Section 5 - Today's Neanderthal

"Young man, have you had dinner? I'll take you to the cafeteria,"

The old man was carrying a toolbox in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other, looking quite relaxed and natural, probably already used to the surprised looks from people like Chen Fei.

After all, the Neanderthal army of the Third Era Civilization had nearly beaten humanity on Blue Star to death.

"No need, I have bread!"

Chen Fei pointed to the plastic bag hanging from his suitcase.

Inside were hand-made bread rolls given to him by Shen Fei, enough for two meals. If he didn't eat them while they were fresh and missed the best taste, it would be a pity.

Hand-made bread doesn't contain various additives, so it's more prone to spoilage if not stored properly.

"Young man, how can you just eat bread? Order a couple of side dishes, have a drink with me – I'm buying. I'll take you to your dorm afterwards, how about that? It won't cause any delays,"

The old man from the Neanderthal Tribe proudly gestured with the alcohol bottle in his hand, a short, opaque, white glass bottle that Chen Fei was very familiar with.

The senior wasn't short on money; that one bottle alone was worth a whole month's probationary wage for Chen Fei.

Chen Fei hesitated for a moment, then eventually nodded his head.

Being new here, he couldn't afford to offend people by refusing casually. Accompanying a senior Neanderthal for a drink wasn't a loss, and he might even learn more about the Aircrew Base, which could help him integrate more quickly.

"Hmm, a teachable scholar indeed!"

The elderly Neanderthal nodded and swayed as he led Chen Fei to the Aircrew Base's cafeteria.

The cafeteria was open 24 hours for service, available anytime, with flexible meal times and not many people in the spacious dining room.

After requesting pig ears, beef tongue, and drunken fish as appetizers from the on-duty chef, Chen Fei followed the old Neanderthal man to a table and sat down.

Just as they had settled down, a loud roaring sound came from outside.

Looking through the cafeteria's glass curtain wall, two propeller planes descended from the sky, one after the other. Their landing gear touched down lightly on the brightly lit runway; they slid for a while before they started turning toward the hangar.

Following Chen Fei's curious gaze, the elder Neanderthal picked up a strip of pig ear with his chopsticks, took a slurping sip of alcohol, and said vaguely, "Nothing to see, A-39B, cheap toys, buzzing around in the sky like annoying big flies."

Chen Fei acknowledged with an "Oh," retracted his gaze, picked up a drinking cup, and said, "Grandpa Barut, what about your family?"

On the way to the cafeteria, he learned the name of the Neanderthal elder, Barut, who claimed to be the younger brother of the Neanderthal hero Barulaka.

His brother Barulaka had died in battle during the first engagement of the "Three Realms Unification War" on Socotra Island.

Younger brother Barut had the luck to survive the last battle where the Supreme Council Klensha Hall was destroyed by the combined forces of the Blue Star Realm and the Cangqiong Realm. He became a prisoner and lived on until now. After thirty years of drifting, he ended up at 911 Aircrew Base in the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area.

He, like the newbie Chen Fei, was a worker for Private Military Contractors, cared for in his old age, with no worries about where to die or be buried.

"Family? Neanderthals don't really have what you'd call family anymore. Nowadays, the youngsters either indulge themselves or get lost in drugs. They've long forgotten the glory of the Neanderthal tribe."

Neanderthal elder Barut tapped the war patterns on his forehead with his chopsticks, the blood-red ink lighting up faintly with a silvery glow before extinguishing, as if nothing had happened, and then continued, "The descendants of the Neanderthals have almost forgotten the war patterns and the Secret Technique. Come on, eat up."

He refilled Chen Fei's glass effortlessly; drinking alone equates to loneliness, but drinking together creates atmosphere.

Barut was no longer the elite Neanderthal warrior who had defended the Klensha Hall. Now he was just a lonely old man with no one to rely on, who had whimsically asked Chen Fei to join him for a drink on his way off work.

"Huh? The braised dishes actually have an authentic flavor."

Chen Fei was surprised to find that these three side dishes hadn't been butchered by the heretical curry influence after trying a few bites of pork belly and beef tongue.

"Hahaha! Haha, are you trying to make me die laughing, aiming to inherit this bottle of alcohol?" Elder Neanderthal Barut laughed, pounding on the table, pointing at the busy chef in the kitchen with an unmistakably mocking tone: "Don't believe that lazybones, all he does is open vacuum packs!"

So that's the truth!

Chen Fei was somewhat dumbfounded. Anyone could be a head chef if the job was like this; he too knew how to unwrap packages.

Putting away his big laugh, Barut raised his hand to cover his mouth and said, "He's a relative of the personnel director Takar, hmm, you should stay away from Takar, that guy is no good."

It seemed that who the personnel director liked had already become common knowledge.

"I heard that, Barut!"

Bang! The head chef, Singh, furiously threw a dishcloth onto the countertop.

He admitted he was related to the aircrew base's personnel director Takar, but he also put a lot of effort into cooking for everyone, okay?

The reason why Singh was appointed as one of the two head chefs in the 911 Aircrew Base canteen was primarily due to Takar's fellow townsman having low employment costs. In a world dominated by gofers, being cheap is king.

The other head chef could prepare high-end feasts and his skill was passable. If he was as bad as this 'unpacking chef,' the entire base might well have revolted.

"Don't be afraid of him, Carrot Head is all bark and no bite. Little Chen, have they decided on your position yet?"

The Neanderthal elder Barut didn't care at all about the 'unpacking chef's' enraged embarrassment. Not convinced? Bring it on and consider it post-dinner exercise. He could easily pin the guy to the ground, and then "I can't help myself on the way back, friction, friction..." my skateboard shoes!

"Manager Takar said someone will take me for orientation training tomorrow, and then my position will be confirmed."

Chen Fei had only completed the registration process and didn't know his position yet. He guessed that the position would be confirmed after the orientation training was over.

Barut took a piece of bread from the plastic bag on the table, took a bite, and nodded, saying, "Hmm, not bad, this bread was made by Teacher Xiao Shen, right?"

"Eh? Grandpa Barut, you know Shen Fei too?"

Chen Fei was quite surprised that this Neanderthal elder could distinguish the maker of the bread.

"Everyone at the 911 base knows that girl. She's a nice young lady. The other head chef also makes bread, but it's not as fluffy. The eggs he uses come from feed-fed chickens and lack the taste of eggs. But this is different. Being old with bad teeth, I can only eat these soft things, hmm, not bad at all, young man, bring me some more next time."

The Neanderthal elder Barut continued to happily munch on the bread, seemingly enjoying the bread that Chen Fei brought. After devouring one in just a few bites, he even took another.

The bread made by the other head chef Abel could knock a person senseless, a far cry from the bread made by Teacher Shen Fei from the Patan People School nearby the base, which was the complete opposite.

Chen Fei followed suit, grabbed a piece of bread, and paired it with pig's ears, beef tongue, and dried drunken fish, then took a swig of alcohol, finding the flavor quite good.

...

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Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!

Chen Fei was awakened by his phone's alarm clock. He opened his eyes to see the light streaming through the gaps in the venetian blinds and dust particles floating in the beam of light.

The modularly designed dormitory area B13 housed a single-person room, square and proper, no more than twelve square meters in size, just enough space for a wardrobe, a single bed, a desk with bookshelves, and a small shower-equipped bathroom.

Even though the conditions were spartan, with barely enough space for personal activities or for additional furniture, the fully-equipped dormitory was more than satisfactory for Chen Fei.

Being new to the place, having stable electricity and 24-hour hot water supply was pretty good for a place to stay.

After a quick wash, just as he hung the towel, he heard someone pounding on the door with great force.

There really was a doorbell, but the person outside didn't seem to like using it.

Thud thud thud... the knocking grew even more forceful.

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