The little girl looked quiet and pretty in her sleep, as endearing as a little sister from next door. She was nothing like the "prickly little sparrow" who deliberately talked back to Sun Fei during the day. Her frail body stood in the cold wind, making his heart ache.
Sun Fei shook his head, walked over, and gave Loli's smooth cheek a hard pinch. "Hey, kid, wake up... What are you doing standing here? It's freezing. Hurry inside and get some sleep."
Who would have thought Loli was so alert?
At the slightest disturbance, she opened her eyes. Still half asleep and without stopping to see what was happening, she threw a punch straight at him. Sun Fei was completely unprepared, and her little fist landed squarely in his eye socket.
Bam!
He instantly had a genuine black eye.
"Huh? Alexander, it's you..."
Only after hitting him did Loli see what was going on, and she immediately looked a little embarrassed. She lowered her head and stole a glance at Sun Fei's bruised eye, but couldn't help covering her mouth and giggling. "Hee-hee, I thought an enemy had climbed up here... But you look fine, hee-hee, don't you?"
Sun Fei was deeply hurt.
But when she saw poor Loli shivering in the cold wind, she couldn't muster any anger. Reaching out to pat the little girl's head, she unfastened the cloak from behind her armor and wrapped it around her petite body. Smiling, she said, "All right, hurry inside and get some sleep. Once it's light, go back to the palace with Angela. The wind off the river is too strong here; this is no place for delicate girls like you!"
The blonde Loli froze.
She stared at Sun Fei in a daze, and suddenly her eyes reddened. She quickly lowered her head and, unusually, didn't deliberately talk back to him. Instead, she turned and obediently walked toward the ruined stone guardhouse.
"Alexander, you'll treat Sister Angela well, won't you?"
At the door to the stone house, Loli suddenly turned around and fixed her eyes on Sun Fei, her expression serious as she asked the question.
Huh?
Sun Fei froze, unsure what to say.
Without waiting for an answer, the little girl continued, "I don't care. Now that you're normal, you have to treat Sister Angela better! Alexander, you have no idea how much Sister Angela has done for you over the past three years. I guarantee there's no one else in this world who would treat you as well as she does..."
At that, the blonde Loli rubbed her reddened eyes and shook her pale little fist fiercely. "Now that you're normal, you have to protect Sister Angela the way she used to protect you. Do you hear me? Otherwise, I'll... I'll... I'll give you another black eye, hmph!"
After delivering her threat, Loli shook her fist, then turned and went inside, her eyes red.
Sun Fei was stunned by what Loli had said and couldn't help smiling wryly.
Jima had been mildly hostile toward him all day. Sun Fei wasn't stupid, and naturally knew why: presumably, the king named Alexander had caused Angela a great deal of hardship in the past. Although Jima was nominally a servant, she had always regarded Angela as her own elder sister, and the two were as close as sisters. Jima had seen everything her sister Angela had suffered over those three years, so it was only natural that she bore Alexander ill will.
Sun Fei had understood this long ago, which was why he had never argued with Loli.
After all, she had been able to call a girl like Angela her sister and, over the past three years, had carefully looked after the foolish Alexander alongside Angela like a little sister. Clearly, Loli was really just a kindhearted little firecracker at her core. Her tongue was a little sharp, but her heart was as soft as velvet.
What the blonde Loli had just said, however, moved Sun Fei deeply.
Loli was absolutely right. Now that Sun Fei knew what had happened in the past, whatever his personal feelings might be, he had to do everything he could to protect that kind and beautiful woman. As Jima had said, Sun Fei had to protect Angela just as Angela had protected Alexander in the past.
There was still more than an hour until dawn, the darkest part of the long night.
Autumn had deepened, and a damp, cold wind blew across the river. Sun Fei's thoughts wandered. Although he had been in this unfamiliar world for only about a day, he was already gradually becoming a part of it.
Stars filled the sky, and the moonlight was cold and clear.
"Was it really the will of the gods that brought me to this world?"
Standing atop the wall, Sun Fei couldn't help reflecting on it. He suddenly remembered what the nun Akara had told him in the Diablo World. At first, he had thought the unscrupulous woman was talking nonsense to cheat him out of his gold and equipment, but now that he thought about it calmly, he couldn't shake the feeling that her cryptic words had carried a hidden meaning, as though she had been hinting at something.
While he was lost in thought, two burly figures approached from the distance.
They were Brook and the now-healed, white-haired Pierce.
"Your Majesty, I owe you an apology!" When white-haired Pierce reached him, he dropped to one knee without another word and gave Sun Fei a formal warrior's salute. Looking ashamed, he said, "I didn't know that yesterday..."
Sun Fei cut him off and smiled as he helped the white-haired man to his feet.
It was no exaggeration to say that, of everyone Sun Fei had met over the past day, Pierce had made the strongest impression on him. The sight of the white-haired man fighting the enemy to the death on the wall yesterday had shown Sun Fei that he was absolutely worthy of trust. Sun Fei had always treated people he trusted generously, as he did Brook.
Amid such a dire crisis, Sun Fei had already begun to win people over without consciously realizing it.
"Are your injuries all healed?" Sun Fei asked with a smile, thumping Pierce's chest.
The small gesture instantly eased the atmosphere between them.
"All healed, every last one..." Pierce struck an enthusiastic pose to show off his muscles and laughed. "Your Majesty Alexander, Captain Brook told me everything. Chambord City finally has a king of its own. I, Pierce, swear loyalty to Your Majesty. I'm willing to shed blood and kill your enemies until I die in battle!"
Sun Fei saw that Pierce's injuries had indeed completely healed, and color had returned to his face. It seemed the [Minor Healing Potion] from the Diablo World worked even better in the real world. Just two drops had saved a badly wounded man's life.
"Come take a look for me. The enemy camp across the river still doesn't seem to be stirring. Was it like this over the past few days?" Sun Fei changed the subject, turning toward the battlements and pointing at the enemy camp.
Brook studied it carefully, then frowned slightly. "It is strange. Those bastards never let us rest properly over the past few days. Every night they would pretend to attack the city more than a dozen times to harass the soldiers, then start their assault before daybreak... Something's unusual today. I don't know what scheme they're cooking up."
"Who cares what they're plotting? If those sons of bitches dare come again, I'll smash them into meat paste with my hammer!" Pierce, his energy restored, glared at the enemy camp across the river and thumped his chest.
Brook lowered his head, at a loss for words.
Sun Fei couldn't help feeling a row of black lines appear on his forehead.
The big guy was as fierce as ever. Perhaps his muscles were so developed that he had no brain matter left, and his head was full of muscle?
Sun Fei could see it now: Pierce was a mighty man, but a reckless one too. He might be excellent at killing enemies on the battlefield, but asking him to devise strategies and tactics was about as unrealistic as asking a ladyboy to father your children.
Brook, on the other hand, made Sun Fei see him in a new light. Always calm and unhurried, he was a commander gifted in both civil and military affairs-like a fart under the covers, something you could both smell and hold down.
At the time, Sun Fei himself did not realize that, in this unguarded moment, he had set the course for the future of these two, his first trusted subordinates. Many years later, the bards of the Azeroth Continent would tirelessly sing tales of the "peerless killing beast" Pierce and the "wooden strategist" Goethe Brook, who served under Emperor Alexander.
"Whatever their scheme is, it'll come to light eventually..."
Sun Fei thought for a moment, growing ruthless as his devil-may-care nature resurfaced. Slowly tapping a rhythm on the stones of the wall, he said, "Pierce is right. Whoever it is, if he dares covet our Chambord City, we'll knock a few bloody teeth out of his mouth."
With the king's approval, Pierce laughed proudly.
Another half hour or so passed before the first light of dawn finally began to show on the distant horizon. A pale glow appeared in the east, and a new day was about to begin.
At that moment, the enemy camp on the opposite bank of the river finally stirred.
A clear military horn sounded, breaking the stillness of dawn. In the distance, black-armored soldiers could be seen moving through the camp like ants, while smoke rose from the cooking fires. Once they had eaten breakfast, a new round of fighting would begin.
"Get the soldiers ready. Brook, you'll command today's battle. Everyone will follow your orders, including me!" Although Sun Fei's personal strength continued to grow thanks to the Diablo World, he still knew nothing about the military basics of defending a city. So he simply left everything to Brook and kept his hands off.
"I would be honored to serve you, Your Majesty!" Brook accepted without hesitation.
His response made Sun Fei think even more highly of him.
"By the way, didn't I already summon the magic apprentice Gejir to fight on the wall? Why haven't I seen him?" Sun Fei remembered that damned fat pig again.
"I'll go ask."
Brook also found it strange. He turned and went to make inquiries.
A moment later, Brook returned with two soldiers whose faces were covered in wounds. Angrily, he said, "The soldiers we sent were whipped and driven back by the messenger Bazel. He said Gejir was injured and couldn't fight."
Sun Fei looked at the whip marks covering the two soldiers' faces, and a towering rage rose in his heart.
I'm very sorry. I was discussing an idea with an editor today, which delayed the update.
Xiaodao prostrated himself before you brothers in apology.
I saw in the comments that many old friends from Qidian had come to Zongheng to support Xiaodao. I was moved to tears.
Of course, thank you to the new friends as well. Xiaodao will give it one hundred percent to bring a smile to your faces in your spare time.
Thank you, everyone. Please add this to your favorites and vote.