Chapter 15: Food Guide
Inside the gem shop, Molei, Yueshitu, and Haomei stared at the shop door ahead. Through the crack, they could almost sense faint wisps of blood energy drifting out.
Yueshitu suddenly felt the lights in the gem shop flicker, then dim significantly, their illumination greatly reduced. The once glittering, jewel-adorned shop became dilapidated and worn, like an ancient tomb deep underground. The gentle and friendly shop assistant sister from moments ago now had her hair disheveled, and the entire atmosphere of the gem shop instantly turned eerily gloomy.
Slap~
Molei lightly tapped the back of Yueshitu's head. Yueshitu's illusion shattered like a bubble with a pop, and then Molei said, "What are you staring blankly at? Are you fantasizing about some weird scene again?"
"No... no."
Yueshitu pulled down her pajama hood to cover most of her face. Judging by her slightly reddened cheeks, this kind of fantasy was a common occurrence.
Haomei peered through the slightly open door crack to the outside and said, "What do we do? That guy's blocking us. How about the back door?"
"I bet there's a dog blocking the back door."
Molei was experienced in this and knew the back door would definitely be blocked.
"Then... should we use a space item to slip away?"
Yueshitu took out a pocket watch, but Molei snatched it away and flicked Yueshitu's forehead with a snap, causing Yueshitu to crouch down in pain, holding her forehead.
"You idiot! If we're afraid of getting caught, it's because we don't want our wallets to suffer. Using that item would be worse than getting caught by Bai Ye."
Hearing Molei's words, Yueshitu rubbed her forehead and thought it over. It really was true.
"Wallet damage is one thing, but the key is that guy always makes us do weird things."
Haomei spoke up. Hearing this, Molei's eye twitched, and she corrected, "That's called 'things that don't quite comply with fair arbitration rules,' not weird things. Don't talk nonsense."
"Then... then I'll handle the negotiation this time."
Yueshitu rarely showed some assertiveness, but even so, her tone was a bit weak.
"Why? You've never liked negotiating with people."
Haomei took out a bottle of wine, uncorked it, chugged several gulps, and then let out a satisfied sigh.
"Whenever you two negotiate, I always end up getting dragged into getting beaten up."
As she said this, Yueshitu grew angrier. Just as she was about to continue, Molei beside her had already pushed open the shop door and walked toward the street opposite, finally stopping in front of a bench.
"..."
Su Xiao glanced at Molei, then continued reading today's newspaper.
"Go ahead, tell me how much you want to extort."
Molei crossed her arms, her tone extremely defiant.
"Have I ever extorted you?"
Su Xiao folded the newspaper in his hand and tossed it into a trash can a few meters away.
"You..."
Molei was about to speak but suddenly remembered that every time she was extorted, she was first beaten until she 'voluntarily' complied. This left her momentarily unsure what to say.
"Find a place with fewer people to talk."
Molei's tone remained defiant.
When the sunset cast large patches of fiery clouds across the sky, in a park on the edge of the Fifth District, Su Xiao was still sitting on a bench, with Molei, Yueshitu, and Haomei standing opposite him.
"Phew, come on."
Molei released her aura, looking ready to duel Su Xiao. Haomei drew the sharp sword at her waist, while Yueshitu quietly stepped back. She had already decided that once the fight started, she would just lie down immediately to avoid getting beaten.
Clearly, both Molei and Haomei adhered to a principle: paying Soul Coins was fine, but they couldn't do it without putting up a fight. That would leave them feeling resentful and hinder their strength improvement. On the other hand, if they fought, truly couldn't win, and then paid the Soul Coins, their mindset would become much more open.
"..."
Su Xiao frowned, not quite understanding what Molei and Haomei were doing.
"Hurry up, let's fight. I haven't had dinner yet, and I'm pretty hungry."
Molei made a move to lunge forward, wanting to test her newly mastered energy-type control ultimate move.
"I came to find you for cooperation. What are you doing?"
Watching Molei's baffling behavior, Su Xiao frowned even deeper. Hearing this, Molei, who had already lunged forward, abruptly stopped, almost throwing her back out.
"Cooperation? How? Could it be that you beat us up, and then we're forced to hand over Soul Coins—is that also considered a kind of cooperation?"
Molei's words made Haomei take a small step back. She looked at Molei with concern, suspecting that after being beaten by Bai Ye a few times, Molei might have awakened some terrible trait.
"What you're describing is called extortion."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Molei muttered softly, "So you do admit deep down that it's extortion."
"Recently, I obtained a fief. There should be quite a few hidden mineral veins there..."
As soon as Su Xiao said this, Molei sat down beside him, grabbed his arm, and said, "We're old friends. You should have contacted us earlier."
Why had Molei and Yueshitu, contrary to their usual behavior, stopped searching for supernatural mineral veins and instead started a gem business? The reason was that among the beast clans, the dwarves, cave trolls, lizardmen, giant ants, and others were all races skilled in mining.
This led to too many wolves and too little meat, with various races secretly mining. As a result, the beast clan camp, within its territorial boundaries, appointed the underground-dwelling molten spider clan to oversee this matter. Once someone started digging deep mine shafts, it was hard to escape the molten spider clan's detection, especially in mineral-rich areas where more molten spiders dwelled.
It wasn't that Molei and Yueshitu didn't want to mine—that was the true source of joy—but they had tried and nearly got caught.
Molei and Yueshitu had lost their source of joy for several days. Now, hearing that Su Xiao had obtained a fief, their eyes naturally lit up, and past grievances were instantly forgotten.
Gulp, gulp, gulp~
Haomei sat on the bench drinking wine. Mining had nothing to do with her; she couldn't mine and didn't have any mines. She did, however, run a merchant guild dealing in ores.
"Let us mine the veins on your fief. How about a 20-80 split? I have various costs, and the 20% you get is pure profit."
Molei's eyes were hopeful. Beside her, Yueshitu was eating potato chips—she wasn't good at bargaining.
"30-70 split. That's the limit."
"..."
Su Xiao still didn't speak.
"40-60 split. Can't go higher, or I'll lose money."
"..."
Su Xiao remained silent.
"50-50 split. I only want the joy of mining; there's no profit left."
"..."
Su Xiao was still silent. This made Molei deeply miss the feeling of digging up ore, putting it into 'Dequalifying Solution,' and watching it either turn dull, emit a charming glow, or show star-patterned energy lines. The quality of an ore was entirely determined by its performance in the 'Dequalifying Solution.' The thrill of finding a highly rare ore was no less than opening a treasure chest that flashed.
"No need for your share. All the ore you dig up is yours."
As soon as Su Xiao said this, Molei and Yueshitu both stood up from the bench, tacitly stepped back, and looked at Su Xiao with full vigilance.
"Bai Ye... don't be so generous. I'm scared."
Molei didn't need to think to know that behind this windfall, there must be a trap.
"As a return, I want the one among you three with the highest Void Tree Reputation to be the arbitration signatory for that fief."
The arbitration signatory Su Xiao mentioned was, simply put, something like a representative figure. Whoever took on this representative role, when the Void Tree began arbitrating the situation of that fief, the magnitude of reputation gain would be determined based on this person's Void Tree Reputation.
In short, if Su Xiao, whose Void Tree Reputation was -???, acted as this representative figure, the difficulty of gaining reputation in that fief would directly skyrocket to 'Super·Unmatched·Nightmare·Hell·Ultimate Enhanced Edition.' Perhaps wiping out a sea clan legion would only yield a few hundred reputation points.
It turned out that Void Tree Reputation was sometimes very useful, especially when one needed to become the leader of a faction within a mission world.
However, a low Void Tree Reputation wasn't an unsolvable problem. Su Xiao's Void Tree Reputation was low, yes, but among Molei, Yueshitu, and Haomei, there was bound to be someone with a high one.
The Apocalypse Sisters exchanged glances and then decided to use an election method. Yueshitu and Haomei together pushed Molei forward a few stumbling steps.
"So, among the three of you, you have the highest Void Tree Reputation?"
"Of course not. Yueshitu has the highest."
Molei tried to argue.
"It seems it really is you."
Su Xiao saw through Molei's argument on the spot, then took out two approval documents—fief mineral mining permits. With these, as long as it was within the fief Su Xiao managed, no one would stop Molei and Yueshitu from mining.
"Deal."
Just as Molei was about to take the two permits, Su Xiao raised his hand, making Molei look suspicious.
"If during this period, you three abandon the arbitration signatory status and leave without authorization, my position will become very passive."
As Su Xiao spoke, he took out a contract. Seeing the Reincarnation Paradise contract appear, Molei, Yueshitu, and Haomei all became vigilant.
"Not signing. I'd rather die than sign."
Molei's tone was resolute. She had only just escaped the domination of the 'Bai Ye Contract' and would never sign a new one now.
"Then forget it."
Su Xiao made a move to get up and leave. The Apocalypse Sisters immediately blocked his way. Molei and Yueshitu couldn't bear to give up the joy of mining, while Haomei felt that this seemed like a good opportunity—a chance to quickly improve her strength.
A few days ago, Haomei had discovered that this world had an entrance to the 'Hunter Guild.' The problem was, without a strong backing, she would definitely be targeted by other hunters in this world. Haomei only wanted to temper herself through a series of hard battles, not get caught up in scheming with those hunters.
Now, a Law Destroyer/Hunter/Beast Clan Lord with a fief was right in front of her. Joining this side in this world progression seemed very good. The strength of this backing was enough to deter most old schemers.
"How about this? We won't sign a contract, but we can offer something as collateral."
As she spoke, Molei took out a necklace pendant.
"I'm not interested in Charm-type equipment. If it's collateral, it should be in universal currency."
"Alright then. How about Soul Coins as collateral? 5,000 each?"
By the end, Molei's voice grew quieter, even she felt it was too little.
"Then make it 50,000. Money's not an issue."
Molei gave Yueshitu and Haomei a look. Each took out an Apocalypse Paradise savings card worth 50,000 Soul Coins. Including Molei's own, that made three cards. Using her authority imprint, she merged them into a single savings card with a face value of 150,000 Soul Coins.
"But~, if I give this to you as collateral, how can I be sure I'll get it back?"
"Sign a contract."
"Ehh~"
Molei scratched her head. The reason she didn't want to sign a contract was precisely why she was offering Soul Coins as collateral. Yet now it was circling back.
"Don't worry. I swear on the name of the Law Destruction Faction."
As he said this, for some reason, Su Xiao suddenly thought of Ximan·Aqide, Mawen·Hua'erzi, Green·Gillian, the old Law Destroyers, and other predecessors. Even he felt that the name of the Law Destruction Faction was very unreliable.
"Then... alright."
Molei handed over the savings card. But for some reason, the moment her hand let go of the card, she suddenly felt that she had lost this thing forever and would never get it back. Swearing on the name of the Law Destruction Faction, she absolutely, absolutely would not get this thing back.
"Hiss~, something's wrong. Isn't this still paying money? No different from before."
Molei vigorously scratched her short pink hair. She suddenly realized that in the past, she got beaten up and then paid. This time, she was tricked and then paid. There seemed to be a difference, but also seemed like there wasn't.
7:00 PM, at a barbecue restaurant on the pedestrian street of the Sixth District.
This was a barbecue restaurant run by an elderly troll couple. The waitress was their daughter-in-law. The shop was small, but it was already full of customers.
The barbecue sizzled on the thick cast-iron flat pan. After tasting a few pieces, Molei, Yueshitu, and Haomei were already getting a bit impatient. In truth, all three were wondering how Su Xiao knew about such a delicious barbecue restaurant here.
This was thanks to the Goddess of Fortune's 'Multiverse Food Guide,' which recorded food shops in many worlds. Many of these shops were small and hard to find.
Su Xiao chewed the barbecue in his mouth and crossed off the corresponding restaurant name from the food guide. On the path to becoming stronger, occasionally stopping at a food shop was a very good choice. Besides, Su Xiao's cultivation method wasn't about pursuing emotionlessness or desirelessness. The Law Destruction Faction wasn't that kind of system. Among the top-tier combatants, there were even people with terrible personalities like Green·Gillian.
Su Xiao took out a bottle of Elemental Brew. As soon as he did, he felt Haomei's gaze fixed on him from across the table. After pouring a cup for each, Molei downed hers in one gulp, savored it, and said, "Seems like good wine?"
Compared to Molei, Yueshitu beside her had a bitter face, looking at the remaining half cup in her hand. Her only thought was that she had poured too much.
"Hahaha, another round!"
Haomei was clearly getting tipsy. Baha quickly poured more wine. With Haomei's drinking capacity, she was a big customer for Elemental Brew.
After eating and drinking their fill, Molei and Yueshitu both suggested going to the fief immediately. But when they learned that even Su Xiao himself hadn't been to that fief yet, they both calmed down.
Clearly, both Molei and Yueshitu realized that going to the fief this time would definitely mean confronting the current power holders there. This was a Transcendent Primordial World. Clashing with the current rulers of that fief was just an ordinary daily occurrence for Su Xiao. But if the Apocalypse Sisters joined in, the danger level for them would be nightmare-grade. They had just been promoted to Ninth Rank not long ago. Coming to Wind Sea Continent this time, they had non-combat missions to complete.
After bidding farewell to Molei and the others, Su Xiao returned to his temporary hotel. He took out all the materials about the fief. The first thing he saw was that the largest city in this fief was called Twilight City. Just from the name, he knew this fief was a cold place, and they were currently entering the fierce winter season.
Compared to other fiefs, the territory under Twilight City's jurisdiction was larger, but the population was only a few tens of millions. Don't think this was a lot. With the beast clans having hundreds of billions of people, a population of tens of millions for a fief wasn't considered much.
Although the climate was cold and the population wasn't large, the races within Twilight City's jurisdiction were generally fierce in combat. There were six standing legions, yet they hadn't been sent to the main battlefield. This was partly due to the predicament of the Twilight City Lord and partly due to various internal issues within these six legions.
This vast fief, covered in snow, didn't just have Twilight City as its only major city. Twilight City was the representative of this area. Within this territory, there were a total of ten major cities, all surrounded by towering rock walls. This was unavoidable; on Wind Sea Continent, there weren't many truly safe areas.
Ten major cities, each with a city lord. Twilight City was managed by the lord, and all the city lords under it followed the lord's orders. When needed, all city lords could be summoned unconditionally to Twilight City.
The current situation on the fief was: the young lord, Gu'erwei, was still very young. Her steward, with ambitious intentions, had colluded with two city lords to basically strip the young lord, Gu'erwei, of her real power. There were even rumors that the young lord, Gu'erwei, couldn't freely leave the lord's manor in Twilight City.
Just as Su Xiao was flipping through the fief materials, a notification appeared.
[You have become the Lord of Twilight City.]
[Number of Legions: 6 (non-deployed status).]
[Fief Evaluation: D-grade (Fief evaluations range from E to S-grade. Different fief evaluations grant the fief lord a corresponding amount of reputation points per day, ranging from 100 to 3000 points. If Void Tree Reputation is above a certain level, this cap will increase. Fief evaluation is determined by a comprehensive assessment of resident happiness, legion deployment status, fief finances, etc.).]
[Other fief conditions require appointing corresponding official positions to view in the branch table.]
[Tip: You have completed the Main Mission: First Ring: Fief.]
[You have received an Inscription Box (quality determined by the fief obtained. An Inscription Box can yield 2 to 5 Inscription Fragments).]
[You have activated the Main Mission: Fierce Winter.]
[Main Mission: Fierce Winter (Second Ring).]
Difficulty Level: Lv.86.
Mission Brief: Ensure the fief evaluation reaches C-grade or above.
Mission Duration: 12 natural days.
Mission Reward: Determined by mission completion.
Mission Penalty: Forced execution.
...
Su Xiao closed all notifications. This seemed like a strategy management 'game,' but in reality, there was another 'playstyle': spending money, spending money like crazy.
The reason Su Xiao had previously launched a surprise attack on White Hoof Port wasn't just for reputation points, but also for supplies. Not to mention anything else, food supplies alone were very important.
Currently, each of the ten major cities in the fief needed at least 2,000 units of food supplies to get through this fierce winter. That meant a total demand of 20,000 units of food supplies. However, the current food stock in Twilight City was at most less than 500 units, let alone supplying the other nine major cities.
According to the materials given by High Commander Kaien, among the remaining nine major cities, the two city lords who had colluded with the lord's steward each had 700 units of food. The other city lords had less than 300 units of food resources each.
In this situation, they couldn't ask the Beast King for help. The reason the Twilight City fief was in this state was that they hadn't sent legions to the main battlefield, so they naturally didn't receive the food allocation from the main city, Eternal Ring City.
As for why Twilight City didn't send out legions, they didn't have the wages to pay the beast clan soldiers, nor enough food for the main battlefield expedition. This led to a vicious cycle.
Su Xiao thought this was a 'spending game' because, after the surprise attack on White Hoof Port, his spoils included 600 units of dried meat, over 200 units of grain-based food, over 70 units of alcohol, and 50 units of energy crystal resin.
These energy crystal resins were very valuable. Many merchants in the main city were willing to exchange various types of food for crystal resin. 50 units of energy crystal resin could probably be exchanged for 9,000 to 10,000 units of various foods, with more than half being dried meat.
Before long, the door was knocked. It was the spotted fox clan member, Pilu, who had returned from the underground city.
After handing a supply list and a warehouse key to Pilu, Pilu hurriedly left to deal with the batch of spoils obtained at White Hoof Port. Those supplies were stored in a warehouse in the Third District, guarded by Amu and Egein.
Checking the time, it was already 8:00 PM. Su Xiao took out a communicator used by the beast clans and dialed the frequency from the fief materials. After a moment, the other side picked up. It was the steward who had been sidelining the young lord, Gu'erwei.
A calm, reliable-sounding voice came from the communicator: "May I ask who this is?"
"The lord who will soon arrive at Twilight City."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the other side was silent for a few seconds, then spoke in a humble tone: "So it's Mr. White Night. I sincerely welcome your arrival."
There was no hostility in the steward's tone. Someone who didn't know better would think he truly welcomed Su Xiao to Twilight City.
"Steward, you've worked hard all these years."
"I was favored by the late master. Now that he's gone, as the agent he appointed before his death, it's only right that I work a bit harder."
The steward on the other side began to show his fangs. Clearly, this was a very patient guy. But perhaps he had been patient for too long. Now that he had gained power, he chose not to yield an inch, stubbornly clinging to the lord's authority he had long coveted.
"Steward, you should take a vacation. I'll personally pay 100,000 Soduos for you to take a vacation in Eternal Ring City. After the vacation, you can take up a position here. I've already spoken with Kaien."
"This..."
The steward on the other end of the communicator seemed to be considering, but in his heart, he had already made a decision. Twilight City was his territory. An outsider, a human, no matter how powerful, would at most be able to mutually restrain him once he arrived. Retreating without a fight—the steward was unwilling.
"Lord White Night, I regret to say I cannot accept your kind offer. We shall meet in Twilight City."
Meanwhile, in the study of a certain mansion in Twilight City, the steward, wearing black silk pajamas, hung up the communicator. With a smile, he looked at the two city lords sitting across the table and said, "It seems our Lord White Night is getting impatient."
Hearing this, the two city lords, each holding a wine glass, both smiled. The three raised their glasses, clinked them, and formally formed an offensive and defensive alliance. They were all ready to engage in a long and dangerous struggle with the new lord.
At that moment, in the Sixth District of Eternal Ring City, in Su Xiao's temporary hotel room.
Su Xiao put down the communicator. Baha beside him asked, "Boss, how do we handle this?"
"Go ask Pilu if the people have arrived."
"Got it."
Baha flew off. Meanwhile, Bubu Wang, lying on the big bed in the room, stretched and yawned while lying down. This goofball's tech level was continuously skyrocketing, but he was also getting lazier. Now, if he could sit, he wouldn't stand; if he could lie down, he wouldn't sit.
Half an hour later, the door was knocked. The spotted fox clan member, Pilu, entered the room and tentatively asked, "Sir, they've all arrived. Should we wait a bit to keep them on edge, or..."
"No need."
Su Xiao had the spotted fox clan member, Pilu, lead the way to the banquet hall on the third floor of the hotel.
When the spotted fox clan member, Pilu, pushed open the door to the banquet hall, and Su Xiao walked in, he saw a bear clan member who was three meters tall even while sitting, grabbing a roasted beast leg with one hand and taking big bites. He ate with great relish. Clearly, the city lords of the Twilight City fief were different from other beast clan city lords.
Su Xiao glanced at Egein, who was standing by the inner door of the banquet hall. Egein nodded, indicating that Harvey had already taken the lord's team and ridden the eldest son of the Abyssal Dragon toward the Twilight City fief.
After Su Xiao took his seat, he found that all eight city lords had arrived, each bringing 2 to 3 trusted aides. Among these city lords were a bear clan member, a red dwarf clan member, a snake clan member, and a wolf clan member. They were all sitting around the dining table.
"Don't be polite. Eat first, then we'll talk."
Su Xiao casually picked up a plate of seafood noodles and ate them as a late-night snack. The eight city lords of the Twilight City fief looked at each other, then finally began to enjoy their dinner. They had come from the Twilight City fief via the teleportation tower, and some hadn't eaten dinner yet, so they weren't too formal.
After eating and drinking their fill, Su Xiao took the eight approval documents handed to him by Baha and had the spotted fox clan member, Pilu, distribute one to each city lord. The bear clan city lord, sitting closest to the head seat, drained the strong liquor in his glass before starting to read the contents of the document in his hand. The more he read, the more serious his expression became, because this was actually an Eternal Ring City material allocation approval document. With this document, he could go to the designated department and collect 1,000 units of food supplies.
The most crucial point was that this wasn't a distribution but a withdrawal. It meant the food was already stored there, and this document was the proof. This also meant there was no need to wait like with distributions. Even if he wanted it right now, he could go and take it out immediately.
Seeing this, the bear clan city lord couldn't take his eyes off it. The major city he managed had less than 200 units of food in stock, and most of it was low-quality grain. But now, this document promised 1,000 units of food, one-third meat, one-third fine grain, and the remaining third seasonings, oils, and even strong liquor.
This made the bear clan city lord's heartbeat quicken. But soon, he noticed that the document was missing the most crucial seal—the seal of the lord before him.
"Gentlemen, I have been transferred to Twilight City to jointly manage this fief with Lord Gu'erwei. I am personally very satisfied with this arrangement. But it seems someone is not prepared to let me go to Twilight City."
Leaving this statement, Su Xiao stood up and left the table. The eight city lords present all silently lowered their heads until a few seconds after Su Xiao left the banquet hall. Then they raised their heads, stood up from their seats, and quickly left with their subordinates. In their eyes, murderous intent flickered.
Su Xiao returned to his room upstairs and went straight to sleep. He didn't know how long he slept before the door was knocked. Amu was about to open the door, but Su Xiao stopped him. He walked barefoot across the carpet, shirtless, and opened the door to find the eight city lords, led by the bear clan city lord, standing outside the door, along with Egein.
In the bear clan city lord's hands was a box stained with a bit of blood. Seeing Su Xiao had opened the door, the bear clan city lord immediately opened the box and knelt on one knee, presenting the head inside to Su Xiao. It was unmistakably the head of the lord's steward, his face frozen in an expression of shock.
Baha, perched on Su Xiao's shoulder, saw this and looked down at the steward's head, saying, "We told you to come to the main city for a vacation in person, but you insisted on sending only your head."
Su Xiao turned and walked back into the room. The group of kneeling city lords all stood up and followed him inside.
In the corridor, Egein stared absentmindedly at the night view outside the window. At that moment, he felt that his lord seemed not to be the 'bad at strategy' type he claimed to be. This made the rebellious bone that had already started to grow in him suddenly shrink back.