Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

"Aren't you going to ask me what will happen to the cattle and horses on the farm? Are they just destined to continue being livestock for generations to come?"

The ox and horse suddenly opened their eyes and stared straight at it.

"When you are successful, you should help others; when you are unsuccessful, you should cultivate your own virtue."

He shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

Niu Ma asked with a serious expression.

"It means that when a person strives, they must consider both their own strength and the course of history."

“You speak Common Tongue, or I’ll make you die alongside my father.”

The oxen and horses raised their hooves.

"Do what you are capable of. If you can expand and grow the cattle and horse family, and eventually occupy a place on the power pyramid in the metropolis, you will naturally be able to help the cattle and horses on the farm."

Liu Zheng had no choice but to be even more direct.

"But it just doesn't feel right."

The ox and horse sighed.

"If you want to live life to the fullest, don't start a family. If you do start a family, don't live life to the fullest. Live well and leave opportunities for the next generation."

He stepped forward and patted the ox and horse on the shoulder.

"When did it become your place to lecture me?"

The cattle and horses swatted his tentacles aside.

“If you really don’t work out, I’ll find a chance to blow up Farm 103.”

Liu Zheng comforted him.

"Don't you plan to settle down and start a family?"

Niu Ma glanced at him sideways.

"Let's talk about it later. I'm still young, and it's the time for me to focus on my career."

He said perfunctorily.

"I think it's time to stir up trouble."

The ox and horse muttered.

"That's about right, don't worry about the details. I'm off now, I still need to exchange coffins with the plane trees. Remember to return the trolley for me."

After Liu Zheng finished speaking, he turned and left.

The ox and horse opened their mouths as if to call out to him, but in the end they closed their mouths.

"Damn it, humans are just annoying beasts of burden."

After Liu Zheng had walked away, Niu Ma started cursing loudly.

After cursing, it carried Niu Dafa's corpse out of the lounge and headed towards the kitchen.

A moment later, it came back.

"Damn, I forgot."

The oxen and horses placed Niu Dafa's body onto two carts and pushed them away together.

-

"Hello, please sign for your takeout."

Liu Zheng jumped out of the truck and said with a smile.

Do you know how infuriating that statement is?

The plane tree gave him a disapproving look.

How much of a jerk are you?

"Second on the list of deadly pranks in Metropolis, what do you think?"

"It's a plane tree," said the French plane tree.

"If this only ranks second, then what's number one?"

Liu Zheng asked curiously.

"Want to know?"

"Yes I do."

"Hehe, I'm not telling you."

The plane tree said proudly.

"Then I won't show you the wood elf's corpse."

He shrugged.

"Hmph, you wouldn't dare. We signed a contract based on the rings of time. If you dare to break the contract, I can eat you up anytime."

The plane tree has a smug look to it.

"Yes, I promised to get you the corpse of a wood elf, but I haven't gotten it yet."

Liu Zheng raised an eyebrow and said.

"What are you doing here if you didn't get anything? Get lost and don't keep me from basking in the moonlight."

"I can't stand it," the plane tree said impatiently.

"The moon hasn't risen yet, has it?"

He looked at the dim sky and said.

"Mind your own business. Get away from me. With a filthy human like you emitting stench next to me, my chloroplasts are going to get unclean."

The French plane tree directly attacked people.

"Really? Then I'm really leaving. Don't regret it."

Liu Zheng raised an eyebrow and said.

"Hmph, stupid."

Just as the plane tree was about to make a vow, it suddenly realized something was wrong.

"You idiot, what mischief are you up to now?"

It asked suspiciously.

"Why don't you take a guess first?"

Liu Zheng said with a grin.

"No guessing. Tell me now, or I'll pick you up and drive you into the ground."

The plane trees are a threat.

"Tch, it's no fun chatting with you guys, all you know is how to use violence."

He curled his lips.

"Hmph, you have to use violence to deal with you humans. I'm not a devil, I'm not going to play mind games with you."

"Say it quickly."

The plane trees urged on.

"Alright, although I didn't bring the corpse of the wood elf, I brought something better."

Liu Zheng opened the car door and dragged out the corpse of the Wood Elf royal family.

"This is... an idiot human, get out of the way!"

The plane tree suddenly shouted.

Although he didn't know what had happened, his trust in the plane trees was second only to that of cattle and horses, so he rolled to the side without hesitation.

The next second, a huge mouth that looked like a fish or a frog emerged from the ground and swallowed the corpse of the wood elf royal family whole.

If Liu Zheng hadn't dodged, he would have been bitten in half at the waist.

"Trying to steal from me? You're asking for death!"

The plane tree said angrily.

A spiral-shaped tree root, like a drill bit, also emerged from the ground, piercing directly through the gaping maw and emerging from the other side.

After swallowing the corpse, the unknown creature tried to retreat back underground, but it was blocked by the tree root and could not retreat at all, just like a fish caught on a fishing hook.

"Get out here, you bastard!"

As the words of the French plane tree faded, several more tree roots emerged from the black soil and wrapped around the drill bit's roots, reinforcing them to a thickness even greater than Liu Zheng's.

Then, several tree roots worked together to pull the unknown creature out of the ground little by little.

"What the hell is this?"

Liu Zheng's eyes widened.

Beneath the large mouth was a bizarre head, covered with fish scales and gills, yet possessing whiskers resembling those of a rat.

Its body was even more deformed, with six limbs that were indistinguishable as hands or feet covered in thick, shiny gray fur, while its torso was bare and pale.

Both its torso and limbs are extremely slender, like a tall human suffering from anorexia, seemingly unable to support its enormous head.

"I wondered what it was, but it turns out to be a mutated creature from the sewers. No wonder it dared to cause trouble on my turf."

The plane tree sneered.

"Mutant creatures from the sewers?"

Before Liu Zheng could ask a question, it retracted its roots and then tossed the fish-headed monster into the air.

Then its trunk trembled, and all the leaves on its branches flew off and swarmed towards the fish-headed monster like a swarm of bees.

Countless bits of flesh dripped down along with blood that shimmered like a sewer river, and in an instant, the fish-headed monster was skinned alive into a pile of bones, with not a single strand of flesh left.

From the moment it was discovered until it was killed, it didn't even have a chance to fight back.

"As expected of the boss of Rose Street, Niu Ma deserved the beating he received."

Looking at the plane tree carefully catching the corpse of the wood elf royal, Liu Zheng couldn't help but admire it.

"You big idiot!"

The plane tree placed the corpse of the wood elf king on the black soil, covered it completely with its roots, and then began to curse loudly.

"What's wrong with me?"

Liu Zheng asked helplessly.

"Don't you know that you shouldn't flaunt your wealth? You just openly took out something so conspicuous?"

"What should I do? This thing won't fit in the delivery box."

He shrugged.

"Besides, haven't we traded a lot of good stuff before? We didn't pull this stunt."

He defended himself.

"Nonsense, those are for use, this is for eating, how can they be the same?"

"Something that can elevate the essence of life, if placed outside the city, would be enough to trigger a war between forces. It's only because it's inside the city that I dare not say we can hold it."

The plane tree cursed.

"But you didn't tell me beforehand. I'm just an ordinary human being, how would I know so much?"

Liu Zheng said dismissively.

“Puree! Who knew you could get your hands on the corpse of a Wood Elf royal family member?”

The plane tree couldn't help but utter a French curse.

"You underestimate me. We've done so many deals, and every single one of them has exceeded my target."