His lips trembled slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Su Zhan silently watched his childhood friend, the one he'd grown up with, as the latter's outrageous request for thirteen cities echoed in his ears.
"Old... Old Chen... you... I..."
For a long time, Su Zhan couldn't form a coherent sentence.
Had he heard correctly?
Chen Yu was directly asking him for thirteen cities!
"Don't think about reneging. Thirteen cities is already a modest request," Chen Yu said with utter seriousness. "You must give me these thirteen cities, no matter what."
Chen Yu was calculating this without triggering any greed critical hits.
If greed critical hits were involved,
It wouldn't be just thirteen cities.
Looking at Chen Yu's gaze, Su Zhan remained silent for a long time before exhaling forcefully.
"Fine, I promise you!" kanδん
"What's thirteen cities? I promise you, give me half a year... just half a year, and I'll give you thirty cities, let alone thirteen!"
The powerful words came from Su Zhan's mouth.
From Su Zhan's eyes, Chen Yu could tell he was serious.
"Alright, a gentleman's word," Chen Yu extended his hand. Su Zhan grinned and slapped it firmly. "Just watch, you'll get these cities."
Chen Yu and Su Zhan clasped hands, their eyes meeting.
In an instant, radiant smiles bloomed on both their faces, and they embraced tightly.
"Missed you, brother!"
Months ago, countless people were inexplicably transported to the cave dimension. In these past few months, how many had died during exploration?
Meeting an old friend, how could one not be excited?
"You brat, I knew you wouldn't die." Su Zhan released Chen Yu after a tight hug, patting him on the shoulder. "Looking at you now, you're clearly doing well, even coming here to extort cities."
"You're not doing too bad yourself."
Chen Yu smiled slightly and gestured towards Nuo Yi with his chin.
"It looks like you have some sway here in River Town?"
"So-so. Bro, I won't hide anything from you, River Town is actually my territory." Su Zhan grinned. "We can talk about the specifics later. Right now, I have more important matters to attend to."
"The Fourth Kingdom?"
Seeing Chen Yu speak without hesitation, Su Zhan chuckled and nodded slightly.
"You know about it too?"
"I just happened to pass by and overheard a bit," Chen Yu murmured. "I didn't want to get involved, so I took a detour, and that's how I ran into you here."
"Hahaha, that sounds like you."
Su Zhan laughed heartily and said, "You're the type who would never put yourself in a tight spot. Good. If you really got involved, it would be quite troublesome for me to handle. How about this, you wait for me at the inn nearby. I'll find you after I'm done, and we'll have a good drink."
"Never mind."
Chen Yu smiled and waved his hand. Su Zhan looked puzzled and frowned.
"What, do you have to leave?"
"I've decided to get involved," Chen Yu said, looking into Su Zhan's eyes with a smile. "We might need to travel together."
"No!"
Almost instantly, Su Zhan's voice turned serious as he refused.
"The Fourth Kingdom holds a significant position in the Orc Empire. This is a matter between us, the Batu Free Federation, and them, a struggle between sovereign states. Why would you get involved? I heard you have a small city-state, but that's not enough leverage to even enter this game of ours." kΑnshu伍.ξà
"Nuo Yi, tell Su Zhan where I'm staying now." Chen Yu said softly.
Su Zhan looked at Chen Yu and Nuo Yi with surprise, shocked that they knew each other.
"Brother Su, Brother Batian is the distinguished guest I told you about who was staying at Mountain Water Mansion," Nuo Yi said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Su Zhan's expression turned to shock as he looked at Chen Yu, his lips moving.
"Old Chen, you... you're the equipment merchant?"
"Just tell me if I can get involved now." Chen Yu smiled and implicitly confirmed it. Su Zhan's face suddenly broke into irrepressible laughter. He threw an arm around Chen Yu. "Damn, you're something else! You... so you're that equipment merchant! I was wondering how I'd... Goddammit, if you're an equipment merchant, forget getting involved, you can mess up the whole situation!"
"Shall we go then?"
"Heh, no need to rush. It looks like I have to leave first." Nuo Yi said with a smile, pointing at her wristband. "Sister Liuyue messaged me, telling me to hurry over and see her. I'm probably going to get scolded. Brother Su, you have to come and save me soon."
"Go on."
"Hehehe, Brother Su, Brother Batian, see you later."
With a cute smile, Nuo Yi instantly disappeared from Chen Yu and his sight, only the kicked-up dust on the ground proving her departure.
"Let's walk over leisurely too,"
Seeing Nuo Yi disappear, Su Zhan also said with a smile.
"The great equipment merchant?"
"Yes, my Lord Su, the City Lord."
Amidst laughter and playful banter, everyone on the platform disappeared into the swirling sand. Meanwhile, Liuyue, sitting at her desk in the City Lord's Mansion, stared at Nuo Yi for a long time without speaking.
"Sister~"
Unable to bear the stifling atmosphere, Nuo Yi chirped cheerfully.
"Why aren't you speaking?"
"Why didn't you go to greet the envoy from the Fourth Kingdom?" Liuyue looked up at Nuo Yi. "You can still smile and be flippant now. I told you three days ago to lead people to welcome the envoy from the Fourth Kingdom today, and I reminded you again yesterday, in case you forgot?"
"I..."
"Nuo Yi, you've truly disappointed me."
"Sister, I didn't do it on purpose." Nuo Yi pouted her lips aggrievedly. "I just woke up late. I was reading comic books until late yesterday. Besides, why should we greet them? If we don't greet them, won't they still be able to enter the city on their own? As long as they identify themselves, won't the city guards escort them in?"
"Yes, that's true."
Suddenly, Liuyue, who was sitting at her desk, stood up with a smile and walked to Nuo Yi.
"You mentioning this reminded me, Nuo Yi, analyze this for me. How could it be such a coincidence that not a single city guard could be seen in our city? In the end, it was the off-duty guards who, upon hearing the commotion outside and the public's reaction, rushed over. Where were all the city guards on duty today? Did they all oversleep? But if they didn't change shifts, how would the previous batch of guards have left?"
"Uh..."
"This means they were actually negligent in their duties. According to our laws in River Town, perhaps I should consider arresting them all and throwing them in jail, shouldn't I?"
"Sister, Sister, it's not that serious."
Nuo Yi suddenly became flustered, and Liuyue narrowed her eyes and huffed forcefully.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?!"