109: The starting point of a new journey

After Karl finished his closing remarks for the banquet, he stepped down from the podium, preparing to walk back to his tent to rest with most of the other Buckle Family members.

Vavinia, Valentine, and Toke were not on the list of cleaning staff for this bonfire party.

However, Oliver was one of the cleaners for this banquet.

Toke patted Oliver's shoulder, saying to him with an "encouraging" smile:

"Oliver, keep it up. Contributing to the family is your duty."

Oliver's mouth twitched, then he raised his hand and placed it on Toke's shoulder.

"Toke, the next time you're a cleaner, I'll say the same thing to you."

Toke laughed heartily after hearing this, took his hand off Oliver's shoulder, and then turned his back to him and waved.

"Then I'll wait, don't forget it when the time comes."

"It's getting very late, I should go back to sleep early, so I don't keep bothering you with your cleaning work here."

"I'm an old man now, can't stay up."

Watching Toke's receding figure, Oliver shook his head, feeling a bit speechless.

"I'm older than you, if you can't stay up, how can I possibly stay up?"

"Sigh. Let's hurry up and clean. Once I'm done, I can go back to sleep."

Oliver sighed softly, then perked up, turned around, and walked towards the small tent where the cleaning tools were stored.

Let's talk about Toke again.

Since Toke was going the same way back to the tents as Valentine, Vavinia, and Fang Yun, he decided to go back with them.

Toke walked over to Valentine and found him "debating" with Fang Yun and Vavinia.

"Sister, you're going back to your own tent to sleep tonight, right?"

Although Valentine was asking a question, his tone was very firm.

Vavinia had already rested well, but because Fang Yun had been holding her tightly, she simply stayed in his arms without getting up.

Upon seeing her brother walking over, Vavinia sprang out of Fang Yun's embrace as if she had been electrocuted.

Hearing her brother's question, Vavinia, still shy, lowered her head and didn't speak.

Seeing his Sister lowering her head and not speaking, Valentine's eyes involuntarily turned fierce as he looked at Fang Yun.

Fang Yun saw Valentine suddenly looking at him, with a threatening glint in his eyes, and scratched his head somewhat unnaturally.

"Ahem. Of course."

"Where else would Vavinia go if not back to her own tent to sleep? Ha, ha, ha."

After laughing twice like a robot, Fang Yun saw Valentine's increasingly unfriendly gaze, quickly lowered his head, and whispered into Vavinia's ear:

"Help me, Vavinia."

"Help help help help help help..."

Vavinia, who had recovered, composed herself, looked up, and helped Fang Yun out of his predicament.

"Let's go, it's time to go back and rest. ...Back to my own tent."

A trace of blush still lingered on Vavinia's face, but her expression had completely returned to calmness.

As soon as Vavinia spoke, Valentine's expression immediately improved significantly, and Fang Yun also let out a sigh of relief.

Toke, who was watching the show from the side, grinned and came over to smooth things over.

"Youth is great."

"Young people can stay up late, but this old man only wants to hurry back to his warm little bed to rest."

"My eyelids have been fighting since just now. Do me a favor, can we go back quickly?"

Toke activated the ability of the "Face Fruit".

The effect was outstanding.

The four of them, Fang Yun, started to return along the way they came.

With Valentine's tacit approval and Toke's assistance, Fang Yun and Vavinia walked together at the back.

As Vavinia walked forward, following the two leading the way, she hesitated about whether to reach out and grab Fang Yun.

Before Vavinia could make a decision, she felt her right hand being enveloped by a warm sensation.

Fang Yun held Vavinia's right hand, turned his head to look at her, and smiled slightly.

Vavinia also turned her head to look at Fang Yun, her expression first surprised, then she couldn't help but smile.

The stars were brilliant, and the moonlight was bright.

But at this moment, Fang Yun felt that Vavinia's smile was the most beautiful thing.

Valentine, leading the way ahead, seemed to sense the interaction between Fang Yun and Vavinia, and couldn't help but quicken his pace.

...

Toke got off "midway".

Although Toke and the three, Valentine, were going back the same way, their tents were not in the same place after all.

As for Fang Yun, he didn't part ways with Vavinia until they reached the entrance of Valentine's tent.

Watching the two people who kept looking back after saying goodbye to each other, Valentine couldn't help but regret letting Fang Yun set up his tent next to his own.

Fang Yun smiled sheepishly, exchanged goodnights with Valentine, and then crawled into his tent.

Sitting on the wool bed, Fang Yun began to recall the various things he had experienced since coming to the cyberpunk world.

"One year of mining is not as good as a few days spent with living people."

"From now on, I should do less buried mining and interact more with people; that's the real business."

"The Black Hand settlement matter is over, what awaits me tomorrow? I'm a little excited."

"..."

"When can I sleep in the same bed as Vavinia?"

"I remember there's a saying, 'I don't mean anything else, I just feel a bit lonely sleeping alone.'"

"I wonder how Vavinia would react if I said that to her."

"..."

Fang Yun sat on the wool bed, letting his thoughts wander for a while.

Time came to 2 AM.

Fang Yun finally felt the sensation of being "tired".

"Hmm, it's time to sleep."

After muttering to himself, Fang Yun lay down on the wool bed and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

...

Fang Yun slowly woke up from sleep, his body still immersed in the residual warmth of the bedding.

(ps: The wool bed's quilt and mattress are integrated; lifting a layer of wool and lying inside is the quilt.)

Inside the tent, the air carried a hint of stuffiness, seemingly reminding Fang Yun that the outside world had awakened.

Fang Yun got out of bed, stretched lazily to his heart's content, spreading his whole body out, then patted his cheeks to officially boot himself up.

"It's on. Let's go!"

Fang Yun shouted full of energy, walked to the tent entrance, lifted the door curtain, and poked his head out.

In an instant, the scene before his eyes invigorated Fang Yun.

The weather was great today, with bright sunshine and a moderate wind force.

In the distance of the Buckle Family Camp, the boundless wasteland was draped in a golden silk by the sunlight.

The occasional strong winds, carrying sand and dust, struck Fang Yun's face, making him exclaim:

"The morning welcome ceremony of the Badlands is really quite unique."

Grains of sand hitting the tent made a faint "rustling" sound, like accompanying the morning symphony.

Under this sunlight, amidst the wind and sand, Fang Yun saw the members of the Buckle Family.

A new day of life, a new day of hope, each Buckle Family member's face was filled with enthusiastic vitality.

Some older Buckle Family members, as always, held their weapons and sat at the entrance maintaining them.

Some Buckle Family members set up an iron pot at the entrance and prepared food for themselves.

And some Buckle Family members, like Fang Yun, had just woken up and were washing up.

Fang Yun was too lazy to cook for himself and planned to go to the mess hall for breakfast later.

The rough scent of sand and dust in the air, along with the smell of roasted bread, entered Fang Yun's nose.

"...Even hungrier."

"...What should I eat later?"

The members of the Buckle Family saw Fang Yun deep in thought and smiled friendly.

Fang Yun waved back, responding to the greetings of several Buckle Family members, and then heard a familiar voice.

"Fang Yun, want to go for breakfast together?"