After instructing everyone on their respective tasks, Adams and Garen went to a training room on the third floor of the base.
This spacious room was originally a place for soldiers to train, but now, there were only two topless people fighting.
“Andre and Jose don’t have any hobbies. They just don’t like each other, so they come here every day to have a duel after eating their fill. They’ve been fighting for more than ten days, but there’s still no winner!”
Garen explained to Adams while pointing to the two men who were engaged in a brawl.
Adams raised his head and looked at the two who were entangled together. He was now a level-one warrior, so his eyesight was naturally much better than that of an ordinary person.
Andre’s body was slightly more muscular, and he was also taller, so he had the advantage in terms of strength.
However, although Jose was relatively weaker, there was a fortitude about him that went deep into his bones. No matter how many punches he received, he would always grit his teeth and get up to continue attacking Andre.
However, the brawl between the two of them was just a mess. In Adams’ eyes, it was like a fight between children!
To Adams’ relief, although Andre and Jose were fighting fiercely, they were able to avoid each other’s vitals. Neither of them truly tried to kill the other. Instead of calling it a battle, it was more like physical training.
“Hey, you two, stop fighting. Big Brother is back!” Garen shouted to the two people in the training room from afar. He was genuinely not good at close combat, and he was afraid of getting hit by the two of them.
Hearing this, Andre and Jose both stopped and turned around to see Adams. They quickly pulled away from each other, picked up their clothes, and ran over to Adams. With embarrassed expressions on their faces, they opened their mouths to try explaining themselves, but didn’t know what to say.
Adams could sense both their awkwardness, so he spoke up first, “As men, it’s fine for us to spar often, but we have to be mindful of limits and it’s fine as long as it doesn’t affect the harmony!”
“Yes!” Andre and Jose immediately responded when they saw that Adams had no intention of reprimanding them. However, right after that, they then turned to look at each other with a look of disdain on their faces. Neither of them seemed to be fond of the other.
Adams couldn’t be bothered with the feud between the two of them. He turned around and said, “Come downstairs with me. I have some things to show all of you!”
Naturally, Andre and Jose didn’t dare to behave recklessly in front of Adams. They obediently followed Adams down to the first floor.
Right now, in the hall on the first floor, there were six piles of fresh fruits of about the same size on the conference table. There were hundreds of fruits in each pile, making Garen and the others, who were walking down the stairs, feel light-headed.
Although everyone had eaten a lot of fruits in the past few days, they understood the value of such rare food. Every single one of them was priceless in the human world. These hundreds of fruits piled together were like mountains of gold!
“Big Brother, what’s this?” Garen asked Adams curiously.
Adams counted the number of people and realised that Colin and Bob had not arrived yet, so he said, “There’s no hurry. I’ll tell you when everyone is here!”
Then, everyone lined up along both sides of the conference table, while Adams and Vivian stood at the head of the table. They all waited quietly.
After a while, a noise came from the stairs. Bob, who had put on his clothes, came down to the first floor with Colin leading the way. He ran over excitedly when he saw Adams.
“Big Brother, I heard that you went to look for me just now. Why didn’t you call me? I have something to give you!” Bob ignored the fruit on the table and reached into his pocket. He fished out something and handed it to Adams.
“This is?”
Adams took the objects in Bob’s hand and examined them closely only to realise that they were actually a couple of small, exquisite badges. The design of the badges were exactly the same, with an exquisite blue sword engraved at the top, and a red bow and arrow engraved beneath. The design had been carved based on the Winter Sword and the Bow of Death. At the edge of the badge, there were six hexagrams arched around the sword and bow in the middle.
Only two of the badges were different from the others. One of them only had a blue sword on it, while the other only had a bow and an arrow on it.
Bob said with an expectant look, “I found some valuable materials in the warehouse, but the quantity was a bit small. Thinking about how we are all willing to follow Big Brother through life and death, I forged these badges. It symbolizes that the six of us will pledge our lives to follow Big Brother and Miss Vivian. It’s also a symbol for our team!”
Garen and the others also looked at Adams expectantly. They were all willing to die for Adams. All they wanted was to hear Adams personally acknowledge their status and acknowledge them as his subordinates who could only be considered a burden at present.
Fiddling with the badge in his hand, Adams looked up at all of them and said, “Let’s not talk about this first. There are six piles of fruits on the table, enough for all of you to eat until the end of the coming-of-age ceremony with plenty to spare. When you return to the human world, it will also be enough for you to exchange for the resources you need for your daily life, and even the resources you need for your cultivation. Take one portion each and put it away!”
Garen and the others were shocked when they heard this. He was clearly giving everyone a severance fee!
It seemed that even someone as powerful as Adams was unwilling to keep six burdens that could not be of any help. The six of them hung their heads in shame.
“Big Brother! We’ve already benefited a lot from you. If you’re unwilling to lead us in the future, then we’ll just leave. These fruits are too precious, we definitely can’t accept them!” Garen said in a choked voice held back the tears in his eyes.
The other five of them nodded as well. None of them took a second glance at the six piles of fruits. To them, if Adams did not acknowledge them, they would be too ashamed to take it even if they were mountains of silver or gold.
Adams and Vivian looked at each other. He then said with a smile, “What are you talking about? Of course, I’m giving you fruits to groom you. No matter where you go in the future or what difficulties you encounter, you don’t have to be afraid, because I, Adams, will always have your back. I’ll always be your Big Brother!”
Garen and the others were overjoyed. They looked up at Adams excitedly.
In front of everyone, Adams and Vivian picked up the badges that represented them respectively and pinned it on their chest.
Garen excitedly took two steps forward and asked in a quavering voice, “Big Brother, name our team!”
Adams looked at the badge in his hand and said solemnly, “We only have one goal in coming together, and that is to create a glorious homeland for ourselves in these troubled times. From now on, we will be called the Glorious Association!”
Garen and the others went forward to take a badge from Adams’ hand and pinned it on their chests. They yelled in unison, “Glorious Association!”
Seeing that everyone was united, Vivian turned to Adams and said with a smile, “Congratulations, Mr. President! Can you show us the real surprise now?”
The others stopped what they were doing when they heard there was another surprise and turned to face Adams.
Adams smiled and waved his hand in front of him. Numerous materials and ores appeared out of thin air, nearly filling up the entire base.
As they stared at the dazzling array of rare materials around them, the legs of Garen and the others turned to jelly and they sank to the ground.
“Take a look and see if there are any materials you need for your missions. I guarantee that each of you will be able to complete eight missions. If there are any that you cannot complete, I will personally lead you to find them!” Adams patted his chest and promised everyone.
“Long live Big Brother!”
“Brother, I love you to death!”
Everyone cheered hysterically.