'Ding—'
'Clark, the wandering swordsman from Black Obsidian Realm, has joined the camp.'
Chen Yu, sitting by the bonfire, exhaled slowly as he looked at the reminder on his wristband.
Accept!
Why wouldn't he accept?
Though his dream was common, Chen Yu wasn't a leader who couldn't tolerate common employees. He could accept his subordinates being common, provided they had common value.
After all, Clark was at the peak of Black Obsidian.
In the underground realm, his combat power was definitely top-tier. Chen Yu was willing to accept his commonness, and he actually liked this sort of down-to-earth nature.
Commonness meant he was easy to control.
To satisfy Clark, all he needed was a satisfactory salary. If Clark were to speak of grand dreams, like altering the underground realm's landscape or liberating its slaves.
Chen Yu would truly struggle to satisfy him.
Of course, Chen Yu wouldn't panic if such a situation arose.
It was simple: just make promises.
Paint a grand picture with words, trick him for three to five years. By the time he truly had an epiphany, Chen Yu would have already extracted much of his value, and whether he stayed or left wouldn't greatly impact Chen Yu.
"From now on, you are a member of our city-state."
"Work hard!"
"Wealth and glory beyond measure await."
Chen Yu patted Clark's shoulder. Recruiting a powerhouse at the Black Obsidian realm meant this expedition to hunt monsters in the underground realm wasn't in vain.
"Heh, got it."
Clark, grinning, suddenly narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hands together.
"Boss, when do we start collecting?"
He had been suppressing his anger since they were in town. Although he had beaten up Tony before leaving, it didn't feel entirely satisfying.
Fighting was about exhilarating catharsis.
He had long heard of several old fossils in the Ska family who had lived for hundreds of years and whose strength had already reached the Colored Realm.
His own progress had been slow in recent years.
Come to think of it, his cultivation advanced the fastest when he was just starting out, adventuring and fighting monsters everywhere, his realm skyrocketing. As his strength grew, the threat from monsters diminished, and he no longer felt that life-or-death pressure from subduing them. He had been stuck at the peak of Black Obsidian for a long time.
He desperately needed a battle that would make him feel the threat of death.
Breakthrough through combat!
"Are you in a hurry?" Seeing Clark's eagerness, Chen Yu sighed softly and gestured towards the screaming chicken. "This chicken hasn't been recruited yet."
"Your subordinate is not in a hurry."
Seeing that his boss wasn't in the mood to collect, Clark didn't press further, a look of suspicion on his face.
"Boss, are you still going to recruit these monsters?"
"Why else would I be here?" Chen Yu shrugged noncommittally. "I need to get these screaming chickens into the city-state to develop my livestock industry."
Chen Yu had his eyes on the screaming chickens for a long time.
His city-state was still in its nascent stage. As time went on and more people migrated in, the city-state would face significant challenges in terms of food supply.
He had to research a sustainable and renewable food source for the city-state.
The livestock industry was one of his goals.
Besides, why else did he recruit so many talented people for animal husbandry if not for them to manage his livestock? Why recruit them otherwise?
He paid them a salary every month, yet they did nothing.
Did he think he was a state-owned enterprise?
"Livestock industry?"
Clark mumbled in confusion.
"Boss, these screaming chickens are monsters. The city-state doesn't allow monsters to enter. If you want to recruit them, you can only house them outside the city. The planes outside the city are constantly changing, so I suggest we just slaughter these chickens and take their meat."
"That's for other city-states."
Chen Yu smiled slightly and glanced at Clark.
"My own city-state, I let whoever I want in. Who dares to manage me?"
"Eh?!" Clark froze for a moment, then his eyes widened in realization. "Boss, you... you own a city?"
"Shocked, aren't you?"
The little demoness Barbara came over, shaking her head.
"Your boss, despite his mediocre strength, has considerable influence. It's a city-state now, but if it's fully developed, his city will be much larger than any town."
Gulp.
Hearing this, Clark swallowed again.
A city.
This leader of his was too rich.
No wonder he wasn't in a hurry about the million gold coin debt. In his leader's eyes, a million gold coins was probably just pocket change. Following this leader closely, wouldn't he be able to buy a house in the Imperial City in the future?
Chen Yu didn't pay much attention to Clark's surprise.
Owning a city was, in itself, a sensational matter.
Although, the city he owned might be different from what Clark imagined. His city was the captured Black City, still in ruins and in dire need of rebuilding.
It was also at constant risk of plunder.
"Kuruz, how's the inventory coming along?"
Chen Yu called out with a frown. Kuruz, whose burnt feathers were showing on his wings, trotted over obediently.
"My King, the inventory is almost done. It's all in the tents."
Kuruz grinned and gestured towards the tents behind him.
Chen Yu frowned.
He had asked Kuruz to count the number of farmable chickens. It couldn't be that there were only a few farmable chickens in the entire territory, right? The tent didn't look that big, how many chickens could it hold?
If there were too few, his livestock industry wouldn't be able to develop.
"Do you even know the meaning of inventory?" Chen Yu muttered. "I asked you to take inventory of the number of livestock available for farming."
"It's all there."
Kuruz looked serious.
???
Although confused, Chen Yu didn't ask further.
Asking too many questions would make him seem ignorant, which would damage his authority as a leader.
He cleared his throat,
Chen Yu walked towards the tent.
Upon entering the tent, he saw no sign of any chicken brothers. The entire tent contained only six treasure chests.
The chests were of good quality.
There was one Black Obsidian-grade treasure chest, three gold, and two silver.
"Where are the chickens?" Chen Yu asked, looking sideways.
"They're in the boxes." Kuruz's eyes lit up. "My King, everything you need is in the boxes, and I haven't touched them at all."
Nani?
Chickens, in boxes.
How many chickens could fit in such small boxes?
"You didn't embezzle, did you?"
Before opening the chests, Chen Yu raised an eyebrow. Kuruz immediately knelt with a thud. "My King, by heaven and earth, I wouldn't dare touch these boxes."
"Relax."
Seeing Kuruz crane his long neck, his mouth like a sausage, and his eyes wide, Chen Yu gently patted his comb.
"I believe you. Wait over there."
Only then did Kuruz shrink his neck and stand aside. Noticing the gaze of the hen beside him, he deliberately stretched his neck, trying to regain some dignity in front of his admired hen.
Approaching the boxes, Chen Yu's frown had not eased.
How could it be?
Chickens, placed in boxes.
Either his brain was malfunctioning, or Kuruz's brain was malfunctioning. In all his years, he had never heard of chickens being raised in boxes.
Amidst his suspicion, Chen Yu reached out and opened a box.
The moment he opened it,
Chen Yu's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but exclaim.
"This also works?"