Day and night alternated.
It was unclear where the light originated, as if in an instant it had banished the darkness. The dawn's first light, like a golden curtain, spread across every corner of the underground cavern.
Creak.
With the sound of a door being pulled open, Illya stretched lazily as she emerged from her room. Immediately, her peripheral vision caught Chen Yu, who was sleeping soundly against the wall, still cradling Hei Dou.
He slept soundly.
Both Chen Yu and Hei Dou were like this, Hei Dou's little head resting against Chen Yu's neck; the scene was as bizarre as it could get.
Illya also furrowed her brow slightly.
She tilted her head.
Her gaze shifted from confusion to disgust.
"Ew~"
Illya shivered, scratching her arm. After observing for a long while, she bent down and squatted, pinching her fair neck with her small hand. She gently shook Chen Yu's shoulder.
"Brother Chen Yu~"
Chen Yu, in deep slumber, felt someone nudging him. He yawned and stretched, then blinked his eyes open. As soon as he saw that the sky had brightened, he froze.
Immediately, he subconsciously glanced towards Illya's room.
Seeing that the door was open, he craned his neck to peer inside. Unexpectedly, a pair of fair, slender legs appeared before him.
Following the legs upward, Chen Yu saw Illya looking at him with her head tilted.
"What the heck!"
As if surprised, Chen Yu recoiled more than half a meter. His eyes widened, still disoriented, and he instantly became wide awake.
"You..."
"Good morning, Brother Chen Yu." Illya smiled and tilted her head. "Why are you sleeping here? Why didn't you go back to your room?"
"You fell asleep yesterday?"
"Mhm."
Illya nodded with a smile.
"I don't know why, but after eating the chestnuts, I felt dizzy and just fell asleep on the bed. But I slept very well, very soundly."
"Is that so~"
Chen Yu grinned and nodded.
"That's good, as long as you slept soundly. Are you about to..."
"Go exercise!" Illya's eyes sparkled with a brilliant smile. "Brother Chen Yu, I'm going to exercise. Do you want to come and watch?"
"Ah, I'll see how things are."
"Okay then~"
Leaving behind a graceful silhouette, Illya skipped away. Chen Yu, sitting on the ground, was filled with questions. He instinctively moved his neck, but it ached terribly.
Not just his neck, his whole body was sore.
"Ah, why did I even fall asleep." Chen Yu muttered. Seeing Hei Dou still fast asleep, he got annoyed and kicked it.
Hei Dou sprang up instantly.
"Who!"
"Who do you think? Who else?!" Chen Yu glared and rebuked. Hei Dou grinned. "Ah, it's Boss. Then your kick was good, that kick felt great."
"Scram!"
"Got it."
Having already noticed that Illya's room door was open, Hei Dou, upon hearing Chen Yu's command to scram, bolted out.
Without even thinking, Chen Yu knew the kid was heading to exercise.
He didn't bother to argue.
Now, his mind was consumed by a single question.
Why was Illya unaffected?
She had fallen asleep.
Weren't the roasted chestnuts sold by the vendor aphrodisiacs? Could it be that the drugs, with barbiturates or benzodiazepines as their main ingredients, had sedative and sleep-inducing effects?
Chen Yu clearly remembered the vendor hadn't said that.
"Damn it, when I learn some proper martial arts, I'll definitely have to go ask them properly." Chen Yu muttered. He instinctively tried to get up but found his legs were numb.
Supporting himself with his hands on the ground for a long time, Chen Yu finally stood up, leaning on the wall.
His whole body ached!
"Damn it, I'll never do such a foolish thing again." He cursed himself inwardly again. It wouldn't be good to go back to sleep now.
He didn't want to be up all night and sleep all day.
After a simple wash-up, Chen Yu resumed his day's work.
Roasting meat.
Chen Yu was truly at the end of his tether with the job of roasting meat. After all, he was a major camp leader, with hundreds of people relying on him for their livelihood.
He should have been a formidable figure, expanding his territory.
But instead—
He had become a cook.
He opened the trading channel and searched for recipes related to roasted meat.
Empty!
Immediately, Chen Yu sent a message in the 'Underground Cavern Three Giants' group chat.
Chen Yu: Does anyone have roasted meat recipes?
Jiang Yaqing: ?
Jiang Yaqing: Don't you need a recipe for this? Can't you make roasted meat?
Yu Pu: No~
Chen Yu: I need recipes. Jiang Yaqing, ask your dark slaves if they've found any, or ask around in your Jiangnan circles for me.
Chen Yu: Not just roasted meat recipes, I need all kinds of recipes.
Jiang Yaqing: OK~
Jiang Yaqing: I scouted around the ice crystal vein again last night and didn't see any capture options. Chen Yu, can you lend me two more cannons? I don't want to stay in this damned place anymore.
She's really impatient.
Looking at the message Jiang Yaqing sent, Chen Yu frowned slightly.
Chen Yu: You're mining too fast, be careful of landslides. If you get buried there, maintaining this efficiency is probably good enough.
Chen Yu: Besides, do you have a place to store the ore you mine?
Jiang Yaqing: [Endless Ore Ring]
Seeing Jiang Yaqing actually post a picture, Chen Yu subconsciously clicked on the details.
[Endless Ore Ring: A ring used to store ore. Sub-divine artifact auxiliary equipment.]
Whoa!
Sub-divine artifact.
Chen Yu's eyes widened as he saw the details.
Chen Yu: Where did you get that from!!!
Jiang Yaqing: I picked it up off the ground when I entered this map. Sigh, I really don't care about this stupid ring, it's just for storing ice crystal ore. Even if it's a sub-divine artifact, so what?
Jiang Yaqing: It's still just for storing ore~
Yu Pu: Awesome, awesome. A sub-divine artifact, this is the first time I've ever seen one~
Jiang Yaqing: Be humble.
Jiang Yaqing: Actually, I really don't care about it, really~
So boastful.
Chen Yu was so impressed by this display of arrogance that he sighed.
Chen Yu: If you don't care about it, give it to me, alright? I care about it immensely.
Jiang Yaqing: Not giving it, nyah nyah~
Chen Yu: 〒▽〒
Jiang Yaqing: (ノ≧∀≦)ノ
Sub-divine artifact.
Chen Yu stopped replying and silently looked at the picture in the group chat. In that brief moment of distraction, he smelled the aroma of roasted meat burning.
He got up subconsciously, and his waist throbbed with pain.
At that moment—
The fire in Chen Yu's heart flared up.
This fire needed to be vented!
"Damn it, Ergou!!!" Chen Yu threw the slice of meat in his hand onto the grill. A moment later, Ergou, hearing the call, rushed over. "Camp Leader."
"How's the training for our camp militia going?"
"It's okay~"
"Do they have combat capabilities?"
"Uh, well... the time is still a bit short. They don't have very strong combat abilities yet, but they have a little bit."
"Good, insufficient strength is compensated by equipment."
Chen Yu licked his lips and murmured, clenching his fist.
"Notify all militiamen, we're attacking the city, right now!"