Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

"Humph."

The ox and horse turned around and faced him with their rear ends.

This kid is getting more and more arrogant; he even wants to use his treasure to do favors.

Where in the metropolis do you find so many people offering help under false pretenses? They're pitifully few when it comes to providing timely assistance. It's time to teach him a lesson.

"Ugh."

Liu Zheng sighed as he opened the food container on the food cart.

He understood what the ox and horse were thinking, and there was nothing to criticize about them.

It was already quite generous of them to lend him the commemorative medal he used to save his life time and time again; he was only asking out of curiosity.

Upon entering the restaurant, a model of a warship came into Liu Zheng's view.

The warships have a Japanese style, which can be seen from the pagoda-shaped bridge.

The framework of this pagoda-style bridge is a seven-legged mast, with various observation posts and design command posts arranged layer by layer on the mast, eventually forming a pagoda, nicknamed "illegal construction".

The reason for designing such an aesthetically unappealing and unsafe bridge was that in the era of battleships bombarding each other with cannons, the farther and more accurate the shot, the better.

In that era of limited technology, raising the bridge of the ship and elevating the firing azimuth plate, rangefinder, and observers to obtain accurate target firing data at a greater distance to guide naval gun firing became a simple, easy, economical, and environmentally friendly option.

Of course, miracles don't always happen with great effort, especially in a highly technological field like naval warfare.

As the range of warships' cannons generally reached over 30 kilometers, far exceeding the visual range of observers (around 20 kilometers), these "illegal structures" disappeared from the historical stage before they could play any role.

The battleship model in front of us is even more impressive. In addition to the "outrageous" bridge, it features a centrally mounted turret, torpedoes mounted on the capital ship, a bunch of useless gun turrets, secondary guns without outer ring anti-aircraft defenses, and so on.

Even with Liu Zheng's rudimentary knowledge of warships, it was clear that if this battleship model were actually built, its greatest use would likely be as a negative example.

At first glance, the floating hotel was deemed utterly incapable of undertaking any combat missions.

The pieces of sushi placed on the deck, gun emplacements, and masts also confirmed his idea.

This dish was clearly created by a knowledgeable employee in the kitchen, driven by some kind of wicked sense of humor.

Liu Zheng carefully placed the sushi into the delivery truck, and the green light came on, indicating that the inspection was successful.

He nodded and put the gunkan sushi back into the lunchbox.

The food containers are specially designed to prevent the sushi from shifting or falling apart during movement.

"Colonel, I need to rent a sports car. Could you drive it for me?"

Liu Zheng said.

Since it's urgent, the sooner the better.

"can."

The driver readily agreed to his request.

As Liu Zheng entered the delivery lane, he wondered if it was just his imagination, but the clearance time seemed to have been shortened considerably this time.

So much so that the driver hadn't appeared even after he exited the passageway.

"Huh, why did they come out so quickly this time?"

The driver's subsequent words proved that this was not an illusion.

"I'm not so sure either."

Liu Zheng shook his head.

The driver is a complex character, both righteous and wicked, just like the white goose, you can't completely open your heart to him.

"Oh. Let's go."

The driver didn't seem particularly interested in knowing either.

"Go to the clinic first."

"Row."

With the driver's launch and flooring of the accelerator, Liu Zheng arrived at the clinic in just three minutes.

"Andromeda".

He called out to the Sphinx.

Since this was the incantation word, he guessed that it was the name of the Sphinx.

"Human, don't think you can be so presumptuous just because you've fed me a few times."

Sure enough, the Sphinx showed a displeased expression, baring its fangs.

"Look what I brought you."

Liu Zheng took out a large ball of yarn.

"Hmph, you think a few dried fish can quell my meowing!"

The sphinx's eyes widened.

It suddenly stood up from its lying position, arched its back, and buried its head between its two large paws, transforming from a sphinx into an "Egyptian spinal dragon".

"So, does this calm your anger down?"

Liu Zheng asked with a smile.

"Give it to me, human! Give it to me now! You are not worthy of such a sacred object!"

"The Sphinx said impatiently."

"I can give it to you, but I have a condition."

He spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Speak quickly. If you dare to go too far, I'll eat you with one paw."

The Sphinx was so excited it couldn't speak.

"From now on, I will call you by your name."

Liu Zheng said.

"Impossible! Human, don't be delusional."

The Sphinx refused without hesitation.

"Then there's nothing I can do. This is a gift for a friend. If I can't even call him by his name, what kind of friend is he?"

He shook his head.

“You simply don’t understand. For humans, a true name is a very important thing, especially for us mythical creatures who are born with a divine name. And since we sphinxes have authority over language, our true names are even more important.”

"The Sphinx said."

"Didn't you already tell me?"

"That's just the activation command for the spell. It won't have any other effect unless I give it permission. If I don't even have that much ability, how dare I be a bodyguard for the Nile?"

The sphinx said proudly.

"let it go."

Liu Zheng put away the large ball of yarn.

"No, I won't allow you to give your baby to another cat!"

The Sphinx immediately panicked.

"I won't give this to any other cat; it's a gift I prepared for you. It either belongs to you or to no one else."

He stared intently into the Sphinx's eyes and spoke earnestly.

What this human said is true.

The Sphinx's authority conveyed this message to it.

This information left it somewhat bewildered.

"You human, give up. There's no way I could ever fall in love with you."

The sphinx spoke somewhat hesitantly.

"You don't need to fall in love with me, just like me, like friends."

Liu Zheng smiled and said.

There are too many people, both human and non-human, who have fallen in love with him; one more would only create more trouble.

"Who would like you, you cricket? You're just a human."

The sphinx turned its head away.

"You can only call me Sphinx or Andor, not my full name."

After a long pause, it said in a muffled voice.

"Then I'll still call you Sphinx. Catch!"

He shouted, then took out a large ball of yarn and threw it forcefully into the air.

"Meow!"

The sphinx spread its eagle-like wings, soared into the sky, bit the large fur ball, and then crashed to the ground.

"Boom!"

It smashed a radial crater into the ground.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

The Nile doctor, clad in armor and armed with weapons, immediately rushed out and saw the Sphinx playing with a ball of yarn on its back.

And Liu Zheng, who was chuckling slyly to the side.

"Sorry to bother you."

He silently shrank back.

"Like it?"

After the sphinx had played for a few minutes, Liu Zheng asked with a smile.

"Hmph, it's alright."

The sphinx rolled over, put the ball of yarn in its mouth, and mumbled something indistinctly.

"I'm glad you like it. You keep playing, I'll go inside and talk to you about something."

He nodded and said.

"Wait a moment."

The Sphinx put down the ball of yarn and said.

"What, do you want me to play with you? I can only play with you for five minutes."

Liu Zheng said with a smile.

"Who needs you to play with me, you self-righteous human? Open your mouth."

"The Sphinx said."

"I need to get some words engraved on it again."

He obediently opened his mouth.

"Humph."

The sphinx grinned maliciously, then pried open his mouth with its long, barbed tongue.

"His!"

Liu Zheng felt a sharp pain and then lost sensation in his mouth.

"Goo!"

The sphinx swallowed his flesh and blood.

"Waaaaaah? (What's going on?)"

Liu Zheng let out a series of unintelligible cries.