Chapter 206: Chapter 106: Tacit Understanding

Mr. Cheney looked at Stella Sterling with a puzzled expression.

’This girl had stockpiled so many supplies beforehand. After the apocalypse hit, who knew where she had hidden them? They were all priceless treasures now!’

’From the looks of her, she must have done pretty well for herself these past two years. That meant her stockpiled goods were still around and hadn’t been snatched away.’

But he was tactful. He knew asking about something like that would easily cause a misunderstanding and put her on alert, so he wisely stayed away from the subject.

His tone was that of an old friend they hadn’t seen in years. "Miss Sterling, how have you been these past two years?"

"You know me. I prepared so much, so things couldn’t have gotten too rough."

Stella Sterling nodded, noting that he had barely changed. "Mr. Cheney, you must have done well for yourself these past two years. Still looking as distinguished as ever."

At this, Mr. Cheney roared with laughter. "HAHAHAHA! Not bad, I suppose. The old foundations are still there. Nowadays, I just run a small business with a few old friends!"

’A small business?’

’She thought otherwise.’

Stella Sterling let out a soft chuckle.

’She had been observing her surroundings the whole time. This little mountain village had quite a lot for sale, much of which was impossible to find these days.’

’Even live chickens and ducks, which she had been trying to get ahold of, were for sale here. Someone was even selling guns.’

’Of course, you couldn’t trade for those items with just anything. Many people eyed them with envy, but there was nothing they could do.’

’This was hardly a ’small business’!’

’This Mr. Cheney really was impressive. It seemed you could get your hands on all sorts of things through him, even back in the day.’

’For him to still be doing so well after the apocalypse, he had to have some real power.’

’Most importantly, it wasn’t just that he possessed these things, but that he could also protect them. That really proved he was no ordinary man.’

’And to be able to bring these items out for trade so openly meant he was completely confident in his ability to protect them, without fear of being robbed.’

’This was further proof of his capabilities.’

Seeing Stella Sterling’s faint, knowing smile, Mr. Cheney knew she didn’t buy it, so he just laughed heartily.

There was a tacit understanding between the two.

He said, "It’s been two years. For us to be able to meet again, it must be fate. You were such a big supporter of my business back then, Miss Sterling, and you’ve generously helped out this time as well. No matter what, we absolutely have to share a drink!"

"I wouldn’t call it ’generously helping out.’ I already knew those brothers, and we have some bad blood between us."

Stella Sterling shook her head. If Mr. Cheney hadn’t been there, she would have killed both of them this time.

"I could tell as much. Those two brothers are arrogant, domineering, and unreasonable. It’s clear they’ve offended many people. Even if they got away this time, people like that will probably end up dead at someone else’s hands sooner or later."

"After all, there are plenty of powerful people out there. It’s best to keep a low profile."

Mr. Cheney’s tone dripped with contempt when he mentioned the Chase brothers. He clearly despised their behavior.

He had, of course, noticed earlier that Miss Sterling knew the two brothers and had a feud with them. Moreover, he could see that the brothers were quite wary of Stella Sterling.

It looked as if the two brothers had suffered at Miss Sterling’s hands in the past, which would explain why they were so afraid of her.

"Regardless, to meet again is fate. Let me host you properly today. You don’t have to be polite with me!"

"With food and drinks on offer, I definitely won’t be."

Stella Sterling smiled. She didn’t have much to do right now. The affairs of Caeluna had been entrusted to Luke Lawrence and Shane Lawrence. With the two of them supervising, everything was proceeding normally, so she didn’t have to worry much.

The two drank, occasionally talking about their lives over the past two years.

Of course, they only talked about what was safe to discuss. The unspeakable was left unsaid, and both were tactful enough not to pry.

From Mr. Cheney, Stella Sterling learned that he had only resurfaced recently. Using the resources he still had, he had gathered some people and set up a trading outpost here, swapping resources and trading necessary goods with passersby.

They had run into plenty of people like Timothy Chase who tried to rob them, but they were all dealt with in the end.

Now, their trading outpost had earned a bit of a reputation. Some people even sought it out by name, making a special trip to find it.

However, since Stella Sterling herself lacked for nothing, she hadn’t paid much attention to such news and was unaware of this development.

Mr. Cheney, in turn, learned that not only had Stella Sterling been living well for the past two years, but she had even built up her own force.

When he heard the name "Caeluna," a flicker appeared in Mr. Cheney’s eyes.

He was no stranger to that name. He’d heard that a while back in Mirefall, a group called Caeluna had burst onto the scene. They were incredibly powerful. Though they didn’t have many people, their weaponry was formidable. With just a handful of members, they had wiped out a group of sixty or seventy people.

The incident had caused a huge stir in Mirefall at the time, and he had wondered who was behind this Caeluna.

Now, hearing Stella Sterling mention it, he realized the person behind it all was an old acquaintance of his.

He never thought that the young girl from all those years ago would have come so far. It was truly something to behold.

"I never expected you to be so capable, Miss Sterling. In the future, I hope you’ll look out for me a little, for old times’ sake."

"With your skills, Mr. Cheney, why would you need me?"

Stella Sterling took a sip of her drink.

But Mr. Cheney just shook his head with a wry smile. "I’m just trying to scrape by in this apocalypse. I can handle ordinary folks just fine, but when it comes to the stronger ones, I’m a bit out of my league."

"Come, come, let’s not discuss these things on the day we meet again. However, I do have plenty of goods here. If you need anything, we can definitely work together in the future."

"Of course."

Stella Sterling nodded. From the moment she saw Mr. Cheney and understood what he was up to, a few ideas had already started forming in her mind.

For the rest of the time, they avoided these topics and chatted about other things.

Before leaving, Stella Sterling got some live chickens and ducks from Mr. Cheney.

She needed them to test whether her spatial storage could sustain living creatures. At the same time, she could also raise them on Mount Caeluna.

That way, she wouldn’t have to constantly pull them out of her personal storage, and she could treat the people of Caeluna to an extra-special meal from time to time.

Mr. Cheney gave Stella Sterling 20 chickens, 20 ducks, and over a dozen duck eggs, all free of charge.

Stella Sterling didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted. In return, she gave Mr. Cheney some seeds.

She told him they were special grain seeds developed by scientists to adapt to the current climate.