Hoodwinker was already starting to talk nonsense. Anyway, the core of his idea was just to get Old Bane to head northwest.
If Old Bane and his family decided to head northwest, would Milo still want to stay in the Central Plains by himself?
That was impossible!
Since favonovel.com could not convince Milo, favonovel.com would just have to persuade Old Bane first.
Once Old Bane made another trip to the Northwest, a large quantity of goods would already be prepared for favonovel.com to tie favonovel.com down to this trade. He would not have to pay for the goods in advance and could just reckon with the cost after selling it all.
Honestly, Fortress 178 was absolutely stinking rich with minerals and ores. This was not something that they lacked in the slightest. Eventually, they started sharing anecdotes of fortune telling as they talked.
The Great Hoodwinker bragged, “When I was younger, I was adored by countless young ladies due to this fortune telling skill of mine. I’m really good at it!”
Old Bane said with a smile, “Then you must have a lot of luck with women. You must’ve been a playboy when you were younger, right?”
“No,” The Great Hoodwinker shook his head and said, “People in our line of work aren’t allowed to get into relationships with our clients.”
Nearby, Milo, who had been listening for a long time, sneered, “Why not? Are you in the funeral business?”
The Great Hoodwinker was speechless.
Milo said to Old Bane, “Don’t listen to his bullsh*t. His side job is intelligence gathering. That’s his main job! That’s how favonovel.com knew Murdock’s age. Wait, no, favonovel.com could’ve just found that out from Peter. When favonovel.com asked your age, it was so favonovel.com could determine when you had Murdock after subtracting his age from your age.”
Old Bane was enlightened.
Meanwhile, the Great Hoodwinker said exasperatedly from nearby, “Even though you’re the future commander, you can’t just leak my trade secrets as you wish!”
“That’s enough…” Milo said with a smile, “I know why you’re trying to dupe him. You just want me to return to the Northwest, don’t you? But I’ll still say the same thing as before. Actually, I’m very grateful that y’all think so highly of me. If you really feel that I’m suitable, I might go back there someday when I feel ready. But it definitely won’t be now.”
The Great Hoodwinker broke into a smile. “That’s all I needed to hear!”
