398: Chapter 398 Not a proper main city?

"City Lord Meng, you're living quite the life."

Chen You arrived at the back garden and looked at this "family of three" with great interest.

Du Chedi was so startled that he swallowed the unchewed apple whole.

He clutched his neck and rolled his eyes; Cai Wenjuan quickly patted his back.

Meng De's legs went weak, and he spoke stutteringly.

"Brother... Brother Chen, why are you here?"

Did this lord come today because he felt three people weren't lively enough and planned to stuff in some random Tom, Dick, or Harry?

"Don't be nervous, I'm just passing through on official business." Chen You waved his hand.

He walked up to Meng De, took out the contract silk, and unfolded it.

"Give it a stamp."

Meng De was stunned.

He looked at the three marks on the silk, then back at Chen You.

"Just... a stamp?" Meng De swallowed hard.

"What else? Should I stay for dinner?" Chen You raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, no! I wouldn't want to trouble you!"

Meng De felt as if he had been granted a grand pardon; his movements were so fast they left afterimages.

He whipped out the City Lord's seal and slammed it down onto the blank space of the silk with a "bang."

Because he used too much force, two drops of seal paste splattered out.

One drop landed on Du Chedi's pant leg, and the other on the back of Cai Wenjuan's hand.

[Ding! You have obtained the Thousand Light City Lord's mark. Current progress: 4/7.]

"God You, I've stamped it." Meng De held the silk with both hands and returned it to Chen You.

He squeezed out a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Seeing as you're so busy with business, maybe... you should get back to it?"

Chen You looked at Meng De's "good riddance" expression and his lips quirked.

"Alright, you three live your lives well." Chen You took the silk.

"Thank you for your kind words, we will definitely live well!" Meng De stood at attention, nearly saluting.

Chen You put away the contract silk and left the City Lord's Manor.

"Three marks left."

Sander of Cangxing City, East Iron City, and Qirui City.

He originally wanted to fly directly to Cangxing City; after all, Sander was a "trainee" he had personally brought up, so getting a stamp would only take a minute.

But suddenly, an image of the two-meter-tall Sander appeared in his mind, wearing suspenders and a middle-part hairstyle.

Dribbling a ball while winking at him, his rough voice shouting, "Mentor, do you think my Iron Mountain Lean has enough of a 'fragile vibe'?"

Chen You shivered.

"Forget it, I'll go later. If he drags me into 'overtime,' who knows how long it'll take."

He decisively chose East Iron City.

The Nine Nether Heaven-Devouring Kun tore through space and disappeared again.

East Iron City.

The entire city was enclosed by black-gray walls, with hundreds of giant chimneys towering inside, belching sparks and black smoke day and night.

The air was thick with the smell of sulfur and burnt metal.

"Clang! Clang!"

The dense sounds of blacksmithing converged into a deafening symphony.

Chen You landed outside the city, put away Kun-kun, and walked in.

The NPCs on the street were all dwarf models.

They were less than 1.5 meters tall, but their horizontal development was extremely exaggerated, with arms thicker than Chen You's thighs.

Most were shirtless, wearing leather aprons, their faces blackened by the furnace fires, clutching hammers taller than themselves.

Compared to other main cities, the number of players here was pitifully small.

Chen You walked down the street, no longer feeling like the center of attention.

"It's quite peaceful, actually."

He headed straight for the City Lord's Manor along the main road.

The gates of the City Lord's Manor were wide open, without a plaque; instead, the words "City Lord's Manor" were carved into a massive ore block nearby, and two crossed giant hammer sculptures stood in front of the entrance.

Two fully armed dwarf guards stood on either side.

Chen You straightened his collar and stepped inside.

He was prepared to be questioned and had even pulled a handful of gold coins from his backpack.

However, even after he entered the gate, the guards showed no reaction.

Chen You stopped, stepped back out, and then crossed back in.

The guards stared straight ahead, not even blinking.

"Are they blind?" Chen You waved his hand in front of the left guard's eyes.

Still no reaction.

He simply strode boldly into the City Lord's Manor.

The entire interior of the City Lord's Manor was like a massive arsenal.

Ore was piled high everywhere, and semi-finished weapons were scattered across the floor.

Chen You took a lap around the first floor but didn't see a single soul.

Going up to the second floor, a few dwarf apprentices were pouring molten iron into molds.

Chen You approached and asked, "Brother, where's the City Lord?"

The apprentice was deaf to his words, continuing to hammer at the iron block.

Chen You frowned slightly.

He walked up to a white-bearded dwarf who was drawing blueprints and tapped on the table.

"Excuse me, how do I get to the City Lord's office?"

The white-bearded dwarf didn't even look at him, picking up a charcoal pencil to continue sketching lines on the parchment.

Chen You wouldn't take no for an answer.

He took out a gold coin and slammed it onto the table with a "smack."

"Lead the way, and this money is yours."

The golden coin shimmered enticingly under the furnace light.

In the past, this move had been unfailing in the Source Realm.

But the white-bearded dwarf simply reached out and swept the coin to the floor, annoyed that it was blocking his blueprint, and continued drawing.

Chen You was stunned.

The gold coin failed? Is this still the Source Realm?

He picked up the coin, stepped back, and watched the busy dwarves in the hall.

Everyone was working; no one looked at him, and no one spoke.

He was like an invisible man, or rather, as if he were in a different dimension.

"What the hell."

Chen You walked out of the City Lord's Manor, and just as he was thinking about switching to another main city, an extremely discordant sound of hammering reached his ears.

The rhythm of the surrounding dwarves' hammering was steady, the clanging sounds blending together.

But this sound was chaotic, accompanied by coarse cursing.

"Eighty! Eighty! Dammit, it cracked again! Is the system's temperature control judgment sick or something?!"

Chen You followed the sound around a corner.

In a simple open-air blacksmith shop stood a burly man over two meters tall.

He was shirtless, with two bone spurs growing on his shoulders, his skin roasted red by the furnace.

Holding an exaggerated giant hammer with both hands, he was frantically hammering a piece of red-hot metal on an anvil.

A line of information floated above the man's head.

[Old Tie No Problem (LV52)]

Player.

And a high-level one at that.

Chen You stepped forward and tapped on a nearby wooden pillar.

"Brother, sorry to bother you."

Old Tie No Problem was swinging his hammer in a wide arc, ready to strike, but hearing the voice, he roared impatiently, "What are you shouting for! Can't you see I'm busy... Holy crap!"

He turned his head and saw Chen You's face clearly. With a muffled "thud," the hammerhead struck the edge of the anvil, sending sparks flying.

Old Tie No Problem stumbled back three steps, his eyes wide as brass bells, his voice cracking, "God... God You?!"

Chen You nodded. "You know me?"

"I do! I definitely do!" Old Tie No Problem tossed the hammer aside and wiped his hands vigorously on his dirty leather apron, looking as excited as a die-hard fan meeting an idol.

"The Cangxing City Talent Show Godfather! The top of the Anniversary fortune ranking! The designated supplier for Destruction Mode! God You, what brings you to a backwater place like East Iron City?"

Chen You pointed to the dwarves working mechanically on the street behind him.

"I'm here for some business. Explain to me, what's wrong with these NPCs? Are they blind?"

Old Tie No Problem looked in the direction Chen You pointed and grinned.

"Ah, God You, you don't know. This East Iron City... it's just not a normal main city."