Ski slopes
The news that Green Contract Company had decided to acquire Lianhua Machinery spread like wildfire in Wudong Port, and Joshua's name resounded throughout Lanman, making him the most sought-after young entrepreneur at the moment.
The Daller Group held a press conference, and Miles, who was in the eye of the storm, decided to support the Daller Group with his personal company. This meant a public confrontation with Greendeal, and a clear and tough attitude.
Numerous media interview requests were offered, but Milo had no intention of revealing his identity directly. Miles's tough stance, while unexpected, was also somewhat anticipated; he wouldn't fall so easily. However, Milo still keenly sensed something amiss. A quick phone call revealed that Miles himself had personally gone to the airport to see Glenn off, and the two had a brief conversation at the airport.
Milo acted decisively, deviating from the original plan he had given Glenn. Instead, he skipped the inspection of Wanyang Company and booked a flight to Frostraven.
Despite the long flight of over ten hours, Milo didn't feel tired at all. He looked at the city outside the window, but a sense of indescribable frustration lingered in his heart.
As the plane landed in Akda, the capital of Frosttravin, Milo spotted a familiar figure in the waiting room.
Blaise, who is tall and well-built, was wearing a black wool coat over a black turtleneck sweater that completely covered his tattoos.
Beside him stood Nonai, dressed in a white fur coat, who waved and gestured in Milo's direction.
Milo sneered inwardly.
These people are quick to get information.
"What a coincidence!" Milo stepped forward. "It seems we are truly destined to meet."
Blaze silently glanced at the three people behind Milo. One was Gary, who had previously signed a contract with them at the underground shop, and the other was a tall, burly stranger who looked like a bodyguard, pushing Old Ruan, who was sitting in a wheelchair and looked unwell.
In the bustling waiting room, Milo cut straight to the point: "Did the Gan Valley give you a new mission?"
Blaise did not deny it, and Nonai just smiled without giving a direct answer.
Milo, however, managed to piece together some clues from this silence.
The order to hunt down Yuuma must have been placed by Sigon; otherwise, it wouldn't have been enough to instigate Chatchai and Nonai. But why would someone like Sigon target someone as insignificant as Yuuma? There must be some kind of exchange behind this; Miles must have made some deal with Sigon. In other words, these two are on the same side in some way that he can't see.
The night Yu-chan died, Blaze rushed back to Gan Valley. Milo didn't ask him why, nor did he expect to use Blaze to do anything in this matter.
But now, Blaise has actually come to Frostraven, and more importantly, he's accompanied by Nona. If it really comes down to business cooperation, Blaise alone is clearly not enough to get things done; the meticulous Nona is obviously the right person to go.
“It seems Mr. Natawa has business dealings in Frostraven as well.” As he spoke, Milo was already feeling somewhat displeased. “Could it be that he has a cooperative relationship with Green Pact?”
Nonai laughed and continued, "If there really is a collaboration, as the president of Green Contract, wouldn't you know? With your wealth and resources, how could you try to trick us errand boys into talking? Don't try to bully us."
Milo didn't press the matter further. He wasn't flattered; instead, he sensed a subtle sarcasm in the words.
As they were talking, Milo spotted the employees holding signs to pick them up at the airport. The two large groups instantly erupted in cheers, with Milo and Blaise Natawa's names written on them respectively.
"Where's Glenn?" Milo glanced at the group that came to greet him.
"Are you referring to Joshua Glenn? Mr. Glenn is on vacation in Sullar and will be back in a week."
Milo took off his sunglasses: "Did he tell you who I am?"
"Mr. Glenn said that Mr. Milo is a distinguished guest, so we have arranged the best service for him. Mr. Milo, would you like to go directly to the company headquarters, or would you like to rest at the hotel first?"
“I’m not going.” Milo immediately changed his mind. “Gary, please make arrangements for Old Ruan for me. I’m going straight to Sule.”
The group responsible for welcoming Blaze talked for a long time with smiles on their faces, but there was no response. Blaze's gaze remained fixed on Milo.
Nonai glanced around, stepped forward, and said with a smile, "If possible, we plan to go to Sule with this Mr. Milo first."
*
After a continuous journey involving planes and buses, another ten hours or so passed, and by December, Frostraven was already a vast expanse of snow.
When we arrived at our destination, the morning mist at the ski resort in the Sule Mountains had not yet dissipated.
Many people had already formed a long queue, making the special passage very quiet. A boy wearing a gray beanie walked towards them, opened the fence, took off his gloves as he walked forward, and extended his hand to Milo: "Mr. Milo, hello, Glenn is already waiting for you."
This was a very young boy, thin and tall, still quite boyish. He had brown hair and brown eyes, fair skin, and large, bright, round eyes.
An Eastern face that easily softens the heart, resembling a little deer.
Milo took off his gloves and shook his hand back: "What's your name?"
"Just call me Aoi-ta." The boy smiled, his eyes crinkling into crescents, his cheeks slightly sunken into two curved lines.
The name was unfamiliar, and Milo couldn't place it among the important positions at Green Contract Company even after thinking for a while. He suppressed his doubts and replied, "Thank you for your hard work."
"You're too kind," Aoi said with a shy smile.
Blaze, following behind, coldly watched Milo converse with this person, and couldn't help but sized up Aoi. Unexpectedly, this silent movement was noticed by the other party. Aoi turned his head slightly, met Blaze's eyes, smiled, and then looked away.
Standing beside Blaise, Nonai silently stepped forward, gazing at the snow-capped mountains ahead, and said with a smile, "His status is completely different now. You can get entangled with him however you want, but you'd better not make a move on his turf. It won't do us any good if we anger him."
Blaise remained silent.
Nonai shrugged: "You should know our mission here; that's the most important thing."
In the distance, a tall, blue-eyed young man in a blue and white ski suit waved, taking off his goggles as he walked, his breath fogging up as he spoke: "Hi! Milo, I'm sorry, I should have come to pick you up myself."
Milo stepped forward and returned the blue-eyed youth's hug: "I should have come to visit you, after all, you have done a lot of help for the company over the years."
Glenn paused for a moment, nodded, and then smiled: "It's very cold. Why don't you go inside and have a hot coffee first?" As he spoke, he looked at Aoi, "After we finish this last run."
Aoi seemed a little embarrassed: "I can't play with you anymore. If I fall again, I'll have to see an orthopedic doctor."
Glenn smiled and said, "Okay, you know I can't force you."
Through this back-and-forth, Milo realized that there was probably some ambiguous relationship between the two.
"Forget coffee," Milo said, glancing into the distance. "How about I play a game with you?"
Glenn was surprised: "Are you serious? You have to understand, this isn't some friendly match, it's quite dangerous."
Milo looked at him: "Unless you're afraid of losing."
Glenn raised an eyebrow, immediately eager to try: "You sound very confident. If you're the one inviting me, why would I refuse?"
Blaise, standing nearby, couldn't help but frown. He was stationed year-round in the humid, sweltering rainforest, only venturing north on missions, and was completely unfamiliar with snow. But he could also tell that the distant, undulating mountains were clearly not open, flat snowfields. Skiing was inherently risky, and he didn't have much faith in the frail Milo.
Before long, Milo had changed into his gear. His red and white ski suit was neat, clean, and covered him up completely.
Blaze stood in front of the fence, grabbed Milo's arm, and gestured uncertainly: Are you really going?
Milo let out a deep breath, put on his goggles, and said calmly, "Wait for me."
Blaise paused for a moment, then released his grip.
Milo glided towards the starting line on his skis, the blades scraping against the frozen snow with a faint hiss.
Fifty meters away, Glenn was adjusting his ski poles, his blue and white racing suit glaringly bright against the gray sky.
"Are you sure you want to choose the underworld?" Glenn slowly skated over, glancing into the distance at the 35-degree slope covered in icicles. "Freestyle skiing is dangerous enough as it is; perhaps you should reduce the difficulty."
Milo unlocked the safety buckle on his ski poles, his voice muffled beneath his mask: "Can I take that as you being scared? Honey, please have some confidence in yourself."
Glenn smiled and stopped trying to persuade him: "Let me make this clear beforehand, out of sportsmanship, even if you were my boss, I wouldn't give you special treatment."
“Of course.” Milo’s gaze drifted into the distance, and he replied half-jokingly, “If you were to lie, I might fire you instead.”
Blaise and his group were invited to the VIP reception room, one of which was reserved by Greenview Company and was mostly occupied by female guests.
The room was at a comfortable temperature and served sweet tea and snacks, as well as rich coffee. A large electronic screen broadcasted live high-definition footage of the VIP contestants and provided professional commentary.
The snow was pristine, and the first rays of dawn were already peeking out, casting golden light across the pine forest.
On the snow track, the starting gun ripped through the silence, and two figures shot into the track like arrows.
At the third sharp bend, Glenn's ski edge kicked up a waterfall of snow, and his textbook-perfect carving widened the gap between him and the others to three body lengths.
Milo, who started off smoothly, followed Glenn at a steady pace. At a corner, Milo pressed his knees to the ground, his skis tracing an arc less than three meters in diameter across the nearly vertical ice surface, the flying ice shards exploding into a pale firework in the camera's view.
Applause erupted from the stands, but was quickly replaced by gasps. Blaise in the VIP room jumped, gripping the armrest of his chair to keep himself from standing up.
Milos grazed the safety net with both boards on the seventh jump, but landed safely.
If he hadn't been steady, his neck would probably have broken.
Meanwhile, Glenn was making a beautiful leap.
“Don’t worry, he’s very good.” Aoi stared at the big screen. “A beginner wouldn’t have this skill. He must have been trained.”
Blaze glanced at Aoi, seemingly lost in thought.
The blizzard on the track was like countless ice blades, reaching the danger zone. Glenn carefully followed the line on the rock wall section, the muffled sound of his knee pads hitting the rock wall mixed with the howling wind.
Two figures were far ahead, chasing each other.
Milo suddenly lost power and leaned back, circling to Glenn's left. The tail of the board scraped across the exposed granite, making a piercing, almost sparking sound, leaving a trail in the snow fog and bringing with it a strong crosswind.
The moment Glenn was swept away by the crosswind, the red and white figure had already plunged into the precipice.
At the edge of the 72-meter-high jump, Milo flipped his skis in mid-air, the 1440-degree rotation turning the flying snowflakes into a vortex, and the huge impact upon landing caused even the drone filming him to shake violently.
Glenn stared up at the arc of the leaping figure, momentarily stunned.
The finish line gate appeared in the snow, and Milos's ski pole tip was still half a meter away from the timer.
Glenn momentarily lost his balance and bumped into a rock. Fortunately, he braked in time to stop himself from falling, but he inevitably missed his chance to overtake.
With lightning speed, the red and white figure swept past the finish line gate, its movements beautiful and agile. The double skis spun sharply, and the figure slowed down by tilting its body backward.
The wind howled, then gradually subsided, and Milo took off his goggles.
Dawn had already broken, spreading out a golden cloak stretching for thousands of miles behind him.
The scorching breath dissipated into mist, and suddenly it turned cold, freezing even the eyelashes with ice crystals.
Milo gazed at the ski slope he had just glided down, feeling the pounding of his chest. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the damp, cold air flowing into his body.
The wind and snow tossed his hair, freezing the tip of his nose red, giving him a painful yet exhilarating feeling as if the wind and snow were tearing through his internal organs.
This face was quickly captured by a high-speed camera and projected onto large screens both inside and outside the venue, displaying its unrestrained charm.
"Beautiful!" Aoi was the first to stand up and applaud, and his enthusiasm inspired the other applause in the room.
Blaise, sitting in the lounge, stared at the person on the screen, his fingers trembling slightly, causing his latte art to become a mess.
This is Theo Green.
Theo Green, radiant and unparalleled.
The heart is beating faster and faster.
Blaise finally caught up and started clapping.
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