Chapter 39: The Competition Festival, Section 3

Lord Blackhair?
In an instant, all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head, his heart constricting as if held tightly by an invisible hand. His usually calm gaze suddenly sharpened like a blade, fixed intently on the old man across from him. This lasted for a good while before he finally let out a long sigh, his expression softening again.
“When did you find out?”
As he spoke, Lord Blackhair reverted to his usual lazy demeanor, finding a chair in the living room to sit in. He poured himself another glass of red wine. With such a relaxed posture, where was any trace of the pretense of respect?
Yet, his behavior piqued the curiosity of Duke Ziyuan.
“Oh? You admit it so easily? Lord Blackhair, don’t you realize that if I speak now, you’ll become my captive in an instant and be delivered to His Majesty the Emperor? I imagine he’d be delighted to see the miserable state of an enemy commander.”
“If pretending helps, I’m not afraid to keep going. But since Duke Ziyuan has spoken, you must be 80% sure already. Wouldn’t continuing to pretend be a joke?” Lord Blackhair took a careless sip of wine, closing his eyes to savor its unique flavor. After a while, he smiled.
“Pretty good wine. It has a distinctive taste. I doubt I’ll ever forget it in my life.”
“If you like it, you can take it with you when you’re taken away. Those who know me well know I’m usually lenient with captives,” Duke Ziyuan said with a smile, his gaze on Lord Blackhair growing even more intriguing, as if examining a rare toy. He didn’t stop Lord Blackhair from lazily stuffing the remaining half of the bottle into his arms.
“Then I won’t be polite, Duke Ziyuan. Now, send away these boring spectators. I doubt you’d like extra ears listening in while we talk.” Stretching his limbs, Lord Blackhair casually spoke.
The smile in Duke Ziyuan’s eyes deepened. He watched Lord Blackhair quietly for a while before shaking his head. With a gentle wave of his dry hand, the naked beautiful girl promptly left obediently. Then, Lord Blackhair sensed many strange auras appearing in the living room.

These auras were all subtle, with different frequencies. Yet one thing was common: before this, Hei Fa had not sensed their existence at all. It was only after Duke Zi Yan waved his hand gently that these auras suddenly appeared in every corner of the room, as if they had always been there. They appeared abruptly and vanished just as quickly. In the blink of an eye, Hei Fa could no longer sense them.

“Three hundred seventy-six people. Duke Zi Yan, it’s quite impressive that your subordinates managed to bring so many guards into such a small room without being noticed. The difficulty of that is extremely high.” Hei Fa raised his eyebrows slightly, speaking in a teasing tone. At the same time, his appearance began to change slowly but noticeably. The green skin unique to the Bor tribe shrank and peeled away like rotten mud, revealing the bronze-colored skin typical of humans. His face also gradually distorted, but in just a moment, he returned to his original human appearance.

Throughout this process, Duke Zi Yan remained silent, merely observing Hei Fa with keen interest as he transformed from a Bor tribesman into a human man with black hair. He seemed utterly unconcerned about Hei Fa’s question.

“That’s just some childish nonsense. I suppose His Excellency Hei Fa’s Blood Wolf isn’t far behind, right? But you still seem so relaxed. Aren’t you worried that I might capture you right away? Or are you testing a great duke’s patience?”

“It’s not a test of your patience; it’s simply unnecessary.” Hei Fa shook his head and stood up from the armchair. The removal of his disguise earlier had stripped away much of his Bor flesh, leaving the chair in disarray. He had to find another seat. After wiping himself with a handkerchief for a while, he finally raised his head and glanced carefully at the duke across from him.

“If you wanted to expose me, you wouldn’t have needed to meet in person, let alone ask your guards to leave because of what I said. To be blunt, Duke Zi Yan, I don’t believe you can capture me. As for why you’d do this—aren’t we about to discuss that?”

“Nonsense!!” Duke Zi Yan laughed loudly and waved his hand dismissively. In an instant, a domineering aura swept through the entire living room, making even Hei Fa feel suffocated and greatly alarmed.

How could this still be an old man on his deathbed? This was clearly a ruler who could conquer the world! Could such a powerful and fierce aura really come from this seemingly dying old man?

“You, a minor lord of a tiny racial settlement. Your possessions consist of just a few thousand toy ships and a few small planets. Though you’ve been quite active lately, I really can’t see any reason to pay you attention. With a mere flick of my finger, I could erase your entire existence from the universe. Yet here you are, thinking arrogantly that I won’t touch you. I truly can’t figure out what gives you such confidence—or rather, such arrogance.”

“That’s not arrogance. You can’t do anything to me!” the black-haired man said firmly.

“Why not?” Duke Ziyuan sneered disdainfully.

“Because you’re Duke Ziyuan.” The smile faded from the black-haired man’s face as he grew serious. “Duke Ziyuan isn’t some reckless and arrogant fool. My resources may be small, but he should be able to see the strength hidden within them.”

“That’s right—just a few thousand toy ships, a few small planets, and a population of less than a hundred million. In Duke Ziyuan’s eyes, these indeed mean nothing. But they’re different from any other race you’ve encountered before. Very different.”

“Oh? Tell me, how are they different?” Duke Ziyuan suddenly laughed, as if he’d seen something interesting.

But the black-haired man paid no mind to his condescending attitude, as it was only natural. After all, no one could expect someone with such immense power to treat them equally. As Duke Ziyuan said, it would take him nothing more than a flick of his finger to erase an entire race. How could he expect such a person to show him respect?

Yet, the black-haired man suddenly had another idea. He wanted to take a gamble—bet that the other party was a true hero, a real leader.

So, he said seriously to Duke Ziyuan, “What makes them different is their leader.”

“It’s me. That’s all.”

Confidence! It was confidence bordering on arrogance! By the Mother Goddess Tia, Duke Ziyuan had never met anyone so confident in his life. Though this confidence seemed somewhat unfounded, even illusory, the moment the black-haired man spoke, Duke Ziyuan suddenly had a feeling—as if this human man would definitely do what he said.

There was no reason, just intuition. Yet Duke Ziyuan seemed to see the black-haired man in a new light. At first, he was stunned, then suddenly burst into laughter—so intense that he coughed from struggling to breathe.

Hei Fa did not smile. He simply stared coldly at Duke Zi Yan. He watched as the other man laughed uncontrollably, watched him cough, watched him laugh until tears streamed down his face. It was not until the other man could barely stop due to his coughing that Hei Fa spoke calmly.
“Done laughing?”
“Mm.” Duke Zi Yan nodded.
“Was it very funny?”
“Mm.” He nodded again.
“Then are my reasons good enough?”
“Good. Very good.”
“Are they sufficient?”
“Mm, extremely sufficient.”
“Since they’re both good and sufficient, shouldn’t you give me something in return?”
“That’s right.” Duke Zi Yan nodded. “Although the information I received described you in detail, I never met you in person. Yet I still didn’t realize you were such an interesting guy. You’re even more arrogant than described in the reports.”
“Was I arrogant before?”
“Arrogant, extremely arrogant. Everything you’ve done proves that.” Duke Zi Yan reached out and tapped Hei Fa’s nose. “That’s also why I wanted to meet you.”
“Well, what were the results of those actions recently?” Hei Fa, seemingly unaware of Duke Zi Yan’s gesture, continued talking as if nothing had happened.
“Undeniably, those actions were successful.”
“Since they were successful, can what I’ve done and said still be called arrogance? Or am I merely stating a fact?”
“That’s right. I admit it now.” Duke Zi Yan nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll spare you or value you. You must prove that you truly deserve it, that you have value.”
“I see…” Hei Fa shook his wine glass and drank the remaining red wine in one gulp. “You’re right. That’s the real reason you came to see me, isn’t it? Well, let me guess—what do you need me to do to prove my value?”
Duke Zi Yan didn’t answer. Instead, he gazed at Hei Fa with a strange look. The meaning behind it was clear to both of them. After a long while, Hei Fa chuckled.
“The competition is indeed an interesting affair. I suppose I shouldn’t miss it. But if I don’t compete on behalf of Duke Tarot, it might not be good, right? After all, no one in this world likes traitors.”
“I don’t like them either,” Duke Zi Yan replied. “So I really don’t care who you represent. All I want to see is your ability.”
“And the support hidden beneath the surface?” Hei Fa smiled, a sly smile, like that of a little fox.

“That depends on how your value is demonstrated. But I would indeed like to gain the friendship of a new noble of the empire—provided this noble is highly favored by His Majesty the Emperor.” Duke Ziyuan was also smiling, like an old fox. “Deal!”