A goose flies by, leaving behind plucked feathers; a beast walks past, leaving behind scraped skin.
This is the rule of Tushan!
Now, it's Chen Yu's rule!
Today, on the auspicious day of the commercial district's opening, guests from all sides have arrived. These insignificant pests dared to come here to cause trouble.
Failing to cause trouble, they want to leave by simply dusting themselves off.
What kind of daydream are they having?
If Chen Yu let them leave, where would he even begin to show his face?
"You want us to compensate you?" Swell seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. "Do you know what you're saying? I didn't capture you..."
"You did!"
Before Swell could finish his sentence, Chen Yu interrupted him and held out his hand.
"Come, come, if you have the ability, then capture me back."
After extending his hand for a long time, Swell made no move.
"Tsk, you talk a big game," Chen Yu said with a pout, retracting his hand. "You captured me? Do you have the capability to capture me?"
Swell and the leaders of the various camps remained silent.
"If you don't have the capability, then stop yapping. If you really provoke me, and you all have faces to save, wouldn't it be embarrassing to receive a few slaps across your faces?"
Chen Yu crossed his arms and snorted lightly. Suddenly, one of the camp leaders spoke.
"How do you want us to compensate?"
Compensation, they conceded!
At this point, they no longer had the right to argue with Chen Yu. If they had tens of thousands of beast soldiers at the beginning, they might have had a fighting chance.
Just now, the surrender of the rabbit leader caused many beast soldiers to follow suit.
The number of beast soldiers had been halved!
They could no longer contend with Chen Yu. All they could do was to leave this place as quickly as possible, even if it meant paying money, they had to grit their teeth and accept it.
"That's right, this is the attitude you should have," Chen Yu said with a satisfied smile. "I'm not greedy. You brought so many people here to scare me. You scared me, so I, on behalf of our city's citizens, the city lord, and myself, am demanding some compensation for emotional distress. Surely, this is reasonable, right?"
"Name a price!"
"Not much, just this much per person."
Chen Yu slowly raised one finger.
"A million gold coins?" the camp leader frowned. Chen Yu quickly shook his head and tutted, "Look at what you're saying, how could I ask for so much? A hundred gold coins per person is enough."
"A hundred?"
Hearing Chen Yu's words, all the camp leaders were a bit stunned.
What was going on?
He was only asking them for 100 gold coins.
Even if Chen Yu had said he wanted a million gold coins, they could have accepted it with gritted teeth. Although it would have hurt, their camps could afford it.
Who would have thought that he only wanted a mere 100 gold coins?
"I'll pay!" In less than half a minute, the camp leaders started fumbling in their pockets. "Isn't it just 100 gold coins? Here, there's definitely more than 100 gold coins in here. Can my people leave now?"
"Have you misunderstood something?"
Chen Yu, who had received the money bag, weighed it in his hand.
"I said, one hundred per person."
"Is what I gave you not enough?" the camp leader frowned. Chen Yu shrugged, "The money in this bag is indeed enough for me, but I said one hundred per person. This bag you gave me counts as mine, but what about the others in our city? What about theirs?"
"What?"
Only then did the camp leader finally understand what Chen Yu meant by "one hundred per person," and how that "one hundred per person" worked.
The camp leaders thought it meant each of them would pay 100 gold coins as compensation.
What Chen Yu meant was that every person in his city deserved 100 gold coins in compensation.
All the camp leaders withdrew their hands that were reaching for their money bags.
They knew they had been tricked!
Only Giles smiled inwardly, thinking that this was more like it. How could the person who could squeeze over a million gold coins out of him and Tony let them go for just 100 gold coins?
Roy couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
His brother-in-law was truly a lion when it came to asking for prices.
One hundred gold coins per person, how much money would that be? He guessed that Chen Yu never intended to let the people currently present leave.
"Didn't you hear clearly?" Chen Yu blinked his innocent eyes. "I've always prioritized collective interests, the kind of person who sacrifices the small for the big. It's fine if you disgust me, but you can't disgust the citizens of our city. How about this, let me do some calculations."
"Our city's population... City Lord, how many people do we have right now?"
Chen Yu glanced sideways, and Kailin, who was suddenly called upon, cleared her throat.
"Resident population 130,000+"
"Then let's say 200,000," Chen Yu said with a smile. "200,000 people, at a compensation standard of 100 gold coins per person, that's 20 million gold coins. I personally don't like the number 2, so let's make it 50 million. I can waive my share. As long as you can collectively raise 50 million gold coins, this compensation will be settled."
The camp leaders were dumbfounded.
Fifty million.
How could they possibly afford such a astronomical sum?
And why count the 130,000+ population as 200,000, and then not liking the number 2, it suddenly became 50 million? Where was the law?
"Envoy, this is blackmail!"
The camp leaders shouted. The two mermaid envoys, however, both looked away as if they hadn't heard them.
"Envoy!!!"
"Stop shouting. Can't you see the envoy doesn't want to deal with you?" Chen Yu said speechlessly. "Besides, you deliberately came here to cause trouble. Is it not reasonable for our city to demand some compensation? Our city has always been people-oriented. Is it wrong to ask for some compensation for the citizens of our city? Envoy, don't you agree?"
"Reasonable!" the mermaid envoy nodded.
???
All the camp leaders' heads were filled with question marks.
This, was actually reasonable?
If it weren't for the mermaid kingdom's well-known reputation, they would have truly suspected that Chen Yu had an improper relationship with the mermaid kingdom's envoy.
"Friendly reminder, I still accept surrenders. Surrendering now means losing three-fourths," Chen Yu said with a smile, looking at the camp leaders. "If you surrender now, you can still keep one-fourth of your savings."
The rabbit leader, who had already surrendered, chuckled inwardly.
He was truly too smart!
By surrendering early, he forfeited half, thus keeping at least half of his camp's savings. When he joined the city, his camp would have operating capital.
Look at them now; they either had to gather 50 million, or lose three-fourths.
Serves them right!
The camp leaders remained silent. Chen Yu, standing several meters away, suddenly frowned.
Damn it, I asked for too little.
There were more than a dozen camp leaders here. If they pooled together 50 million, they could actually manage to raise it with gritted teeth, only spending about four million per person.
Chen Yu could not let such a thing happen!
After pondering for a while, Chen Yu's eyes suddenly lit up as he thought of a plan.
"Don't think that surrendering and losing three-fourths is too much of a loss."
Just as the camp leaders were discussing how to divide the 50 million mega-sum, Chen Yu suddenly spoke.
"Think about it. If you surrender now and lose three-fourths to me, you'll at least keep one-fourth. However, those who don't surrender will still have to pay 50 million gold coins, and their share won't decrease because of your surrender."
"By then, those who remain, in order to raise 50 million, might not have more than your one-fourth left."
"They'll be left with meager savings to eke out an existence."
"While you, on the other hand, will keep one-fourth of your principal, gain the protection of a city, enjoy the city's various support, develop healthily within the city, and become increasingly strong."
"In this way, although you seem to have lost, in fact, among the many camps, you have profited greatly!"
"Thinking about it this way, is surrendering a loss for you?"