Carl watched them from the window for a long time. Finally, the noisy crowd outside began to move into the courtyard. It seemed that they were done congratulating Arthur and Sofia.
Looking back at the clock at the head of the bed, Carl said in his heart, "It's time for dinner..."
Sure enough, after a while, Vivian knocked on the door and called him, "Brother Carl, the dean asked us to go down for dinner. To celebrate Brother Arthur and Sister Sofia's success today, the chef has made a lot of delicious food for us!"
...
Carl pulled himself together and opened the door with a smile. Looking at the adorable Vivian, he could not help reaching out to rub her hair and she responded with a lovely smile.
They went downstairs, laughing and chasing each other all the way, but Carl suddenly stopped before the dining room.
Carl stood outside the lively dining room and felt a sudden inexpressible loneliness. Vivian bounced into the room while Carl followed her, after uttering a silent sigh.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Carl entered the room, the whole room fell silent, as if someone had magically cast a spell.
In the weird silence, even the lively Vivian quietened down—she walked straight to her seat and sat down.
Carl looked around and struggling to maintain his composure, said while smiling, "What's wrong? Don't you know me after I took a nap? Am I no longer your big brother Carl?"
Joel, Tom, Jerry, Ron and Chris, who were close to Carl, burst out laughing.
Indeed, whatever happened, Carl would always be their brother Carl! All of a sudden, the tension in the air dissipated and the noise started up again.
"Big brother, let's eat!" Joel greeted him with a smile and took his exclusive seat next to Carl.
Carl smiled and nodded. Then he slowly walked to his seat. Looking around, he found that there were indeed many more nice dishes being served today.
Suddenly, Carl sensed two sets of eyes watching him. He turned his head and saw Arthur and Sofia sitting diagonally across the table from him. Their gazes had been fixed on him since he entered the dining room.
Now, they looked at each other across the table. Sofia looked at him attentively. It seemed that she wanted very much to talk to Carl but did not know how to begin.
Compared with her, Arthur appeared much calmer—he just stared at Carl nonchalantly. He seemed to have become more mature after today's test and was no longer the sensitive and timid younger brother of Carl.
Carl looked steadily at Arthur, the corners of his mouth slowly rising. Then he looked away and began to talk happily with Joel.
However, he knew in his heart that only Sofia would remain close to him in the future. Arthur had a snobbish dislike for his inferiors. As long as he was not a War Spirit warrior, they would grow farther and farther apart.
"He chose to dissociate with me early. Anyway, for him, our friendship would be lost sooner or later." Carl thought to himself while eating. From Arthur's eyes, he could read what he was thinking.
Soon, the children finished this feast. Under the guidance of their female caretakers, they went back to their separate rooms to rest.
Arthur wasted no time and left the dining room quickly. Sofia intentionally stayed behind and finally plucked up the courage to come to Carl.
Carl looked at the slightly anxious Sofia and asked with a smile, "What's up? According to the rules, we'll have to report tomorrow. You have to rest early tonight!"
Sofia, usually as naughty as a boy, looked very gentle today. While looking at Carl, she suddenly behaved like a shy little girl and pouted coquettishly, which caught Carl a little offguard.
"Carl! Do you know that after we report tomorrow, Arthur, you and I may never see each other again in the future!"
Carl nodded. Of course, he knew that. The status of War Spirit warriors and that of the common soldiers were as far apart as heaven and earth. Besides, War Spirit warriors would also be sent to different parts of the Gamma Empire.
"Don't... don't you feel sad at all?" Sofia was a little angry. Carl appeared as uncaring as a block of wood, which was rare.
Carl did not know how to deal with Sofia, who suddenly became angry and looked aggrieved. He was confused and secretly thought, "She is as cool as a boy, but now, she seems to have become as emotional as Vivian..."
"Of course I'm sad! But I can't be a War Spirit warrior, so I don't know what I can do..." Carl shook his head helplessly. Then he raised his head and said expectantly, as he looked at Sofia, "But according to the laws of the empire, it will take only three years of military service for an ordinary soldier to regain his identity as a civilian..."
...
Before Carl could finish speaking, Sofia pressed her fingers against Carl's lips and stopped him.
"Carl, three years later, no matter what kind of position I hold, I will definitely come back to see you in Rum Town!" Sofia promised with a very serious expression.
Carl was utterly stunned and stared at Sofia. As he felt the soft touch of Sofia's fingers, his head was in turmoil.
Sofia took a deep look at Carl and finally ran off, blushing, leaving Carl alone in a daze...
Carl wandered into the courtyard as if he had lost his soul. Initially, he thought that he was ready to say goodbye to Sofia and Arthur.
However, Sofia's touch and promise awakened the hidden bitterness in the depths of his heart. In a daze, Carl wandered over to the gate of the courtyard. Unexpectedly, he found that Silas had forgotten to lock the door today!
Looking back at the courtyard, he found that all the lights in their rooms had been switched off. Except for the glow from a few fireflies among the leaves above the yard, there was no light at all.
"Forget it. Anyway, I can't sleep now. Why don't I take a look at the back garden?" Carl made this decision quickly. Cautiously without making any noise, he pushed the door and closed it behind him. Then he ran to the back garden.
To his surprise, when he came near, he noticed that the group of soldiers who were there yesterday had not left! Their numbers had actually increased!
The abnormal change provoked his curiosity. "So many soldiers are drawn to this place. What on earth has appeared in the back garden?"
After observing these soldiers' patrol routes from a distance, Carl deftly avoided most of the soldiers and slipped into the garden through a crack in the fence.
As soon as Carl got into the back garden, he was immediately shocked at the change in the surroundings and cried out in his heart, "What happened? Is this our back garden?" He looked around, trying to find any familiar landmark."Oh, my god, these people must have too much free time..." Carl could not help exclaiming in astonishment. The previous garbage hill had been turned into neatly organized garbage cubes, which were then stacked into endless orderly garbage walls."No! These people could not have come here merely to help us tidy up the back garden!" Among the walls, Carl recognized some old junk that had been buried at the bottom of the garbage hill.The garbage hill had been scavenged through. No one would do this even if he wanted to sort out the rubbish.Carl continued to explore. Sure enough, some of the rubbish that was familiar to him were placed outside, in orderly rows."What's this?" Carl looked at the i
"This is a War Spirit warrior......" Carl looked at the War Spirit warrior before him with eyes that shone. It was obvious that he did not have any weapons in his hands and waist earlier!But at this moment, with a flash of silver light, two peculiar-shaped pistols appeared in his hands. It was so magical that it was hard for anyone to fathom this exceptional skill, except for the warriors of the War Spirit!At the moment when Carl was still in a daze, the warrior had taken aim at the extraordinary bug with his two guns, as it struggled in the same spot."Silly boy, why haven't you left yet?" When he was about to pull the trigger, the War Spirit warrior suddenly hesitated. Looking back, he found that Carl was still standing in the same place, so he immediately roared.Unexpectedly, when he turned around and wanted to shoot again, there was a sudden clicking sound. With a huge tug, the extraordinary bug managed to pull out its sharp
The War Spirit warrior nodded and then said in a soft voice, "If we follow your plan, it should not be a problem for us to restrict its movements......"Roar!Before they could talk further, the six-legged bug had already rushed up to them again."Let's go!" The warrior asked Carl to climb on his back. He held the weapon tightly in his hands and started to run.As a War Spirit warrior who mainly focused on long-range shooting, his movements were very light and fast.Although his movements slowed down a little due to Carl's weight, he was still able to run quite fast."Boy, when we get to the key spot, let me know immediately!""Sure!" Carl replied loudly. Suddenly, a strong wind blew from behind him. Carl turned his head and saw that the terrifying face of the six-legged bug was looming before him.Without needing Carl to shout out a warning, the War Spirit warrior could smell the
After the warrior ceased his attack, Carl removed his hands from his ears."The more powerful the two guns were, the more violent the noise was...... " Carl glanced at the silver guns in the warrior's hands and murmured in his heart.As if he had noticed Carl's gaze, the warrior grinned. With a flash of silver light, the two guns suddenly disappeared from his hands."Boy, although your unexpected appearance today has caused a minor hitch in my battle...... It did not turn out too badly by the looks of the result."After killing the six-legged bug, the War Spirit warrior felt relaxed and came toward Carl with a smile.He also knew very well that if Carl had not shown up at this garbage station tonight, the outcome of the battle between him and the six-legged bug was hard to tell.Instead of blaming Carl, the War Spirit warrior looked at him, feeling pleased.Carl grinned. After this life-and-de
Carl gradually woke up from his faint. The first thing he saw was a cold iron fence. The surrounding walls were empty and smooth without any holes.He looked up at the ceiling, where a white light was illuminating the whole room.Carl was shocked. What was this place? Before he lost consciousness, he remembered clearly that he was in the garbage station in the trash mountain.When Carl was about to stand up, he heard a few sounds. He turned his head and found that he was kneeling on the ground with both his hands and feet tightly bound by thick iron chains."What's going on?" Feeling strange, Carl finally could not help shouting.Even though Carl had never been here, he could tell by the surroundings and the iron chains on his arms and legs that it was a cell!Carl remembered that before he lost consciousness, he had just fought with a War Spirit warrior and killed a Zerg bug.In this case, no
There was a tattoo of a silver gun on Carl's wrist!"What's going on? I didn't have this before!" Carl's eyes widened in astonishment. He remembered that he had never had such a mark on his wrist since he was a child.What's more, the mark was at the same spot where he felt the searing pain yesterday..."Your excellency, this boy..." One of the soldiers looked at Carl with a shocked expression and suddenly became tongue-tied.The officer nodded, looked at Carl intently and said, "Since he has a mark now, his current problem is not something we can deal with..."After thinking for a while, the officer ordered two soldiers to take Carl out of the cell and left in a hurry.With a confused look on his face, Carl was taken to another small room by the soldiers. Compared with the airless cell just now, this room was much more comfortable.At this time, the first ray of sunlight shone into the room t
"Good luck, man!" When Carl passed by, the two soldiers sincerely wished him well.The corners of Carl's mouth curved slightly as he nodded. Although he had only known these two soldiers for one night, he could still feel their sincerity.After leaving the room, Carl calmed down and followed the officer in silence.With the speculation of the two soldiers just now, Carl admitted to himself that the officer of the Empire-shield Army should be a War Spirit warrior.Other than Darke who died last night, this was the second War Spirit warrior that Carl met. His heart could not help being filled with curiosity.The officer noticed that Carl was staring at him. After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped and asked in a deep voice, "Is there anything on my back? Why are you staring at me?"Carl's mouth opened but he did not know how to answer. He thought it would be weird to ask if the officer was a War Spirit
After Carl shouted out his pledge, the whole room suddenly fell silent. After a long time, General Davin burst into laughter.The inexplicable laughter rang through the communicator in the room. After venting his emotions, Carl became nervous again and stood still.After laughing, General Davin looked intently at Carl, turned his head and said to the officer, "You should know what to do next, right?"The officer immediately stood straight and saluted General Davin. He replied in an earnest voice, "Don't worry, general. I'll handle everything."After receiving the reply, General Davin nodded with satisfaction. After glancing at Carl again, he finally turned off the communicator.After the screen was turned off, the officer let out a long sigh of relief. Although General Davin was kind when talking to Carl, not many generals were as kind as him.After taking a moment to calm himself down, the officer looked