"How could you use Chi Xiao to chop vegetables!"
Faced with Xia Yu's actions, Chen Huijie was obviously very resistant.
Moreover, this was a sword that even she couldn't just draw whenever she wanted, yet the other party just reached out and grabbed it to use as a kitchen knife...
"What a joke, I even use Shamash to cook," hearing this, Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her, "Why can't your Chi Xiao chop vegetables?"
Hearing this, Chen Huijie and the others looked down at the steaming greatsword.
They fell silent.
The extraordinary-looking blade, the massive energy held in check... It was definitely no ordinary sword.
Yet it was being used to cook food...
"How extravagant, Miss Bailu," seeing this, Hoshiguma clicked her tongue in wonder. She could naturally tell the quality of a weapon. "To actually use such a weapon for cooking."
"Just tell me if you're going to eat or not!" Xia Yu put away Shamash and placed the pot down onto Chen Huijie's desk with a heavy thud.
"Eat, how could we not eat!" Swire couldn't hold back anymore. "I've been hungry for hours!"
"Here," Xia Yu pulled out a few bowls and chopsticks from the Gate of Babylon and handed them over.
"I'll pass..." Chen Huijie patted her full stomach. "I already ate my fill at home earlier, but isn't this pot from my house?"
"Hoh, I'm surprised you even recognize this pot," Xia Yu rolled her eyes at her. "Then can you hear it crying?"
"Crying about what?" Chen Huijie was completely baffled.
"How many times have you used this pot at home?" Xia Yu asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Looking at the state of your kitchen, it must have been bought a long time ago, but until I used it, there wasn't a single trace of it ever being used."
"So, to prevent its entire pot-life from passing by in such mediocrity, I've commandeered your pot. No objections, right?"
Hearing this, Chen Huijie turned her head away. What objection could she possibly raise? It was just a pot, after all.
Work was usually too busy, and most of the time she couldn't even maintain a regular schedule, let alone cook at home.
Normally, she settled her meals outside. The kitchen at home... was basically just a decoration.
"As for the ingredients already prepared inside, this was originally supposed to be our dinner," Xia Yu glanced at her and sighed. "I always felt that following a workaholic like you, if I didn't prepare to cook myself, going hungry would be absolutely unavoidable."
"It wouldn't go that far..." Chen Huijie turned her head awkwardly. "At worst, we could order takeout. There are quite a few shops next to the LGD..."
"Could takeout possibly be as delicious as my cooking?" Hearing this, Xia Yu gave her a side-eye. "Think about it again?"
Chen Huijie stopped talking and silently began reading the files Swire had organized.
But a few minutes later, Swire stood in front of her holding a bowl, her gaze complicated.
"What is it?" Chen Huijie was a little confused.
"Rice Roll Dragon, you..." Swire's gaze was dark. "Damn you!"
"Didn't I already apologize?" Chen Huijie lowered her head. "I didn't mean to, I just didn't expect..."
"No, I'm not talking about that," Swire shook her head, interrupting her. "Such delicious food... and you actually get to enjoy it all to yourself?"
The jealousy on her face was practically overflowing. "Chen Huijie, damn you!"
"Ahem, Old Chen, I'm standing with Missy on this one," Hoshiguma said while gorging herself. "That's not very sisterly of you, Old Chen, hoarding such good stuff all for yourself!"
"With these skills, if she opened a shop in Lungmen, I guarantee there wouldn't be an empty seat any day!" Swire said with absolute certainty. "I'm someone who has seen and tasted the world, but I've never seen anyone who can achieve this level!"
To take some ordinary instant noodles and burden beast meat, along with a few side dishes, and make the food so incredibly delicious... Weren't the master chefs she had seen in her own home all using their hands full of rare and precious ingredients?
Even then, the taste wasn't as good as this luxurious meal of instant noodles.
"Moreover, you actually had such a young child cook for you... employing child labor, knowingly breaking the law!" Swire slurped a mouthful of noodles and continued, "Hoshiguma, what is the penalty for this crime!"
"The crime is punishable by death, Missy," Hoshiguma said, puffing out her chest. "This subject requests the execution of Chen Huijie to rectify the laws of the court!"
"Miss Bailu is not my personal chef," hearing this, Chen Huijie threw her hands up, her face full of helplessness in the face of their teasing. "She's a guest, everything you're saying is pure fabrication..."
"To actually make a guest cook and take care of you, Old Chen, you rascal," Hoshiguma teased.
"I..." Hearing this, Chen Huijie also started to feel a guilty conscience.
"Consider it doing it for her sister's sake," Xia Yu said casually while eating. "Who told her sister and my sister to be good friends, so rounding it up, we're basically of the same generation."
"Sigh, honestly, if it wasn't for your distinguished status, Little Bailu, I would have invited you home to be my chef," Swire sighed. "These skills... I don't know if I'll ever encounter a second person with them in this lifetime."
"If you really want to eat something like this, you can go to Baizao," Xia Yu spoke up upon hearing this. "That small restaurant across from the Dali Temple. The boss's skills are incredibly good, and he runs a permanent restaurant. Just don't think about poaching him to be your family chef."
"Hm? Why?" Swire was very puzzled.
"Because the very next second you put that into action, someone would come to invite you for tea and have you explain exactly what you were thinking," Xia Yu said faintly.
Of course, this was just to scare her. The Nightstmayer wouldn't be that reactive. Yu's skills were so good that there were certainly no small number of people trying to poach him. How could they all be invited for tea? That would be too conspicuous.
At most, they'd do a background check.
"What distinguished status?" Hearing this, Hoshiguma's ears perked up, and she asked, feigning casualness, "Missy, do you know about Miss Bailu's origins?"
Perhaps the Swire Family had their own intelligence channels? After all, they were outsiders to begin with.
"To be able to stay with Rice Roll Dragon and be taken care of by her—though who is taking care of who is still debatable—and to look like this," Swire looked at Xia Yu with a matter-of-fact expression. "Which Princess or Royal Highness of Yan is this?"
"Me? I have nothing to do with them," Xia Yu shook her head, slurping a mouthful of instant noodles. "Their race is the local dragons, while I am from the outside. We just look similar in appearance, but there isn't a single drop of shared blood."
"How is that possible," Swire didn't believe a single word. "In this world, apart from the True Dragon Race, who else looks like you?"
"You said it yourself, she's of the True Dragon Race," Xia Yu swallowed the beef in her mouth. "But I'm of the Vidyadhara Race. I'm even a Vidyadhara High Elder. I really can't be considered relatives with them."
After all, the Vidyadhara Race were the immortal dragon descendants, whereas the local dragons... evolved from Originium.
Their very roots were different.
"Vidyadhara Race?" Hearing this, Chen Huijie also looked up. "Never heard of them."
"It'd be weird if you had," Xia Yu looked completely unconcerned. "Other than me, if anyone tells you they know the Vidyadhara Race, just label them a fraud immediately."
"Then what's the difference between the so-called Vidyadhara Race and Old Chen?" Hoshiguma still remembered the task Wei Yenwu had given her.
"The difference is huge," Xia Yu shook her head. "From lifespan, to the inheritance of power, to the very form of life, they are completely different."
"But, are you really not going to have a bite?" She looked at Chen Huijie.
"Forget it, I can't eat another bite," the latter said with some regret.
Seeing her change the subject, Hoshiguma tactfully didn't press the matter further.
"Phew, I'm so stuffed," Swire patted her stomach beside them. "It's been a long time since I let myself eat like this."
"After all, Missy has to maintain her figure," Hoshiguma smiled while eating. "But a crude person like me doesn't have such worries."
"I say, couldn't you take it back to your own offices to eat?" Chen Huijie finally couldn't bear it anymore. "I'm still working here!"
Actually, it was because it smelled so incredibly good that her gluttony was tempted, but her stomach really couldn't fit any more...
Even the normally disciplined her had moments of gluttony... It was all because the food was too delicious.
"How could we do that," Hoshiguma chuckled upon hearing this. "If we carry the pot out, with tons of people watching outside, what would be left for us after everyone took a bite?"
"Hey, Rice Roll Dragon," Swire looked at Chen Huijie from the other side. "You don't seriously intend to make this child waste her time sitting here with you, do you?"
"I really can't step away from my work," hearing this, Chen Huijie looked down at the documents in her hand.
"Alright then, as the price for you standing me up, this child belongs to me today," she walked up to Xia Yu with a smile. "Little Bailu, want to go shopping with me? How about it? I'll show you all around Lungmen!"
"Don't you have work?" Hearing this, Chen Huijie was the first to object. The main reason was that Bailu's origins were a mystery, and her uncle had explicitly instructed her to keep an eye on the child.
"Of course I do, they're right there on your desk," Swire gave her a side-eye. "Unlike a certain someone, after receiving a case, I've already delegated the tasks at hand."
"I believe they can do a good job. I don't need to take the files back when they're halfway done. So, right now is a rare moment of free time."
Hearing this, Chen Huijie was instantly left speechless.
"Well, Missy wants to take a break, so just let her go," Hoshiguma chimed in. "Besides, keeping someone cooped up in an office right after they arrive in Lungmen is hardly proper."
"Letting Missy take her out for a stroll shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"...What do you think?" Hearing this, Chen Huijie looked at Xia Yu.
"I want to go check out the wet market," Xia Yu pondered for a couple of seconds before saying. "To see what special local ingredients there are, and buy some back to study."
"Then it's a deal! Just like that!" Hearing this, Swire's eyes lit up. She picked up Xia Yu from behind and bolted toward the office door. "I'm taking her out for a stroll!"
"Hey, you..." Seeing this, Chen Huijie reached out to stop them, but unexpectedly, Hoshiguma blocked her first.
"What are you doing, Hoshiguma?" Chen Huijie furrowed her brows. "Why do I feel like you're acting so strangely today?"
"Old Chen," Hoshiguma sighed, this was a tough job. "It can't be helped, this is the Chief Executive's intention."
"He..." Hearing this, Chen Huijie's face instantly darkened. "He's using Swire's safety to test her?"
"To put it bluntly," Hoshiguma shook her head. "Didn't the Chief Executive telling you to bring Miss Bailu along also mean using your safety to test her?"
"For a big shot like him, perhaps the stability of Lungmen is what's most important."
"Stability? Right, stability," Hearing this, Chen Huijie recalled that night back then, watching helplessly as Talulah was taken away.
Because it was for Lungmen.
Heh.
Chen Huijie sat back down.
"Hm? You're compromising just like that?" Hoshiguma found it very strange. "I thought it would take some effort to talk you down."
"Because I've truly interacted with Bailu," Chen Huijie lowered her head to look at the files. "So I know she couldn't possibly be what Chief Executive Wei Yenwu is worried about—a spy from Ursus."
The look in her eyes when she spoke of those things couldn't be faked; she completely looked down on Ursus.
Furthermore, she had just casually drawn Chi Xiao—a sword even she couldn't pull out with certainty—so effortlessly.
One had to know, Chi Xiao wasn't something just anyone could draw.
"Alright then, I trust your judgment," Hoshiguma nodded. "Then we'll leave it at that."
......
Chen Huijie didn't reply, simply tightening her grip on the files until she crumpled them into countless deep creases.
Meanwhile, completely unaware of everything, Swire smiled happily as she led Xia Yu by the hand out of the LGD.
They completely failed to notice the gossiping LGD Operators behind them.
'Hey, why is that kid coming out with Officer Swire?'
'Sigh, you know what Officer Chen's personality is like. She isn't suited to looking after kids at all, so she could only pawn it off to her good friend, Officer Swire.'
'Uh, Senpai, are they on good terms? Why does it always look like the two of them are fighting?'
'Fighting?' Hearing this, the veteran LGD Operator gave the fresh graduate a meaningful look. 'That's not fighting, that's just bickering between friends.'
On the other hand, Swire was in a dilemma.
Mainly because she had never actually been to a place like a wet market!
"How about I take you to Swire Plaza first?" Swire came up with an idea. "There are tons of shops there!"
"Sounds like a high-end shopping district," hearing this, Xia Yu gave her a side-eye. "Are there really places that sell groceries?"
"But I don't usually go to wet markets either..." Swire said sheepishly.
"Then where in Lungmen are there the most Infected?" Xia Yu suddenly asked.
"The slums," Swire didn't understand her reasoning.
"Oh, then we'll go to the slums," Xia Yu touched the Vision from Furina in her pocket.
Her research already had some leads, but she needed to experiment.
"I can't possibly take a kid to a place like that," Swire refused without a second thought.
"Oh, then I'll go by myself," Xia Yu just looked up at her with a smile.
"No way!" Swire crossed her arms in front of her. "Kids can't go..."
"What kid?" Xia Yu shook her head. "Little tiger, I'm older than you are!"
"You?" Swire looked at Xia Yu—who, even counting her horns, barely reached her waist—and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to me," Xia Yu looked toward a distant rooftop. "See that?"
"Hm? What about it?" Swire didn't understand.
On that rooftop, the Shadow Guard who violently retracted his head was sweating profusely.
"Wei Yenwu's personal guard is right over there," Xia Yu said flatly. "They won't let anything happen to me. Moreover, the slums are the Rat King's territory; they'll also protect me well there."
"After all, you see," she began to take advantage of Swire's misunderstanding. "With my status, if something were to actually happen to me in Lungmen, Wei Yenwu wouldn't be able to bear the consequences!"
If someone were to assassinate Xia Yu on the spot and Wei Yenwu still remained indifferent, she would just slice people up and set the seas ablaze!
"No matter what, he's still the Chief Executive..." Hearing this, Swire also started to sweat slightly, feeling that her actions might have been a bit rash.
"Chief Executive? That's just because the current True Lung is kind-hearted," Xia Yu scoffed.
"Alright then," Swire really couldn't talk her out of it, so she could only sigh and resignedly lead her toward her car.
Hm, it was a good thing she drove out her plainest car today. Otherwise, if she drove a luxury car into the slums...
She got in, ignited the engine, and started the car.
The two of them drove all the way toward the slums just like that.
"So what business do you have in the slums?" On the way, Swire asked curiously.
"Officer Swire," hearing this, Xia Yu looked at the increasingly low and dilapidated buildings around them, and asked, "Why do you think something like a slum can exist so naturally in a city?"
"...Because we can't control it," Swire sighed. "Those gangs, the Infected... the LGD has always wanted to bring the slums under its management, it's just..."
"It's just that the results have always been minimal, right?" Xia Yu sneered. "However, with the size of Lungmen, can you really not manage it?"
"Can a bunch of gang thugs truly stand against fully armed military and police? The LGD aren't just sitting around eating free meals."
"The truth is actually that someone doesn't want to manage it, right?" She mocked. "As a port city, the influx of people pouring into Lungmen every year contains all sorts of monsters and freaks, coupled with the extremely high-risk Infected..."
"Rather than abolishing the slums and letting these people spill out into the entirety of Lungmen, it's better to treat this place as a garbage can. Gathering all of Lungmen's trash here in exchange for the cleanliness of the other districts—how nice, isn't it?"
"As for the original residents of this district, they can only be painfully treated as sacrifices. After all, someone has to carry the heavy burden forward, right?"
"...You really see things clearly," Swire sighed upon hearing this. "Yes, Lungmen's strategy is exactly that, though I don't agree with it, and neither does Rice Roll Dragon."
"We've always been trying to find ways to expand the LGD's influence here."
"That's why I'm willing to say so much to you guys," Xia Yu looked out the car window. "If it were Wei Yenwu? I wouldn't even bother giving him a passing glance."
"Therefore, your background really is incredible, Miss Bailu," hearing her casually drop Wei Yenwu's name over and over, Swire sighed. "We wouldn't dare address the Chief Executive directly by his name like you do."
She realized she seemed to be drawn into a massive trouble.
"A mere Chief Executive of Lungmen," Xia Yu muttered loudly. "Not worth mentioning!"
"So, what exactly are you coming to the slums to do, Little Bailu?" Swire asked curiously.
"Did I not tell you?" Hearing this, Xia Yu patted the Medicine Gourd in her arms. "I'm a medical practitioner."
"A medical practitioner? A doctor," Swire was still very puzzled. "You study medicine?"
"Which department?"
"Originium Department!" Xia Yu puffed out her chest.
"...High-Energy Originium Physics?" Swire was dumbfounded. "What does that have to do with medicine? Or are you saying you study the treatment of Oripathy?"
"Mm, you could say that," Xia Yu nodded. Although Incantations theoretically didn't belong to medical arts, as long as it could cure illnesses, it was fine—what more could one ask for.
As for Bailu's own medical skills...
Reasonably speaking, modern medicine was a scientific discipline, requiring a foundation built from the most basic material theories and developing upwards step by step.
Xia Yu naturally obtained Bailu's medical skills, but if she wanted to use them to treat people... Heh, that would require getting her hands on all sorts of medical supplies from the Xianzhou first.
Otherwise, no matter how good her medical skills were, what was the use of diagnosing an illness? The medicines she was most familiar with couldn't be acquired at all in Terra. She couldn't exactly write someone a prescription and tell them to go to the Xianzhou to get the medicine themselves, could she?
Leaving the convenient modern medical system and going to a completely different world, even the best doctor in the world would go crazy facing all kinds of illnesses they normally treated with ease!
If they were unluckier and the world was more primitive, they'd have to start from Shennong tasting a hundred herbs to rebuild the medical system. If it were more developed, they would still have to obediently start learning from the most basic local medical theories.
As for local medicines, they would have to re-learn the properties of various drugs and local medical science...
Where would Xia Yu get the energy for that?
So she could only turn to the magical Incantations. Time to join the Incantation Masters!
"Wait, stop the car!"
Suddenly, Xia Yu saw a familiar figure and immediately called to stop the car.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Swire slammed on the brakes, looking out the window in confusion.
"Find a parking spot, and then we're getting out," Xia Yu looked at the purple figure on the distant street.
Swire didn't know what she was going to do, but she obediently parked the car and got out with her.
"That's... Rope? I remember that child," Swire frowned. "She's your target? But she's quite timid..."
"You know her? That's good," hearing this, Xia Yu grabbed her hand. "Let's go catch her."
"Wait, how can we just casually arrest someone!" Swire wasn't about to play along with her nonsense. "Even if she engages in petty theft normally..."
"Look at her face. How long do you think it's been since she last ate?" Xia Yu looked back at her.
"I currently need an Infected who is familiar with the local area, and I also pity her. Is that not okay?"
"Alright," hearing this, Swire sighed.
It couldn't be helped; that child looked far too miserable.
Rope walked aimlessly down the street.
She hadn't eaten for a day and a night.
It couldn't be helped. That was just how it was for Infected children: helpless and alone. It wouldn't be strange for them to die in some corner of the city at any time. If she didn't have her special skills...
Looking at the surrounding scenery, Rope sighed.
It was getting harder and harder to survive in the slums.
Maybe she should go to the city center. She'd just find a random target. If she succeeded, she'd have a good meal. If she got caught... she'd end up in the LGD.
The prison provided meals anyway, and it wouldn't be her first time.