Chapter 1911 - Voronins Arrived At The Base Of The Lebedevs

After lunch, Hong arrived with his disciples and selected few from the Voronin family. Maksim was present as well.

Sarah thought that Maksim will cause a commotion, but he was unusually docile, and other than a formal exchange of greetings with his signature cocky smile, he observed the surroundings and behaved.

Sarah welcomed them with Aiden, Konstantin, Stella, Dimitri, Todor, Zack, and Sophia, and they went to the conference room to discuss the latest developments.

Aiden was an odd one because he is an Elder in the Voronin family, yet he was in the group of Lebedevs. No one said anything about it. He was like a double-agent everyone knew about and they were still assessing his role.

Sarah was happy to hear that Hong is not facing much resistance from the Voronin family members and that Maksim was very helpful so far.

Of course, Sarah knew this already because they were in touch with Hong, but this was a necessary formality in front of others from the Lebedev and the Voronin families.

Hong answered questions and Sarah shared updates from the Lebedev family which included the latest information on which Elder from the Lebedev family is in charge of what territory.

"It will take another week or two to settle things and figure out what works to the point of me saying that I have things under control.", Hong ended his update.

"That is good to hear.", Sarah said with a smile addressed the point that some of the bases are unwilling to submit to new leadership. "If you need assistance, you know how to contact us. It is good to give someone an option to join willingly, but if they resist, we will be happy to help you take them down. Let's not waste time trying to get on our side people who have thoughts of rebelling. We should deal with them swiftly so that we can focus on productive things."

After the official business-talk was done, Sarah wanted to address the important matters regarding their kids. She didn't care that other Elders were still present.

"Haru and Nala will return home with us tomorrow. I don't want to force others to stay or leave with me, but it will be a pity not to finish your education.", Sarah said while looking at Souta, Wing, and Bo who are currently Elders at the Voronin family and Francisca, Azra, and Camila who stayed by their sides as their assistants and support. The six of them are all close to getting their college degrees, but Sarah knows that they are adamant not to leave Hong at the Voronins on his own.

"We will not drop it.", Wing assured Sarah, and others nodded in agreement.

"We will stay with the master until school starts and then we will decide how to proceed forward, but we will not give up on getting our degrees.", Bo added.

"Alright.", Sarah responded and relaxed a bit. She looked at the girls. "The gallery will be less eventful without you."

"I don't plan to tie them to the Voronin family.", Hong said before the girls could say anything. "They are helpful, but I believe that in a month from now we will figure out what works, and they can resume their lives as usual. If after finishing school they still want to return, their current positions will wait for them. I told them already that there are others who will handle the work in the Voronin organization, and there is no need for them to sacrifice their dreams if they want to pursue something else in life. I don't want them to feel the burden that they need to follow me."

Sarah approved. "Sounds good. While thinking about others who can handle work, I will share with you the plan I have for the Lebedev family. We will expand our training to focus on more than muscles, reflexes, and weapons mastery."

Hong pursed his lips. "We didn't get there yet."

"That is OK. You can read our plan, and if you want, maybe we can do joint training."

Everyone looked at Sarah like she is growing a second head. 

Lebedevs and Voronins are enemies for generations and it's one thing to meet like this, but having a joint training (or a mission) is unbelievable. Even the ones who want to make it work fear that the other side is not deserving of their trust. Joint training means that recruits and trainers will mingle, and that sounds like a recipe for disaster. 

Sarah stifled a laugh. "What's with those looks? I thought that Lebedevs and Voronins are friendly now. There is nothing wrong with exchanging knowledge and learning from each other. It will help us establish better relationships, and there is no better way to start than with recruits who will grow to be the backbone of our families in a few years."

"We can send a batch of recruits from each family and have a trial camp that will last one month.", Sarah thought at loud. "In order to ensure fairness, my lieutenants from the Army of Chaos will be in charge of exams and tests."

"I like that idea.", Maksim chimed in for the first time since the meeting started. "You can count on me as an instructor."

Sarah nodded in approval. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but your Grand Master will be the one submitting the list of candidates for recruits and for trainers." She looked at the others. "That was all from my side. Unless there are questions, this meeting is over. We have rooms arranged for you to rest, or you can walk in the area. If you want to move away from this villa, I will be happy to provide you a guide to ensure you don't encounter any issues. The event starts at 4 PM. There will be food and drinks and some entertainment, but mostly, we hope to establish connections between our two families. Thank you for coming."

No one had questions, and Sarah assigned them a few guides that they can reach to. Also, Souta, Wing, Bo, Francisca, Azra, and Camila are familiar with the base of the Lebedevs and they offered to be the guides.

In truth, there is nothing secretive to see because training facilities are in a separate location, and storages and any other specialized areas are underground which is not accessible for outsiders. From the surface, the main base of the Lebedev family looks like an upscale suburban neighborhood with fancy villas on large plots of land, divided by mature trees and neatly manicured gardens.

"Divna…", Maksim called when they were leaving the conference room, and he speed up his steps to catch up with Sarah. Of course, he ignored Aiden who was right next to Sarah.

"Yes, young master Maksim?", Sarah asked without pausing her steps.

"I was wondering if you can give me a tour of this place."

Sarah rolled her eyes internally. She knew that Maksim was looking for an excuse to get close to her. "I apologize, but I am busy."

"Since you are busy, can I help you somehow?", Maksim persisted.

Sarah halted her steps and glanced at Maksim. "You want to help? You can feed my pets."

Maksim's lips twitched for a second, but he didn't allow his smile to fall. "The black leopard?"

"Mhm…", Sarah hummed in confirmation. "I have three of them."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

Sarah smiled maliciously. "Are you afraid, young master Maksim?"

"Why are you unfriendly toward me?"

"Maybe because you are too friendly toward me."

Maksim spread his hands, palms up as if to show that he has no hidden intentions. "Sitting on a chair for two hours until the event starts does not sound like a fun thing to do. I thought that us being here is part of establishing an alliance between two organizations which are enemies for generations. Did I do something to offend you?"

Sarah had to admit that he didn't do anything. Yet. She glanced at Aiden who gave her an 'it's up to you' look.

"OK. Come with me. We will find you something to do.", Sarah said and continued walking with Aiden while thinking about what to give Maksim to do. She does not want to appear rude, as long as he behaves. Kids are setting up outside for the party, and Maksim can help there.

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