Chapter 244: Lei Ao’s Dream, Rod’s Thoughts

Scora still held considerable prestige among this group, a fact Rod had noticed from the beginning. Everyone here treated him with great respect. Now that the matters that needed discussion had been discussed and most of the tasks completed, they headed back to their beds, filled with excitement yet reluctant to part.
A night of fighting had left them somewhat tired.
“Come on, boss. I’ll take you to the bed next to mine. From now on, you’ll live here! Just let me know if you need anything—don’t be polite with me!” Lei Ao, whose nickname was Curly, patted Rod’s shoulder as the others began to disperse.
“Boss? Heh, just call me Brado from now on!” Rod smiled awkwardly and replied helplessly, though his eyes showed a hint of nostalgia.
It reminded him of his life in Fire City—weren’t Cambi, Sambik, and the others used to call him that too? He really missed those days, but he knew that life was gone forever. Not to mention he hadn’t found those people yet; even if he had, what would change?
The fact that he was a demon had caused turmoil across the entire continent. They surely knew about it. Would they still recognize him and treat him as a brother?
“Hehe, it’s fine. You’re our leader now. Calling you that can’t be wrong—it’s friendly. Enough explaining. Come on, follow me!” Seeing Rod seem lost in thought, Curly hesitated for a moment before patting his shoulder again and smiling. Then he turned and led Rod toward his bed.
“You can stay here!” he said, pointing to a bed beside him. It was a simple bed, neatly made, with everything needed. There was even a bag, seemingly filled with clothes.
“It’s okay. Until today, this was my comrade’s bed. We were both members of the Wild Wolf Mercenaries. We left after getting along poorly with the deputy captain. When the beast invasion came, we came here hoping to do something. But yesterday… he stayed here forever!” As he spoke of the bed and looked at the bag, Curly’s expression darkened, showing sadness as he gazed at Rod with a nostalgic look.

“Hehe, it’s okay. In our line of work, who hasn’t encountered such things? When I first joined the Wild Wolf Mercenaries, it was the same. Seven of us joined this mercenary group, and now only the current captain and I are still alive. After seeing this so many times, I’ve gotten used to it. It’s just a bit hard to let go. Leopard used to get along best with me. I even promised his wife I’d bring him back! He’s been married for less than a month. I really have no face to go back now!”
Feeling that Rod wanted to speak, he turned to look at him with a wry smile, and Curly continued.
“You…” He opened his mouth, wanting to comfort him but not knowing where to start. Rod’s words hung in the air.
“It’s okay. He said he doesn’t regret it. I was by his side all yesterday. He said he doesn’t regret coming here and told me to go back and tell his wife it’s okay to find someone else. We can all let it go! It’s fine! Hehe, sorry, I didn’t expect to talk about this again. Hey, it seems I’ve regressed!” He placed his hand on Rod’s shoulder and stood side by side, looking at their gear with a nostalgic smile, but Curly’s words ended in a sigh.
“It will get better slowly!” Rod comforted him after the sigh. He had encountered similar situations himself, so no one understood his feelings better than he did. Under such circumstances, time was the best remedy. As time passed, everything would get better.
“Mm, it will get better slowly. Hehe, but it’s okay. I still have many comrades now. You too. We can still fight and strive together. When the day comes that I’m tired, I’ll go back. I’ll have gotten what I deserved, done what I had to do, and experienced what I had to experience—no regrets left! Then I’ll return to my hometown, get a piece of land, and live a peaceful life. That would be great, right?” With a longing smile, he looked at Rod as Curly spoke softly. That expression even made Rod feel a hint of longing—wasn’t that the peaceful life he had hoped for? But that would be after he had done everything he needed to do!
“Mm, keep working hard. That day will come!” The two stood side by side, chatting quietly, and unknowingly became good friends.

I didn’t know how long we had been talking. Looking around, I saw that everyone else had fallen asleep. With a wry smile, a sense of fatigue crept in as well. Looking outside, it was already approaching dusk. After eating some dry food casually, I went to rest!

Perhaps these few days are the last rare moments of leisure. In a few days, once the fire is extinguished, those magical beasts waiting to attack will surely launch even more frantic assaults, and there will be no such peaceful days again. If I don’t rest these days, I don’t know when I’ll be able to, maybe never again.

……

This sleep was unbearably comfortable. Rod had a long dream in which he returned to Blaze City, met his old friends, including Kambi and Sambik, and relived the harmonious life of those days in Blaze City. He dreamed of the carefree days at the Holy Light Academy, free from worries and conflicts. Under such dreams, he felt an unprecedented sense of ease and comfort. He didn’t know how long he slept until noise outside woke him up.

Opening his eyes, he saw that inside the tent, a few guys were chatting noisily. Looking around, most people had gotten up, chatting in groups or doing something else. A few were even drinking merrily, and the pungent smell of alcohol made him feel uncomfortable. This was the downside of living in a dormitory—also the biggest hassle!

Full of energy, he hadn’t slept this comfortably in a long time. Since he was awake, he didn’t plan to take another nap. The scorching sunlight outside raised the temperature inside the tent significantly, and lying there, he could feel the heat. Summer had truly arrived.

Getting up, he stretched lazily and let out a comfortable groan. At everyone’s call, he washed up quickly and returned to his room.

“Hey, Head, come over. We need to discuss something!” As soon as he entered the tent, he heard Skora calling out.

Turning toward the source of the voice, he saw Skora, Curly Hair, and several warriors gathered there, whispering about something.

Without hesitation, Rod immediately walked over. He knew these guys must have something to tell him; otherwise, they wouldn’t act like that.

“You really can sleep, almost the whole day!” Skora said with a wry smile when he saw Rod approaching.

“Hey, boss, are you having some sweet dreams? Hehe, did you dream about some beautiful woman? Is it your wife or someone else? Look at that smile on your face while you sleep! I’m too embarrassed to even say it!” Curly Hair also stepped forward in a timely manner to join in the chatter.

“Cough, cough… No, stop talking nonsense. Alright, what do you need from me?” Rod quickly changed the subject after seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, especially Curly Hair and Skora’s.

“Well, okay, no more jokes. Boss, you came at just the right time. We have something to discuss with you.” Rod’s words made everyone serious, and they turned to him with a focused attitude.

“Just call me Brado. It makes me feel awkward when you call me that!” Rod said with a wry smile at their way of addressing him; he really wasn’t used to it. “By the way, what’s the matter?” Seeing everyone’s serious expressions and the growing crowd around him, Rod couldn’t help but ask.

“Here’s the thing. As we discussed yesterday, we want to form our own team. Now that it’s established and you’ve been chosen as our leader, we need to find a way to maximize our strengths and minimize losses. Otherwise, it’s no different from not having a team at all, right?”

After taking a deep breath and thinking for a moment, Skora looked at Rod and asked for his opinion.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Rod nodded in agreement with Skora’s words. It indeed was that issue! Since a team had been formed, they needed to make the most of its potential and leverage its advantages—otherwise, it would be meaningless and a source of ridicule.

At this point, everyone became enthusiastic. The members quickly gathered around, starting to share their ideas and suggestions. They pooled their wisdom in hopes of coming up with a comprehensive plan.

Drawing on his years of gaming experience and knowledge from books on military history and strategy, Rod came up with his own suggestions after some reflection. His ideas immediately caught everyone’s attention and received approval. Some of them were beyond what many people could have imagined, far exceeding their expectations!

Under such circumstances, the plan was unanimously approved without any debate. After minor revisions, it became their official strategy. At this point, the team began to show the spirit and demeanor expected of a true team.