BXBX NOVEL Chapter 137 A Calm Day
<strong>--AN) Here is the second chapter! A little late today, but I was getting things together for my Fantasy Carnival entry. Please check out, Alantina Online: The Greatest Sword Mage Reborn As A Weak NPC. The first chapter is already up!--</strong>
"What!? Why would we die!?" Helen cried out. While the rest all kept quiet, Dr. Stanley could only shake his head at Helen\'s reaction. After all the girl had been through, she still seemed to be stuck in the old days.
Old May did not get angry and only smiled as she said: "Because the Lord\'s wives are very strict about one thing. Never disrespect the man who has worked the hardest at putting this place together. If we were not bound by a contract, we would also kill you without hesitation. Those who live in this base can live normal lives. We lack nothing. The Lord is a kind man who has a vision. A vision that will allow all the races of the world to live in peace and harmony. He is working hard to grow stronger, and he has already brought in many races. He has given all of us new meaning. Some of us have been here before the Age of Magic arrived. We survived all this time because of him and the preparations he made. Do not look down on him because he is young. He is someone who we all look up to."
Helen was still confused, but one thing that stuck out to her was the whole wives thing. "I see…. I will be careful not to say anything bad, but what do you mean by his wives?"
"Hmm? Haha…." Old May chuckled as she covered her mouth with her hand. "Little girl, you need to stop thinking as if this is the past. The human race has almost become extinct. The days when men have many wives have returned. Otherwise, humans won\'t last long if you keep thinking like you do. Have you not seen the world around you? The monsters that now roam the land? We are no longer at the height of humanity. We are no longer at the top of the food chain. You should drop your old ideals."
Old May\'s words were heavy. Helen, who did not wish to think about it, was suddenly forced to hear everything she did not wish to hear. She hung her head and followed silently, not daring to say more.
"Miss, may I know what this contract is?" Dr. Stanley finally spoke up. He was truly interested in this.
"It is a contract that will kill the person if they go against the rules set. While it might seem out of place, but this is a new world. Such contracts are needed, so people do not get greedy. Take it from this old woman, humans are very greedy. Some will not settle for having someone like the Lord as their leader. Some might want to abuse the positions they gain. But this is now no longer possible with the contract. We have our own free will, we can even leave the base if we wish, but we can never harm or betray the people here. Of course, there is free speech, but this is just a matter of course. We all work hard together as a community. One bad egg will easily be settled." Old May gave a meaningful look to Helen, who did not dare raise her head. She was still trying to come to terms with all of this.
"I see. I understand. If I may ask a question. I saw the Lord use some kind of attack. It was a ball of fire he flung at the people who were after us." Dr. Stanley really wanted to know how Blake did such a thing.
"You mean this?" Old May flipped her hand. A small fireball formed, causing everyones\' eyes to open wide in surprise. "You will soon learn this too."
Old May settled everyone in and then went to tell Mike that Blake was back. And the man in question was still outside, sitting at one of the tables playing chess with an old man named Old Ling. He was a Chinese man with a long white beard. "Lord, do you have to keep making moves that make no sense!?"
"Old Ling, I keep telling you I know nothing about chess!" Blake scratched his head. He only knew the basics of chess. If he did not promise to play a game with Old Ling, he would not be playing it because he knew he would lose!
"Haha! Lord, it is all about the strategy. If you want to be a good commander and want to be able to keep ahead of those who wish to do you or the ones you care about from harm, you always need to be thinking a few steps ahead." Old Ling words sunk into Blake\'s heart. He knew what Old Ling was saying, but that did not mean he would suddenly become a chess genius overnight!
"I understand…." Blake picked up his piece and placed it on the chess board before getting up.
"Hmmm? Why are you getting up? The game is not over ye….. What!? How the hell did you win!?" Old Ling quickly glanced over the pieces. "When did you?"
"Old Ling, one thing you should also know is to only act when you are ready to fully attack and win. When I made my moves just now, I was looking at the board and watching where your pieces could go. I may not know chess all that well, but I can at least read a chessboard." With that, Blake walked into the base. Only after he left did Old Ling look at the board for a few seconds before slapping his knee. "That brat! He lied! I could have easily won!"
"Haha! Old Ling, it\'s all about presence! The Lord has an aura around him that makes it seem like he is telling the truth even when he is bullshitting us." Another old man walked up and sat down, and looked at the board. "He got you to follow his lead the entire time, making you miss the simple moves you could have made to win. You are getting old."
"I am only eighty! With this new mana shit, I will live to be five hundred easily. Come on, set the pieces up. Let\'s play a game." Old Ling was disgruntled, but he had to hand it to Blake for being able to pull a fast one on him. He acted so confident that Old Ling had read the chessboard wrong!
As for Blake, he walked into the base grinning from ear to ear. He would have lost anyway, so he figured he would try to walk off as if he had won, and it seemed to work. Did he feel bad about tricking an old man? Nope! He did not. He actually felt pretty good about it. "What are you grinning like that for? It\'s creepy."
"I was thinking of trying to find you a goblin female to marry since you can\'t seem to woo any of the girls in the base." Blake retorted, causing Mike\'s face to turn sink.
"I heard about those things. I sure as hell want nothing to do with them." Mike ignored the rest of Blake\'s comment as he continued: "How was the goblin extermination?"
"It went smoothly. Although we did go overboard. We ran into another group called the Stalkers. We killed quite a few of them, but they were not the whole group. We need to be careful as they are cannibals." Blake warned. Mike\'s expression turned ugly. He could only let out a sigh.
"Alright. I will let the men know. Are you going to be hanging around for a bit this time?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, we need to work on the base expansion as we are getting more people in. As well as the new outposts. I plan to work with Bret on scouting out the best locations, but we will be back before nightfall for each excursion. It will also allow us to know what is living around us." Blake wanted to take this chance to get a good read on their surroundings. He hoped there was nothing too bad in the area.
"Alright. I will keep things going here." Mike really did not want to leave the base at this time since he still had a lot of work to do. He was in charge of a lot.
"I am counting on you. You and Bret are my Left and Right. Without you guys, we wouldn\'t be where we are at now." Blake meant this. Bret and Mike had kept the base safe while he was out. And this was something he was truly grateful for.
"Heh… I appreciate the sentiment. We are just doing what we want. We followed you because we believed in you, and we still do." Mike replied as he scratched his neck. "Anyway, I am off to check the training room. I need to come up with some harder training for the men."
"Alright. I am gonna go visit my wives. I am sure I will be busy for the next few hours." Blake yawned and waved his hand before heading to his palace. When he walked into the room, his girls were all still sleeping. He quietly went to bathe before walking back into the room and slipping up next to Lillia, who was holding the egg in her arms. He snuggled up next to the egg and closed his eyes. He wondered if it was a boy or a girl. He kinda hoped for a son first so he could protect his future siblings….
When he finally woke up late in the afternoon, he found only Noa at his side reading a book. She leaned against the pillow with a gentle smile on her lips as she read. He blinked a few times as he asked: "You can read english?"
"Mm…. It is actually a simple language. I must say the stories you humans came up with are pretty interesting. Without knowing if they were true or not, you wrote stories of elves and dwarves and many other races. It\'s very interesting indeed." Noa answered, her eyes still glued to the book.
Blake chuckled as he crawled up next to her and used her stomach as a pillow. "Well, to us, it was all fantasy until the apocalypse. But maybe deep down in our memories, we knew all about the old world without realizing it."
"I guess that is true, but Blake, what does that have to do with the fact that you are playing with my…." Noa\'s cheeks were red as she bit her lip. She had no choice but to put her book down and enjoy the sensation she was feeling as Blake played with her secret garden.