After Russell’s description of the event, Zoey suddenly realized that it could have been the metal pieces lodged inside of Levi’s body which caused the metal detectors to go off, instead of the lighter, which was what he had told them earlier on!
She wished that she could see through Levi’s clothes, and verify what Russell said with her own eyes that very instant.
Quintus, who was intrigued, asked, “How’s that even possible? Russell, who is this guy?”
“We don’t exactly know who he is, as his files had been classified as 5s level, which means no one in the entire of South City would have access to it! But I heard from our Chief that he used to be an officer from the Iron Brigade!” Russell replied excitedly.
“Iron Brigade? Isn’t that the team that’s personally led by the God of War?”
“Exactly! That’s the strongest military unit in Erudia! Every soldier who’s part of that team is a man of indomitable spirit!”
…
The men at the gathering were all stirred at the mention of the ‘God of War’ and the ‘Iron Brigade’.
Every men, regardless of age, would have dreamed of becoming a soldier at some point in time of their lives.
Being in the Iron Brigade was the greatest recognition and highest honor for every soldier.
“Yeah, when I was at the military academy, my goal was also to join the Iron Brigade and fight alongside the God of War!”
Russell was no exception.
Abigail was feeling proud when she saw the longing expressions of those men in the room.
At that moment, she really wanted to stand up and tell everyone that the God of War, who was revered by all, was none other than her cousin-in-law, Levi!
“If those warriors from the Iron Brigade could be present at grandma’s birthday banquet, I bet grandpa and grandma would both be delighted!” Keane said.
“Yeah, grandpa and grandma were once guards as well! They’ll definitely be over the moon to meet someone from the Iron Brigade!”
“Exactly! Grandpa and grandma love the special alcohol and cigarettes provided by the war zones, but nowadays they hardly have the chance to enjoy them anymore.”
…
Everyone was contributing to the lively discussion going on in the room.
Quintus looked at Russell and said, “Russell, do you think you can pull some strings and invite just one of the officers from the Iron Brigade to join us at grandma’s birthday banquet tomorrow?”
“Yeah, if you can do that, it’ll definitely be the best birthday present for grandma!” Keane added.
Russell hesitated for a second before nodding his head and said, “OK, I’ll try. Hopefully, we can give grandma a surprise tomorrow!”
Even though he agreed to ask around, Russell was not confident at all that he’ll succeed in his task.
The main reason for that was because his Chief, Perry, had told him earlier on that the man who appeared at the train station in the afternoon was someone out of his reach, not to mention Russell, who was only a leader of a subdivision of the Security Unit.
No one at the gathering bothered to talk to Zoey or Levi for the rest of the night, it was just as if the both of them were invisible.
To a big family like the Blacks, they were merely nobodies.
After the dinner gathering ended, Russell specially paid Perry a visit to tell him his thoughts.
Perry was scared out of his wits when he heard the idea. He pointed at Russell and said, “Y-y-you… you have the audacity to invite that man???”
Russell was trembling with anxiety at his Chief’s reaction and replied, “Chief, is that guy someone very important?”
As the information was classified, Perry was unable to divulge any details to Russell.
“That’s right, anyway, you should really stop thinking about it. I’m not even qualified enough to invite Captain Steele from the North Hampton Dragon legion, let alone that man from this afternoon. Just drop the idea completely!”
Perry rejected Russell’s request without giving it any consideration.
“Alright then. But Chief, you have to be there with the Deputy Chief tomorrow, deal?” Russell said.
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t miss old Mrs. Black’s birthday banquet for the world!”
Everyone was disappointed when Russell conveyed the negative outcome to them, but they did not blame him.
After all, the Iron Brigade had a special status in the military. No one expected that it would be easy to invite them.
Meanwhile, Zoey started having major suspicions about Levi after the gathering.
