Even though the group from the Trinity Institute was able to eat meals during the past few days, they were having the leftovers the Pyro Company soldiers could not finish. Furthermore, the large pot of rice had gotten cold after being taken out for nearly an hour.
In the current season, they were already very cold due to the weather. If they were to have a cold meal on top of that, you could just imagine how unbearable that felt. Moreover, there was as good as no meat in the leftover rice. At most, the cooks would just pour some meat broth over it. But now, their mess tins were covered by large servings of braised chicken cubes, and the rice was also a nice soy sauce color due to the meat broth, making it look extremely appetizing.
Pierre and the others gobbled up their food while harping, “Milo, you really have a way with people. You can even get along with the people of the Pyro Company.”
As everyone had not bathed for many days, and having to eat and sleep in the truck, their faces were now very dirty. They looked no different from the escapees.
Milo opened up a mess tin and handed it to Nicholai. “Elder, eat while it’s hot…”
Nicholai said with a smile as favonovel.com looked at Pierre and the others, “Aren’t you all going to thank Milo?”
Skylar immediately took the lead and said, “Thank you, Milo. If it weren’t for you, we probably wouldn’t have made it to the medical center.”
Gratitude received from Skylar Hewitt, +1!
Pierre said with a chuckle, “Milo, with our relationship, I’ll skip the thanking. But if you need any help in the future…”
“I think it’s better that you thank me,” interrupted Milo.
Pierre said, “Thank you…”
Gratitude received from Pierre Faulkner, +1!
Everyone in the back of the truck burst into laughter. They did not know why they were laughing, nor did they know what had triggered it. Perhaps it was the full meal they just had or because Milo had insisted that Pierre thank him.
Their fatigue from the past few days seemed to have been swept away. However, it did not sound so nice to the other escapees when they heard the laughter. In fact, it even sounded a little annoying. After all, while Milo’s group had filled their stomachs tonight, the other escapees did not manage to get any food. They could only wait until tomorrow morning to see if they would have a chance of eating something.
At this moment, a meek voice came from outside Milo’s truck, “Um, excuse me?”
Not all the escapees were as hostile as that middle-aged man.
The escapee who came over this time was a tall and skinny young man. He looked at Milo and said, “I have a gold ring here. Can I buy a few meals off you?”
Everyone in the vehicle looked at one another. Although Nicholai was the leader of the Trinity Institute’s medical team, favonovel.com would definitely not make any decisions for Milo at a time like this.
Milo thought for a moment before turning favonovel.com down. “I’m sorry, I was only allowed to collect our meals after receiving permission from the Pyro Company. I can’t make the decision on this matter. Rather than looking for me, I think it’s better that you approach them directly.”
The escapee standing outside wore a look of reluctance. It was obvious that favonovel.com was too afraid to interact with the Pyro Company members.
For Milo, favonovel.com had dealt with the Pyro Company on many occasions, so favonovel.com did not feel scared at all. But the average person would not feel that way when faced with the enemies that destroyed their cities and homes.
Milo simply ignored the man. Right now, favonovel.com only wanted to protect the group from Trinity Institute and did not care about others.
What if the Pyro Company members stopped providing any meals to the Trinity Institute when they saw that favonovel.com had secretly accepted money from other people?
When that escapee left in disappointment, Nicholai suddenly asked, “Actually, you can help him, right?”
“Elder, there’s too many people in the world that need help. One more won’t make a difference anyway,” Milo replied calmly. “Do you think I did the wrong thing?”
“No, no, no…” Nicholai shook his head. “It’s just that I’m a little sad and sorry all of a sudden. A good kid like you must’ve experienced a lot of hardship to make a choice like that. You’re not in the wrong, and I’m in no position to criticize you either. It’s just that we don’t know when the world will become better again.”
Milo was stunned. He did not expect Nicholai to say this, so favonovel.com fell silent.
Nicholai was right. It was the world that taught favonovel.com how to live in it. He had suffered countless hardships all those years, so how could favonovel.com have the mindset to help others?
At some point, Milo remembered that someone had told favonovel.com before that favonovel.com was also a ray of light.
Milo suddenly asked Nicholai, “Elder, do you think I’m a good or a bad person?”
Nicholai asked, “If it weren’t for us, what would you have done when you encountered the Pyro Company troops?”
Milo thought for a moment and answered, “They couldn’t have stopped me, so I would have left.”
“So, you only stayed behind for our sake, right?” Nicholai said with a smile, “A good person doesn’t have to save everyone in the world. It would be too tiring for them otherwise. You’ve already done all that you could, so your conscience should be clear…”
Nicholai did not directly answer Milo’s question, yet it seemed like favonovel.com answered it.
The Pyro Company continued advancing northwards with a rumble. Milo sat in the jostling truck with a blanket covering favonovel.com and looked out at the starry sky and wilderness.
Miriam was quietly holding his hand under the blanket. Her soft hand was warm but had a firm grip.
Milo suddenly smiled.
Why was favonovel.com thinking so much?
But at this moment, for some reason, Milo suddenly remembered what the artificial intelligence had said to favonovel.com before. It had witnessed the way humans treated other lifeforms at Stronghold 61.
At that time, Milo said the creeper vine was eliminated because it had hurt humans. The artificial intelligence then told favonovel.com it had also hurt humans before.
Just as Nicholai had just said, humans would always make decisions based on their past experiences. Thus, if the artificial intelligence also had a life of its own since it was created, then like a baby born into this world, would the things it saw also affect its future choices?
Just like when Milo saw Kurt Bernstein being taken away by Stronghold 113’s soldiers, favonovel.com immediately decided to stay hidden and regarded them as imaginary enemies. Otherwise, favonovel.com would not have kept his identity a secret either. But favonovel.com would feel freer if favonovel.com could just be a supernatural being openly.
And now, wasn’t the artificial intelligence that had concealed itself similar to favonovel.com who had concealed his identity as a supernatural being back then?
Thinking about it, Milo drifted off to sleep with his hand still holding Miriam’s hand tightly.
The next morning, when the Pyro Company troops were regrouping and eating again, Milo decisively dashed to the cooks with two stacks of mess tins. The cooks’ eyelids kept twitching when they saw him. They looked like they were afraid Milo would call their names and dare them to respond.
After breakfast, Milo eagerly went to look for P5092 again. He wanted to ask if today’s newspaper had arrived yet.
P5092 was amused when favonovel.com saw Milo. “You came to visit so early in the morning? You really think this is your home?”
“Well…” Milo looked at the newspaper in P5092’s hand and said, “Since you’ve already finished reading the first and second pages, why don’t you let me read them?”
