Lord of the OasisLord of the Oasis
Seeing that the air pressure in the field was getting lower and lower, Austin quickly walked forward and hid Gilbert behind him. He put on a smile on his face and said to Devitt, “Captain Devitt, I’m sorry. We have to hurry up and help set up the tent. Please excuse us.”
As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Devitt to reply, Austin held Gilbert’s hand and left the place.
Devitt looked at the receding figures of the two people and asked Claremont and Abel, “Do you think that Gilbert has found out the reason why we sent Austin to his side?”
“Well,” Claremont pursed his dry lips and replied, “I’m not very sure.”
“I think that Gilbert hasn’t found it out yet. Otherwise, it would be hard to imagine that at his age, he would be so calm and aggressive toward us in that kind of situation.” Abel analyzed calmly.
“What Abel said makes sense.” Devitt nodded. “But his vigilance towards us is indeed high.”
“Since the plan to keep him in the army was established, don’t we have to play the bad cop in front of him?” Claremont didn’t care much about Gilbert’s attitude just now.
Devitt silently lowered his eyes, looked at the blue sky and white clouds on the plateau, and sighed.
“My life is really hard!”
At the dinner table, Jeb held his lunch box that had been cleaned out by Gilbert and wailed.
Levin laughed and stomped his feet. “You silly big guy, who told you to challenge him? You asked for it.”
Jeb said with red eyes, “That little guy is even faster than the badger in my hometown. I can’t catch up with him no matter how hard I try.”
“I can see it, I can see it.” a soldier holding a rice bowl said with disdain, “Well, in order to make up for you letting us watch an amateur versus professional game, you can choose any dish in this bowl.”
“Really?!” Jeb widened his eyes and said happily. His cheeks were also flushed.
“Yes.” the soldier nodded.
“Thank you, thank you.” Jeb said hurriedly.
“How can you fill your stomach with just that? Come, come, come. I’ll share this rice with you.” a soldier sitting across from him stood up and said.
“Thank you, all of you.” Jeb raised his face from the rice bowl, and said emotionally.
“I thought you looked unfamiliar before. So you’re a new recruit who just joined the army a year ago. As a new recruit, you must be very impressive to be selected here, right?” the soldier who shared the rice with Jeb said.
“I’m not very impressive. Levin already knew it when he first met me today. I am just born with some brute force.” Jeb was a little embarrassed from being praised, and his words became humble. “Isn’t that right, Captain Levin?”
“Uh…” Levin sat in his chair and looked at the eager and curious looks of the soldiers around him. He sighed in his heart. If he had known this would happen, why would he have hidden Jeb’s portion of dinner.
He originally wanted Jeb to suffer the pain of not having dinner for an entire night. He could use this opportunity to educate Jeb that he should never compare himself to others in the future.
However, he didn’t expect Jeb’s personality and behavior would be respected by the soldiers.
Levin mostly dealt with higher-ranking officers in the barracks.
As a result, he spent too much time like this, and he couldn’t help but ignore the enthusiasm of the other soldiers.
At the moment when the table was filled with soldiers celebrating Jeb’s ‘victory’, Levin truly felt his military life.
“Actually, I knew that you came to our military camp a long time ago, because you are much bigger than us. I could see you at a glance in the assembled troops. However, looking at your face, I felt that you were quite difficult to get in touch with. I didn’t come to greet you, but now I know that you have such a good personality.” a soldier praised.
The group of people chatted more and more happily. From time to time, new people from other tables would join them. As a result, this table was the last to be cleaned up that night.
Unlike the noisy atmosphere in the open space of the camp, Devitt and the other two quickly gathered together after dinner.
They sat around the table and carefully planned on the open map.
“Gilbert did lead us out of the snake-woman’s territory. We’re only left with the dragon’s territory for the rest of the journey.” Abel first broke the quiet atmosphere.
“I heard that the dragon clan is currently in hibernation, but we still have to be careful.” Devitt warned.
“We’re finally close to the volcano. The past two months have really tormented me.” Claremont said.
“Although this part of the journey hasn’t been smooth, we been quite lucky along the way. We didn’t make too many unnecessary sacrifices. I hope that the situation will be much easier when we’re carrying out the mission afterward.” Abel recalled the past two months and said.
“Carrying out the mission is not so simple.” Claremont’s eyes seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist. At this moment, he was crouching on the table as he spoke in a low voice.
The other two did not immediately reply. They also knew that the volcano was located in the center of the entire island. The forces that could take root there were probably more powerful than any of the forces they had seen before. If they wanted to get information about the dwarf clan, they would have to participate in the struggle between these forces. The situation would be even more cruel than it was now.
“If you want to control the future in your hands, you have to grasp the clues leading to it. The moment we step into the volcanic area, everything we encounter will determine our direction of progress. Prepare to set up your own defensive line.” Devitt concluded.
Claremont straightened his body and nodded.
Abel did the same.
The three of them concluded their night meeting. Claremont and Abel walked out of the tent. As they enjoyed the night breeze, Claremont asked Abel, “Abel, have you fought in any wars before?”
“Yes, but at that time, I was not the commander-in-chief,” Abel replied. “What about you? Before this, have you ever followed your country’s army anywhere?”
“No, I have always been a small fry in the military camp,” Claremont replied. “It’s just that I was suddenly called out and followed everyone until now.”
“Are you nervous about the future?” Abel turned to look at Claremont asked.
“I’m a little nervous, my emotions have also become a little sensitive.” Claremont took a deep breath and said, “But not only for me, but also for everyone.”
“It’s also my first time being appointed as the leader. When I was sitting just now, I thought about it and realized that my resolution is far from enough.” Abel nodded slightly and said while looking at the dark night sky.