After they went downstairs and sat in the car, Emerald saw to her surprise that there were much more people at the camp today. Many officers passed by, all smiling with excitement. There were even billboards on some trucks with substantial colorful pictures of sexy girls. “Is anything special happening tonight?” Emerald asked. Ilona was not surprised at all and said, “Since the Commander was going tomorrow, the banquet was arranged earlier. The date couldn’t be changed even though the Commander was going to stay for three more days. Besides, only men can attend the banquet tonight.” “Why?” “All because of this machismo mentality!” Ilona twitched her mouth, “Many beautiful dancers will come tonight, Madam. The base of the mercenary is filled with male hormones. I disdain them!” Emerald felt a little worried. The all-men banquet and beautiful dancers matched the mercenaries indeed. She was determined not to be jealous about it and thought that maybe she could control her heart after leaving this place tomorrow. Ilona took her to a small, seemingly simple restaurant, which served surprisingly delicious food. After having a good meal, they drove to a frozen river. The soldiers who were following them broke the ice layer, and llona took out two fishing poles and small stools. Emerald would have found ice fishing peaceful and relaxing and would have enjoyed this if she was as usual, but today she was absent-mindedly looking at the thick layer of ice and the cold water in the middle. The sky gradually grew darker, making the place look hollow and sullen. Ilona didn’t suggest going back, neither did Emerald want to. Has the man-only banquet started yet? Would the Commander focus on the sexy dancers when they looked at him with admiration? Would he have fun with his soldiers since he was always wild and valued the relationship between his soldiers and him? She suddenly felt helpless and relieved with resolution at the same time. She thought that she should go back and see what Patrick was doing in this situation. If he likes other women in the way he wanted her, she had sufficient reasons to end her expectations. If he didn’t, should she ask why he had treated the princess that way that day? Was there some other reason? At least she would know that she was unique to him while he was with her, even though it wasn’t pure love he felt. She had started to love him. She suddenly felt relieved from the sadness and unwillingness she had felt for the last several days. She looked at Ilona and said, “I want to go back now.” Ilona was a little surprised but nodded. She then gave her a bottle of nutrition beverage, “Look, your lips are dry from the wind. Drink some. It’s tasty.” Emerald took the bottle and drank a few sips, then stood up to put away the fishing poles, saying. “Let’s go.” Ilona behind her didn’t answer. Emerald suddenly felt profoundly dizzy in her head. She turned around in surprise, but she could see nearly nothing. In a blurry, she saw multiple images of Ilona, all waving hands at her, and several mercenaries walking to her quickly to hold her as she was about to fall. Emerald lost consciousness. It was 8 o’clock, and completely dark in the night, the sky decorated with bright stars. The open field and silent hills seemed even more desolate and magnificent in the winter. In stark contrast, the floor in front of the base of the mercenaries was bustling. The small stage in the center was finished, with the red silk and white steel tube, forecasting the sexy, exciting performances tonight. All high-level officers at the base were sitting around the stage. Everyone was excited and noisy. Patrick, Malcolm, and some others were sitting by the table in front of the stage. Instead of indulging themselves in the expectations of the performance, the two bosses seemed cold towards it and were discussing technology problems they hadn’t solved in the afternoon. Harvey was smart and whispered to Patrick once they stopped, “Ms. Wilson hasn’t come back yet.” Patrick nodded calmly. “Tell me when she comes back.” Malcolm was listening carefully to the conversation of the two and couldn’t help laughing, “Are you afraid that she will be jealous?” Patrick didn’t care about Malcolm’s nonsense and just picked up the blueprint from the table to discuss the details with him, but he couldn’t help thinking about it after a while. Jealous? That was a boring idea. However, a banquet like this would become heated towards the end. What’s more, it was said that Malcolm had arranged a stripper performance for tonight. Although he was not interested, it would be weird if she saw him watching such a performance when she came back. If that happened, would she bury her head in a blanket, sulking, and start a cold war with him? He suddenly felt like smiling. Malcolm put away the blueprint and went to the center of the stage with his wine glass when the banquet was about to start. The crowd soon became quiet when they saw Malcolm. “To the Commander,” he raised the glass, “my best brother, who brought us unlimited wealth and women! Brothers, raise your glasses and welcome our General!” The simple words lit up the passion in the heart of the soldiers. They stood up neatly and shouted in unison like waves at sea as if trying to break the sky above them. “Welcome, Commander!”Patrick was smiling lightly and stood up with a glass in his hand. He looked around calmly and raised his glass to drink it up in a gulp. “To you!” Although he didn’t say much, his gritty, majestic look made all officers go crazy. Then, they all raised their glasses to toast with him. Good wine and delicious food were served like flowing water. The party was filled with talks and laughs of more than 300 people. Unfortunately, the officers in the base scarcely saw Patrick, so they didn’t dare to come up and toast to him. Patrick never refused his officers in this condition. He always drank the glass up regardless of the rank of others. After drinking dozens of glasses of wine, the Commander still sat as stable as a mountain, which made those officers admire him even more.