Quack, quack, quack.
The little devil floating in the air couldn't help but applaud.
"Awesome, awesome~"
"If you know, then be grateful that you're still alive given how much luck you owe me." Chen Yu said, puffing out his chest arrogantly. However, the little devil suddenly raised its trident and poked his face.
Chen Yu frowned immediately.
"What?"
Yet, the little devil said nothing, sticking close to Chen Yu's face and glaring with its eyes like black gems, its trident poking Chen Yu's face repeatedly.
"What do you want?"
Chen Yu reached out with two fingers and pinched the little devil's head.
"Do you feel anything?" The little devil, held by the head, blinked. Chen Yu was momentarily stunned, unsure of what the little devil was plotting.
He rubbed his face twice.
He shook his head slightly.
Instantly, the little devil, trapped between two fingers, covered its small mouth.
"Heavens, such thick skin." The little devil exclaimed, its eyes wide with disbelief. "My devil's trident can't even break your skin. No wonder you can say such shameless things."
Chen Yu: ∑(´△｀)?!
Chen Yu, his expression blank, stared at the little devil for a long time before flicking his finger.
Bang!
The little devil, hitting the barrier, cried out in pain, clutching its head.
Little Devil: "o(▼皿▼メ;)o You're just embarrassed!"
Chen Yu simply rolled his eyes in response.
"I'll fight you!" The little devil floating in the air zipped forward, only to be caught by Chen Yu's two fingers again. Chen Yu said helplessly, "Stop messing around, we have important business to attend to."
He lightly tapped the little devil's head and then raised his wrist to check his watch.
It was approaching noon.
Seeing the opportune time, a mischievous grin flickered in Chen Yu's eyes. He threw on his magic cloak and dashed into the city of Black City.
"Huh?"
"Did you feel like someone just entered the city?"
The guard at the city gate, holding a gourd of wine, paused and murmured. The old man beside him was clearly drunk, his eyes glazed over.
"Nonsense!"
The drunken old man shook his gourd, hiccuping.
"I didn't see anyone~"
"Don't you remember, our city... " the guard with the wine gourd whispered, but the old man, his face full of intoxication, suddenly frowned. "Are you trying to say that I, the dignified Black Radiance Mage, wouldn't sense someone sneaking into the city using magical items?"
The old man's anger silenced the young guard.
"If I say no one entered, then no one entered. Pour more wine!" The old man glared. The young guard, not daring to delay, hastily poured the wine. The old man, leaning back in his rattan chair, glanced in the direction Chen Yu had gone and muttered to himself, "Who's saying someone entered? I... must have misjudged. There was no one."
At this moment—
Chen Yu had already reached the heart of the city.
He was racing against time, and the opportune moment was fleeting. A moment's carelessness could delay things by hours.
Chen Yu ran all the way to the Black City mess hall.
In the mess hall, several ragged slaves were in a frenzy preparing food. From their appearance, they were clearly making special dishes.
Not like the usual communal meals.
"Hurry up with your work."
"Cook faster!"
The pig-headed man wearing a chef's hat shouted angrily.
How pathetic.
Despite their best efforts, they were still being scolded.
Chen Yu felt a pang of sympathy.
But—
Wasn't this exactly what Chen Yu intended to change?
Rest assured.
My poor little slaves, the great City Lord Chen will rescue you all soon enough. You will still have to serve the city, but at least your lives will be much better than they are now.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Cooking so slowly, do you want the overseers to come looking for trouble? If you don't want to die, be quicker!"
Overseers.
They were cooking for the overseers now.
No wonder.
Chen Yu had found it odd that the food didn't seem like what the city soldiers would eat.
Then—
The city soldiers?
Just as Chen Yu was puzzling over this, a group of beastmen warriors in armor, wielding swords, suddenly surged into the mess hall from outside.
"Is the food ready?"
"Officer." The pig-headed man in the mess hall immediately straightened up, a fawning smile on his face. "Everything is ready, please inspect it, officer."
Inspect?!
Chen Yu, squatting in the corner, looked confused.
Inspect a meal?
Immediately, Chen Yu saw all the slaves in the mess hall voluntarily walk out, including the pig-headed manager who also silently exited.
Leaving the officer in battle armor alone.
"Damn it, they're eating meat while we guards are eating congee. Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!" The officer in battle armor cursed with venomous eyes.
He walked to the meat dishes and picked up two pieces, throwing them into his mouth.
He tasted two bites from each dish.
After he had sampled enough, he began to spit into the overseers' meals, even picking up bits of dirt from the floor and scattering them into the food.
Not bad.
At least he didn't pee in it.
Perhaps he was afraid the strong smell of urine would give him away to the overseers.
"Hiss!"
"How wicked."
Chen Yu couldn't help but mutter.
Although those overseers were Chen Yu's enemies, he deeply detested the behavior of that city soldier officer.
It was a typical manifestation of the narrow-mindedness of the weak.
If you truly have grievances, speak them out directly. If you don't have the capacity to bear the consequences of speaking out, then strive harder and endure more hardship.
Grow into someone who can voice their discontent!
Not someone who—
Can only do these underhanded things in secret to briefly satisfy their own ego.
Such behavior,
is essentially an admission of one's own incompetence.
His actions were entirely different from what Chen Yu was about to do. Chen Yu's actions were strategic, though perhaps not entirely honorable.
As Sun Tzu said,
"Warfare is based on deception!"
Before he appeared, other countries would place a 'no-warfare' sign at the city gates, and other nations would genuinely refrain from attacking. Since his appearance, all that talk of 'no-warfare' vanished.
It was all-out war!
Don't say 'no-warfare' signs are useless; Sun Tzu himself would launch surprise attacks.
As long as one can win, any tactic is fair game.
Can you then say he wasn't strategic?
"Eat it, eat yourselves to death~"
At this moment—
The city soldier officer seemed to have completed his "masterpiece" and looked quite pleased with himself. He stared at the food, cursing malevolently.
Then, he walked over to two more stoves.
He lifted the lids of the pots.
Inside were two full pots of...
Vegetable and coarse grain porridge?
Chen Yu couldn't identify what was in them; they looked like pig feed, something even a dog wouldn't deign to eat.
The officer took a scoop with his ladle.
He took a small sip.
Perhaps after eating the meat, he spat the small sip back into the pot. Immediately, Chen Yu saw him take out a needle from his chest.
He rinsed the needle in the pot a couple of times.
He took out the needle,
and stared at it for a long time. Witnessing this, Chen Yu's face was filled with astonishment.
"Holy crap~"
"Is he testing for poison?"
They even had to test for poison before eating? Is the food in this place so dangerous?
It truly is unbelievable!