Why?!
Chen Yu treated people with sincerity, which earned him the trust of Kuroda, Kuka, and the others. A slave city-state, or in cruder terms, a gang.
Gathering a bunch of brutal, morally bankrupt scum.
What kind of sparks could they create?
A mafia?!
They didn't even qualify for that.
Even mafias had basic decency, at least they had principles they adhered to. Legitimate mafias wouldn't target the innocent, nor would they bully the weak and elderly.
The group recruited by the Necromancer before him.
Chen Yu's assessment of them.
Scum.
Thinking about it, how could scum possibly uphold loyalty?
"City Lord, are you alright?!"
The overseers gathered around the Necromancer bombarded him with anxious inquiries. The Necromancer raised a hand and shook his head slightly.
"It's nothing, just a slight drain of magic energy from summoning the undead army. I'll recover in a bit." The Necromancer exhaled lightly. Despite his casual tone, his expression suggested he was far from at ease.
Upon hearing this, some overseers breathed a sigh of relief.
However, others, like those Chen Yu had pointed out, exchanged glances. Most ridiculously, among them was the scarred man known as Second Master.
"Second."
"Second!"
The scarred man, who had been exchanging glances, suddenly heard the Necromancer's call. He quickly lowered his head and saw the Necromancer looking at him with a heavy gaze. Noticing the Necromancer's expression, the scarred man's heart leaped.
"City Lord~"
"I've been calling you for so long, asking you to clean up. What were you thinking?" the Necromancer asked in a low, stern voice. The scarred man offered a sheepish grin, "Your subordinate was worried about your condition, so..."
"Oh?!"
The Necromancer's voice suddenly turned much colder.
"Worried about me?"
"Yes, yes, of course, your subordinate was worried about you," the scarred man said, involuntarily swallowing. "And, I was also thinking about how we would deal with it if Harry and Hachi returned."
"Truly far-sighted."
"This..."
"So, when you were thinking, did you need to exchange glances with others?" the Necromancer asked, looking sideways at the other overseers. "The lot of you even thought of the same thing?"
Clang.
The scarred man's face instantly turned ashen, his heart sinking. The other overseers also looked towards the scarred man, their expressions varied.
"City Lord..."
"Second Master, what are you hesitating about at this point?" The tiger-man standing behind the Necromancer spoke, his gaze sharp. "More than half of the overseer council are our people, and he's depleted of magic energy now, unable to summon the undead army. What's the point of killing him here now?"
"Huzi!"
The scarred man immediately rebuked him.
"City Lord, I hope you will step down voluntarily." The tiger-man completely ignored the scarred man and moved directly in front of the Necromancer. "We hope you will hand over this city-state. Given our past relationship, we can let you go. However, before you leave, we hope you will hand over the directional scrolls. Of course, we don't believe you'll hand over everything, so we need to search you."
"Huzi, you want to rebel!" the lion-man holding a long sword among the overseers roared.
"Enough, Batu'er. You must be in pretty bad shape after holding back Harry just now." The tiger-man's eyes were filled with disdain. "Look at your sword-holding hand, it's trembling. Do you think you're a match for me in your current state? I came out of that battle completely unscathed."
"Shall we try?!"
Batu'er took several steps forward, sword in hand, but it was the Necromancer who stopped him.
"Come back."
"City Lord, they..." Batu'er's face was contorted with anger, but the Necromancer chuckled. "Not bad, at least not everyone betrayed you. You are still loyal."
"Batu'er's life was given by the City Lord."
"I am very glad I did that," the Necromancer murmured softly. "Come back, you are no match for these people now. I know you are brave, but they have been plotting this for a long time. They were completely unharmed in the recent battle."
Batu'er, gripping his sword, swung it with a face full of fury, his eyes fixed on Huzi as he moved to stand beside the Necromancer.
"Second, that you would betray me was something I never expected," the Necromancer said in a low voice. "Of course, don't feel burdened. I'm not trying to appeal to your emotions; you know I never do that. But, honestly, among these overseers, you are indeed the one I trust the most. The scar on your face was from saving me. I've always felt guilty about it."
The scarred man lowered his head, remaining silent.
"How many years have you been with me?"
"Six years."
"Hiss, it's been that long." The Necromancer sighed. "Six years, and it's not even worth a dilapidated city-state, not worth a city lord's position. If you were truly interested in this, why didn't you just tell me? When we found this city-state, I suggested you become the city lord."
"City Lord, I... I don't want the position of city lord."
"Oh!"
At once, the Necromancer's face showed understanding.
"I understand now. You don't want to be suppressed by me anymore." The Necromancer said with a look of relief. "If that's the case, I can accept it better. Power, who wouldn't yearn for it? So, Huzi's intention is yours as well, right?"
The scarred man inexplicably lowered his head. After a long while, he slowly raised his eyes.
"City Lord, at least you are safe."
"It seems so," the Necromancer sighed. "The city, it's yours. If you want to leave me, that's fine too. I can even promise not to trouble you in the future. You saved my life once, so I'll consider this as repaying you. I just have one question, and I hope you can answer it truthfully."
"Please, speak."
"When did you all start having this idea?"
"Three years ago."
"Three years?!" The Necromancer's eyes widened in surprise. "Huzi should have just arrived in our territory back then. It seems he incited you to do this."
"Stop slandering!" Huzi rebuked.
The Necromancer completely ignored the tiger-man, continuing to look at the scarred man.
"Then, the financial accounts that were inconsistent in the past few years were actually you secretly skimming, all for the purpose of building the city-state once you kicked me out?"
"Yes!"
"Approximately how much?"
"Around five million gold coins."
"How much?!" Unexpectedly, the moment the scarred man finished speaking, an unfamiliar cry suddenly emerged from the eaves. "You hid five million? Oh dear, I can't sit still after hearing that!"
Bang!
Both the Necromancer and all the overseers heard a thudding sound. They even saw dust kicked up, yet they couldn't see anyone.
Not long after, the scarred man saw a figure with a black cat perched on its shoulder abruptly appear before him.
"Speak!"
"Where did you hide the money!"