Chapter 182: Future Force
With a wave of her hand, Jolene Okafor activated a mechanism after Uhtred’s words, and immediately, the large archway doors of the amphitheatre began to open up.
All fifty factions present began to stream into the theatre, taking in the view.
As they all moved in, Uhtred remained standing where he was.
"You’re not going to do anything about him yet?" Zara casually asked from behind, her eyes on Don Luciano Vanezzi, who was walking into the amphitheatre along with his faction members.
Uhtred’s gaze lingered on the man playfully.
"No. His death is inevitable. Let him get to hear of the future and the plans for the planet. He strikes me as an ambitious man. What better punishment than to deny him such a vibrant future after he gets to hear of it?"
Zara said nothing for several seconds, prompting Uhtred to finally turn and look at her.
Her gaze was on him with a weird expression on her face.
"Sometimes, you say stuff like this that takes me off guard, but then I remember you’re also a crazy person."
She strode forward with a wry smile on her face, walking past Uhtred and heading toward the amphitheatre.
"What do you mean, ’also a crazy person?’ Don’t lump me in with you!" Uhtred called out, a mock pained expression on his face.
"She’s not wrong. You’re actually a crazy person," Diya added flatly as she also strode past him.
"Not you too?!"
"Ahem!" Dennis coughed as he followed. "Unfortunately I’ll also have to agree with the two ladies on this point, boss. You are a crazy man. But it is your craziness that has brought you this far, and it is also the reason we all follow you. We won’t have it any other way."
The middle-aged scholar patted Uhtred’s shoulder twice, then followed after the others.
Uhtred sighed where he stood.
"What a weird moment to get all sappy," he muttered under his breath, though a light smile was on his face before his expression firmed right after.
"You have a good crew," Jolene Okafor walked to his side, followed by Black Sun who came up from Uhtred’s left.
"Respectable. Powerful too," Black Sun added.
Uhtred looked at the man, then at the bright-eyed young lady next to him. He wanted to speak, but then he noticed how eager her gaze was on him.
"Mateo. You still haven’t introduced me to your daughter."
A disgruntled flicker crossed Black Sun’s face for a moment, but a firm, not-so-hidden squeeze from his daughter made him clench his jaw and introduce her to Uhtred reluctantly.
"Uhtred. This is Sofia, my daughter," he gestured. "For some reason, she seems to be smitten with you just from the stories I told her of your exploits in the— Ow!"
Mateo yelped as Sofia stomped hard on his foot, her face going red from her father’s embarrassing words.
"Hello, Uhtred! I’m Sofia. It’s an honor to finally meet you," she stretched out her hand for a handshake enthusiastically. "I wanted to personally thank you for your efforts in the Age of Hunger trial. Without you, not just me... but several other thousands wouldn’t have survived at all. I wouldn’t have survived to meet my father again."
Her eyes were steady and genuine.
Uhtred hadn’t known how to react at first when Mateo had said she was essentially his big fan. But seeing her heartfelt gratitude, he finally understood where most of her goodwill came from even though they had never met.
He nodded, then clasped her hand in a firm handshake. "You’re welcome."
He wanted to say some words of deflection, but he chose not to. It was good to accept thanks like these sometimes. It went to show that for someone at his level of power, his actions had effects that weren’t immediately visible to him.
It was both daunting and refreshing. Just like Sofia had said, there were thousands of people out there like her who had survived because of him indirectly or directly. But at the same time there were also others who hadn’t. These were simply the little things — or perhaps not so little things — that came with being in his position of power.
"Alright, alright!" Mateo groaned, pulling Uhtred’s and Sofia’s hands apart. "Sofia. You’ve said your thanks. Uhtred. You’ve met my daughter. Now can we get on with it?"
"Calm down Dad," Sofia huffed dramatically. "...always so pesky."
Uhtred laughed.
"Yeah, Mateo. I get that you want to protect Sofia, but she’s already an adult, no?"
Mateo’s eyes narrowed immediately, and his expression turned weird. "Damn you, Uhtred. Let me tell you this right now. If you plan to plow my daughter, give up now!"
"What the fuck Mateo?!"
"Dad!!"
Mateo leveled a genuinely threatening gaze at Uhtred. "I will cut off your balls myself if you so much as—"
Sofia lunged and covered his mouth with her hands, her face so deep a shade of red, it was nearly the color of a tomato.
"I’m so sorry about my Dad, he gets like this sometimes," she apologized to Uhtred, thoroughly embarrassed.
Uhtred only laughed, taking it all in stride. Eventually, the pair of father and daughter settled, with Sofia keeping a vigilant eye on her father so he didn’t speak out of line again.
Uhtred thought it was funny, but said nothing. Jolene Okafor, on the other hand, had a wide grin on her face as though she knew now who to go through if she wanted something done by the "nonchalant" Black Sun.
Black Sun caught her weird grin and was about to speak, when his daughter beat him to it.
"Uhtred, I have a request."
Everyone focused on her.
"I heard you are assembling a force. Talents to be nurtured under your banner..."
Black Sun’s eyes flickered. He looked slightly guilty, as though this was something his daughter wasn’t supposed to know, but he had revealed to her. But then at the same time, he looked torn, because he knew where she was heading with it.
"I want to join this force," Sofia said. "I want to fly your colors and be part of those to represent Earth on any future global stage!"
Uhtred looked at her for a silent few seconds. He processed that Black Sun had told her this. But he wasn’t mad or disappointed at all. It was inconsequential. Rather, he was more concerned by how Black Sun would receive this. This was basically his daughter — the only person he cared about on the entire planet — saying she wanted to leave his protection and pursue a path under his not-yet-established force.
He looked at the man, and in his eyes, while he saw deep unwillingness, he also saw acceptance, but also pleading. It was as if Black Sun was saying that he knew he couldn’t do anything about this. That he couldn’t hinder his daughter’s goals, so he was entrusting her under Uhtred’s care.
Uhtred sighed softly.
"Well. I have no problem with that," he said with a smile. "But you’ll have to pass the same test as everyone else, though. It will be tough."
"I can handle tough," Sofia beamed with a fierce look in her eyes.
"Hmm. But you’ll also have to wait. I haven’t announced anything yet. It was one of the agendas to be raised in the Summit, but it would seem your father has told you already..."
Sofia looked hesitant for a second, wondering if she’d said something she wasn’t supposed to.
"It’s no matter. I’m just joking." — though in truth, Black Sun still straightened up slightly, getting the underlying meaning behind Uhtred’s words: Even though it’s something trivial, I don’t want a repeat of such again.
"Let’s head to the theatre, shall we?" Uhtred looked at Jolene Okafor, who nodded immediately.
"Yes. We shouldn’t keep our guests waiting. There is much to be discussed."