Chapter 260: Suffocation
Feihu isn’t stupid. She looked through the smoke at Xiong Jie, saw the darkness in his eyes, and nodded vigorously.
"I understand." She let out a sigh. Jiang Che was too easygoing, didn’t have any airs at all, which made people forget he was actually the Lord now.
But Feihu knew that those in high positions all needed those below to show the proper attitude.
Even if that person usually acted very approachable.
Approachability is a choice for those in power, but respect is what they must receive.
"He seems like he’s suddenly changed." Xiong Jie took a deep breath. Talking to someone like Feihu, a person who’s struggled through society, you only needed a few light words for the other to understand what you meant.
"Where has he changed?" Feihu settled herself on the stone beside him.
Not long ago, she’d just seen Jiang Che, not more than three days before.
She really couldn’t figure out how much someone could change in just three days’ time.
Though they say a day apart feels like three autumns, it’s not really three autumns.
"Maybe because he’s not inferior anymore, he’s starting to have the air of someone at the top." Xiong Jie spoke thoughtfully.
Feihu held up two fingers. "Any more? Give me one too?"
Xiong Jie took a cigarette out of his bag and handed it to her.
Supplies were tight these days, but as Jiang Che’s direct subordinate—basically his chief steward—it wasn’t a problem for him to get a few packs of cigarettes.
"Inferiority is the hardest thing to get rid of." Feihu sighed with a bit of emotion.
Pride and such are easy to eliminate, just a single blow is enough.
But inferiority—a mindset like that—needs constant work to build up confidence again and again.
"To be honest, I used to think about using his inferiority complex to control him a bit." Feihu didn’t hide her little schemes; she believed Xiong Jie could see through them anyway.
She’d originally wanted to have Jiang Che marry into her family, then slowly start to control him, make him the strongest fighter.
If you ask whether she ever liked Jiang Che, she’d only shake her head.
Love—she always thought that was way too far away from herself.
Especially in this era, when betrayal could come at any moment, love was even more of a distant luxury.
"So obvious, right? Bet you didn’t expect he’d have a wife?" Xiong Jie laughed out loud.
Feihu could see through things at a glance—of course he knew that.
After all, who wouldn’t be tempted by a powerful man with mental problems?
"At first, when I heard him say he had a wife, I just thought it was funny."
"Then when I heard his wife was supposedly some evil spirit, I thought it was even more ridiculous—figured Jiang Che must’ve been possessed."
"Later on..." Feihu took a deep breath. Later she found out Jiang Che’s wife was the Lord.
She just found it unbelievable—a Lord could actually fall for someone as ordinary as Jiang Che.
"Inferiority, huh... That Lord really put her heart into it." The tip of Feihu’s cigarette burned red-hot, quickly shortening.
Her gaze lowered; she didn’t even need to guess to know it was the Lord who’d gotten rid of Jiang Che’s inferiority.
No matter what method she used, or what means she took.
Feihu realized, she believed in love again.
This relationship was stacked with debuffs, but the two of them were still together and doing fine.
Jiang Che headed toward Leng Feng’s dungeon. He’d wanted to sit down and talk with Leng Feng about how to deal with Dark Star next.
After all, Leng Feng was the key to dealing with Dark Star.
The closer he got to Leng Feng’s dungeon, the stranger it all felt.
From far away, he could already see, over by the Dark Forest, a massive shadow rising into the sky—a dense forest of tall buildings thrusting upward.
There were almost no gaps between the buildings; just getting close to them made him feel suffocated.
The closer he got, the more he saw the endless buildings had been linked together.
On every floor you could see countless people moving about; up on top they’d planted some greenery, and inside you saw lights always on, with people cultivating plants indoors.
Before, they had people here guarding, not letting others in or out, to keep the city’s population from overflowing and prompting a Dark Forest invasion.
Now even the guards were gone; all that was left was the dense high-rises, as packed with people as a beehive.
As Jiang Che got closer, the people outside just glanced at him, then went back to their own business.
Approaching this city, a rush of the smell of blood hit him in the face.
The people around seemed used to it—they no longer even looked at their feet being pierced by spikes; by now they were all used to the pain underfoot.
They just thought Jiang Che was another one moving here by bus to live his life out.
"Another one."
"How many people is Leng Feng going to take in? This is insane."
"I can barely breathe. If I’d known, I would’ve stayed to suffer in the other dungeons."
"Other dungeons, once you leave, you can’t go back in—even if you want to leave now, it’s too late."
"But what are you blaming Leng Feng for? From the start, he’s always acted for humanity—he’s just gone to the extreme now."
On the way, Jiang Che could hear all sorts of noisy voices around him.
He was a Lord, walking through Leng Feng’s territory—he could feel the spikes underfoot furiously trying to pierce right through his feet, but they just couldn’t manage it.
"Sure, life here isn’t short on food or drink, but sometimes it makes you wish you were dead."
"Everyone, enough. Leng Feng’s under more pressure than we imagined."
"As long as we’re alive, there’s still a chance for the future."
...
Jiang Che kept walking forward. The moment he stepped onto Leng Feng’s land, he could sense where Leng Feng was.
It seemed as if Leng Feng was deliberately guiding him there.
Jiang Che walked to the elevator on the side. It was Leng Feng’s personal elevator—in a city this packed with people, you needed a green channel like this for anything to get done.
As soon as Jiang Che approached, a receptionist came up to him.
"The Lord has been waiting for you a long time." With that, he opened the elevator and pressed the floor for Jiang Che.
Jiang Che didn’t say anything, just stood quietly in the elevator.
The elevator was small, could fit five or six people at best.
Nobody came with him; he went up alone, straight and still.
Through the transparent glass, he watched floor after floor rise past him. In just a short time, Leng Feng had had everyone use their skills and built a 150-story city.
Every floor now interconnected—you could say each was a city unto itself.
The elevator moved fast; in a moment, Jiang Che was at the top floor.
It was open to the sky up there—not yet fully constructed.
He spotted a small pavilion in the distance, with a few tiny offices newly constructed nearby.
Jiang Che walked toward Leng Feng’s location.
The door opened; Leng Feng stood inside, in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"So, what do you think? Fast, wasn’t it?" Leng Feng looked at Jiang Che and couldn’t help but smile, pointing out at the city outside.
Fast, right?
Five floors. Not fully finished yet.
But they could already fit all the overflow population, people didn’t even have to live crammed together now.
"These spikes of yours... something’s not right." Jiang Che pointed down, at the spikes underfoot wanting to pierce into his flesh.