Under the cover of night, Roni’s tilted head was filled with confusion.
Had she misunderstood again?
Chen Yu had agreed so readily, and the guards' expressions suggested they genuinely believed Chen Yu's words. Were those sincere expressions fake?
Her idea shouldn't have been wrong.
To escape, the more people gathered, the greater the chance.
"I get it, you don't want them to be cannon fodder, do you?" Roni’s eyes widened as if she had suddenly understood. Chen Yu glanced sideways at her, "Explain in detail."
"During our escort, cause a riot and have them cover our retreat."
"Pfft…"
Seeing Chen Yu laugh, Roni frowned.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Roni, do you know the difference between you and those old geezers?" Chen Yu whispered softly, "It's that your thinking is too shallow. Perhaps you should think deeper. To put it simply, at the beginning of the invasion by the Batu Kingdom, the City Lord's Mansion's complete troop deployment wasn't their match. What waves can these remaining soldiers and prisoners make now?"
Instantly, Roni froze.
She hadn't even considered such a simple problem.
"I…"
She truly felt stupid.
"It's not your fault," Chen Yu comforted her softly, "It’s a lack of a broader perspective, a necessary path for many novices to transform into experts. You're young and have little life experience, so it's not strange. In the future, just pause three times before speaking, overturn your own three ideas, and then make a decision. Things will be much better."
"But, you're not much older than me, are you?"
"Me!"
Chen Yu, holding his head, sighed inexplicably. Recalling his life before coming to the cave, he shrugged.
"It's rather special."
"Hey, you over there… gossiping is about enough. Although Sister Liuyue ordered us to give you a bit more freedom, don't treat this like your home, okay?" the beast soldier guarding them frowned. "You are prisoners of our vanguard. Prisoners, do you understand?"
"I don't understand prisoners, I understand stinky tofu."
As the beast soldier shouted, an unexpected response came from among the captives.
Chen Yu instantly looked over.
Not far from him, a young man, no older than twenty, was squatting. He wore the uniform of the City Lord's Mansion guards. While other guards had some injuries, he was completely fine. His clothes were spotless, and his hairstyle wasn't even messed up.
"Quite the talker, looking for death?"
The beast soldier walked over, brandishing his saber. The young man quickly covered his head.
"No, no, no, sir, don't hit me. I just have a big mouth. Please be magnanimous, sir. Just consider what I said as farts, and I'll slap myself. How about that?"
*Slap~*
He slapped himself across the face.
This kid was truly ruthless; the slap hurt even Chen Yu to watch. Yet, he still grinned with a fawning smile at the beast soldier.
"Sir, is this okay?"
"Hit again…" Before the beast soldier could finish speaking, several figures approached from a distance. Leading them was none other than Liuyue, with the twins still standing beside her.
"What are you doing?"
Liuyue, with a frosty expression, strode up to the beast soldier and glanced at the youth with a swollen cheek.
"Who told you to do this?"
"I…"
"I'm asking you, who told you to do this?" Liuyue stared intently at the beast soldier, "Didn't I instruct you to treat the prisoners well?"
"Leader, it wasn't me, it was him…"
"No, he's the one who told me to hit myself!" Before the beast soldier could finish his sentence, the youth with the swollen face stood up and said righteously, "My lord, I report you. Your subordinates are maliciously mistreating us surrendered prisoners while you were away. You didn't see it, my lord. These beast soldiers were extremely brutal to us, and they insulted us with their words, trampling on our character and dignity!"
"You're spouting nonsense!"
The beast soldier clenched his fist and yelled.
The swollen-faced youth immediately glared and stretched out his neck.
"Hey, how do you know? Did you smell it?"
Instantly, the captives squatting on the ground couldn't help but burst into laughter. Chen Yu was also amused by this kid and couldn't hold back his laughter. The beast soldier, however, clenched his fist tightly, and after enduring for a long time, he looked up at Liuyue.
"Leader, I really didn't."
"I believe you." To his surprise, Liuyue, who had come to question him, simply patted the beast soldier's shoulder and then abruptly turned, exuding a startling aura. "All of you, be quiet!"
The captives quickly suppressed their smiles and lowered their heads.
"Prisoners should have the awareness of being prisoners. Although we, the Batu Federation, treat prisoners relatively well, if you become too presumptuous, you will still die, won't you?"
The swollen-faced youth also quietly crouched back down. Chen Yu secretly observed Liuyue and murmured softly.
"What kind of strength does this person have?"
Chen Yu had been in the cave for a long time and had encountered many experts. From the pressure Liuyue had just released, even someone in the Obsidian Realm couldn't compare.
Could it be that this Liuyue is…
"Color Rank!"
In his sea of consciousness, the little demon's whisper came through.
"Seriously? This person is Color Rank?" Chen Yu's face was full of surprise. The little demon chuckled, "What's there to be surprised about? You were in the outer perimeter of the cave before, and now you're in the main city of the kingdom. And the other side is the vanguard sent by the Batu Kingdom. Is it strange for there to be a Color Rank? Not only is she Color Rank, but the twins beside her, and that beefy guy carrying the giant axe, are all Color Realm experts."
Damn it, no wonder!
Chen Yu had been wondering how the City Lord's Mansion could be so incompetent, falling in less than two hours. He hadn't expected the Batu Kingdom to send several Color Rank experts.
With this in mind, it made sense that the City Lord's Mansion didn't have high-level mages.
It was likely that the City Lord's Mansion had also known the strength of the Batu Federation for a long time and had no intention of engaging in a head-on fight.
Leaving a few guards to put up a show was enough.
"It seems the Batu Kingdom's strength is not ordinary," Chen Yu mused internally. The little demon responded noncommittally, "It should be so, otherwise, they wouldn't send a vanguard team composed of several Color Ranks. It's likely that this kingdom's strength is already comparable to half of my Demon King's Fortress. Not bad, this kingdom does have some substance."
???
"Are you still showing off even at this point?"
"Who's showing off? I'm speaking the truth," the little demon roared in Chen Yu's mind, "I know, you're blaming me for not helping you. The twins next to Liuyue are one Holy type and one Dark type, both are high-level Color Realm mages. My spiritual body turns to dust when it encounters the Holy type. If I hide, I might be able to help you."
"Help me with what?"
"Tsk~"
The little demon in his sea of consciousness scoffed.
"Look at your wrist!"