After giving brief instructions to Kailin, Chen Yu resolutely embarked on the journey to conquer the cave demons.
Thinking is easy.
Doing is difficult.
The difficulty lies in not being able to encounter them!
Chen Yu and his party were still in the outer areas of the cave. Although the planes of the cave had been scrambled, the former core and periphery were no longer so absolute.
But—
It wasn't that simple to encounter a cave occupied by demons.
"I really should have brought Kuka and the others," Chen Yu said, holding exquisite cheese in his left hand and a bottle of Clear Spring Water in his right, his eyes lingering regretfully on his surroundings.
Resources!
These were all resources scattered on the ground.
They were money!
Although they were all basic resources, such as lumber that could be felled, ores that could be mined, or plants that could be picked and transplanted.
Chen Yu wasn't lacking, but he felt uneasy if he didn't take them away.
It was too wasteful.
If Kuka and the others were with him, Chen Yu wouldn't have to personally deal with these resources. He could just walk around the cave a couple of times and then head to the next one.
"You're really stripping everything bare."
The demon girl pouted with disgust.
"Hmph, what do you know? The wealthier you are, the more you must cherish every copper coin. It's possible that when you fall on hard times, it will be the copper coin you wasted that becomes the last straw that breaks your back. It's also possible that it's the copper coin you cherish now that will become the hope for your comeback after you hit rock bottom." Chen Yu said righteously, chewing on the cheese.
"Alright, alright, everything you say is right. To put it bluntly, you're stingy."
The demon girl seemed unwilling to argue with Chen Yu. After quickly finishing the cheese in her hand, she reached out to take the cheese from the glass jar again.
*Slap~*
Just as the demon girl's hand was about to reach in, Chen Yu raised his hand and slapped her hand.
"If you think I'm stingy, then don't eat my cheese. This cheese was also made from the basic resources I bought with money. You call me stingy, but if I wasn't stingy, do you think you'd have cheese to eat?"
"Sona, look at him!" the demon girl said aggrievedly.
"Why do you insist on going against him? Actually, what Chen Yu is saying isn't wrong," Sona whispered softly, taking out a piece of cheese from the jar and placing it in the demon girl's hand.
Chen Yu didn't stop her. He just gave a glance to the Meteorite Guard and the Skeleton Warrior beside him.
"You, chop trees, you mine, go!"
Receiving the order, the Meteorite Guard grabbed the golden axe and ran out with heavy footsteps. The Skeleton Warrior tilted its head, the flames in its eyes flickering twice.
"Why are you standing there? Mine!"
Only when Chen Yu shouted again did the Skeleton Warrior, holding a mining pick, run to a distant mining area and begin to strike relentlessly.
"Your Skeleton Warrior seems to have become more intelligent than before," Sona whispered.
"Has it?"
Chen Yu peered intently.
It was still the same bone frame, with blue flames burning in its eyes, like his surging soul. Its reaction when hearing Chen Yu's command was still sluggish.
He truly didn't feel any change in the skeleton.
But since Sona said so, it was unlikely to be unfounded.
"Maybe."
Chen Yu whispered.
The Skeleton Warrior had been unseen every day during this period, running around everywhere. Perhaps it had found some bones to gnaw on in the city-state and gained a slight improvement after absorbing them.
It's just that Kuka hadn't even begun learning the undead class yet.
If there were a world of undead spirits, summoning an undead army directly to feed the Skeleton Warrior might speed up its growth.
He harbored the hope that Kuka would give him a surprise after this expedition.
Chen Yu's mouth didn't stop moving.
Eating!
This was arguably his happiest activity. The business of collecting subordinates and attacking cities during this period had made him almost forget the joy of eating.
Now, venturing out, let alone in these wilds, he actually felt the way he did when he first entered the cave.
"Sona, how much longer until we encounter demons?" Chen Yu asked, biting into the cheese, "I need invitation letters to explore caves. If this continues, my exploration opportunities will be gone, and we won't have a place to stay tonight."
"That is indeed a problem."
Sona frowned slightly and whispered softly.
"You survivors are quite peculiar, needing action points to explore caves. The natives here don't. Perhaps this is a form of restriction on you?"
"There's no point in talking about this. You two asked me to come out, so can't you find them?"
"We've sensed as much as we can, but this is the outer area of the cave. Encountering demons is a matter of probability, and we truly cannot be certain."
"Huh?!"
Chen Yu, biting into the cheese, froze completely.
"So, we really have to sleep out in the wilderness?"
"Hey, don't say it like that~" The demon girl suddenly said with a smile, "Sona and I can return to the wristband to sleep. If anyone has to sleep out in the wilderness, it's you. It has nothing to do with us."
"..."
Suddenly, Chen Yu couldn't utter a single word.
He simply—
Had no way to refute it.
Thinking about the possibility of sleeping outdoors, Chen Yu's mood soured.
"Who can you blame? Why didn't you collect some invitation letters when you came? Your city-state has so many survivors, and their invitation letters are wasted if they keep them. Why didn't you buy them?" the demon girl pouted. "Just hope you encounter demons within your remaining action points, otherwise..."
The demon girl looked at Chen Yu with a sneer, as if picturing him curled up and sleeping in the wilderness brought her indescribable joy.
Unexpectedly, Chen Yu's eyes suddenly widened.
"Barbara, what did you just say?"
"You're going to sleep in the wilderness," the demon girl said with a grin. Chen Yu raised his hand and shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no, it was earlier, you said I should buy invitation letters from other survivors."
"Yes."
The demon girl shrugged slightly.
"If you bought them, your exploration attempts would increase. Of course, if you can buy them~"
"Right! I can buy them from them. And, their invitation letters might not be of much use now, so I can buy them at a low price." Chen Yu exclaimed in disbelief, giving her a thumbs-up, his eyes brimming with excitement. "Barbara, you're a genius."
With that, Chen Yu eagerly opened his friend list on his wristband.
Barbara, who was eating cheese, also blinked.
"Did I... did I help him?" Barbara was stunned for a moment, looking at Sona, then back at the excited Chen Yu. Her small hand involuntarily clenched, and she gently patted her own cheek. "Oh dear, you're so cheeky~"
"Are you pretending? Still pretending?"
Sona, on the other hand, wasn't fooled at all. She chuckled lightly.
"You were deliberately reminding him, weren't you?"
"Me, remind him?" The demon girl said disdainfully, "I just let it slip. Remind him? Dream on. I would never do such a thing in my life."
"Hmm, the Meteorite Guard was given away by you. The credibility of such words is quite low~"
"Eat your cheese!"
The demon girl glared fiercely. Sona raised her eyebrows with a smile and said no more. Meanwhile, Chen Yu didn't care whether Barbara's words were intentional or unintentional. Her words had indeed given Chen Yu a reminder.
Buy, invitation letters!