In fact, the moment they heard Wendell say the words "This is my son", Hao Ren and the others had already imagined hundreds of thousands of words of causes and consequences, background stories, protagonists, supporting characters, and summary after reading.
Those who have been influenced by movies and TV shows can't guess this little inside story. ≥≯≯ But they still didn't say a word, they just hoped that the old man could briefly tell what happened back then.
"Tell me," Vivian sighed, "what's going on."
Wendell was a little hesitant, but maybe it was because these things had been weighing on him for too long and he needed to find someone to talk to, or maybe because his lifelong career was finally achieved and his defenses were shaken. After a moment of hesitation, he turned around silently.
, walking towards the edge of the platform.
Hao Ren and Vivian followed.
"He's right," Wendell said in a low voice, "I abandoned my wife and son. In the entire first half of my life, I didn't have any achievements that could be used to comfort my wife's spirit in heaven."
This is an uncomplicated story: an ambitious man who yearns for adventure, a complete family that could have been happy, but a destined tragic ending. When he was young, Wendell once participated in a light-seeking trip.
And he already had a family at that time. He had a wife named Sasha and a son named Hope. At that time, Hope was only seven years old. At that time, the Twilight City had already stood in the long night for two thousand and three years.
Over the past hundred years, countless light seekers have made vain efforts, so the appeal of the "Light Seeker Journey" in the hearts of the people has weakened to a limit. It can be said that except for the light seekers themselves and a few almost religious groups
Except for some people who still have faith, others no longer believe that there is any life outside the dark wilderness.
The Steam Council at that time had even begun to discuss the complete termination of this action that had been passed down from ancient times.
The Lightseekers represent ancient perseverance, while the Steam Council represents the pragmatic spirit of keeping up with the trend. Wendell obviously belongs to the former, and Hope, who was only seven years old at the time, has begun to deeply admire those Steam Council Sheriffs with straight uniforms.
It can be said that their contradictions existed from the beginning, and what happened later only completely amplified this rift.
Wendell participated in the light-seeking trip more than thirty years ago. He trekked through the long night, and his teammates were almost wiped out. Many days later, he returned home covered with scars. His wife had died.
Disease, and his son never called him father from that day on.
After Hope came of age, it was no surprise that he joined the Steam Council.
Today, thirty years later, Wendell once again returned from the darkness as a light seeker. Facing Hope, who has become the senior sheriff of the Steam Parliament, it is obvious that human impulses and paranoia will tightly grasp the situation.
For this pair of father and son, Hope would never calmly and rationally analyze whether his father's light-seeking career was even remotely feasible. He completely denied it and had no intention of believing anything Wendell said from the beginning.
The son of a light seeker is now the most radical faction in the Steam Council. The other members of the council will at least consider the ancient tradition and maintain a superficial respect for the light seekers, but in Hope's mind
The light seeker has long been completely disgraced.
So being emotional can kill people, but what can you say? His own mother is already dead...
In fact, Wendell did not go into detail about these past events. After all, it was an unbearable past. Just to explain the situation at hand, he briefly talked about the process of breaking up with his biological son, most of which were in detail.
It was all done by Hao Ren and the others relying on their imagination. During the whole process, Hope, who was a rebellious seven-year-old child in the past, and today's middle-aged high-ranking police officer, always maintained a posture of craning his neck and glaring at his own father, but other than that
Other than that, he didn't make any more extreme reactions.
"So that's the case, then it's understandable," Hao Ren nodded after Wendel finished telling his story. He looked at the old man thoughtfully, "No wonder you are so reluctant to meet the people from the Steam Council.
, it turns out there is only one person you want to avoid."
"If possible, I hope to send you to the ancient saint before he appears," Wendell pressed a hand on his eyes, "I have given everything to this cause, my wife, children, and my whole life.
, all invested in it, I hope the whole thing can proceed smoothly and flawlessly, at least let the ancient saints see you messengers from Asgard with your own eyes. After that, no matter what the Steam Council wants to do, I will do it again.
No regrets.”
Vivian silently looked at Wendell, this old man who resolutely embarked on a journey to find the light. He showed fearless courage and unhesitating determination when he challenged fate, but when his lifelong career finally came to an end,
When he saw the light of day, he began to worry about gains and losses.
Hao Ren came to Hope and nodded to the middle-aged sheriff: "It seems like you don't believe what your father said at all?"
Hope's face was expressionless.
"You don't believe that we are from outside the twilight barrier. You think that we are extras hired by your father just to perform in front of your eyes. The journey of searching for light is successful. This job has great prospects."
Vast' drama?"
Hope remained expressionless.
"Is there something wrong with you?" Hao Ren looked at the other person's eyes seriously, "Do you think this way of unfolding is reasonable at all? Who do you think would be so well-fed to perform this? Do you think your father
How demented does one have to be to forcefully promote his career in this way? If the light-seeking journey really yields nothing, what’s the point of your father hiring a bunch of extras? There are so many things that don’t make sense here,
Why don't you believe the most obvious and logical fact?"
Hope continued to remain expressionless.
Vivian also came over and poked the other person's head with her finger: "So there's something wrong with your brain. You racked your brains and made up a scam full of loopholes to explain what you saw. You didn't understand what you saw.
This is how you react when you put something on your head. It's worse than a child. The pit in your brain has almost reached the level of a perforation. If you look down from the top of your head, you can directly see the top of your feet, right? I told you... Hey, I told Hao Ren that this.
Why is this person so silent?"
Elizabeth jumped out immediately: "Hey, you want him to answer the question. If you didn't tell me earlier, I just saw that he was unhappy and I stopped him..."
Hao Ren: "..."
After the little devil released the shadow shackles, Hope suddenly recovered. He immediately took two steps back and made an extremely alert posture: "Spellman! You attack the sheriff, which is a felony!"
At the same time, other police officers also regained their freedom. They took this opportunity to immediately activate some kind of device on their bodies, and the runes with anti-magic effects lit up on the collars of their uniforms. Then, Hao Ren and his party
A circle of encirclement formed around it.
"There's nothing you can do. If you don't do this, you won't listen to us." Hao Ren spread his hands helplessly, "We really came from outside the barrier. If you don't believe me, go check your population information or something like that. We will definitely not be there."
After all, you have been here for more than two thousand years, so you should have something like this, right?"
Hope looked at the group of dangerous elements in front of him with vigilance, and at the same time, his right hand was already placed on a small iron box at his waist: "What you say to me is meaningless. If you really come from outside the twilight barrier, then
Just go with me to meet the members of the Steam Parliament, and they will investigate your origins. Compared to the 'light seekers' who are full of fantasy, I believe that a parliament that upholds the concepts of justice and rationality will be more fair and just."
"What you said makes sense, but unfortunately we are very busy," Hao Ren shrugged. "The purpose of our coming here is just to meet your 'Old Sage'. Now we are not cooperating with you, but we hope that you can cooperate."
us."
"This is impossible," Hope flatly refused. The moment the other party mentioned the Ancient Saint, he even forgot the fact that he was helpless against these people in front of him, "I don't care who you are or who you are.
If you approach the Ancient Saint rashly, just based on your idea, I have enough reason to believe that you are dangerous elements!"
"I knew this wouldn't go so smoothly," Nangong Sanba hugged his arms, "A group of suspicious people who don't even have ID cards suddenly came over and said they wanted to chat with the president. It would take a guard with a lot of brains to do this.
Let it go."
"It seems that the negotiations have broken down," Hao Ren turned to look at Wendel, "Do you know the road to the place where the ancient saint lives?"
Wendell nodded subconsciously, and then suddenly realized that something out of his control was about to happen: "Wait a minute, you want to..."
"Don't worry, we are measured," Hao Ren gave a thumbs up, showing a bright and trustworthy smile, and then patted Lily on the head next to him, "Be merciful and let's clear the way!"