Chapter 53 Three years

　　Alan did feel lost, Lucy was arguably the first true friend in his life. After their short but thrilling journey together, this young girl had left an indelible silhouette in Alan's heart. And now that she was traveling far away in both, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't sad. He is still just a teenager, even if because of the trials and tribulations of life and make the heart become more than steel, but there are still some soft and warm places.

　　Three fingers suddenly waved in front of Alan's eyes, and Lucy said aloud, "Three years! Alan, I'll be back for you in three years."

　　She scratched her hair again a bit awkwardly and spat out her tongue, ''The commotion made this time is indeed a bit too big, the old man will definitely ground me. But it doesn't matter, I'll definitely come to you in three years. You don't want to let anyone finish you off early oh."

　　"Only ... not!" Alan's eyes grew bright and said, "You too, don't let anyone finish you off."

　　Lucy laughed a long laugh, "On Planet Idaho, the person who can kill me has yet to be born!"

　　Despite the soaring smile, it was hard to hide the faint sadness in the corner of the young girl's eyes. After she stopped, she gently took off the chain pendant around her neck, "This is the Tear of Ailusa, Ailusa is the Moon God that we worship. Let me give it to you for safekeeping for the time being, and on nights when there is a moon, place it under the moonlight, and you will be able to see me in the moonstone."

　　Lucy took Ellen's hand and placed the pendant in the teenager's hand. Ellen could feel that the pendant still carried the teen's body heat between it.

　　The door to the theater opened at that moment, and Metallon stood in the doorway and murmured, "Your Highness, it is time."

　　"Got it." Lucy lowered her head, not wanting Ellen to see her reddened eyes. After giving the teen a firm hug, she grabbed the crown jewelry that had fallen to the side and left. Only when she was far enough away did she turn back and wink and smile, "I'm off Alan, see you in three years!"

　　"Definitely!" Alan exclaimed with vigor.

　　Lucy nodded before she and Metallon walked out of the theater. Allen was still able to hear their conversation, and Metallon huffed as soon as they exited the theater, "Your Highness, where are the Tears of Eloisa?"

　　"Gave it to Ellen for safekeeping."

　　"That's the Tears of Eloisa!"

　　"Oh, it's just a pendant, you're making too much of a fuss, teacher."

　　"That's no ordinary pendant, it's ..."

　　The voice faded away, and Alan chuckled at it. He spread out his hand, looked at the pendant between his palms, and sat down in the theater's recliner. The pendant was finely crafted, from the carving of the crescent-shaped gemstone to the direction of the lines of the slender silver wire, all hinting at the pendant's extraordinary nature. Allen gently held it tightly, vowing to put it back on Lucy's neck with his own hands three years later.

　　"A truly independent and idiosyncratic young lady, isn't she?" Suddenly a voice rang out from the side.

　　Alan jumped up as if an electric current swept through his body. Although because of Lucy's far away and distracted, but when his alertness is so poor, even to give people touch to the side and still do not know at all. To know if the other party has evil intentions, now I am afraid that I have already become a corpse.

　　Jumping instantly to a row of reclining chairs in front of him, Alan arched his body and put the pendant in his pocket, making ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Only then did he see that there was an additional old man with silver hair next to where he had been a moment ago. He was dressed in a well-made suit, his hands resting quietly on his knees, and the austere and perfect way he sat gave Alan a glimpse of a flamboyant gentleman.

　　"I apologize for startling you." The old man looked to Alan and said sincerely, "Allow me to introduce myself first, I am Horn, Horn Bethcord."

　　"Alan."

　　The old man nodded and smiled, "So Mr. Allen, are you planning on squatting down to talk to me? That's not very polite."

　　Alan awkwardly jumped out of the recliner and Lao Tzu reached out and patted him where he had just been and said, "Don't be nervous, why don't you sit down and we'll talk casually."

　　At this point in time the teenager had no idea what Bethcord stood for, and naturally he had no idea of Horn's identity. He walked over as he was told and sat next to Horn. Alan didn't know that wanting to sit beside this old man wasn't a simple matter. Even those direct descendants of his own family who wanted to see Horn would need to make a lot of maneuvers and arrangements to obtain such a rare opportunity.

　　If they knew that Allen casually sat down next to this old man, I'm afraid those people would die of anger.

　　"I have you to thank for that, Mr. Allen." The old man said blandly, "You've won the race and a rich reward for me at the same time."

　　Alan nodded, "You're welcome."

　　He had also heard about the matter that participants of the death ring would become betting objects, and in Alan's understanding, this old man in front of him must have made an investment in himself and received a return. But what Allen didn't know was that even in terms of Beskold's strong financial resources, winning fifty million federal dollars on him overnight was a considerable amount of wealth.

　　That's still because Allen is in first place and the odds are one to one. Otherwise, Horn's payoff would have been even better.

　　Horn smiled slightly without clarification as he spread his hands and said, "You see Mr. Allen, we in Bethcord are not the biggest family on Babylon, but we are somewhat prestigious. Your performance in the Death Ring was noteworthy, and my family welcomes talents like you. I wonder, would you be willing to accept an old man's invitation to join our Bethcord family?"

　　Allen lets out a sign, although Tornisph also said that the winners of every death ring have the chance to be favored by certain clans, he just didn't expect the invitation to come so quickly. But Allen had no immediate plans to join a certain clan, before that, there were two other things he had to do personally.

　　The teenager shook his head, "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Horn, I ..."

　　"Oh, don't be too busy turning it down just yet. Perhaps after seeing this you will change your mind." The old man suddenly fished a pocket watch out of his pocket, opened it, and inside was a yellowed photograph. He handed the pocket watch to Alan.

　　Alan took it suspiciously, and his eyes fell on the photo. In the photo was a young girl with a stubborn face, and her silhouette was a bit similar to Ellen. When he saw the photo, Alan was slightly shocked. And at this time, the old man next to him said, "I have four sons and two daughters, the girl in the photo is my youngest daughter, and is also one of my favorite ..."

　　"I want to give her everything if I can. I want her to know how much I love her as a father. But I'm also a father to other children, and I can't be too biased, so I always remain stern from time to time. Maybe that's why she drifted away from me and let a man take advantage of her. To take the child I hold so dear and just take it away from me." Horn closed his eyes slightly, and on his face, a pained look filled his face, "If time could be revisited, perhaps I should have had a good talk with her, instead of removing her from the family in a fit of anger, so that she would never be able to return to me."

　　"You may not be able to understand now how painful this is for a father." Horn looked over at Alan, his eyes softening, "I thought I'd never hear from her in this life until this edition of Death Race started and I saw you on the live program. Ellen. I believe that was God's guidance, and that he brought you to Babylon. So can you tell me your mother's name, was it ... Lenny?"

　　Alan's whole body shook again, and the pocket watch in his hand fell to the ground. He looked at Horn, breathing heavily, and lost his voice, "You're ... my grandfather?"

　　Horn reached out a trembling hand and dropped it to Alan's face, "Yes, son. Your mom, Lanie, full name would have been Lanie Bethcord. My God, my boy, how is she now, is she doing well?"

　　"She ..." Alan's vision suddenly became blurry, the black snow and the silver ring flashing in front of his eyes again. He couldn't say anything in the end, and Alan lowered his head, not wanting to be seen in this moment of weakness.

　　Even if it was his own grandfather in front of him.

　　Horn closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling dramatically for a long time before he let out a long sigh, "She did leave after all, didn't she? I guess so, otherwise, she wouldn't have let her child participate in the death ring."

　　"Five years ago, a predator attacked the town we lived in. Mother she ... "Alan picked up the pocket watch on the ground and looked at the mother in the photo who was similar to his own age: "On that day, she left me forever."

　　"Predators!" Horn's eyes exploded with a brilliant light, "Well well well, I'll make them regret being born in this world!"

　　"No!" Alan jumped up and exclaimed, "I'm going to take this revenge with my own hands, with my own power!"

　　Horn looked carefully at the child in front of him, and the old man sighed softly, "You really are Lanni's child, just as stubborn, just as persistent. It's fine if you want to avenge yourself, but child, do you have the strength?"

　　"It's not an easy task to find the Predators, the surface is so big that the amount of manpower and resources to be utilized is definitely not something you can have right now. If you want to take revenge yourself, then I suggest you return to the family and to me." Horn's voice grew louder, "I can't give you immense power or abundant wealth right away, but I can pave the way for you, pave a path to the pinnacle of power. When you become the head of a clan in Bethcord, you can call upon all the power of the clan at will to do what you want. You just have to remember that if you take something from the clan, you have to contribute something, and that is the duty of every clan head."

　　"Of course, this path will not be easy. I can even tell you that once you accept the invitation, you won't be able to immediately reap power, but you will immediately reap many enemies. I can't even immediately program you into the sequence of obedient heirs, I can only give you a boost, but more will have to depend on yourself."

　　At that, Horn took a deep breath, "So tell me, Lenny boy. Even so, are you still willing to accept my proposal?"

　　Allen didn't think too long as he looked at the old man and said solemnly, "I do!"

　　Perhaps he didn't realize what those words meant to him now, until many years later, when he looked back at the past again. Allen realized that these three simple words had changed his life completely!