Chapter 46 Cooperation

Because Lu Xiaoyao missed the opportunity to buy a bento box, Bai Xiao observed the other people present and saw that no one else seemed interested in buying one. Therefore, she had to pluck up her courage and approach Mu Chen, the first person to buy a bento box, to seek cooperation.

Reminding Lu Xiaoyao was only because she and Lu Xiaoyao were acquaintances. She wasn't familiar with the others, and she wasn't stupid enough to directly tell other players about the bento box's effects.

After all, only one person could inherit the duke's estate.

"Cooperation?"

After finishing his bento box, Mu Chen unhurriedly drank his coffee, with a little milk but no sugar. He found it quite refreshing, and even though it was getting dark, that didn't stop him from drinking coffee.

Sometimes, unintentional actions in the game can indirectly affect the plot.

"Yes, there are three opportunities. You watch three, I watch three, how about it?" Bai Xiao had only sought out Lu Xiaoyao because she couldn't watch all six herself.

Although they had agreed to cooperate and act together, Lu Xiaoyao had messed up when it came to buying bento boxes, which forced Bai Xiao to temporarily cooperate with Mu Chen.

"Sure, but even then, we can only watch six in total. One person will be overlooked. Who should we skip today?"

Mu Chen didn't refuse and discussed with her who to ignore today.

"Lu Xiaoyao."

Bai Xiao stated her answer directly. Mu Chen glanced at Bai Xiao, took a sip of his slightly bitter coffee, and then looked at Lu Xiaoyao. Seeing her lying there in the Ge You position with her eyes narrowed, he even thought she could go upstairs to rest if she wasn't holding a warm cup of milk tea.

Looking at her like that, Mu Chen also felt it wasn't worth wasting an opportunity on her.

"Okay."

Having reached a consensus, the two quickly exchanged information. They then told the butler they needed to walk around to digest after eating and asked to leave.

"The roses outside the castle are beautiful. If you have time, you can enjoy them. However, after dark, please follow the rules and return to your rooms to rest."

The butler smiled politely. Everyone heard the key message that they weren't allowed to go out at night. After the players left, some went straight back to their rooms to rest, while others still strolled around outside, even chatting with some of the servant NPCs inside and outside the castle.

"Oh? That beautiful cook was brought back by the duke from thousands of miles away?"

Just as Mingmei, the wall-leaning, corner-conquering, melon-eating, forced-to-eat-melon apostle, was outside the castle, watching Lu Xiaoyao's castle bedroom perform a pretentious bedtime show live, she overheard a conversation between a player and a castle servant.

"Yes, I heard she used to cook for the emperor. Wasn't she brought back by our duke when he went on a campaign with the Emperor to conquer the Chu Rong? We don't usually get to eat her food. The butler also said we don't have the right to have her cook."

"So, your idea is that only those who actually eat her bento boxes are more qualified?"

Julian had noticed the unique food being sold in Mingmei's direction when he was eating. Some players were eating those bento boxes, but he hadn't followed suit out of caution.

Also, due to his own dietary habits, he was already about seventy percent full when he paid attention to Mingmei's side and didn't want to eat anything more.

But now he felt like he must have missed something important.

However, Chu Rong...

Due to the game system's memory suppression, Julian's memories of "Assassin Emperor" were fragmented and blurry. He couldn't remember the faces of some key characters clearly.

The cook... Did the cook in "Assassin Emperor" have an important identity?

"Thank you for your explanation. It's getting late, and I should go back to rest." Although he didn't understand, Julian still politely thanked the servant who had provided the information.

"It's an honor to serve you, sir."

The servant was flattered by Julian's polite tone and felt a great affection for this man who spoke to him so gently.

If such a person became the duke, it would be very comfortable for them.

If he could check his favorability, Julian would definitely see that the other party had a very high opinion of him.

Finally, the servant said another key line: "The butler has a lot of power. His opinion can influence who becomes the heir to some extent."

"Thank you."

Julian was stunned upon hearing this important information, but he quickly smiled slightly to show that he understood. After seeing the person off and making sure no one was around, Julian returned to his cold expression.

Huff--

In the end, his cultivation wasn't good enough. He couldn't keep a fake emotion on his face all the time. It was still tiring to maintain his demeanor and gentlemanly appearance all day long!

Julian exhaled a breath of stale air, quickly releasing the negative emotions caused by pretending all the time. His eyes flashed with joy at obtaining important information, and he looked up at the sky, realizing it was getting late. He turned around and entered the castle, planning to rest…

And Mingmei, the entire process of whom was the "wall-leaning, corner-conquering, melon-eating, forced-to-eat-melon apostle," revealed herself after the other party left.

Mingmei was amazed by Julian's "pretentious" performance.

"Does he always deceive NPCs' feelings like this?" Mingmei raised her eyebrows, recalling the few times she had met Julian. It seemed that every time he faced a game NPC, he showed a perfect side.

Oh, except for the first time when he left her with a bad impression and she sarcastically mocked him, it seemed like he had never shown her a very attentive side.

[Are you disappointed?] Listening to her host's tone, Gui Gui wondered if Mingmei's thoughts were slipping.

Wasn't one Mu Chen enough? Did she want something else?

"No, I just want to say... it's impossible to raise my favorability here~ The only way to raise my favorability is to buy a bento box~"

After saying that, Mingmei noticed that something seemed to have happened in Lu Xiaoyao's live broadcast room, and the barrage was exploding.

There was no way around it. She would eventually find out the truth about the mysterious merchant, especially when she and Bai Xiao lived in the same room. The truth would come very quickly.

"How could this happen?!" Lu Xiaoyao widened her eyes and looked at Bai Xiao. "You didn't even tell me?!"

"I gave you such obvious hints. It was you, it was you yourself..." Bai Xiao changed into her pajamas, placed a dagger she didn't know where she got from under her pillow, and looked at Lu Xiaoyao in the next bed.

Bai Xiao wanted to laugh at her expressive face, but she felt sorry for her and held it back.

"Wuwuwuwu, I'm so stupid, really. Why did I overthink it?"

[To highlight your unique thought process?]

[Hey, we're just playing a game these days. Don't cry, don't cry!]

[Pfft, hahaha, I suspect she won't be able to sleep tonight~]

[To be honest, isn't it a bit strange that "The Duke's Estate" is categorized as a survival game? The whole process so far has been peace and love~]

[Hmph, as a player who has played the simple version, I'm telling you, things aren't that simple~ I'm looking forward to seeing what their super-difficult level will be like~]