The entrance to the granary was sealed.
The seal on the grand gate, placed by Chen Yu using his elemental power, was one that no one in the entire city, other than Little Devil, could possibly break.
"This is our granary for Fengqi City."
After sealing the granary, Chen Yu stretched lazily, feeling quite satisfied with the fire elemental brand of foxtail grass on the gate.
Elemental brands could actually be any design Chen Yu wished.
Brands could also be considered symbols.
For example, the human empire in the caves used a violet as their brand, while the Orc Empire used a warhammer. There were also tulips and black roses, all patterns that could represent a faction.
When others saw an elemental brand, they would know which power stood behind it.
"What do you think? The future elemental brand of our city." Chen Yu asked, smiling as he slung an arm around Vice-City Lord Clay, a playful smile evident in his slightly raised eyebrows.
Unexpectedly, Clay's eyes were filled with shock at his words.
Elemental Brand?!
This, was it already decided?
He stared blankly at the foxtail grass on the granary. From the details, he could see that Chen Yu had quite a knack for elemental control; he had painted a single blade of grass so lifelike with his elemental power. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he seemed to see the foxtail grass in the elemental brand swaying as if in the wind.
The problem was, this brand seemed a bit abrupt, didn't it?
"City Lord, are you serious?" Clay, feeling somewhat uncertain, tentatively gestured towards the brand with his chin. "Our city's brand is a blade of grass?"
Elemental brands were only determined and announced to other nations after a country was established.
The brand of the Tatu Kingdom was a blue-crowned ice bird.
This was also the contracted spirit beast of the Tatu Kingdom's first monarch, an ice-element combat spirit beast with extremely high affinity for water elements.
The first monarch had relied on his spirit beast to conquer this territory.
National brands needed to have special significance.
Chen Yu and his people currently possessed only a city, so there was no talk of an elemental brand. Even though Chen Yu held the Tiger Tally and harbored ambitions of establishing a kingdom in the future, using a blade of grass as a national brand felt a bit too…
"Why can't it be a blade of grass?"
Chen Yu's gaze softened as he looked at the foxtail grass in the elemental brand. He then noticed Clay's slightly awkward expression and smiled.
"You think a blade of grass is too lowly for a brand?"
"Your subordinate certainly doesn't think that." Clay chuckled dryly and whispered, "Your subordinate just feels that it's too hasty to determine a brand now. Our territory isn't at the stage where it should have a brand, and I don't want you, City Lord, to be so casual about it. Generally, national brands have special significance or are symbols representing the country. Fengqi City and your free city-state don't seem to have any connection with a blade of grass, do they?"
"You're mistaken there."
Chen Yu put his arm around Clay again and pointed to the brand on the granary gate, whispering.
"Do you recognize this grass?"
"Foxtail grass."
"You recognize it? You have insight."
Clay couldn't help but have a dark look on his face when praised for his insight.
Foxtail grass was the most common weed in the caves. Even if they grabbed a child of a few years old from the city, they would be able to name this grass.
Being praised like this felt like an insult.
"I haven't been in the caves for long, and the most common thing I've seen is this foxtail grass." Chen Yu murmured softly as he looked at the foxtail grass brand. "In the eyes of many, foxtail grass is just a weed. It's indeed not as noble and elegant as violets or tulips. It's as if it was born to complement everything around it, and no one pays attention to it. Merchants, brave adventurers, even travelers might step on it. No one pays attention to such a blade of foxtail grass, yet it's precisely this grass that grows most luxuriantly in the caves."
Listening to Chen Yu's murmur, Clay seemed to gradually gain some understanding.
Chen Yu continued to murmur to himself.
"Think about it, does this grass truly have no connection to us?"
"Looking at all the nations in the caves, isn't our Fengqi City just like this insignificant wild grass that no one cares about? Aren't the common people in our city considered the most lowly and ignorant by those nobles and royals?"
"Using a plant to represent us, foxtail grass is the most fitting."
"In the eyes of those in power, we are mere dirt. However, we ourselves shouldn't think that way. Just like foxtail grass, it's so humble that anyone can step on it, but it might not consider itself lowly. It still tries its best to absorb nutrients from the soil, to feel the gentle sunlight from above. After countless tramplings, even after being burned by fire, it still grows all over the mountains after spring wind."
"I hope our city will be the same."
"Perhaps in the future, we will encounter many challenges and face various difficulties. Perhaps those powers will trample us fiercely underfoot, but we will still be able to strive and grow in the cracks, take deep root here, and welcome new life."
With his understanding of Chen Yu's thoughts completely clear, Clay exhaled deeply.
It was a matter of his own limited perspective.
The first time he saw the foxtail grass, he only thought of it as a lowly weed. Chen Yu had a much deeper vision than him. Perhaps this was why he couldn't hold the position of City Lord and could only be Chen Yu's subordinate.
After hearing Chen Yu's words, Clay no longer held any disdain for the foxtail grass.
"City Lord, I apologize!"
Clay looked at Chen Yu with sincere eyes and apologized. Chen Yu looked at him with a hint of surprise.
"Why the sudden apology?"
"It's my fault for not grasping the deeper meaning and failing to understand your thoughtful intentions. Foxtail grass is indeed suitable as our city's brand. I have no objections whatsoever." Clay's eyes were filled with seriousness, which made Chen Yu feel a little at a loss.
It seemed he really had the potential to be a great deceiver.
In fact, the initial idea of making it foxtail grass was purely for fun. All the other nations had such grand brands, so he deliberately wanted to do something different and unique.
Who knew that by trying to convince Clay, he had actually made him believe it.
More importantly—
After thinking about it himself, it seemed to make perfect sense.
"It's good that you understand," Chen Yu nodded with a slight smile and said, "Foxtail grass will be our elemental brand in the future. No matter how noble the other nations are, I want to see foxtail grass spread throughout the entire cave."
"I will do my utmost to assist."
Clay thumped his fist against his chest, and then his expression became serious.
"City Lord, if our Fengqi City truly wants to break convention and issue a brand as a subordinate city, it will be very difficult to obtain imperial certification."
"Why do we need imperial certification?" Chen Yu asked, completely bewildered.
From the moment he arrived in the caves, he had been an unregistered person. He had been striving in the caves without mentioning any certification. Only when the Free Town wanted to gather surrounding residents did they bother to get a kingdom's certification. Otherwise, he intended to remain on the fringes of society until his power reached a certain level, even if they didn't recognize him then, they would have to.
Chen Yu was not like the native cave dwellers who had a deep sense of fear towards cave laws.
In the caves, he lived according to his own desires.
"City Lord, imperial certification is very important." Clay said with narrowed eyes. "Once a brand receives imperial certification, the empire will record it in their archives and provide us with corresponding anti-counterfeiting instruments. Otherwise, there is a high possibility that merchants or bandits will do bad things under our banner."
This was indeed something Chen Yu had overlooked.
Anti-counterfeiting!
Although Chen Yu was confident that few people could depict a foxtail grass as lifelike as him, even the sages in the caves might not be able to achieve it.
His understanding of foxtail grass was profound.
When he was young and lived with his grandmother, he would stare at foxtail grass almost all the time. The image of foxtail grass had long been deeply imprinted in his soul.
Although the cave sages had good control, they certainly couldn't paint with the feeling that Chen Yu possessed.
Of course—
There were probably very few sages who were so idle as to do such a thing.
He was just afraid that outsiders might not observe such details, and those who wanted to imitate it might only draw a rough outline, which could still fool others.
"I'll handle this."
Chen Yu coughed lightly and murmured, "Besides, we're just playing small games now. I don't think anyone will bother to imitate us, so there's no need to worry too much."
"That's true," Clay nodded slightly.
The former Hurricane City might have had some fame within the Tatu Kingdom and surrounding nations, but their current Fengqi City was far from the peak of Hurricane City.
It was unlikely anyone would be idle enough to imitate their city's elemental brand.
"City Lord, I have another question." Clay gestured towards the granary behind Chen Yu and said, "Regarding this granary, you sealed it and called it a reserve food supply. However, we don't have much usable food on hand. Our city's daily consumption of grain is over 500 million catties."
"50 tons? Are they trying to get fat?"
"How can you say that?" Clay chuckled heartily at Chen Yu's exclamation. "The citizens in our city are afraid of food shortages, so they hardly take any money and exchange their wages for grain. 50 tons is considered quite a small amount. On the very first day, they exchanged hundreds of tons."
"How much food do you have left?"
"Less than five hundred tons."
"Meaning, if we don't touch the granary, we only have enough food to last for about seven more days." Chen Yu frowned and declared, "I only have seven days' worth of food, but that's fine. This granary is sealed, and it's a reserve supply. Besides, you still have seven days' worth of food. We'll open the granary when it's truly needed."
"Huh?" Clay tilted his head in confusion.
"Hurry up and get back to whatever you were doing." Chen Yu pushed Clay's back with his hand. "This is not your concern. You definitely cannot touch the grain in the granary."
Until he left the granary, Clay's mind was a complete muddle.
What was going on?!
He hadn't said anything about touching the grain in the granary from beginning to end. He was just reporting the amount of available grain in his hands, so why was he inexplicably reprimanded?
With his head full of confusion, Clay disappeared from the granary. Chen Yu stood in front of the granary, sighing with his hand on his forehead.
"City Lord, are you alright?" Loma, who was left to guard the granary, approached with a concerned look. Chen Yu shook his head when he saw him. "It's nothing, I just feel a bit tired. Don't mind me. Watch the granary properly. Let me tell you… this granary is the lifeline of our city. If anything happens to the granary…"
"Please rest assured, City Lord. Where the granary stands, I stand!"
"Good, I'm counting on you."
Chen Yu patted Loma's shoulder heavily. The immense force on Loma's shoulder made him feel the weighty responsibility. Chen Yu then slowly left the granary with his tired body. Unbeknownst to him, as he reached the end of the granary street, Little Devil was standing at the corner, her hands clasped behind her back.
"Why are you here!"
The moment Chen Yu saw Little Devil, the fatigue in his eyes vanished. He immediately looked around cautiously, and his soul power extended outwards.
"Don't worry, I've already investigated."
Little Devil flicked her small hands dismissively. Only then did Chen Yu breathe a sigh of relief and whisper.
"You should be staying in the City Lord's Mansion. Why did you come here? If someone with intentions discovers this, our plan will be in vain."
"Come on, do you think everyone is as sneaky as you?"
"This is intelligence!" Chen Yu pointed to his head and pouted. "Please mind your words. What do you mean by sneaky? If they hadn't provoked us, according to my plan, it would still be half a year before it was their turn. Never mind that, have all the grain been handed over to you?"