Final settlement.
Three rare Black Obsidian realm magic items, valued at 2.5 million gold coins. The bracelet is valued at 200,000 gold coins, along with miscellaneous elemental fragments and complete crystals within.
Rounding up.
Chen Yu calculated his payable fee as 3 million.
"Don't forget to return the remaining 17 million soon. I know how to find your tribe," Chen Yu said with a smile as he waved at Fujimura's retreating figure, clad only in swim trunks.
"Welcome back next time!"
For customers, you must make them feel at home.
"I can't believe you let him go," the demon girl said, looking incredulous. "I thought you would have captured him and kept him as a black slave, telling him 'I am your father' and enslaving him."
"I'm playing the long game, fishing for a bigger catch."
Chen Yu said proudly.
Did they really think he was only after the small profits in front of him? He was a man of great ambition, and he looked towards long-term goals.
"Playing what game? Fishing for what catch? Did you take a liking to that tribe?" the demon girl whispered.
"Huh?!"
Chen Yu looked at the little demon with some surprise.
"Not bad. It seems you've become smarter after being with me for so long and being influenced by me."
The Hyena tribe.
This was Chen Yu's objective.
Chen Yu's reasoning was simple. Although the Hyena tribe was in the wilderness, the fact that Fujimura could amass hundreds of thousands of gold coins from corruption was enough to prove one thing.
The Hyena tribe was either quite large, or they possessed their own resource production areas.
Chen Yu had interacted with leaders of some wilderness tribes and camps during the auction. They were all dirt poor; hundreds of thousands of gold coins were a huge sum for them.
But—
The funds Fujimura possessed made Chen Yu believe that this tribe was not simple.
"Then why didn't you enslave him before executing your plan?" the demon girl tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion. "With your skill of persuading people with virtue, enslaving him should be easy, right? Moreover, he's at the peak of the Golden realm, with limited future development potential. Even if you gave him just one staff from the mage set, he would be grateful to you."
"Ah, this..."
"Then, you could give him the robe and ring as rewards. For instance, if he helps you obtain the Hyena tribe, you give him a robe. If he does something significant for you, you give him a ring. You wouldn't have to pay anything, yet you'd gain a fighter who would undoubtedly break through to Black Obsidian in the future. Isn't that a good deal?"
"Oh dear."
Hearing this, Chen Yu couldn't help but exclaim.
A miscalculation, a miscalculation.
After the demon girl finished speaking, Chen Yu indeed felt that she made a lot of sense.
Money!
He wasn't particularly lacking in money right now.
Once the city-state was rebuilt, his tax revenue would become a continuous stream of funds. In fact, what he lacked most was talent.
"Tsk~"
"I don't even want him."
After a brief pause, Chen Yu sneered.
"I naturally have a bad feeling about him."
"If you have a bad feeling, you shouldn't have let him go. Your long game might not succeed, but he will cause you some trouble," the demon girl said softly. "You should have just nipped it in the bud."
"If I dared to let him go, I'm confident he won't be able to stir up any trouble," Chen Yu said with a face full of confidence.
Compared to the native inhabitants of the caves, the only advantage outsiders possessed was intellectual superiority.
It wasn't that Chen Yu was arrogant; in his eyes, no cave native had yet forced him to take them seriously. Their single-mindedness and rigid way of doing things were nothing compared to Chen Yu, who had watched tens of thousands of hours of palace dramas, suspense dramas, and spy thrillers.
They were truly insignificant.
Even if it was a move-for-move counter, Chen Yu wouldn't panic.
The only thing was if those cave natives suppressed him with brute force. Then Chen Yu would have no recourse. How long had he been in the caves? He was no match for those cave dwellers who had lived there for decades.
"Then suit yourself."
The demon girl shrugged slightly. Chen Yu collected his thoughts and raised his eyebrows.
"Never mind him, why did you suddenly come to help me?"
"Heh, because you're not good enough," the demon girl scoffed with disdain. "I, the great demon king, had to step in personally. Don't get any ideas; I'm not helping you. I just can't stand outsiders bullying people around me. After all, you are my servant, and if you're bullied, where does that leave my reputation?"
"Hey, who was it earlier that was so anxious their face turned pale?"
A faint whisper drifted over.
"It definitely wasn't me!" the demon girl retorted haughtily, raising her chin. "It was probably you, Sona."
"It was me, it was me."
Sona didn't deny it, her eyes filled with a smile as she whispered.
"Barbara, pride ruins a lifetime."
"Hmph!" The demon girl raised her chin disdainfully, ignoring Sona. But half a minute later, she turned back and threw another bracelet at Chen Yu. "You don't need to return what I lost to you. I don't care how you use it, whether you sell it or throw it away. It has nothing to do with me."
Chen Yu caught the bracelet.
His consciousness probed it.
Inside were eleven inactive Meteorite Guards, and a pile of black stones compared to before.
[Demon Power Crystal: A type of energy stone]
Chen Yu looked at the demon girl with surprise. Perhaps sensing Chen Yu's gaze, the demon girl pouted and turned her head away.
"You don't need to thank me. I just happened to find some crystals cluttering up my inventory."
"I was going to throw them away."
"Then I thought, you love collecting junk the most, so I'll give them to you, King of Junk."
Looking at the demon girl's proud retreating back, Chen Yu couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
"Thanks."
"Tsk~" The demon girl scoffed disdainfully, but the corners of her mouth couldn't hide her quiet smile. Sona, watching this scene silently, whispered, "Tsundere."
Holding the bracelet, Chen Yu's eyes were filled with excitement.
He had witnessed the strength of the Meteorite Guards; that punch against Fujimura felt almost like Saitama. If he had twelve Meteorite Guards in his city, it would be equivalent to having twelve Diamond realm fighters. In the outer regions of the caves, no one should be strong enough to invade his city.
Even if they did, one guard could handle a group.
Chen Yu could use this time to vigorously train his orc warriors and cultivate blood pill warriors, allowing his city's defenses to achieve a leap in improvement.
However—
"How do I get this fire elemental mage set?"
Chen Yu muttered.
His camp did have mages, but Chen Yu didn't think they were worthy of wearing it. The only one, Kuka, wasn't even in the Silver realm yet, and he had already gone down the necromancer path.
He couldn't have him change his specialization again, could he?
"Sell it," the demon girl raised her eyebrows. "If you put it up for auction, you could sell it for two to three million."
"I'm not short on money right now."
He now possessed nearly thirty million gold coins, which was an astronomical sum. Even if he sold more to gain gold coins, it would only be a number to him.
It had no particular practical use.
"Then why don't you use it yourself?" Sona whispered softly. Chen Yu responded with a wry smile, "I'd like to, but I'm not a mage, it would be a waste."
"I'll teach you,"
Sona smiled slightly and said.
"Fire element, I know a thing or two."