While Water Devil went to bring Eliano as commanded, Blackbeard instructed one of his servants to bring Nathan a cup of tea. Then, before Eliano arrived, he deliberately seized the opportunity to chat with Nathan and dig for more information about him.
He wanted to learn more about Nathan so that he would have a more proactive and advantageous position during their negotiation later.
However, try as he may, he failed to glean any nuggets of information about Nathan even after chatting for a long time. The latter could converse with him regardless of whether the topic was astronomy or geography, music or arts, or even global news. Although Nathan did not say much, his remarks and observations often went right to the heart of the matter and were very discerning. It seemed as though he was omnipotent.
Blackbeard could not help feeling somewhat discouraged at that.
To him, Nathan was only becoming more and more mysterious.
As they were talking, they heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside.
Nathan, Blackbeard, and the others turned toward the door simultaneously.
They watched as Water Devil and several of his men led a haggardlooking middle-aged man in dripping wet clothes into the room.
From his appearance, the tall and thin man looked just like an ordinary elderly doctor who worked at a hospital.
Nathan turned to Ava and shot her a look to ask her whether the man was Eliano.
Ava had already done her homework before coming. She had looked at photographs of Eliano and was even familiar with his distinct facial features.
She took a brief but careful look at the middle-aged man, then lowered her voice and whispered into Nathan's ear, “It's Professor Salce.”
It's him. That's good.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Salute to the General