After quickly thinking about the joints, Soshyan said to Old Walker in a very solemn tone:
"Thank you very much for telling me this, Master Walker. You are a close friend of Orod and a good friend of the Alexey family. Naturally, you are also my elder. The Eternal Royal Court will treat you as a distinguished guest and open its doors to you. If you need my help with anything in the future, you can enter the royal court at any time."
Old Walker smiled and knocked the ashes from his cigarette, and said sadly:
"As people age, many things will gradually fade away. Even though I drank from the Fountain of Youth, I will still age, and this feeling is getting stronger and stronger. Maybe it won't be long before I return to the arms of my ancestors. Me and you Let’s just say these things are just the chatter of an old man. Orod is a legend. It would be a pity that even his descendants don’t know his story. I’m actually very lucky to be able to find you before returning to my ancestors. So, Shiyan, I hope Orode’s story can give you some inspiration. I can see that your dual identity has brought you a lot of pressure and trouble. The test you face is much more severe than Orode’s, but just like As Orold said, sometimes you don't need to care too much about your own race. You are who you are and just do what you think is right. The galaxy is very cold and dark, but there are also friendships, justice and axioms that transcend race. "
Soshyan nodded.
"I will definitely remember it in my heart, Master Walker. Speaking of which, I found the secret chamber of spiritual bones left by Orode in the family cemetery. He left some images in it, but they did not mention you. Otherwise, I should have Let’s talk to you.”
Walker laughed and said helplessly:
"He has this kind of character. He has a cunning and vicious mouth, but he is very emotional at heart. He doesn't want to involve me in his affairs anymore. In fact, I didn't want to go back to Yinxin that much. He kept encouraging me to leave. After saying that I hindered his romance, I guessed that he might have discovered or felt something at that time, and just wanted me to leave these rights and wrongs related to him."
After speaking, Old Walker fell into silence and just smoked slowly, but Soshyan could see the regret on his face.
Perhaps leaving his best friend to face life and death alone was the old Hearthborn's lifelong guilt.
Then Soshiyang wanted to change the subject with something. After pondering for a moment, he said slowly:
"It was proposed by representatives of the Great Sorian Alliance before."
But Old Walker waved his hand vigorously, took out the cigarette holder from his mouth, coughed, and said:
"Ahem. You don't need to pay attention to these things. I never care about the alliance's business affairs, but I can guess that after all, the essence of business is to ask for high prices and pay back the money on the spot. You can negotiate according to your own ideas."
Soshyan put his hands on the table and tilted his body slightly towards Old Walker.
"Master Walker, if I want the royal court and the Hearthborn to form a true alliance, what conditions are needed?"
Old Walker seemed to know that he would mention this, so he picked up the cigarette holder and smoked it, but then found that there was no tobacco left in the pipe, so he groped around on his body a few times and took out a small green bag with a symbol embroidered on it.
Opening the bag and twisting some tobacco, Old Walker lowered his head and tinkered with the pipe and replied calmly:
"For tens of thousands of years since the ancestors left the earth's mother planet with the core of their ancestors, the Wotan race has maintained the independent structure of each alliance. Therefore, Wotan is not an empire. We do not have a unified country, or each alliance. It’s just one country, and the clans within the alliance are small countries. This is what humanity used to be like.”
"Hearthborn are really human beings, too?"
"In a sense, yes."
After pressing the tobacco, Old Walker put his right index finger into the pipe, and then a puff of green smoke came out of it. He took a gentle breath, and a puff of smoke came out of the corner of his mouth.
"But it makes no sense anymore. The human empire, which has become stubborn and sick and full of persecutory paranoia, will not accept it. Nor will the Wotans, who have witnessed the empire's many atrocities and massacres against other human civilizations during the Great Crusade, accept it."
"So, what if the Royal Court wishes to establish a true alliance with the Great Thorian Alliance?"
"For a businessman, the first commandment is to never personally participate in a war. It is one thing to provide military services, and it is another thing to participate in the war as a political entity. No Wotan League will interfere with other In a racial war, of course, if it is employment, that is another concept."
"What if my enemies hire the Hearthborn to fight me?"
Old Walker raised his eyebrows, then smiled and said:
"Most of them are not as rich as you, and the Hearthborn will not cooperate with the evil demons of the Supreme Heaven. And the scum of Commorragh have no credibility and business ethics, and have long been blacklisted by major alliances. Ai Da's trade is extremely profitable, and no alliance would be willing to antagonize the royal court."
"What if I want to hire a large number of Ironsworn members at once?"
"How much is a large amount?"
Soshiyang narrowed his eyes and said with a sense of confidence:
"All the Ironsworn members of the Great Thorian Alliance!"
"Ouch"
Old Walker exclaimed and smashed the cigarette holder.
"There are nearly 300,000 furnace descendants and iron descendants here, and what is needed is the wealth of the country."
"Money is not the problem. The important thing is, can I hire someone if needed?"
After a moment of silence, Old Walker replied in a slightly dry voice:
"Yes, yes, but it may not just be about money."
Soshyan smiled slightly.
"I know that if it is really needed, I will come up with an offer that the alliance cannot refuse. So if you put it this way, other alliances can also provide the Iron Oath to the Royal Court?"
"Commerce and trade are free. This is the second article of the ancestral contract."
"I understand. Thank you so much, Master Walker, and please stay in the royal court for a longer time so that I can fulfill my friendship as a landlord."
After saying that, Soshyan stood up and wanted to call someone to arrange a residence for Old Walker in the palace, but suddenly he remembered a question and sat down again.
"Master Walker, let's talk about it. Since Orod caused so much trouble in Comoros, why didn't I seem to have heard of this name when I went to Comoros? Is it because it was forgotten because it was so long ago?"
"This is just part of it. The main reason is that before entering Comoros, he suggested that in order to prevent us from being troubled in the future, it is best for us to use false names."
"I see, then what's his pseudonym?"
Old Walker blew out a puff of smoke, forming the outline of a phoenix spreading its wings in the air.
"In human language, his name is Phoenix, and in Ada it's Phoenix."
"Phoenix."
Soshyan blinked.
"What about you?"
"I"
Old Walker coughed lightly, picked up the wine glass and took a long sip, then took a long breath, with a look of nostalgia on his face.
"The alias I gave myself was Gotrek."
Then he suddenly slapped his head.
"Oh, after talking so much, I forgot about the real thing. You see, people are no longer useful when they get old."
As he spoke, he held the pipe in his mouth, groped his body back and forth with his hands, then took out a collar from somewhere, and then a piece of well-preserved spirit bone, and placed these two things on the table.
Soshyan picked it up and looked at it curiously, and found that the collar seemed to be made of some kind of animal leather. It was nothing special, but there was a name permed on it - Victor.
"Victor"
Soshiyang frowned and looked at Hearthborn.
"It's not the one I thought it was, is it?"
The old Hearthborn nodded.
"It's the one you think of."
