Luke spent three days with Mia touring Yosemite and Lake Tahoe before heading to the "Green Forest Estate," located several dozen kiloters west of Lake Tahoe.
This was the $25 million ranch estate at the foot of the Nevada mountains, spanning 3,600 acres and featuring a grand Arican-style heavy-log cabin. After the previous owner moved out, the real estate company had cleaned it thoroughly. In truth, the forr owner rarely lived there.
"Green Forest Ranch" was actually still within California territory.
The estate had 1,000 acres of farmland, currently planted with potatoes, sugar beets, and other crops.
The rest consisted of forests and grasslands, ho to 30 horses, 100 Angus cattle, and over a hundred sheep.
The ranch manager was a big-bellied old white man nad Thomas. He, his wife, son, and daughter-in-law were all employees of the ranch.
In fact, Thomas's family had worked for this ranch for generations. Originally, the ranch had even belonged to his grandfather.
Luke stated that he would continue employing them and that everything would remain unchanged.
Old Thomas was overjoyed: "Thank you, Mr. Luke. I'm getting old — if you fired , I'd be unemployed. I am willing to work for any owner of the ranch. I hope my son can carry on my legacy."
Luke did not respond to that. Hereditary employnt? That required careful consideration. Until he clearly understood the family's character, he wouldn't make any casual promises.
Mia was extrely excited. She and Luke galloped across the grasslands on horseback.
Riding the running horse, she shone like a little sun and exclaid: "Luke, you have such great taste! This is a beautiful ranch. It would be wonderful to vacation here in winter. It's not far from Lake Tahoe — we could go skiing!"
Luke laughed heartily: "Alright, we'll go skiing in winter."
They moved into the luxurious log cabin. Their relationship heated up rapidly, leaving traces of their love in every corner of the house.
During the day they went camping, fishing, or skydiving. At night they returned to the cabin to enjoy their love nest.
At the end of August, Luke sent Mia back to Los Angeles.
Because the school term had started — she had to return to UCLA for college.
He helped her carry her luggage into the dorm. The two were reluctant to part.
Mia wrapped her arms around Luke's waist and pressed her head against his chest, speaking in a muffled voice: "Luke, you have to call every day! Once you finish your business, you must co see in Los Angeles. You have to spend Christmas with — my family wants to et you!"
Looking into her beautiful eyes, Luke made a solemn promise: "Don't worry, I will."
They shared a long farewell kiss.
After saying goodbye to Mia, although Luke felt a twinge of reluctance, he felt an even stronger sense of urgency.
Spending nearly a month with Mia day and night had been joyful, but it had also greatly compressed the ti window he could use to travel back and forth to Westeros to handle affairs.
Now, he could finally set aside the romantic entanglents on Blue Star for a while and focus on more substantial arrangents.
He needed to prepare real "teeth" and "armor" for the ard forces of his "Jaqenion family" in Westeros.
The excuse he had given Mia about "inspecting the Montana ranch and panning for gold in Alaska" was only half true.
The Green Forest Estate did need deeper understanding and planning, while the "gold panning in Alaska"… he might truly go one day, but not now.
Right now, he had more important things to do.
After leaving UCLA, Luke drove to Orange County.
His destination was "Jesse Hu's Forge," located in a quiet industrial area.
The forge's exterior was unremarkable, but the rhythmic hamring and faint waves of heat coming from inside signaled that this place was anything but ordinary.
The owner of the forge, Jesse Hu (Hu Jexi), a young Asian genius bladesmith who had set records and won five championships on Forged in Fire despite being only twenty years old, was already waiting at the door.
He was not particularly tall, but his arms were muscular and his gaze focused, showing a steadiness beyond his years.
"Mr. Luke, welco."
Jesse Hu spoke in clear but slightly accented Chinese and extended his hand proactively.
He wore a leather apron stained with oil and had thin calluses on his hands.
"Brother Hu, I've long admired your reputation!" Luke shook his hand warmly, replying in Chinese as well.
"I've watched every episode of Forged in Fire you appeared in. You're practically my idol! So young, yet your craftsmanship is so mature — you outshone all those old masters. You've truly brought honor to us Dragon people!"
Luke's praise was not entirely flattery. In his previous life he had indeed watched the show and rembered this young champion clearly.
Jesse Hu was a bit embarrassed by the praise and smiled shyly: "Mr. Luke, you flatter . I just enjoy studying the craft and got lucky. On the other hand, you, Mr. Luke…"
He looked at the tall, handso, and extraordinary-looking Luke with curiosity and respect:
"You are the real legend. To be honest, I only found out later that you are the Mr. Luke who discovered the 'Red Heart' red diamond… It's truly unbelievable."
Luke laughed heartily and admitted openly: "Luck, all luck… It can't compare to your genuine skill, Brother Hu."
The two walked into the forge. The temperature rose noticeably. The air was filled with the slls of tal, coal, and quenching oil.
Various forges, power hamrs, grinders, and polishing equipnt filled the space. Although sowhat cluttered, it was clear the owner was intimately familiar with his tools.
After the pleasantries, Luke got to the point: "Brother Hu, about those items I commissioned earlier…"
"They're ready, Mr. Luke. Please follow ."
Jesse Hu led Luke to a separate finished-products display room at the back of the forge.
The room was clean and bright. On the equipnt racks against the wall, six cold weapons glead with a cold yet magnificent luster under the lights.
There was a simple and dignified eight-sided Han sword; a graceful, Tang-style dao; a beautifully curved Yanling saber suited for chopping; a majestic Green Dragon Crescent Blade; an exaggeratedly curved, murderous-looking Nepalese kukri; and three ornate "Aragorn-style" Narsil swords.
The blades of all the weapons displayed exquisite Damascus steel patterns — layered like flowing water or nebulae.
Especially the eight-sided Han sword, where deep wave patterns were cleverly inlaid with fine golden lines, resembling a dragon swimming through clouds — luxurious yet sharp.
Near the guards or pomls of each weapon, the English script "Draconian" and a carefully designed "purple-gold dragon crest" were clearly engraved.
This was the emblem Luke had designed for the "Jaqenion family."
"Clang!"
Luke stepped forward, gripped the hilt of the eight-sided Han sword, and slowly drew it.
The blade sang clearly as it left the scabbard, its edge gleaming coldly. He gave a slight flick of his wrist and made several practice cuts in the air. The sound of the blade cutting wind was crisp. The balance was excellent — there was no sluggishness when swinging it.
"Excellent sword!" Luke praised sincerely. "Whether in material, craftsmanship, balance, or aesthetics, it's absolutely top-tier! Brother Hu, your skills truly live up to your reputation!"
Jesse Hu stood to the side. Seeing the undisguised admiration in Luke's eyes, he felt proud: "I'm glad you're satisfied, Mr. Luke. All these weapons are made from top-grade high-carbon and nickel steel folded into Damascus. They've undergone repeated heat treatnt and tempering to achieve the perfect balance of hardness and toughness."
"The edges were hand-ground to extre sharpness. Especially the golden patterns on the Han sword — I experinted with special acid etching and gold inlay techniques. It took a lot of material to get it right."
Luke couldn't put the six weapons down. He tested the feel of each one, and every blade delighted him.
He set down the final Nepalese kukri, took out his checkbook, wrote a check for $250,000, and handed it to Jesse Hu.
"Brother Hu, this is the final paynt. Your craftsmanship is worth this price — and more."
Jesse Hu took the check. When he saw the number, his hand trembled slightly.
The deposit he had received earlier was already substantial, but this $250,000 final paynt still exceeded his expectations.
"Mr. Luke, this… is too much. The total price we agreed on wasn't this high."
"It's not too much," Luke patted his shoulder.
"Art is priceless. We may have opportunities to cooperate again in the future. Let's stay in touch!"
Fool with too much money, showing off wealth and inflating prices as usual.
Although he had already prepared plenty of firearms, Westeros was ultimately a cold-weapon era. He believed it was still necessary to prepare so cold weapons.
He also wanted to experience the feeling of "riding and slashing."
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