Chapter 1444 What Do You Want To Know.Night came. Elder Father sat beside a campfire alone, listening to the warm crackling of wood chips being burnt. His hands were holding a metal skewer with a slab of meat over the fire, waiting patiently until it was cooked to perfection.
Oils from the fat of meat dripped into the fire, creating a crisp sizzling sound that echoed through the campsite. Everyone in the vicinity turned their heads to take in a waft of perfectly cooked meat. Hunger pangs started wrecking through their body, but they didn"t dare to walk over there to request for some because someone they were deathly afraid of was already there.
“You"ve come at just the right time. The meat is perfectly cooked.” Elder Father revealed a gentle smile in a certain direction.
Something flew out from that direction and towards Elder Father.
Elder Father caught the item with one outstretched hand. He turned his gaze towards the item in his hand to see that it was a bottle of liquor, a rare one at that. It was white liquor specially brewed by the Federation"s military.
“Thank you!” Elder Father"s eyes lit up in excitement. He adeptly opened the bottle and downed a huge gulp.
“This sures brings back memories.” Elder Father wiped his mouth with his sleeve and let out a satisfying sigh.
“It has been more than ten years, right?” Following this sentence, Ling Lan walked out of the darkness slowly.
“Hmph, why do you say that?” Elder Father smiled mysteriously.
“Before I came here, I met Lord Qian.” Ling Lan found a seat beside Elder Father casually and sat down.
Elder Father paused for a moment, showing a pondering expression. Then, he continued drinking another gulp of the liquor before putting down the bottle slowly. “Did he ask you to come here?”
“No, he didn"t tell me.” Ling Lan calmly took the metal skewer from Elder Father"s other hand and pulled it towards her body. She blew at the barbecued meat that was giving off an enticing fragrance.
“How did you find me then? Especially when the signal is blocked.” Elder Father was confused.
“So, you know who Lord Qian is…” Ling Lan raised her head and smiled ambiguously.
Elder Father didn"t reply to her. He just stared silently at the warm campfire. He seemed to be in the midst of recalling something.
Seeing this, Ling Lan wasn"t in a hurry to rush him. She continued blowing the piece of meat in her hand. When it wasn"t scalding hot, she took a bite to have a taste of the delectable meat.
"Huh, it"s actually not bad." Ling Lan"s eyes lit up with surprise. Within a few seconds, she finished 2.5 kilograms worth of meat in her hand.
She had fought in a mecha battle before this and after that, she helped Li Lanfeng with his injury. These took up much of her stamina so her appet.i.te got a little larger than usual.
When Elder Father noticed that Ling Lan really liked his barbecued meat, he took another few more skewers of meat and placed them over the campfire to cook.
One of them focused on barbecuing while the other was focusing on eating. Although no words were exchanged, the atmosphere between them was harmonious.
Elder Father felt that the time was about right so he begrudgingly put down the liquor bottle. He slashed in the direction of the meat and a few deep cuts soon appeared on the meat. Then, he flicked his fingers and the seasoning got sprinkled onto the meat. Soon, the fragrance of the meat engulfed them. These perfectly cooked meats were ready to be eaten.
Elder Father pa.s.sed the barbecued meat to Ling Lan. After pa.s.sing it to Ling Lan, his hands instinctively went towards the bottle of liquor and he took a huge gulp from it.
He wiped the corner of his mouth forcefully and said, “You can ask now. What do you want to know?”
Ling Lan took a bite of the meat. She slowly chewed it a few times before opening her mouth. “You probably came to the Lawless Lands with Lord Qian, right?”
Elder Father looked at Ling Lan in surprise. “Why do you say that?”
“No matter how much the Federation trusts someone, they wouldn"t leave him without any scrutiny. Moreover, the Lawless Lands is a special place. They wouldn"t completely trust anyone with it,” Ling Lan said calmly.
“You"re really sent by the Federation. They"re probably starting to suspect the Lawless Lands, right?” Elder Father seemed to be on guard.
“Are you sure?” Ling Lan lifted the corners of her lips slightly.
“The ability and equipment of your mecha team can only be provided by the Federation or Caesar. Your looks… If Caesar wants to form a mecha clan that was full of ace mecha masters with this many pseudo imperial operators and a few imperial operators, it would still be quite difficult for them.” Elder Father had good eyesight. The moment these people acted, he knew their level.
“Lord Qian has really betrayed the Federation?” Ling Lan asked.
“Yes and no.” Elder Father sighed deeply.
“What do you mean?”
“If the Federation didn"t restrain his men, he wouldn"t have any worries anymore.” Elder Father gave a bitter smile.
“I"m a little curious. That year, the Federation sent you probably because they wanted you to restrain him. Why are you lacking behind so much? You are even hiding here now…” Ling Lan looked up at Elder Father.
Elder Father laughed forcefully when he heard this. “Trust…”
“You were betrayed by someone.” Ling Lan immediately understood. “If I"m not wrong, Lord Qian acted personally.”
“Why do you think so?” Elder Father asked Ling Lan back.
“Since the Federation sent you here, your ability at that time must be on par with Lord Qian. If not, you wouldn"t be given the important task of restraining him. Among the bunch of people sent in the past, Lord Qian and you should be the most powerful ones. The rest wouldn"t have the ability to injure you heavily. The only person who could hurt you so heavily until you are unable to recover even now must be him,” Ling Lan calmly explained her guess.
“I just don"t understand why weren"t you guarded against him in the first place since you"re tasked with restraining and watching over him.” This was the point Ling Lan couldn"t figure out.
“In the Lawless Lands, it is hard to find a place for yourself here. That year, a few thousand of us were sent here. Now, only less than a handful survived. At that time, in order to survive, we don"t have the time to think about the issue about trust, missions, or anything. We can only survive if we helped each other…” Elder Father clearly remembered the past. Signs of deep-seated pain showed in his eyes. The comrades that fought with him fell down one by one along the way. The ones that survived grew apart and in the end, they broke their ties.
“So you believed him.” Ling Lan understood it now. “I didn"t expect him to leave you alive.”
Elder Father understood what Ling Lan meant. By right, Lord Qian could just kill him and end everything. He forced a smile on his face and said, “Maybe we"re getting too old that we reminisce about the past more. He might still want to leave some old friends behind or have some memories of the past.”
“Or maybe he felt that you"re not a threat to him anymore so it"s alright to let you live.” Ling Lan hit the nail in the head while not giving Elder Father any face.