Chapter 440: Invitation, News from Dragon City
In the valley, the water flows gently.
The melted snow water comes from afar, clear and transparent, flowing through the valley, bringing the breath of life .
There are dozens of simple wooden houses on both sides of the river. These wooden houses are scattered around in an orderly manner, of different heights. The roofs are covered with white snow, blending in with this white world.
The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled in the valley, covering the white snow on the riverside with a soft glow.
The aroma of dinner wafted through the valley, carrying a hint of warmth with it.
“This is our base.”
Sergei introduced Suxia with a smile. He walked in front of the crowd, his tall body like a grizzly bear.
After entering the valley, we can see some members of the remaining team, most of whom have blond hair and blue eyes.
Everybody lives here and knows everybody else.
After seeing them, the team members all smiled and greeted them: "Sergey, why did you come back so early today? Did you complete the mission?"
"Of course it's done! When have I, Sergei, ever failed?" Sergei laughed, his laughter was rough and had a special kind of infectiousness.
"Any guests?"
Someone noticed Su Xia. For the valley garrison, any unfamiliar face was worthy of vigilance.
Su Xia has a face that belongs to a person from the southern part of the mainland, which is very different from her appearance in the north.
Half a year ago, a base had to be relocated because its location was exposed due to bringing back strangers.
"Of course I'm a guest!" Sergei said with a smile, his tone normal.
Seeing him so sure, the others had no doubts and said hello and left.
In this garrison, Sergei is one of the older and more experienced people. Everyone knows that he is mature and steady, and has a delicate heart under his rough appearance. He will not do anything to harm the garrison.
Led by Sergei, the team crossed the front of the valley, walked past the small wooden houses, and arrived at the middle of the valley.
“This is it!”
In the middle of the valley, on the river bank, there are seven or eight small wooden houses, which belong to Sergei's team.
The river valley is not large, so naturally one person cannot have one cabin. Usually, four or five people squeeze into one cabin.
Sergei, with a smile on his face, walked along the river bank to the first cabin, opened the door, took out a large bundle of firewood, and told the rest of the team members to also take some firewood out as firewood for tonight's dinner.
"Haha, we can't be casual tonight, we have to make something delicious!"
"Go and take out the good stuff!" Sergei patted several team members on the shoulders and said to them with a smile.
Resources in the northern region are scarce and daily necessities are not abundant.
They usually save the good things for various festivals or special days that need to be celebrated, and today is one of those special celebration days.
Everyone's face was filled with festive smiles, which showed the joy of having escaped death today and the happiness of eating delicious food soon.
"Let's go get some food!"
"Let's go together!"
Little Peter was particularly happy. He quickly ran to the room where the food was stored and took out half a piece of frozen wild venison meat.
The team's liaison officer carried out a large bag of potatoes. These potatoes are the staple food of the residents in the North. They have potatoes at almost every meal and cannot live without this food.
The demolition man in the team brought out a bag of onions, a bag of carrots and a small bag of green peppers, and with a happy look on his face, he piled these ingredients next to the potatoes.
There were a few team members behind holding some bottles and jars. These jars contained vegetable oil, solidified animal oil, some seasonings, and more were jars of pickles.
Sergei started a fire and built a stove under the wooden shed by the river, his movements very skillful.
Another team member set up the grill next to him and cleaned all the tools needed for grilling.
The team members placed the ingredients outside the wooden shed, and then returned to the cabin where the ingredients were placed, and continued to take out smoked sausages, jerky, pork ribs, canned fruits, various drinks, etc., with a bright smile on everyone's face.
Looking at so many ingredients , the sniper in the team was very happy and couldn't help but sigh: "Oh, I can finally have a good meal tonight. If I don't eat something good, my poor stomach will surrender to the mechanical tribe!"
Another team member said: "My poor stomach has long gone over there, only my will is still here."
The team members swallowed their saliva, their faces full of excitement, and began to wash various ingredients, walking back and forth along the river bank carrying the ingredients.
Sergei is responsible for the final processing of all the ingredients. This middle-aged man with a big beard has excellent knife skills and worked as a chef apprentice for a period of time before the war.
After more than ten minutes, the ingredients were basically sorted.
“Sizzle——”
The chopped venison was put into the pot, sizzling in the boiling oil. The rich aroma spread everywhere with the hot steam, like an invisible hand, hooking everyone's noses and making them salivate.
Sergey wanted to make a very special stew. He would take the meat out after frying it until it turned white, and then, without changing the oil, he would continue frying onions, potatoes, carrots, green peppers, etc. in the oil used to fry the meat until they changed color and then take them out.
During this time, the fragrance became stronger and stronger, floating throughout the entire valley, and the team members who smelled it began to have rumbling stomachs.
Then, add cumin, onion, ginger, garlic, chili powder, tomato sauce, etc., and throw the previously processed ingredients into a big pot and stew them.
This process is simple and rough, not sophisticated.
Next to them, on the other side of the wooden shed, other team members were preparing for the barbecue, stringing together fresh pieces of meat one by one. Each skewer weighed at least half a pound, which was quite a large portion.
Su Xia watched with interest.
He was a guest and didn't need to do anything. He just had to wait for the meal to be served.
After a while, Sergei wiped his greasy hands on the rag, turned to Su Xia and said with a smile: "My masked friend, we still have to wait for about half an hour. You can try our specialties first!"
"What specialty?" Su Xia asked subconsciously.
"Have you ever drunk birch sap before?"
"No, but I have heard of it..."
As he was speaking, little Peter brought in a large box of drinks.
Inside the box were transparent glass jars, and inside the jars was the birch sap that Sergei had mentioned, a specialty of the northern plains.
Su Xia remembered that there was also this kind of drink on Earth, but he never had the chance to try it.
This sap, as the name suggests, is taken from the birch trees unique to this northern Great Plains. It can be collected only about a month each year, and now is the right time to collect it.
Just drill a hole a few centimeters long on the tree trunk, knock a hollow iron pipe into it at an angle, hang an iron bucket under the iron pipe, and then wait for the sap to flow out of the trunk.
A similar collection method can also be used to collect maple syrup from sugar maple trees.
Su Xia took out a transparent glass bottle from the box and shook it gently. The liquid in the bottle shook along with it, becoming very clear.
"This is birch sap."
He unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip without worrying about whether it was poisonous, smacking his lips.
It tastes a little sweet and has a woody flavor that is hard to describe.
Su Xia felt good and thought about bringing some back for Hong Bafu, Lan Bafu and others to try.
"Master Mask, try this." Little Peter unscrewed a can of pickles and said happily, "This is made by my grandma. Everyone in the garrison likes it."
"good!"
Su Xia smiled and accepted everything. She took out a pickled cucumber from the jar and took a big bite. It tasted crisp, sour and refreshing, and was very appetizing.
"It tastes very good." Su Xia praised.
"Master Mask, try this again... Never mind, you may not be used to this..."
Little Peter took out a jar, thought about it, and put the jar back. It seemed that there was some kind of food pickled in the jar.
"What is that?" Su Xia asked.
"Pickled fat."
“…”
Su Xia was indeed not worthy of enjoying such delicacy.
People living in this icy and snowy area seem to need high-fat and high-calorie foods to fight against years of wind and snow.
Little Peter changed to another special delicacy, a smoked sausage, and asked Su Xia to taste it while he ate it himself.
The two of them sat on the edge of the wooden shed, eating and chatting. The team members behind them were happily busy preparing the evening's food, and in front of them was the clear and transparent river water. The bustle and tranquility blended together. This kind of life was quite relaxing and had a unique feeling.
More than ten minutes later, an old man with a white beard suddenly walked into the camp.
The old man grabbed Sergei who was cooking, glanced at Su Xia who was sitting on the edge, and asked in a low voice: "This... is that person?"
"Yes, that's the one." Sergei nodded with a smile.
"Xiongcheng has received the news." The old man was one of the people in this garrison who was responsible for contacting the Xiongcheng headquarters.
"What are they saying over there?" Sergei did not lower his voice, but communicated in a normal voice to ensure that Su Xia could hear him.
"The city lord asked me to convey his gratitude and invite you to visit Bear City." The old man pointed at Su Xia's back.
"Go and invite him yourself!" Sergei said with a smile, "He has always liked freedom, as you know. Even the Zero Point Tavern cannot restrain him. If the city lord wants to recruit him, he will probably be disappointed."
"Okay, I'll give it a try..."
The old man looked at Su Xia's back, a gleam of light flashed in his turbid eyes, and he walked towards him.
Su Xia naturally heard clearly the conversation between the two people just now.
Su Xia had already anticipated Xiong Cheng's reaction.
With his current strength, he is extremely worthy of recruitment for any human race gathering place.
"Masked stranger, my friend, I am the person in charge of this valley base. My name is Alexi, and I am glad that you can come to our base." A voice came from behind, it was the old man.
"Hello, what's the matter?" Su Xia turned around and looked at the old man with a smile on her face, holding a bottle of birch sap.
"My friend, the city lord is very grateful for your help to us." Alexi said with a smile, "He really hopes that you can go to Bear City. He will personally take you to visit the interior of Bear City. If he is not busy dealing with matters in Lion City now, he will definitely come to invite you in person."
"Lion City? What happened there?" Su Xia asked.
"They sent several spies to sneak into our city, and we caught them. They seemed to be planning to overthrow the city lord's rule."
Alexei said: "The attack that occurred in Longcheng not long ago may also be related to them. We are currently negotiating with them."
"There was an attack in Longcheng?" Su Xia's heart sank.
"Yes." Alexei nodded.
"Are the casualties serious?" Su Xia asked again.
"Three people died and more than ten were injured. The Lord of Dragon City was seriously injured. This is all the news I know." Alexei did not hide anything.
"The Lord of Dragon City is seriously injured..."
Su Xia murmured in a low voice, frowning, and felt more worried when he thought about the task that might be his old father.
Inside Dragon City, there was an attack that seriously injured the city lord?
This kind of thing is really too unbelievable.
Su Xia thought of the Dragon City Hero Medal that he saw in Andrew's collection room, and associated it with the recent rumors flying around in Dragon City. He unconsciously felt a sense of urgency. He had to go to Dragon City as soon as possible.
"Please tell the city lord that I thank him for his kindness. I still have some things to deal with and need to go back to the south." Su Xia said in a gentle tone and politely declined Xiong Cheng's invitation.
Alexei was prepared for this and said with a smile: "My friend, when you are free, you must come to our place... This is a Bear City ID card. Please keep it. With this ID card, you can enter and leave Bear City freely. If you meet soldiers for inspection, just show them this ID card. They understand the meaning of this card."
"good!"
Su Xia nodded slightly, did not refuse the ID card, and reached out to take it.
By now, he had ID cards for two large human settlements.
One is the Dragon City ID card he got in the Commander's Last Wish mission, and the other is this Bear City ID card.
After exchanging a few more words, Alexei said goodbye without disturbing everyone's dinner. Before leaving, he repeatedly invited Suxia to visit Bear City when she was free.
After he left, Su Xia turned around and faced the gurgling river again, with a heavy look on her face.
"With a powerful enemy in front of us, these human settlements are still experiencing internal conflicts, being wary of each other, and even sending spies to each other. If this continues, when will we be able to launch a counterattack?"
At this time, Su Xia finally understood the difficulties of some celebrities in history.
How can we accomplish anything great with a group of insects like this?
Su Xia sighed and replaced the birch sap in her hand with strong liquor. Only by drinking some alcohol could she relieve her worries.
More than ten minutes later, little Peter came over with a skewer of barbecue. His skinny face was full of satisfaction. He said to Su Xia, "Master Mask, dinner is ready!"
"good!"
Looking at this energetic young man, Su Xia's smile returned to her face and she stood up to join this sumptuous dinner.
…
Meanwhile, in the far south, Coral City.
Old street, pharmacy.
A dark figure flashed past the back window of the shop, floating and uncertain, like a ghost.
A voice sounded in the shadows: "Are you sure? That damn Su Xia is still in the store?"
"Confirmed!" another voice appeared, "That bastard is really scared and dare not go out. He hides on the second floor of the store all day and doesn't even come downstairs to eat. He has to have his food delivered to him."
"Hmph, I just need to make him feel enough fear! This is the price of betraying my father!" The previous voice snorted coldly.
"Dad saved us several times, now it's time for us to repay him! Let us help him clean up the sect!"
“When will we act?”
"Three days later!"
"Okay, I'll write a few more letters in the next two days to scare him. I want him to spend the last few days of his life in panic!"
