Chapter 1884 - 1883: ’Brothers

"So, do you have a deep relationship with Eric?"

Seated on the sofa in the front row, Anke looked at Geslo next to him and cautiously asked.

"My great-grandfather, grandfather, father," Geslo poured himself a glass of wine and said slowly, "all worked for the Eric family."

"Vassals," He Ao’s voice echoed in Anke’s ear.

Anke turned his head towards Geslo, curiously asking, "So, is Eric’s family very powerful?"

"Indeed, very powerful," Geslo chuckled, "His ancestors were among the founders of the Federation, his grandfather and great-grandfather served as Senators and entered the Cabinet of Gray Stone Palace, his father was once the Speaker of Ilotan, and he himself is a Congressman of Ilotan, serving as Minister of City Defense after the new Mayor formed the Cabinet."

"So impressive?" Anke said curiously, "Is he one of those legendary blue-blooded nobles of the Federation?"

"That’s not wrong to say," Geslo nodded slightly.

"Then why is he doing this ’Military Committee’ thing?" Anke further inquired, "Isn’t overthrowing the Federation equivalent to overthrowing his own family?"

The question left Geslo momentarily stunned, he looked at Anke, thought for a while, and said softly, "He must have his plans."

He took a sip of wine and spoke softly, "What he pursues might be different from us ordinary people."

Anke chewed on his words, leaning back, almost sinking his body into the soft sofa, holding the wine glass, he muttered to himself, "Different...?"

"Ask Davis," He Ao’s voice resonated in his ear.

Anke jolted awake, realizing that he could indeed ask that question.

He turned his head to Geslo and softly asked, "What about Davis? Eric says Davis is his brother; are they related by blood?"

"No," Geslo shook his head slightly, looking at Anke, "’Brother’ is just a nickname. Eric always considered Davis his best friend, like a blood brother. Davis felt the same; they have been comrades and brothers for decades."

"Their relationship is that good?" Eric was somewhat surprised. "Can you become ’brothers’ without blood relation?"

"Their experiences are quite legendary," Geslo laughed, "Previously, Eric was training in the City Defense Army; Davis was a mercenary in their same squad. Their squad encountered a weird event during a field mission in the wilderness, ultimately leading to the annihilation of the whole squad, with only the severely injured Eric and Davis managing to escape."

"It’s said during that weird event, Eric once protected Davis from exotic beast attacks, and Davis also saved Eric. Their friendship began from there.

"Later on, under the guidance of elders, Eric quickly rose in the City Defense Army, and he also pulled Davis along, moving upward together; most of the time, the two of them could be considered one.

"Eric’s decisions would be unconditionally validated by Davis.

"For Davis’s any misconduct, Eric would think of ways to cover it up."

Speaking of this, Geslo summarized, "Eric once told me he and Davis would face difficulties together; they are steadfast and reliable allies."

"It does sound like a good relationship," Anke commented, "I couldn’t even do that with my elder brother. When I made mistakes as a child, I’d always frame them on my brother."

"Blood brothers and those relationships forged through danger are quite different," Geslo agreed, nodding.

"However, I feel," Anke pondered, trying to figure out why He Ao wanted him to ask Davis, beginning to probe, "Davis and Eric give me completely different impressions."

He mused, "Davis seems like a firm Mercenary Corps Leader, and I don’t doubt his execution ability, whereas Eric is more gentle and easier to ’talk to.’

"This is where their personalities complement," Geslo spoke calmly, "Davis climbed up step by step from the bottom, even at the start with Eric’s help, to gain advancement, he required definitive military achievements."

At that, he paused briefly, "Every achievement, every position, while Eric fought for them, Davis himself also earned them. In comparison, because Eric’s rise was smoother, he didn’t accumulate as many achievements."

Geslo seemed to recall something and sighed, "So, although Eric’s position in the City Defense Army is very high, becoming a Deputy Commander early on and later entering the Cabinet as Minister of City Defense, his prestige in the army still falls far short of Davis."

He took a sip of wine, "The army is a pure place; soldiers don’t care how prestigious your family background is or how exalted your status is. As long as you are strong enough and have accumulated enough achievements, soldiers will believe in you, follow you, and become part of your command. Besides, Davis is not just a war hero; he’s also a qualified general. The entire discipline of the Ilotan City Defense Army is managed by him."

"Indeed," Anke nodded, "I feel like the soldiers of Ilotan indeed seem more... compared to those from other places."

At this, he seemed stuck for a moment, unable to think of the corresponding word.

"Order," He Ao supplemented in his ear.

"Right, order," Anke quickly added, "The Ilotan City Defense Army always gives me a sense of order I’ve not seen in other cities, feeling they can easily unite and burst with formidable strength."

"Perhaps it’s the effect of discipline rectification," Geslo agreed, "Davis specifically arranges discipline inspections and conducts standardized training; all those unqualified face punishment, and all who perform excellently receive rewards."

He glanced at the ceiling, reminiscing, "His system of rewards and penalties is very strict but also fair.

"There won’t be variations due to status differences or closeness; previously, when a young officer he particularly liked made a mistake, he subjected him to whipping punishment just the same. When an officer he didn’t get along with achieved merit, he did not hesitate to reward.""

"Even when the City Defense Commander’s grandson came for training and broke the rules, he was still punished."

"Does sound very strict," Anke nodded, "But this also wouldn’t work without Eric’s help, right?"

"Indeed," Geslo was somewhat surprised Anke thought of this and sighed, "For these matters, Eric endured quite a bit of pressure within the family and the City Government, yet he still braved the pressure to create conditions for Davis."

"Their relationship is indeed very good," Anke commented.

"They truly are the best pairing," Geslo took another sip of wine.

"Hmm," Anke sunk into the sofa, looking towards the scenery outside the window.

Under the night curtain, the dense forest gently undulated in the darkness.

"Make your flying tool turn right, pass through between the two nearby peaks," just then, He Ao’s voice sounded in Anke’s ear.

Anke paused for a moment, then glanced out into the silent night, "The route outside should be fine, no?"

"Hmm?" Geslo beside him turned his head to look at Anke, "What’s the matter? What’s the problem?"

Being asked, Anke stiffened, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Can we change the route, like turning right, passing between the two peaks we just went by?"

"Two peaks? Where are the peaks?" Geslo was slightly taken aback; he looked outside at the pitch-black scene and then raised his hand to open the surrounding navigational topographical map.

Accompanied by the holographic projection display, he glanced at Anke in surprise, "Can you see clearly in such darkness?"

"I’ve had better vision than most since I was young," Anke replied casually, "The important thing isn’t that, the important thing is, can we turn right?"

Actually, he hadn’t seen anything either, but since the old man said there was something, there must be something. If the old man had seen it, then he had seen it too.

"I’m not a professional," Geslo stood up and picked up an intercom on the wall, "I’ll ask the driver for you."

He pressed the intercom and connected to the cockpit. After a brief pause, a voice quickly sounded from the other side, "Geslo, is there something wrong? We’re crossing the Federal Line of the Rockville Energy Group, and a slight mistake could get us discovered. Don’t bother me if it’s nothing urgent."

Geslo quickly relayed Anke’s words, then asked, "Can we turn right?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side, followed by a scoff, "Seriously, Geslo, you’re not that old, are you getting senile? I’ve said before the wilderness is dangerous. If you don’t understand, don’t try to give orders. Outsider guiding insiders could get us killed, you know that?"

Then there was a deep breath taken, a calmer voice saying, "Do you know what the two mountains on the right are? Those are Death Peaks, home to D-level exotic beasts ’Deceitful Bees’. If you pass by them, they’ll sting you like a porcupine to use for nesting. It’s only night now, but during the day, I’ll show you those peaks with trees hanging full of honey-dripping dry corpses."

"Is it really that horrifying?" Anke said, a bit embarrassed.

Just hearing those descriptions made him shiver a little.

And at this time, He Ao’s voice once again sounded in his ear, "There’s an ambush ahead, go right, the bees won’t attack us."

Anke let out a sigh of relief, thank goodness, the old man wasn’t like those wizard grandfather tales that love to be mysterious and play riddle games, he spoke directly.

He looked at Geslo and directly said, "There’s an ambush ahead. We have to go past those two peaks. I have a way to prevent the bees from stinging us."

"You say no stings, and there will be no stings?" Before Geslo could speak, the voice came from the intercom, "Are you more familiar with this place than I am? Do you know how many of my brothers died next to those peaks—"

"Enough!" Geslo said coldly.

The other side of the intercom suddenly went silent, "There’s no ambush ahead. I’ve already sent several camouflaged drones over, and nothing was found."

Geslo didn’t reply to the intercom side, instead, he turned his head to Anke, "Are you sure there’s an ambush ahead?"

Anke nodded slightly.

Geslo continued to ask, "Are you sure the Deceitful Bees won’t attack us?"

Anke hesitated slightly, recalling their previous shortcut across the wilderness with a floating warplane to reach Ilotan, and nodded again.

"Alright." Geslo nodded slightly and spoke to the intercom, "Follow the instructions just given, I’m the commander now, and those are orders."

There was a brief silence from the intercom, then a somewhat stiff response, "Yes!"

"Send out a drone, go explore upfront, see if there’s an ambush." Geslo’s tone softened a bit, speaking quickly.

"Alright," the intercom quickly responded.

Anke turned his gaze outside the window, faintly feeling the night scenery outside shifting and changing, as if the floating warplane was turning.

At the same time, under the shadow of the night, some faintly perceptible things swiftly crossed through the darkness.

They appeared to be released drones.

"Are those gliding drones?" Anke looked at those vague shadows and asked softly.

"Yes," Geslo nodded, "These drones are silent and coated with stealth materials; they can’t be detected by radar and are the best ’scouts’."

At this point, he paused slightly to explain, "The ones released earlier were also these drones."

Now it was Anke’s turn to fall into silence.

He knew Geslo was a bit displeased with his requests.

But because he was the focus of this trip, someone Eric particularly cared for, Geslo was willing to listen to his ’opinion.’

But frankly, this action was gambling the lives of the entire team.

Anke believed the old man wouldn’t be wrong, but these operatives didn’t have that level of trust, and they weren’t hearing the old man’s words but Anke’s.

This made it even less credible.

Yet the Ilotan City Defense Army was indeed very obedient, following orders that seemed like suicide without question or condition.

If it were himself in the Mercenary Corps, he would argue more, maybe even ready to secretly escape by now.

Anke took a deep breath, watching the slowly changing scenery outside the window.

Faintly, there seemed to be two peaks rising in that night sky.

He couldn’t tell whether those were actual peaks or just clouds he imagined as peaks.

He took a deep breath, perhaps to ease the awkwardness, turned his gaze back, looked at Geslo, and asked softly, "Those who were rescued under the club, do you know where they went?"

"Mr. Eric arranged for them to stay at the City Defense Army’s camp, providing free treatment from doctors," Geslo said softly, "Most have woken up, groggy, some are disoriented, thinking they’ve traveled through an Otherworld and back, and a small group still remains asleep. The doctor says they don’t wish to wake."

"That’s good." Anke sighed slightly.

Everyone has their own choices; reality might not be better than dreams.

But just as he was feeling sentimental, Geslo’s eyes stopped on the window beside him.

Anke turned around and looked at the window. In the depths of the darkness, sparks were lighting up.

Those were exploding drones.

Immediately after, beams of light emerged from the dark.

Geslo saw this scene and immediately stood up, grabbed the intercom, and shouted loudly, "Ambush, speed up!"