Fogrem casually picked up a piece with his fingers and pushed it two squares towards the other end of the board. It was a 'warrior' pawn, its surface was rough, and the face belonging to the warrior was blurred.

The person who made it clearly didn't have the mood to prepare a face for it, in fact, it was so heavy that it didn't look like a pawn.

The man on the other side of the board pondered for a moment before raising his hand to push one of his pieces. The large, golden hand propelled the 'priest' a full six squares.

Vogrim smiled in surprise, sat up straight, and put his hands behind his ears to pull his long hair behind his ears, his expression becoming serious.

"A risky move." Phoenix said solemnly. "You've been improving your chess skills a lot lately, brother."

He said as he gripped the other warrior, his index finger tapping on the hammer in his hand. The heavy steel chessboard echoed muffled from the collision, and Lorga Aurelian pondered for a moment, then frowned suddenly.

"I lost?" He blinked hesitantly. "How can you lose so easily? Terra, I've taken a risky step. ”

Fogham didn't respond to him. The phoenix was intently playing the chessboard of the king-killing chess, all the moves running through his brain like flowing water at this moment, and twenty seconds later, he raised his hand and smashed the flesh under the priest's white robe with the warrior's hammer.

Luo Jia sighed regretfully.

"That's twenty to thirteen." He said with a little melancholy. "I still don't have much talent in chess. I probably won't be able to win against Magnus. ”

Fogrem chuckled and placed the pieces back where they were supposed to be. But he still didn't forget to taunt his brother a little.

"Actually, you can't beat him in the first place, Luojia. Magnus is the only one of us who can draw with Machado, what do you think? Actually make such a bet with him? ”

The golden-skinned giant shook his head helplessly: "How do I know he'll take me seriously, it's just a joke, but he made a promise with me to play a game of chess every year for the next ten years." ”

"Was you drunk at the time?"

"Unless Ruth is here." Luo Jia replied. "And he's not there, and neither is his Fenris honey. I can't get drunk just by drinking wine. ”

Fogham couldn't help but laugh, he knew what Loja hadn't uttered—'Yes, I wasn't drunk, but I was even more irrational than drunk Ruth. ’

Ignoring Fogham's laughter, Loja simply crouched down and pulled out a large, heavy iron case from under the small round table they were using. Half-kneeling, he opened the box, and Forgrim stood up just in time to begin placing the pieces in it with his brother.

"Ferrus's craftsmanship is truly amazing." Luo Jia said. "The black pieces he made looked extraordinary."

"But you're using white chess that I made." Fogham raised an eyebrow. "Are you hinting at something, brother?"

"Of course not." Loja looked away so she could avoid eye contact with Fogream. "It's just a compliment to him, don't think too much about it."

"You brought it up that he is extraordinary, why is it that I think too much now?"

Luo Jia was silent for a moment, and began to regret why she had to say that casually. He held the chess piece and raised his hands in a very standard surrender gesture, and Fogham let him go, but his face was still a little thoughtful.

Half a minute later, they stood up, and the iron box was already in place. The two giants stood side by side, glanced at each other, and walked to the porthole in tacit understanding.

Vogrim looked out the window, with a slight pride that came out of nowhere, and nodded at Lorca: "You see, how much of a difference Nostramo has made."

"Are you showing off?" Luo Jia asked faintly.

"Of course not." Fogham chuckled. "Why should I show off Conrad's achievements?"

Luo Jia forced herself to ignore Phoenix's smug expression at the moment. He didn't want to make any comments at this time, or Fogrem would have grabbed him and started another debate.

He didn't want to do it with the Chemos for the time being, and Fogrem was no worse than him in the matter of being able to speak. He took a cursory look at Nostramo and the fleet around it, and a few ships with Mecha logos caught his attention.

"It seems that the rumors of Mars are true." Lorga Aurelian said thoughtfully. "They did have some sort of agreement with Nostramo."

"Hmm" Fogham let out a nasal voice, but didn't say anything.

Such a reaction was very unusual, Luo Jia turned her head and looked at the phoenix, only to find that the latter's gaze was no longer on the porthole at the moment. Looking at the spot where his gaze had landed, Lorga saw piles of paintings in the corner of Fogham's room.

Most of their frames have flowers glued to the edges, which is one of the symbols of the gift being given. The paintings were piled up, and only one could be observed in its entirety. On this painting, he saw a man.

The man was slender, but also muscular, strong, but quite feminine. He wore a rainbow-colored cropped tuxedo jacket with a gleaming breastplate, a bewildered gorgon face smiling silently on the breastplate, and a knife in his hand.

"Chemus's style." Fogrem shook his head and said. "Most of these late-comers like to dress me in fashion that I don't wear at all, and frankly, I'm getting tired of it."

"Is it okay with Chermoth's pop culture and you?"

"Of course not." Phoenix turned her head with a look of disgust. "If I had had more time to spend in Chermoth, I would not have allowed the social ethos to develop into such a level of worship of glitz and useless flamboyance. Personally, I like delicate things, but I would never wear them. ”

Luo Jia nodded silently, not intending to make any comments on this.

The sacrifice of the Emperor's son in the Great Expedition was evident to all, and although it was inseparable from Fogham's desperate desire to make a contribution, it was true that the Chermos had not returned to his homeland for a long time.

He is still able to control many aspects of the planet, but pop culture is not.

"Anyway—" Fogrem shook his head and gestured. "—let's talk about what we'll talk about later. Are you going to take the guards, brother? ”

"I guess it's better to forget it." Luo Jia said with a wry smile. "I'm definitely not welcome here, and I probably wouldn't have come here if I hadn't happened to be walking with you."

Fogrem thought for a moment: "In that case, then I'll take Acurdona alone." ”

After he finished speaking, he saw Luo Jia's slightly depressed expression. Phoenix involuntarily comforted, "There's no need for this, Luo Jia. The misunderstanding between Conrad and you is not big, not to mention, this time I take the lead. ”

Luo Jia glanced at the phoenix again and again—he had been approached by Vogrim not long ago, after an ordinary collaboration between the Speaker and the Emperor's Son.

Phoenix's opening was straightforward, and he said that his 28th Expeditionary Fleet had encountered a group of highly civilized aliens at the end of the Extreme Star Field, within a galaxy called Laran.

If he had stopped, Lorga might have thought that Fogham had changed his mind and offered to ask the other brothers to help his legion. Unexpectedly, Fogrim's voice changed and directly mentioned Nostramo, which is also located in the Far East of Terra.

Speaking of which, what exactly he wanted to do, Luo Jia didn't even have to think about it

"Yes, you're in charge." The Great Speaker shook his head helplessly. In fact, he himself did not know why he agreed to Vogram. But, as his lieutenant Erebus said, what reason did he have for refusal?

Isn't this a good chance to salvage the relationship between him and Conrad Coetzes?

At this moment, Lorja Aurelian sincerely hopes that there will be no more estrangement between him and his brother, and this sincerity will continue until the day of his death.

There are two more chapters

(End of chapter)