Chapter 499 Afternoon Breeze
At night, four people were barbecuing in the open space outside the warehouse. The charcoal fire was dark red, and oil fell into it from time to time, emitting traces of green smoke and fragrance.
"Would you like a can of beer?" Gen asked the girl sitting on the iron bucket opposite.
Tilan was holding the freshly grilled lamb chops in her hand, blowing on them and eating slowly. It must be said that the Maillard reaction caused by the barbecue made the food particularly attractive, with its aroma, temperature and , taste, together form a wonderful feeling.
"A can of something lighter." Tilan raised her hand, and the other party picked out a can from the crushed ice and threw it over.
After catching it, Tilan put it aside for the time being and waited until she finished eating the bunch in her hand before drinking.
The other two people, Suojia would be squatting on the scrap metal box, eating meat and drinking cocktails in one bite, while Alanna was a little more elegant, sitting on the chair next to the barbecue grill, eating slowly, with a bag on her head. Headphones, occasionally tapping the speaker next to him with his fingers, as if thinking about the melody of some song.
Genn briefly turned over the meat on the grill, then leaned on the lounge chair nearby. He drank a large gulp of beer comfortably, then picked up a skewer of grilled meat and enjoyed it.
Because of Tilan's arrival and Alanna's recovery, the atmosphere tonight was obviously much better. It was not as anxious and depressing as the previous days. Suojia even remembered something in the middle and moved a dismantled car player over. , connect the speakers to play music.
Of course, the songs are all metal rock that Tilan doesn’t listen to much.
When she was almost done eating, Alanna put down her headphones, stood up, and called the three of them over.
"I feel a lot better today. I worried everyone a few days ago." She looked at Suojia and Gen.
"It's okay, the eldest lady just needs to regain her fighting spirit." Genn didn't care about this. He believed in Alanna and thought that as long as she regained her fighting spirit, many problems could be solved.
"This is our eldest sister!" Suojia picked up the wine glass and toasted to Alanna.
Seeing that everyone believed in her so much, Alanna was also a little moved. In fact, she was also a little confused at the time and was shocked by the sudden change.
Now after a few days, after she recovered, she found that she was not without the ability to fight back.
Since the other party did not use violence or other personnel to force him to stay at the airport that night, it means that the other party actually did not want to make the matter a big deal. Think about it, if a very popular star suddenly died there or disappeared, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble. Big storm.
This is the Central Star Territory, and such a serious safety incident will inevitably trigger a thorough investigation by the upper levels of the federation.
The other party also has great concerns.
Another point is that although the other party instigated many members of the 'Z' group to rebel, Alanna also realized that the other party's control over those members was quite limited.
If a decent federal citizen who has never committed a crime is suddenly forced to do something serious and illegal, he will instinctively be afraid and refuse, and may even make things worse intentionally or unintentionally.
So that day, even though most of the people betrayed them, their process of preventing Alanna from leaving could be said to be quite reckless, completely unlike the strength Alanna usually saw.
"...So I thought about it. As long as I find out the reason why they are being coerced and resolve their concerns, it will be easy for them to turn back." Alanna said.
"The problem is that we have no advantage in intelligence. We don't even know who the other party is or where they are." At this point, Alanna was also a little discouraged.
"No, no, no, there are still clues." Gen waved his hand. He had been a black mercenary before, so he naturally knew some tricks.
"Since the other party can threaten those members, they must use some means. It cannot be that Void does it and others will be unlucky."
"With so many people betraying, not everyone is very firm. As long as you find a few who are already wavering and get information from them, you can know what means the other party uses to achieve the threat."
"In addition, as I said just now, if neither we nor the other party dare to call the police, it will actually be more beneficial to us." He took another sip.
"Crime is also serious. If it is an illegal assembly, theft and other minor matters, the police will not put too much effort into handling it. But since the other party can be so covert and control most of our members quietly, it shows that the other party can The organization is extremely high, which means it is a very dangerous organization.”
"Such a highly dangerous organization is more afraid of exposure than we are. Even if our past affairs are exposed, we will at most be labeled as an illegal organization dissatisfied with the federation, but in general, we have not committed any crime and the punishment is limited. "
"But the other party is different. Maybe even the Inquisition will get involved and specially set up a project to allocate manpower." After Gen's analysis, several other people were also thoughtful.
"In this case... I may have a few candidates." Alanna also thought of several breakthroughs. She still knew her former subordinates very well.
"However, it is difficult to control the other party's real situation just by communicating through 'connection'."
"So we're going to stop people at the door, right?" Hearing this, Suojia became a little excited.
"You still have to pay attention to the scale, but as long as the opponent is blocked, he has to say something no matter what. It is impossible to resist." Alanna is quite confident.
"When will we go?" Suojia continued to ask.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow evening, I will notify you in advance, and I need to find a helper." Alana thought of an old friend.
After listening to the entire discussion, Tilan nodded slightly, "Then I'll come back tomorrow."
"Well, Zijin still has work and part-time jobs to do. If there is a conflict in time, you can tell me later." Alana was quite tolerant.
After that, the few people finished the barbecue. It was late, so they dispersed.
...
The next day.
In the morning, Tilan still stayed in the pet hospital, helping the guests to analyze the training and advancement of pets, and also handling some chores in the store. It can be said that it was quite fulfilling, and there was not much time left for leisure reading.
"Where are you going in the afternoon, Zijin." After lunch, Lemon Fruit came over. She was wearing a lemon yellow dress today.
"Why are you asking this?" Generally speaking, Lemon Fruit would not ask about where to go.
"Well, I have a black lion here. If you go for a walk or a ride in the suburbs, you can take it with you." Lemon Fruit opened the personal terminal in his hand, and a mighty black lion projection appeared, with data listed next to it.
Name: Black Prince
Supernormal Occupation: Original Sequence 5·Wild Black Lion
Note: Guest No. 17831 deposited pet companion, with a stable personality.
Strength rating: rare condensed bead level
Safety rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
"Its owner is Emily, the executive of the 'Dakshi Matrix', but this busy person has a lot of things to do and often can't take care of it. She doesn't want to keep her beloved pet at home all the time, so she often asks us to take it out for a ride."
"Originally, I have always been doing this good job. Occasionally, I am also invited by Emily to dinner. We are very familiar with each other. But didn't I say yesterday that since Zi Jin has fulfilled my request, I must not forget the agreement."
"Do you want to take it out for a walk? It is still very obedient. I believe that with Zi Jin's strength, it is easy to get along with it." Lemon Fruit shook the car keys in his hand.
"I will go out in the afternoon, but not necessarily to the suburbs."
"OK, that's fine. Anyway, it's not bad to let it go out for a breath of air." Lemon Fruit asked Tilan to follow him.
"Go to the top floor of the house at the back, there is a room dedicated to it."
So Tilan followed him, and the two of them walked around the house and came to the top floor. It was more than 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was shining, and a majestic black lion was lying on the ground taking a nap and basking in the sun.
"I'm here, Black Prince~" Lemon Fruit greeted skillfully, but the other party just wiggled his ears and his body remained motionless.
"Huh, this guy still looks down on people." Lemon Fruit walked over, squatted beside the mighty black lion, patted its buttocks, and pinched its thick and long tail and pulled it lightly a few times.
Being a little impatient with the tickling, the black lion turned over, turned his head and hummed at Lemon Fruit. The sound was deep and ordinary people might be particularly scared.
"Okay, don't be angry. I'll introduce you to a new friend now. She will take you out to play in the afternoon." Lemon Fruit made way for Tilan to come to him.
"Look, this is our new colleague, Miss Zijin. She's very powerful, probably not much stronger than me." Lemon Fruit flattered himself.
In response, the black lion showed disdain and lay down lazily. It has known Lemon Fruit for almost a year. Although animals' IQ is not as good as humans, it also found that Lemon Fruit is really weak and not as good as other breeders who usually take care of and test it.
"Give it some face, I praised you for being very good and obedient in front of Sister Emily." Lemon Fruit complained, taking the opportunity to touch the wide and fluffy mane.
"How is it, isn't it beautiful, with a primitive sense of power and the beauty of a beast." Lemon Fruit said to Tilan beside him.
"It's very powerful." Speaking of which, it's not the first time Tilan has seen this kind of black lion. She used to have a familiar friend in Iridium Academy who raised a similar black lion. That one might be stronger than this one.
"You can also touch it to let it get familiar with your smell, and then feed it something. If it eats, it will basically recognize you." Lemon Fruit introduced.
"Okay, I'll try." Tilan nodded.
After that, Lemon Fruit talked nonsense in front of the black lion for nearly 20 minutes, just like chatting with family. Such warm afternoon sunshine, coupled with such meaningless words, made the big black lion drowsy and sleepy, and then ignored the girl who was still stroking its mane.
"This should be enough." Seeing that the black lion was completely relaxed, Lemon Fruit showed a gesture of getting it done.
"Is this all right?" Tilan was curious.
"Yeah, it has a habit, or inertia. When it is used to sleeping next to you, it will not be hostile to you."
"This will let it sleep for ten minutes first, I will tell you the precautions, and then take it out."
After that, Lemon Fruit told Tilan the matters to pay attention to when taking the black lion out for a ride, such as not giving it food casually, and using a special collar chain if taking it to a crowded place.
…
“Okay, I’ve explained almost everything. We can set off now.” Lemon Fruit woke up the black lion who was taking a nap, and then swung the car keys in front of it, listening to the jingling sound.
The black lion immediately became energetic and began to walk back and forth in the room. It seemed that it also knew that it was time to go out for a walk.
“Hey, come with me, but the one who will take you out today is this sister.” She pointed at Tilan.
The black lion looked at Tilan and let out a steady low moan, as if to indicate that he knew. After spending more than half an hour together, it had no hostility towards Tilan.
“Okay, let’s go down.”
Then Lemon Fruit turned on the control system in the room, took Black Lion downstairs, turned the stairs with ease, and came to the underground garage in the backyard of the store.
"That open-top hover car is, it can fly and run on the ground. It was also placed here by Emily, 'Qiaofeng'. There is a collar chain on the car. If you want to take it to a crowded place, you have to tie it in advance, but if it is in the wilderness outside the suburbs, let it run freely, and you just sit in the car and follow it."
After the instructions, Lemon Fruit asked Black Lion and Tilan to get in the car, and then set a general direction.
"Let's go there first." She suggested.
Looking at the location, if it is there, Tilan will receive news from Alana after 4 pm, and it will be in time to rush over.
"Okay." Tilan nodded.
"By the way, can Tilan drive?" Lemon Fruit asked.
"A little." She really can. When she was in high school, Jin Senke gave her a car, but unfortunately she didn't drive it many times.
"It doesn't matter if it doesn't work. It has an automatic driving function, but it's not as comfortable as driving it yourself."
"Okay, no more talking. It's waiting impatiently. Let's go."
Then the hover car started, first rising slightly, and then starting according to the direction of the automatic navigation. Tilan sat in the front row and waved to Lemon Fruit behind her. Soon the hover car left the pet hospital and entered the city's aerial track.
The wind was blowing. It was the end of February and the weather was a bit cold, but the afternoon sun was just right, giving people a warm feeling.
Soon the car speed stabilized, and Tilan had time to overlook the scenery below.
Looking at the Academy City from the air, it was particularly beautiful. The sky was blue and clear, and the clouds were sparse. The various large buildings with unique characteristics stood below. From the style, you can vaguely distinguish the famous schools in the Federation.
The landmark that looked like a crossed double sword should be the 'Tailoring Double Swords School', the water ripples in the ring over there was the 'Rhythm Logic School', and the 'Tianqing School' in the distance that looked like a rocket launcher were all top-ranked schools in the Federation.
When Tilan looked at the scenery in the distance, she felt a slight itch from the mane brushing against her ears. She turned her head and found that the black lion sitting in the back seat would hit its two front paws on the back of the chair and reach over.
"Do you want to see the scenery too?" Tilan asked curiously, reaching out to touch it.
Although for ordinary people, this is a mighty beast, but in her eyes, it is actually not much different from a kitten.
"Roar--"
Facing the wind, the black lion roared happily, followed by the girl's light laughter.
The sun was shining, and she took this big guy to the suburbs of the edge of the academy city for a ride. The environment of this planet is really good, there is no pollution, and the air and water are exceptionally clean and clear. It would be great if the jade skirt could be like this.
If there is such an ideal future world, it is probably a world where everyone does not need to roll inward and can take their family and friends out for a ride every afternoon.