105: Chapter 105 The City Lord's Mansion, Here I Come
After a night of reorganization, the once lifeless slum had taken on a new look.
The massive wooden plaque inscribed with "Yanhuang Street" hung high at the entrance of the alley. Although there hadn't been time to repair the houses yet, with the supplies and weapons distributed by Lin Yuan, the human refugees, who previously had numb eyes, finally had a glimmer of spirit in their gazes.
Under Old Liu's direction, they were reinforcing the defensive fortifications. Some young people were even practicing the "Basic Body Tempering Method" given by Lin Yuan in the open space, grunting with effort.
"This is hope!"
Lin Yuan stood on the top floor of the stone fortress, watching the busy scene below, when suddenly.
A sharp mechanical screech pierced the sky. A mechanical bird, crafted entirely from brass and gears with eyes glowing red, flew over from the city center.
It opened its mouth, spat out a black invitation, then flapped its wings, mechanically repeating a single sentence:
"The City Lord invites you, the City Lord invites you..."
Lin Yuan reached out and caught the invitation.
The City Lord of City No. 36, Thousand Faces, cordially invites the leader of the Yanhuang Alliance to a banquet.
Time: Noon.
Location: City Lord's Mansion.
"This..."
Old Liu, who had been reporting work nearby, saw that iconic mechanical bird and the invitation, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.
"Alliance Leader! This... this is a trap!!"
Old Liu's voice was trembling: "That is a messenger from the City Lord's Mansion! That 'Thousand Faces' City Lord is a true Seventh-Rank Grandmaster! It is said that his personality is unpredictable, and he loves tricking people into attending banquets, and then..."
"Some prickly newcomers who received invitations went before, and the next day... their skins were hung in the City Lord's Mansion's collection room."
Looking at Old Liu's terrified appearance, Lin Yuan laughed.
"A trap?"
"That's a fitting term."
"However..."
Lin Yuan looked toward the center of the city, at the towering building crouching like a giant beast, and the fighting spirit in his eyes began to burn:
"I, for one, love clearing dungeons."
"Especially this kind of... high-level dungeon."
Lin Yuan patted Old Liu's shoulder: "It's perfect; I also want to see what difference there is between the Seventh-Rank Grandmasters in this Starry Sky and those on our Earth."
"What about Ancient Sword Soul and the others?" Old Liu urged, "Let them accompany you..."
"No need."
Lin Yuan waved his hand and walked downstairs, his voice filled with absolute confidence:
"Too many people will only cause trouble."
"I'll go alone, a blade is enough."
The City Lord's Mansion was a building of extreme luxury and eeriness.
The entire mansion was constructed from a mixture of massive obsidian and unknown beast bones, reaching a height of one hundred meters.
Under the illumination of the twin purple moons, it looked like a giant skeletal palace.
Inside the banquet hall, seductive music lingered.
Dozens of fox-kin girls with fox ears and wearing thin gauze were dancing gracefully in the center of the dance floor; their snow-white skin and alluring gazes were enough to make any male creature's blood boil.
But beneath this seemingly sensual scene, a nauseating smell of blood was hidden.
Because on the long white jade dining table, it wasn't fine wine and delicacies that were laid out, but cups of "blood wine" as scarlet as blood, along with still-beating exotic beast hearts.
At this moment, two figures exuding terrifying auras were already seated on either side of the dining table.
On the left was a giant, four meters tall, with blue-gray skin and two tusks.
He was grabbing a roasted human leg and devouring it, his mouth dripping with grease.
Leader of the Troll Gang, Man Gu (Sixth-Rank Peak, Strength-type).
On the right was a shadow completely shrouded in a black robe, with an indistinguishable face, only two points of eerie green ghost fire flickering beneath the hood.
President of the Shadow Kill Society, Night Owl (Sixth-Rank Peak, Assassin-type).
These two, along with the recently deceased Red Wolf, were the three major powerhouses of City No. 36 besides the City Lord.
"That Earth newcomer hasn't arrived yet?"
Man Gu threw away the bone in his hand and said in a muffled voice: "He's really arrogant. If he comes later, I'll have to crush his bones and see if they're really that hard."
"Heh heh..."
Night Owl let out a harsh, strange laugh: "I heard Red Wolf was killed by him in one strike? Man Gu, be careful, don't follow in his footsteps."
"Hmph! That trash Red Wolf, he underestimated his opponent!" Man Gu snorted disdainfully.
Just then, the large doors of the banquet hall were kicked open.
All the music stopped instantly, and the fox-kin dancers were terrified, scattering in all directions.
A human youth wearing black casual clothes, carrying a dark golden long blade on his back, strolled in swaggeringly.
He walked straight to the dining table and looked at the empty seat that originally belonged to the "Blood Wolf Gang"; there was only a chair there, no tableware.
Clearly, it was a deliberate show of power by the host.
"Tsk, a bit dirty."
Bang!
The chair, crafted from precious wood, was kicked to pieces by him instantly.
Then, Lin Yuan took out the tiger-skin armchair he had looted from the Blood Wolf Gang from his system space and placed it in that spot.
He crossed his legs, looked at the two big shots opposite him with livid faces, then looked at the still-empty seat at the head of the table, and tapped the table lazily:
"Everyone is here."
"Serve the food."
"I'm busy, I don't have time to stare blankly at you all here."
"How dare you!!"
Man Gu was furious.
"Where did this wild brat come from! Do you know the rules?!"
Boom!
He slammed his hand on the table, and countless cracks instantly appeared on the white jade tabletop.
His massive body stood up abruptly, and a force of blood energy filled with brutality and bloodlust rolled toward Lin Yuan like a tsunami!
"You destroyed the Blood Wolf Gang; that broke the rules set by our three major gangs!"
"According to the old rules! If a newcomer wants to establish a foothold, they must hand over eighty percent of their territory's revenue as tribute!"
"Otherwise..."
Man Gu clenched his fists with a grimace, his knuckles cracking: "You won't be walking out of this door today!!"
"Eighty percent?"
Lin Yuan smiled, his left hand resting on his knee gently pressing down on the hilt of the slaying abyss on his back.
His thumb pushed.
Clang————!!!
The blade didn't leave its sheath, only pushed out an inch, but it was just that one inch.
Hum!!!!
A True Dragon baleful aura filled with the breath of the primordial wilderness, mixed with the tangible killing intent accumulated from slaughtering hundreds of creatures over the past few days, instantly erupted from that one inch of the blade!
If Man Gu's pressure was a tsunami, what Lin Yuan released at this moment was the Sea-Stabilizing Needle!
It was the Primordial Divine Mountain that suppressed everything!
The air in the entire banquet hall instantly solidified, and the temperature plummeted to freezing.
Man Gu, who had been roaring, was like someone whose neck had been tightly gripped by a giant hand; his four-meter-tall body stiffened suddenly, and cold sweat poured down his forehead like a waterfall.
He felt a chill of death pressing against his Adam's apple; as long as he dared to move again, or say one more word...
That blade would definitely strike down!
"Rules?"
"I've arrived."
"That is the new rule."
Lin Yuan's voice was not loud, but it exploded in everyone's ears: "My revenue, I'm not handing over a single cent."
"On the contrary."
Lin Yuan pointed at Man Gu, then at Night Owl, who had been silent all along:
"Starting from next month."
"You all will have to pay me protection fees."
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"
Just as the atmosphere was tense and Man Gu was about to explode with rage.
"Good! Brilliant!"
"Wild enough! Dominant enough!"
A non-male, non-female voice, full of magnetism and allure, rang out:
"I just like young people like you."
Hum! The space twisted slightly.
Above the previously empty head seat, a figure appeared out of thin air.
He was wearing a gorgeous purple robe, and his face was covered by an eerie mask that constantly changed expressions—crying, laughing, angry, sad... as if a Thousand Faces were flowing across it.
City Lord of City No. 36, Thousand Faces (Seventh-Rank Psychokinesis Grandmaster)!
His aura was ethereal and indistinct, like a mass of fog, making him completely impossible to fathom.
With his appearance, Man Gu and Night Owl immediately restrained their auras and lowered their heads respectfully: "Lord City Lord."
"Sit."
Thousand Faces waved his hand, and then the eyes beneath that mask examined Lin Yuan with great interest.
"Alliance Leader Lin, I approve of your request."
"What?!" Man Gu looked up abruptly, incredulous, "City Lord! This is against the rules! He..."
"Shut up!"
Thousand Faces just spat out two words indifferently.
Boom!
An invisible psychokinetic hammer instantly slammed into Man Gu's chest, and this Sixth-Rank Peak giant was actually sent flying backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
This is Seventh-Rank! Words become law!
"In this city, my words are the rules."
Thousand Faces didn't even look at Man Gu, turning his head to look at Lin Yuan, the expression on the mask changing into a smiling face:
"Blood Wolf's territory belongs to you; no one will dare to collect taxes from you."
"However..."
Thousand Faces changed the subject, his tone filled with unquestionable majesty:
"There is no free lunch in the world."
"Alliance Leader Lin, since you want to eat this meal, you have to contribute."
"Next month, the 'Starry Sky Beast Tide' will erupt. According to past conventions, the Southern City Gate has the greatest defensive pressure and is also the place where the most people die."
"Since you took over the Blood Wolf Gang's territory, then..."
"The defense task for the Southern City Gate will be handed over to your Yanhuang Alliance."
The dagger was revealed at the end of the map; Lin Yuan understood instantly.
This was the real trap.
The so-called banquet, the so-called recognition, were all to find cannon fodder to block the blade.
Southern City Gate? That was the main attack direction of the beast tide!
In previous years, the Blood Wolf Gang was responsible for that area; it is said that half the people died every time.
This was using his Yanhuang Alliance as a shield.
"A beast tide, huh..."
"What if I don't agree?" Lin Yuan smiled half-heartedly.
"Then you won't be walking out of this door today." Thousand Faces' tone instantly became chillingly cold, and the gravity of the entire banquet hall seemed to lose control at this moment.
"Hahahaha!"
Lin Yuan suddenly laughed, stood up, and clapped his hands; that pressure belonging to the Seventh-Rank felt like a gentle breeze on his face.
"Good!"
"Isn't it just a bunch of beasts?"
Lin Yuan looked at Thousand Faces, the madness and greed in his eyes flashing and vanishing.
Beast tide?
In others' eyes, it was a disaster.
But in the eyes of Lin Yuan, who possessed the god-demon furnace and the spirit-devouring battle blade...
That was a damn buffet feast delivered to his door!
"Deal."
Lin Yuan turned around and walked toward the door, leaving behind an extremely arrogant sentence: "As long as the money is enough, the spoils are mine."
"Never mind a beast tide..."
"Even if a god comes, I'll kill it for you to see!"
Watching Lin Yuan's departing back, the expression on Thousand Faces' mask froze in an eerie smile.
"Interesting."
"I hope your blade is truly as hard as your mouth."
The banquet ended, and Lin Yuan retreated unscathed.
The moment he walked out of the City Lord's Mansion, the news instantly spread throughout the city.
The Yanhuang Alliance officially became the fourth largest force recognized by the Starry Sky Thirty-Sixth City!
But everyone knew that this also meant...
They had been pushed to the very front line of the beast tide, becoming the suicide squad for the entire city.