Lin Dao glanced indifferently at the potato in Bleta's hand, its skin charred black, perhaps hard enough to break your teeth after a night of neglect.
Noticing his gaze, Bryta's courage, which had been emboldened by Xiaobai, vanished completely. Thinking the man disagreed, he timidly pulled the roasted potato he was holding back, lowered his head, bit his lip, and murmured in a barely audible voice, sounding quite aggrieved and sad: "...Roasted potatoes, are delicious."
[Good, very good! Keep your head down, showing only half your face, bite your lip, and say your lines. Very good!]
A constant, incessant voice echoed in Bryta's ears—after absorbing a large amount of alien energy in the wine cellar last night, Little White was now able to communicate with him in his mind using clear and fluent human language.
Bretta, her head bowed and brows furrowed, waited patiently for a response, then anxiously asked in her heart:
Does this really work?
Lin Dao looked at the child's dejected head, paused for a moment, then stepped aside to make way for him, and said coldly, "Come in."
Bretta was surprised to hear this, and looked up happily.
—It really works!
"Hurry up and go in!" Xiaobai urged.
Bryta hurriedly went inside. This was the first time it had entered Mr. Lin Dao's house through the front door. Although it was a safe house on the same floor, the space was much larger than his own house.
Bretta took a few steps forward cautiously and curiously, looking around carefully.
This is a safe house that Klindall had secretly arranged for himself at Mix Base. The house is not big, with only three bedrooms and one living room, but it is enough for him to stay at Mix Base occasionally when he needs to do military business.
The house's decor leans towards Icelandic pragmatism, emphasizing functionality and rationality, with an overall rigorous and meticulous style, much like the house itself—cool and silent.
On one wall, there was a long sword with a sheath hanging on it, along with several other weapons of various types, both light and heavy, that Bleta couldn't name at all. His gaze lingered on them for a brief second before he stood frozen in place, not daring to move.
In the distance, the huge floor-to-ceiling windows reflected Bretta's figure and the resolute, upright silhouette of the man standing behind him. The interplay of light and shadow on the floor gave the entire room a minimalist aesthetic.
Lin Dao closed the door, walked towards him, followed Bretta's gaze to the weapons on the wall, then turned to look at him, slightly raised his chin, and said coldly, "Find your own room to live in."
Bleta nodded obediently.
"And another thing," Lin Dao added, remembering something, "what about the white mouse you kept?"
"[She disappeared last night.]" Xiao Bai mentally prompted himself.
Bryta added, "...disappeared last night."
Lin Dao raised an eyebrow; it seemed he had been scared away.
Bretta discreetly observed his expression, and seeing that he believed her, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she sincerely handed over the roasted potato she had been holding for a long time: "...Mr. Lin Dao, this is really delicious."
Lin Dao's gaze shifted to his hand, his brows furrowing slightly, and he said, "No need, keep it for yourself."
“…Thank you.” Bretta withdrew her hand, thinking that apart from his desire to eat her last night, Mr. Lin Dao was actually not bad. He was rich enough to live in such a nice house, so he seemed to be a very successful alien senior in human society.
Bretta looked at Lin Dao with a hint of awe, thinking: "Considering Mr. Lin Dao is such a good person, I'll at most sniff his fragrance, but I'll never eat it." As she was thinking this, her stomach suddenly rumbled.
"..."
Lin Dao glanced at the roasted potato in his hand, gestured for him to make himself at home, and turned to go into the bedroom.
Bryta finished the cold potato in no time. He wasn't too picky about the temperature of the food and thought it tasted alright.
After finishing his meal, he prepared to find a room to tidy up and rest. He walked to the room next to the bedroom and gently pushed open the door, only to find that it was an office study. The room had a neat and tidy desk and an entire wall of linen-colored bookshelves, which were densely packed with many paper books that were rare in the base, all written in languages he couldn't understand.
Bretta tilted his head slightly, looking at the entire bookshelf, a hint of surprise in his bewildered eyes. He had no understanding of human culture and knowledge, but he was still awestruck by this small remnant of one of the vast, declining civilizations of humanity.
He couldn't help but admire him, thinking: Mr. Lin Dao is amazing. No wonder he was able to live so well in human society and was never discovered.
He's such a good person!
Bretta walked in quietly, looked around carefully, and was suddenly drawn to the text on the bottom side of a book. He vaguely felt that the characters looked a bit like the words on Colonel Klindall's tombstone.
Curious, he took the book off the shelf, turned the pages with his fingertips, and noticed that the corners of the pages were yellowed and it gave off a faint scent of old books.
"What are you doing?" A cold voice rang out from behind.
Startled, Bleta's hand trembled. Turning around, she saw Lin Dao standing at the door. The book in her hand fell to the ground with a thud. From the side of the book cover, she could vaguely see a photo of a handsome man in military uniform with a cold expression. He looked exactly like the man in front of Bleta.
Lin Dao glanced at the book on the ground, his eyes darkening, and asked, "What did you see?"
"I...I didn't see anything, I'm sorry! Mr. Lin Dao, I just wanted to find a room..." Bretta was so frightened by the dangerous aura emanating from the man that he was speechless. He panicked and didn't know where to put his hands. He subconsciously bent down to pick up the book that had fallen to the ground.
To his surprise, the man who had just been standing at the door appeared directly in front of him and snatched the book from his hands.
He turned and stared intently at Bretta's face, which bore a striking resemblance to that person's, and suddenly understood why he felt a sense of familiarity upon first meeting her.
In that instant, he almost killed him. He reached out and grabbed the man's neck, slamming him against the bookshelf, and questioned him in a chilling tone:
"Who exactly are you?!"
The moment Bretta felt death approaching, fear gripped his heart and made him tremble. When the little white dog in his arms tried to jump out to protect him, it was completely affected by the blood connection between them and was suppressed by the pressure of the man's natural enemy, so it dared not move.
Bretta's face turned bright red as he struggled to breathe. Just as he was about to run out of breath, Lin Dao finally came to his senses and quickly let go.
Bryta suddenly fell to the ground, ignoring the pain, coughing as if her lungs were about to burst, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
Lin Dao stared at the boy on the ground with a grim expression. He was almost certain that just a moment ago, he had almost lost control and killed him, or rather, wanted to eat him.
He restrained himself and tightly gripped Bretta's right hand, which he had just released, and said, "Your room is in another one. Don't come here again."
Bryta, who was coughing uncontrollably, nodded quickly upon hearing this and stood up, running out of the study like a shot.
He found the guest room, opened it, immediately closed and locked the door, and only then did he feel safe enough to slide down against the door.
Worried, Little White immediately darted out and clung tightly to his chest, its branches and petals trembling.
Bretta, slightly out of breath, reached out to stroke it, biting her lip as she thought: This really is the most dangerous place.
Lin Dao, still in his study, slowly picked up the book in his hand, his gaze lingering on the photograph from many years ago on the first page. He glanced at his past self through the lens. He decisively tore off the page, and with a mere thought, a cluster of deep blue flames suddenly appeared in his palm, instantly igniting the tattered page. The man in military uniform in the photograph gradually vanished with the flickering flames.
Lin Dao was taken aback, looking at his palm, his brows furrowing slightly as he fell into deep thought. But when he tried to release the flame again, the small flame only flickered briefly before going out.
Have you become stronger?
He inexplicably thought of what happened in the wine cellar on the twentieth floor yesterday. At that time, he was only concerned with saving people and was cut by several shards of wine bottles. The foreign substance in the wine seemed to be quickly absorbed by him through the wounds.
However, he also discovered that alcohol was extremely harmful to him. He had overexerted himself and suffered such a deep wound, which was why he was unable to maintain his human form at all when he forced himself to come back.
His face was still somewhat pale. He walked out of the bedroom, closed the door, glanced at the guest room opposite, turned around and went back into the bedroom, and soon fell into a state of hibernation.
Bretta stayed in the house for a long time, thinking it over and over again. She still couldn't stay there. Hearing no movement inside, she quietly opened the door and came out. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she met a man who had just come out of the kitchen.
"!"
Lin Dao was wearing a black apron and carrying a freshly made breakfast: a can of luncheon meat that had just been heated and was emitting a meaty aroma, two cups of golden corn juice, and a plate of golden, sweet-smelling pellets that Breta had never seen before.
Bryta, with a single tuft of hair still on her head, stared wide-eyed, drooling from afar, too envious and too timid to approach.
Lin Dao sat down at the table without touching the food. Instead, she glanced at him casually and said succinctly, "Come and eat."
Upon hearing those three words, Bretta instantly forgot all about the wicked snake she had been cursing in her heart the night before. She ran over, then quickly stopped, cautiously glancing at the man's expression before carefully sitting down in the place furthest away from him.
Lin Dao observed all his subtle movements and slightly raised her chin: "Eat."
Bryta was still a little hesitant to move, so Lin Dao picked up the corn juice and started drinking it first.
Following suit, Bretta quietly reached for a cup, slid it to his side, and took a big gulp. The sweet, glutinous aroma spread in his mouth, and Bretta paused slightly, a satisfied smile unconsciously spreading across his face: "So delicious..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she realized something and hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand in fear. She secretly looked up at the man opposite her and saw that he calmly finished drinking the corn juice and then quietly ate half a can of luncheon meat in the bowl in front of him.
Bleta licked her lips and, mimicking his gesture, reached for the spoon. But the other man suddenly extended a hand, startling Bleta so much that she immediately withdrew her hand and stepped back, quickly apologizing, "I'm sorry... I thought I could eat too."
Lin Dao paused, pursed his lips slightly, and continued his previous action with his outstretched hand—pushing the entire can of luncheon meat in front of Bretta and saying, "I don't want it anymore, you can have it all." After saying that, he quickly finished eating, stood up, dressed swiftly, walked to the door, changed into his military boots, and looked like he was about to go out.
Bretta stared blankly at his actions, then noticed a large plate of golden food on the table and hesitated, saying, "This..."
"You've eaten." Lin Daowei, with his back to him, pursed his lips and straightened his collar. He had an excellent physique; his entire back view looked as smooth and graceful as a cheetah, tall and stylish.
Bretta's eyes lit up at the mention of this, and fearing he would leave, she quickly asked, "What's this called? I've never eaten it before."
The man who was asked the question paused, his jawline tightening uncomfortably in profile.
"Popcorn."
"Sweet...better than roasted corn."
“…Popcorn?” Bryta reached out, picked up a piece, chewed it, and her eyes lit up.
"It's so delicious!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Dao, whose back was to the boy, let out a low chuckle.
Author's Note: Klindall: A virtuous and domestic man who would make his own popcorn to please his wife.
The next update will also be at midnight.
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 19:09:54 on January 25, 2022 and 21:04:20 on January 26, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: A huge Maine Coon cat (1).
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Jackfruit 40 bottles; zhuo 10 bottles; Chang'an City Outside 3 bottles; 52459441, Gray Gauze 2 bottles; 52895682, Daydream, One Two Find 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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