Chapter Fifty Another One

  A cold night wind blows by.

  Rod stood on the second floor balcony, quietly gazing at the beautiful scenery of Deep Stone City in front of him. On the edge of the dark and vast mine pit, the flickering lights were connected into a bright necklace, which looked dazzling and charming under the reflection of the dark sky. The sound of wind, water flow, and the distant noise formed a brand new world.

  At this moment, Luo De felt more clearly than ever that this was the world where he existed.

  "Ta-da! Ta-da!"

  A crisp footstep sounded, but Rode didn't turn his head back. The other person also didn't speak, but walked to Rode's side and gazed at the scenery together with him. After a while, Marlin's clear and pleasant voice finally appeared beside Rode's ear.

  "I've already heard about you from Lijie, thank you."

  "It seems I haven't done anything worth thanking me for."

  Luo De said without turning his head back.

  "You saved Lijie, this is a very important thing for me."

  Marlene stretched out her hand and tidied up her long hair. She raised her head, looking at the back of the man in front of her with a complex expression.

  "She is my only friend, from past to present, I have only her as a friend. If she dies..." Marin stopped here, but Rod already understood what she meant."

  "Do you know Lijie's past?"

  "If she were willing to say it, I think she would have told me."

  Facing the girl's counter-question, Rod didn't give a direct answer, but just shrugged his shoulders and gave a vague response. Upon hearing Rod's reply, Marlin also didn't say anything more, quietly gazing at the back of this man in front of her, biting her teeth. Although Lige told her that Rod was a very easy-going person, from Marlin's "personal experience", she really couldn't see what made this handsome guy who looked like a woman so easy to get along with...

  "I've made up my mind, Mr. Lord. I'll accept your terms, and I hope you can let me stay."

  "Oh?"

  Hearing Marlene's response, Rod turned around.

  "Have you decided?"

  "Yes."

  Facing Rod's inquiring gaze, Marlin proudly lifted her head. Although she had lost badly to Rod in their contest, it was also because of this that the girl knew where her shortcomings lay. Although she still didn't quite believe that Rod could offer any good advice or opinions, since she couldn't do it herself, she might as well accept others' opinions.

  Since she had made up her mind, Marlene would never go back on her decision, and that was where her pride lay.

  "Alright."

  As for the girl's transformation, Luo De didn't say much, he just nodded slightly.

  "Has your wound healed?"

  "Alright then."

  Mentioning this, Marlin's originally calm expression changed slightly, and she subconsciously pressed her wrist, where the injury wasn't serious. After Lisha treated it, there wasn't even a scar left behind. However, the impact of this injury on Marlin was enormous, and even now, thinking about it makes her feel like her arm still hurts a little.

  "You originally had the chance to defeat me."

  Rod's unexpected words made Marlene raise her head in surprise, staring at him in astonishment, wondering why this man would suddenly say such a thing.

  "Your injury is not serious, if you had seized the opportunity to counterattack me at that time, even if you failed, it wouldn't have been so quick. But you gave up a good chance of counterattacking because of an injury that didn't matter, and instead put yourself in an increasingly dangerous situation."

  When she heard this, Marlin's face turned slightly red. Afterwards, she recalled her battle with Rod several times and found that if she could remain calm, although it was not certain that she could defeat the strange young man, she could at least ensure that she would not lose so badly. However, after getting injured, she lost her composure and did not know what to do, which led to her subsequent defeat. Indeed, as Rod said, a small wound on the arm is nothing, but because of this small wound, she almost lost her life...

  "I understand what you mean, thank you, Mr. Lord."

  "Don't be polite, I'm just talking casually."

  After saying that, Roder turned around again, and Marlene this time looked hesitant, silent for a moment before asking in a low voice.

  "Mr. Luo De, I heard... you are from Dongfang Mountain Village."

  "Yes, what's wrong?"

  "No... I just wanted..."

  The girl opened her mouth, but in the end, she still didn't express the doubts in her heart.

  "It's all right, then I'll take my leave first, good night, Mr. Lode."

  It shouldn't be possible, according to records, that family had already been extinct for a long time.

  Marlene shook her head and threw the idea to the back of her mind, then she lifted her skirt and curtsied to Rode, after which she intended to turn around and leave.

  Just then, a loud voice suddenly rose from the ground, startling the girl.

  "Hey, you damn kid, where are you? I'm coming!!"

  As he walked to the front door, Rod quickly saw old Walker standing there. The old man had already lost his lazy and decadent appearance in the tavern a few days ago. His dirty clothes had been replaced with an old but very clean leather armor. A crude wooden longbow and quiver were slung over his back, making him look particularly spirited - except for that face which looked like someone owed him money.

  "I didn't think you'd show up, Mr. Walker."

  Although the old Walker's face clearly showed a look of dissatisfaction, Rode completely ignored him, walked to the old man's side, swept him up and down, and then nodded.

  "Twenty minutes left... Alright, welcome to my mercenary corps. From today on, you are an official member of the mercenary corps."

  Don't be too smug, kid.

  Old Wok hummed a cold reply in response to Rode's words.

  "I want to see just how badly you, an arrogant guy, will fail. Humph, at that time, I'll be sure to mock you well and let this ignorant little brat personally experience the cruelty of reality!"

  "Only the weak think reality is cruel."

  In the face of Old Walker's provocation, Rod replied with a sentence that completely didn't take it seriously, which also made the old man uncomfortable and rolled his eyes. Then he glanced at Marlin, who was standing at the door with an obviously dissatisfied gaze, and pursed his lips.

  "Who is this? Your woman? She's not bad looking, just a bit ugly in the face..."

  "You!!!!!!"

  When she heard this, Marlene couldn't help but lose her temper. Originally, because of Old Walker's loud voice, she had already classified him as one of those rude and impolite guys. Now hearing that he actually dared to say something like this made the noble-born young lady unable to bear it.

  "How rude, I..."

  "This is Marlene Saina, an old acquaintance of Liche's who has temporarily joined our mercenary band to take action together."

  However, it was clear that Rod did not intend to give Marlin the opportunity to vent her anger. Before she could open her mouth, he waved his hand and interrupted her words. Then, he slightly stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation to the old man.

  "Well, Mr. Walker, it's late today, I'll have a room prepared for you, get some rest, and we'll set out early tomorrow to Pavlov's tomb."

  "Of course no problem, kiddo, you think I am... wait a minute!!"

  It wasn't until halfway through the conversation that the old man realized what was going on. He stared at Rode in surprise, his eyes wide with shock, and then sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

  "Pavel's graveyard? What are we doing in that godforsaken place?! You took on that damned mission?"

  "Of course."

  Rod raised an eyebrow in response to Old Wok's questioning.

  "What's wrong with you, kid!! How dare you take on this task! Why didn't you tell me from the start!"

  "It's simple, first, when we went to find you initially, I hadn't taken on the task yet. Second, even if we had taken it on at that time, you weren't a member of our mercenary group then, and I didn't think there was any need to tell you."

  "You... you... you..."

  Old Wok's finger pointed at Rode, his hand even trembling with anger.

  "You actually played me, I'm out of here!"

  "You're welcome."

  In the face of the old man's roar and threat, Rod didn't even lift an eyebrow. He knew that this old man was actually a masochist, and if he wasn't properly disciplined, he wouldn't listen to his orders. So from the start, it was better not to be polite to him, so that he would follow his instructions. Moreover, even if the old man really got angry and left, Rod didn't care. He already had at least two people planning to challenge the cemetery, and Marlin's joining was a very strong help. In this case, whether Old Walk came or not was up to him.

  "For a turtle that withdraws its head, speaking without faith is not something strange."

  "You...... you.........."

  Upon hearing Rod's sarcastic remark, Old Walker felt his blood rushing up and almost fainted. Meanwhile, Marlin, who was standing at the door, let out a light "huh" of laughter and looked at Rod with a playful gaze.

  Because Rod always had a straight face, Marlin initially thought he was the silent type. However, after actually interacting with him, the girl discovered that this man didn't lack words at all, and sometimes his words could be quite hurtful. Although Rod's age was only a few years older than hers, Marlin felt like she was always looking up to him, even when standing in front of him. This feeling was something she had never experienced with people around her own age.

  Maybe he's an exception?

  After staring at Rod for a while, Old Walker finally gave up, dropped his hand and turned around.

  "Alright, kid, you win. I'll go with you, but let me make one thing clear: if things don't feel right, I'm turning back immediately! I may be old, but I'm not ready to entrust my life to a reckless young whippersnapper like you just yet!"

  "No problem."

  Rod shrugged his shoulders in response to Old Wok's words.

  "If you can do it, I have no objection."

  What does he mean?

  Hearing Rod's answer, Old Walker looked at the young man standing in front of him with some confusion and astonishment. What did he mean by this?