"Alas!"
Chen Yu sighed, leaning back in his seat.
In his mind, he could barely recall who had spoken those last words. All he remembered was that the instant the voice faded, the two figures disappeared from the memorial hall.
Those two figures were Chen Yu's parents.
And the only time Chen Yu had ever seen them in all these years.
"It's really blood ties after all; I still thought about finding them," Chen Yu chuckled self-mockingly. Indeed, with so much time having passed, he had also matured considerably.
He had to admit, he truly hated them at the memorial hall.
He had thought of never seeing them again.
However, blood relatives were still blood relatives. Hate couldn't sever the bond of kinship. Now that he had achieved some success after coming to the underground caves, he still wanted to protect them.
This was his duty as a son.
Unfortunately—
The underground caves were so vast. He had the heart, but perhaps not the strength.
"Grandma, if only you were here," Chen Yu murmured, looking up at the window.
He truly wished his grandmother could see him now. He had shed his childishness, matured greatly, and built a decent foundation.
He was no longer the timid child who always wanted to shrink back.
But she couldn't see.
"What's wrong with Brother Chen Yu?" Nuo Yi's small face was filled with worry as she stood outside the door. "I felt like his emotions were quite low just now."
"People bound by emotions occasionally become like this," the little demon said, crossing her arms. "You don't need to mind him. I know his self-regulation ability. He'll regain his hope again soon after a period of low spirits."
"Emotions." Nuo Yi glanced at the little demon. "Sister Baba, aren't you bound by emotions?"
"How could I be?!" The little demon threw up her hands, speechless. "Little sister, I'm a great demon. Have you ever seen any demons with emotions? We don't need such trivial emotional entanglements."
"Really?"
"Would demons lie to you about something like this?"
"Then..." Nuo Yi blinked her eyes suddenly. "If, say, Brother Chen Yu were in danger and needed Sister Baba to save him, but you didn't have absolute certainty, or it was a one-in-a-million chance, or even if you went, it would surely mean your death, would you still go save Brother Chen Yu?"
"Of course not..."
For some inexplicable reason, Barbara couldn't utter the refusal that was already on the tip of her tongue.
"See, see? You still say you're not bound by emotions," little Nuo Yi grinned, seizing the momentary pause. "Although I haven't known Sister Baba for long, I can feel that you're a very good demon, very different from those evil demons. Moreover, your relationship with Brother Chen Yu is also very good; he trusts you greatly, and you trust him just the same."
"You little brat, what do you know?" The little demon pouted and sneered, then reached out and ruffled little Nuo Yi's head. "I'm just using him."
"Oh, using me again."
Suddenly, a hushed whisper reached the little demon's ear. The little demon, who had been crossing her arms, immediately turned around. She saw Chen Yu standing behind her, her face flushing inexplicably, and she didn't know what to say for a long time.
"Thank you, Demon King, for being willing to use this humble one. This humble one is also willing to be used by you."
"You, you, you... why did you suddenly come out?" The little demon coughed lightly and reprimanded, "You didn't make a sound when you walked; are you a spirit, or am I?"
"Hey, it wasn't me who walked silently; it was that Demon Lord was too engrossed in fabricating lies."
"Who fabricated?"
"Oh my, still not admitting it?"
"I am using you, is that not allowed?" The little demon glared with wide eyes. Chen Yu, not getting angry, looked at her with a smile. "Alright, it's fine. Didn't I also say that I'm willing to be used by you? Alright, stop maintaining that persona of an emotionless killer. We all know you have no emotions. Hurry in, I had a small problem buying tickets."
"What problem?" Nuo Yi instantly leaned forward, and Chen Yu clicked on his wristband page.
"It keeps asking me to bind some crystal card."
"Bind it." Little Nuo Yi spread her hands. "How can they deduct the fees if you don't bind a crystal card? Don't you have a crystal card, Brother Chen Yu?"
"This..." Chen Yu grinned dryly for a long while.
Crystal card.
He had been in the underground caves for so long, done a lot of looting and plundering, and his funds were in the tens and hundreds of millions. As for a crystal card, he truly didn't have one.
He did have one before, given to him by the Elton family.
It was just that this crystal card was now with Hei Dou.
"It's a small matter. Just send me the bill, and I'll pay it for you." Seeing Chen Yu's dilemma, little Nuo Yi grinned and said to herself, "Crystal cards are quite important in the underground caves. I suggest Brother Chen Yu get a few more, otherwise, many functions of the full version of the wristband cannot be used."
"I can feel that."
The underground cave crystal card was somewhat like a bank card outside the underground city. Before, Chen Yu hadn't enabled the full wristband functions and thought the underground caves were a very backward area.
Now, he realized he had been looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.
The interior of the underground caves actually had its own unique living system. Functions similar to those outside could be found as alternatives inside.
As for the cultural deficiency.
Chen Yu boldly speculated that it wasn't that the people in the underground caves lacked culture, but rather due to the vastness of the underground caves, most areas were still relatively backward.
There were so many underground kingdoms.
The Tato Kingdom was considered an outer kingdom among the human empires. Thus, outside the underground caves, the Tato Kingdom might be like small countries in the Middle East. And the outskirts of the Tato Kingdom where Chen Yu was located were even more remote. Perhaps in the core areas of the human empires and beastmen empires, the people there possessed astonishing knowledge, possibly even surpassing his.
"Here, it's bought, three tickets." At this moment, Nuo Yi showed her purchased ticket voucher.
The deduction was 600,000 gold coins.
"This Tato Kingdom is really greedy. 200,000 for one floating city, why don't they just rob people?" The little demon pouted, crossing her arms. Chen Yu shrugged. "What can we do? If they demand it, we can only comply. The tickets are bought, let's set off and see the prosperity above the floating city."
"I hope it doesn't disappoint me." The little demon pouted reluctantly. About half an hour later—
"Sorry, the transporter is off duty. You can't go up the city anymore."
???
Standing at the entrance of the floating city, Chen Yu looked at the guards below in astonishment.
"What did you say? Off duty?"