In the ravaged urban areas, the knight order led the way.
Occasionally, refugees would still surge out from both sides. However, after experiencing assassination attempts by refugees, Nuo Yi no longer showed the same mercy towards them.
Though her heart was kind, she would never become a tool for others.
The heavily armed members of the knight order drove away the refugees who came begging for food. Everyone knew that among these refugees, there might truly be unfortunate souls who had fled to this place, starving and desperate for a bite to eat. However, the current situation did not allow for enough time to discern who was who.
A blanket approach!
Cruel, but the simplest and most effective method.
Countless refugees curled up on the ground, some even arguing fiercely over a mouthful of grass. Chen Yu and the others watched with a sense of helplessness.
About half an hour later—
Chen Yu and his companions were led by Lauren to a seemingly decent government office. Unsurprisingly, the exterior of the office was guarded by heavily armed soldiers of the cavalry.
"This is the Lord's Mansion."
Wearing golden armor, Lauren smiled and placed his right fist over his chest.
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Chen Yu. I will inform the City Lord that you have arrived. It should not be long before the City Lord personally meets with you."
"Thank you for your trouble." Chen Yu nodded slightly.
"It is our duty." For once, Lauren displayed a cheerful smile, then his expression turned serious. He leaned close to Chen Yu's ear and whispered, "Mr. Chen Yu, this Lord's Mansion is not entirely safe. If any members of the knight order approach you rashly, please be sure to guard against them."
"Understood."
With the city in chaos and division, no one could guarantee that the members of the knight order were not infiltrated or turned. Chen Yu had expected that there would be radical elements among them.
After receiving Chen Yu's reply, Lauren left the Lord's Mansion in a hurry, leaving behind four people for protection.
"Alas, the people of this city are truly miserable."
Looking down at her bracelet, Nuo Yi pursed her lips and sighed.
She was actually quite a picky eater.
For many foods that did not suit her taste, she would lose interest after a single bite, leaving the rest to be wasted and thrown into the slop bucket.
For her, food that was so easily obtained...
Was incredibly precious in this city.
Looking at those refugees, fighting bloody battles just to snatch a mouthful of grass, she felt deeply uneasy.
"War ultimately victimizes the common people," Chen Yu also whispered with a low tone. Hearing this, Nuo Yi clenched her fist and murmured, "Is it wrong for our Batu Federation to go to war with the Tatu Kingdom?"
Her conviction had always been firm in the past.
However, after personally witnessing the tragic plight of the refugees, she began to waver.
"Everything has two sides," Chen Yu gently rubbed Nuo Yi's head and smiled. "War may cause many people to suffer, but it also grants them a new future. Don't overthink it. Your task now is not to fight, but to cause trouble with me."
"Hehehe, I like that."
Little Nuo Yi's face immediately broke into a radiant smile.
"Have you finished the lamb legs?" Chen Yu whispered softly. "If this whole roasted lamb gets cold, its flavor will be greatly diminished."
"Ah..."
Speaking of which, Little Nuo Yi rubbed her stomach with a tired look in her eyes.
"I can't eat anymore either. No, I need to find a place to rest."
Little Nuo Yi pulled her chair and collapsed onto it. Seeing her slump down after eating her fill, Chen Yu understood why she had gained so much weight in the past few days.
Eat and then rest, who wouldn't gain weight like that?
"It seems the situation within the Tatu Kingdom is very bad, if everything Captain Lauren said is true." The little devil, with her arms crossed, walked up with a thoughtful expression and whispered, then slowly looked up, "It's just, do you believe it?"
"Does that matter?"
Chen Yu shrugged with a smile, not dwelling on the matter.
They had already entered Hurricane City. Whether the Tatu Kingdom was as Lauren described was meaningless. They would be heading to the royal capital soon and could see the real situation firsthand.
What you hear may be false, and what you see may not necessarily be true.
In this world, truth and falsehood are always intertwined. What is the point of pursuing the truth?
"Before, Su Zhan told me with great certainty that the Batu Federation would surely win the war against the Tatu Kingdom," Chen Yu said softly. "I wonder if his certainty stemmed from the internal strife in the Tatu Kingdom. If that's the case, then everything would be much easier to explain."
"The problem is, how could it be such a coincidence?"
The little devil frowned and said, "Just as the Batu Free Federation was about to declare war on the Tatu Kingdom, the Tatu Kingdom conveniently began to experience internal turmoil. All the timing, geographical advantages, and human support were seized by the Batu Free Federation. Don't you find that very strange?"
"Whoa, you even know about timing, geographical advantages, and human support?" Chen Yu exclaimed.
"Stop interrupting!"
The little devil playfully hit Chen Yu's shoulder. Chen Yu retracted the playful smile in his eyes and seriously pondered the sequence of events, nodding slightly.
"Indeed, as you say, it is somewhat inexplicably strange."
The Tatu Kingdom had been established for hundreds, even thousands, of years and had always been stable. In its middle period, it had also faced wars of invasion from neighboring countries, but it had emerged unscathed.
Yet, before the Tatu Kingdom had even declared war, they had expressed their intention to fight.
And the Tatu Kingdom directly collapsed.
The timing seemed overly precise.
It wasn't impossible that the Batu Free Federation had also sensed the internal atmosphere of the Tatu Kingdom, knowing that it was on the verge of collapse. They then seized the opportunity to go to war to capture territory.
Why didn't the Tatu Kingdom suppress it in advance?
It was impossible that the Tatu Kingdom had no news at all and still believed its kingdom was peaceful, only to suddenly encounter a change.
That was simply illogical.
Or there could be another explanation: the King of the Tatu Kingdom had long been sidelined. Sitting in the imperial palace, he was unaware of the people's conditions and still believed his kingdom to be as prosperous as ever.
If that were the case, his reign as king was quite frustrating.
"What does it matter if it's strange? It doesn't have much to do with us," Chen Yu spread his hands. The little devil, however, still had a solemn expression. "You don't understand what I'm saying. What I'm trying to say is, could it be that the Tatu Kingdom tacitly allowed such things to happen, intending to make the Batu Free Federation complacent and then strike them heavily?"
"I don't think that possibility is very likely."
Chen Yu smiled and shook his head, not taking it too seriously.
Undermining the foundation of the nation to set a trap for the enemy was too costly. Even if the enemy was annihilated, dealing with the internal strife would be difficult.
Seeing that the little devil seemed to have more to say, Chen Yu suddenly changed the subject.
"Let's discuss these matters in private. Someone's here."