"What?!"
Suddenly, a black afterimage flashed here like lightning, with Black Bean, whose two round big eyes were staring, its shock already seeming to overflow from its eye sockets.
Its open mouth was like it was about to swallow the slime in the cave whole.
"Liu Yue is engaged?"
"Holy crap, how did you suddenly appear?" Seeing the figure that darted out, Nuo Yi was startled, his shoulders trembling, and he instinctively took two steps back.
Chen Yu, however, was already accustomed to this, watching him with a smile, his arms crossed.
"Weren't you going into isolation?"
"What isolation, why would I be in isolation?" Black Bean glared indignantly, "Just now, I was pondering how to get angry, and I just wanted to come back and have a good debate with Nuo Yi. I didn't expect to hear about Liu Yue, what do you mean by arranged marriage, who is Liu Yue marrying?"
After waiting for a long time, Nuo Yi and the young lady remained silent.
"Sister..."
"Go ahead and say it, he'll have to know sooner or later anyway." The young lady smiled slightly, then turned her gaze to Black Bean and said softly, "This is a long story."
"Then make it a short story."
It should be known that Black Bean was anxious to death in his heart.
Arranged marriage?!
Thinking about it, Black Bean had traversed ten years, from the Tato Kingdom to the Batu Federation, crossing countless planes and spaces, only to see the person who made his heart flutter.
He had barely exchanged a few words, and now he encountered an arranged marriage?
If Liu Yue didn't like him, he would silently retreat and leave. If he couldn't pursue his happiness because of this arranged marriage, he would never tolerate it.
Although Black Bean was urging her impatiently, explaining it clearly would still not be accomplished in just a few words.
"Sister Liu Yue's arranged marriage was actually set a year ago." The young lady whispered, pursing her lips. "At that time, the cave plane had not yet descended into chaos, and the geographical locations of the various countries were in a contiguous era. Foreign explorers had not yet been invited to the cave plane space."
"Can we get to the point?"
Black Bean was burning with anxiety, wishing he could switch brains with the young lady.
"Don't rush."
Chen Yu, standing beside him, signaled Black Bean to calm down.
Although he didn't know much about the young lady in front of him, she was Nuo Yi's twin sister, and also the Holy-elementalist Mage who had illuminated them with Sacred Radiance Art in the City Lord's Mansion, named Siya.
During this time, Nuo Yi often visited their residence.
Occasionally, this sister would come to find Nuo Yi to go back, and gradually they all became familiar with each other. She would also occasionally come to his place to buy canned goods, cheese, and other foods.
What was more, no matter what Chen Yu said, she would not take anything for free.
She would leave purple gold coins.
Chen Yu did not refuse this. He did not think that small favors could promote the relationship between the two parties, as there would be plenty of time in the future.
It was also through such frequent contact and getting to know each other that they turned a blind eye to the little demon spirit.
Even though—
They had actually sensed the existence of the little demon from the very beginning.
According to Nuo Yi, Chen Yu's soul power was a bit too strong. If it weren't for such strong soul power, they wouldn't have been discovered at that time.
Instead, seeing the little demon, they felt much more reasonable.
The personalities of Siya and Nuo Yi were clearly different. Compared to Nuo Yi's liveliness, Siya exuded a mature aura. Although she had a baby face, her heart was very steady.
With such a personality, since she was still saying those things when Black Bean was so anxious, she must have her reasons.
This was why Chen Yu had asked Black Bean to endure and listen.
"At that time, the Batu Free Federation was in a rather delicate stage." Clearly, Siya was not affected by Black Bean's anxiety and continued to explain at her own pace. "Compared to other kingdoms in the Orc Empire, the Batu Free Federation was also the weakest. Or rather, to other kingdoms, the Batu Free Federation was just a collection of several encampments, a hastily assembled team, not worth mentioning, and no one paid attention to it."
"So that's how it is."
Chen Yu nodded slightly, enlightened.
No wonder he had been wondering why it wasn't suffixed with "Kingdom" like other kingdoms, but was a rather abrupt "Federation." After hearing Siya's explanation, he could vaguely guess the predecessor of the Batu Free Federation.
It was the alliance between tribes and tribes.
Even now, it was likely that this federation had not yet been unified, and it still belonged to the self-governance of tribes and tribes, but they maintained the main body of the federation out of cooperative relations.
In this way, the Batu Free Federation was actually facing a potential threat of division.
"Then, does this mean that Liu Yue's fiancé is from the direct lineage of a major tribe in the Federation?" Chen Yu pondered for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowed as he whispered.
Unexpectedly, Siya smiled and shook her head.
"It's reasonable for Mr. Chen to think so. Perhaps you think Liu Yue's arranged marriage is for the stability of the Federation, or perhaps what I just said caused you to misunderstand. In fact, the reality is not like that, and our Hezhen is not subordinate to the chief. An arranged marriage for the internal stability of the Federation would not require our people."
"Oh?"
Chen Yu, whose guess was wrong, raised his eyebrows in surprise but didn't pay much attention.
"Why don't you guess again, what purpose does Sister Liu Yue's arranged marriage serve?" Siya asked again with a smile. Chen Yu also narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment, "It can't be a family interest alliance, can it? Although I know little about Liu Yue, she is definitely not the type to resign herself to fate. She accepted the arranged marriage, not because her fiancé was not satisfactory. She still chose to accept, so it must be the greater environment that put pressure on her, forcing her to make such a decision. This decision, if nothing unexpected happens, will affect all the people of Hezhen."
Siya, who was listening quietly to Chen Yu's analysis, smiled and clapped her hands.
"Mr. Chen, you truly amaze me."
"In that case, I guessed correctly." Chen Yu whispered, and Siya nodded noncommittally. "You're really close, but I wonder if you can guess even more accurately?"
"Is Hezhen facing war?"
"Yes!"
"It's not a war from within the Orc Empire."
"How did you know?"
Siya was a little surprised, but Chen Yu smiled without saying anything.
It was obvious from Siya's words that the kingdoms within the Orc Empire did not pay attention to the Batu Federation, so the Federation was not worth mentioning to them. Moreover, the Batu Free Federation became prosperous half a year ago when they discovered various mineral veins.
A year ago, the Batu Free Federation did not possess them yet.
Barren land.
And without any resources worth paying attention to.
No one would expend manpower and financial resources to attack such useless territory. It would be a waste of labor and money, and they would not get satisfactory returns.
Therefore, the crisis could only come from outside.
"Then can Mr. Chen guess..." Siya wanted to ask further, but Chen Yu raised his hand and shook his head. "Siya, I think I've guessed enough, and look how anxious my brother is. Don't keep selling it and just tell us."
"Alright, since Mr. Chen doesn't want to guess anymore, then I'll tell you."
"Sister!"
Nuo Yi tightly grabbed Siya's arm, his expression serious, as if these words shouldn't be spoken.
"Mr. Chen is not an outsider, so what's the harm in saying a few words?" Siya smiled indifferently and whispered, "Mr. Chen, to tell you the truth, the crisis that our Hezhen faced at that time actually came from—the Demon Race!"