On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

"Everyone, it's okay."

The silence among the demi-humans was finally broken by a voice that, though feigning strength, still retained a hint of childishness.

The sound came from the warehouse at the very back. A petite girl slowly walked out. She was not tall, only about 1.56 meters, with black hair, black ears, and a black tail. Black cats are actually an ominous symbol among cat people. That's probably why her parents named her Xue, hoping that her snow-white name could dilute some of the bad luck on her.

Following behind the black cat girl were several reluctant young demi-humans.

"Sister Xue, don't go! No!"

"Waaah... We don't want to leave Sister Xue, waaah..."

"You can't sell Sister Xue to bad people! We, we won't allow it!"

These demi-human children surrounding the petite girl kept pulling at her, and some of the boys even ran in front of Xue, spreading their arms to protect her.

Asuka is the youngest among the adult demi-humans. Having just come of age, she is at a pivotal stage, so she is mainly responsible for taking care of the children in the Revolutionary Army.

"Sweetie, stop making a fuss and go back now."

"Don't worry, Sister Xue wasn't sold to bad guys, she's going to fight them. Don't you all trust Sister Xue?"

"Oh, and I'll let you in on a secret: once I, Sister Xue, subdue that bad guy, we won't have to go hungry anymore! We'll have lots and lots of money to buy lots and lots of food! We'll be able to eat meat every single day!"

Ah Xue squatted down to comfort the children who were trying to stop her. When the children heard this, especially the promise that they wouldn't go hungry and would even have meat to eat, many of the demi-human children couldn't help but salivate.

They were all growing, but their daily meals consisted of only a pitiful amount of potato porridge. Sometimes, when things were tough, food within the Revolutionary Army had to be prioritized for adult demi-humans with fighting abilities, leaving these little ones to go hungry.

"Go, Sister Xue! You must come back! I'll pinky swear, it's a promise!"

"Mmm, pinky promise!"

Only after the children obediently retreated were the black cat girl able to turn her attention back to the people in the meeting.

Seeing the pitying and heartbroken looks on everyone's faces, Xue smiled easily and shook her head.

“I heard everything from behind, so I’ll take on this task.”

"Ah Xue."

Hu Jiu couldn't resist and rushed over to hug the black cat girl. Da Shan, who was standing next to her, sighed and looked away with reluctance.

Feelings are important, but Leng She stepped forward, gesturing for Hu Jiu to step aside. His icy snake eyes met Ah Xue's, and he said earnestly:

"Ah Xue, this operation is crucial for us. It can be said that one move affects the whole situation and concerns our future. So, you should understand what I mean. For our future, some necessary sacrifices are unavoidable. You must be mentally prepared. Our future is entirely in your hands."

"Yes, don't worry, Brother Cold Snake, and everyone else too."

The black cat girl nodded emphatically. Her gaze swept over all the revolutionaries present, including the demi-humans forced to wear collars around their necks, and the children who had just become pale and emaciated.

Ah Xue clenched her fists tightly inside her sleeve, and she solemnly promised, word by word:

"I will do it."

"I will definitely seize the future for everyone!"

the next day.

Liao Ji's residence.

Before dawn, Liao Ji's pager went off.

After Liao Ji answered the call, a familiar voice came from the other end.

"Mr. Liao Ji, the new goods you requested have been prepared urgently last night. However, due to the short timeframe, I simply cannot find enough slaves that meet your requirements, so there is only one available this time."

"Please don't worry, although the quantity is small, you can absolutely trust the quality, because she is a cat-person!"

Roland, who called Liao Ji again, sounded very ordinary, but he was actually very nervous. The Demi-human Revolutionary Army soldiers surrounding him were also very nervous.

The most crucial part of this plan is that Liao Ji must accept this slave; otherwise, without an inside man, they won't be able to figure out Liao Ji's background, and the risks of the operation will increase dramatically.

After a brief silence, the other end of the microphone...

Liao Ji's voice rang out.

It was the frivolous voice of a rich young master, full of mockery.

"Tsk tsk, Mr. Roland."

"How did you know? I'm the kind of person who loves catgirls the most."

5600 words per chapter!

Chapter 80: A Different Kind of Noble?

When Liao Ji returned to Roland, the several cages of demi-humans he had seen the day before were all empty, with only one left in the last cage. Clearly, that was the one Roland had prepared for him.

“Mr. Liao Ji, you see, I didn’t lie to you, it’s definitely a purebred, top-quality cat-person.” Roland enthusiastically led Liao Ji to the cage.

He was just about to introduce Ah Xue's specific breed, bloodline, and household skills to Liao Ji when Liao Ji raised his hand, seemingly impatient, and interrupted him.

Afterwards, Liao Ji paced around the cage, as if inspecting the goods. Under Liao Ji's gaze, the catgirl inside the cage, like most demi-human slaves, huddled in a corner, burying her face in her knees, her body trembling.

Seeing that Liao Ji hadn't spoken yet, Roland was afraid that Liao Ji would change his mind, so he quickly pretended to knock on the cage a few more times to signal Ah Xue. The cat girl inside was immediately forced to lift her face. Although she was dirty and tear-stained, it was not hard to see that she was still a beauty. After all, she was a cat-person, and basically all female cat-people were among the most beautiful in human aesthetics.

Ok

When Liao Ji saw Ah Xue's face, he was stunned for a moment. Of course, he wasn't captivated, but rather he saw a sense of familiarity in it.

"Mr. Liao Ji? Mr. Liao Ji?" From Roland's perspective, Liao Ji froze after Ah Xue revealed her face, clearly captivated by her. He quickly called out a few times, wanting to strike while the iron was hot.

"Alright, let's go with her. How much?"

"Two hundred thousand Ash Coins. You know how highly sought-after a Cat-Human Demi-human is in the market right now, Mr. Liao Ji."

Two hundred thousand is an astronomical price for a beastman slave without combat ability, even a catgirl. Roland and the other demi-humans of the Revolutionary Army did not actually intend to ask for such an exorbitant price, but instead adopted a strategy of selling at a low price so that they could be sure that A-Xue would be bought by Liao Ji.

However, the reason why they are still asking for such an exorbitant price is actually Ah Xue's idea. She set the price herself, hoping to raise as much emergency funds as possible for the revolutionary army. Recently, because someone has been impersonating them and causing trouble everywhere, the funds they can raise are getting less and less. Now there are gaps in the money supply everywhere. With this 200,000, they can at least solve the immediate crisis and make more thorough preparations for subsequent actions.

Roland thought it would take some persuasion to get Liao Ji to accept the price, and Ah Xue in the cage was ready to cooperate and entice Liao Ji to spend money on her. But before they could even begin, the young man's indifferent voice rang out.

"Two hundred thousand is too little, how about five hundred thousand? Do you want cash or bank transfer?"

What

Roland's prepared remarks were all stuck in his throat. He had been in business for quite a while, but he had never seen a young man like the one in front of him who would try to bargain in the opposite direction, and even more than double the price. For a moment, Roland was speechless and stood there dumbfounded.

Compared to Roland, Xue in the cage was actually more surprised. The catgirl was completely stunned. For the Revolutionary Army, they wished they could split a single dollar in half to spend. Xue felt that her asking for 200,000 was already very bold, and it was also the last bit of stubbornness in her heart. But now, 500,000?

With this 500,000, not only can the Revolutionary Army upgrade their outdated weapons and equipment, but this extra fund will also make it easier for Cold Serpent and his men to gather intelligence. Furthermore, the children will likely no longer go hungry starting tonight.

"Cash, please." Roland hadn't quite come to his senses yet, and only stammered out a mechanical reply.

Liao Ji didn't waste any more words and waved to Yilin behind him. Last night, they had exchanged a lot of cash checks from the "Black Gold Bank". After writing down 500,000, whoever received the check could exchange it for 500,000 Ash Coins.

Previously in the Holy Kingdom, when Brian gave him the "newbie gift pack," it was also through the Black Gold Bank's account. Because the Black Gold Bank has the "independent city" of Magic City as its backer, it has the three points of absolute security and reliability, absolute privacy and confidentiality, and absolute neutrality. Therefore, it is very popular among major countries and organizations and can be considered the number one bank in the world.

Looking at the check for 500,000 in his hand, Roland still felt like he was dreaming. It wasn't until Liao Ji urged him that he snapped out of his daze and quickly helped Liao Ji open the cage, "delivering" Ah Xue inside to Liao Ji.

Everything went smoothly after that. For example, Roland explained to Liao Ji that he couldn't help Liao Ji and A Xue establish a slave contract for the time being because A Xue had just changed masters once, and if he wanted to change the contract again, he would have to wait a week. This was common in the slave trade. Roland gave Liao Ji a contract pendant, which could be used to temporarily replace the contract to control A Xue. He would change to a new contract after a week.

All of this was actually to cover up the fact that their slave contracts were fake. Roland and Ah Xue were extremely cautious and nervous in every step they took with Liao Ji, but in reality, they were worrying too much. Even when Roland prepared for Liao Ji to test the slave contract and inspect it, Liao Ji waved his hand and skipped it.

It probably took less than ten minutes in total, except for one unexpected little incident.

"Mr. Roland, are you perhaps still a believer in the church?" Liao Ji pointed to a cross pendant that had inadvertently peeked out from Roland's collar.

"No, no, I'm just curious. I've only recently come across it and it's new to me."

As Roland spoke, he quickly straightened his collar and hid the cross again. This wouldn't have been a problem in the original Dragon Kingdom, but now that the Empress had declared war on the Holy Kingdom, revealing something from the Holy Kingdom would cause trouble.

To Roland's relief, Liao Ji did not delve into the topic, and after this little incident, the handover of the slaves was soon completed.

Standing at the shop entrance, Roland watched as Ah Xue was taken away by Liao Ji, getting further and further away from them. His eyes were filled with nothing but worry.

The remaining hidden demi-humans also emerged at this time. It was the eldest sister, the fox clan member hope Yun, who spoke up, saying that now was not the time for sadness, but to seize the time to quickly prepare for action and strive to bring Ah Xue back as soon as possible.

"Yes, we must believe in Ah Xue!"

Leading the newly purchased catgirl slave, Liao Ji did not leave the slave market directly. Instead, he turned a corner, found a less crowded area, and stopped.

"Eileen, put that on her."

Which one should wear it?

Listening to the noble youth's words, a bad feeling rose in Ah Xue's heart.

Many human nobles, in order to satisfy certain peculiar fetishes, resort to various "measures" and methods against demi-humans. Ah Xue thought her darkness would at least extend to the mansion, but she hadn't expected the young man to be so impatient, wanting to directly confront her in such a place.

Ah Xue lowered her head, forcing back her tears of fear, and closed her eyes tightly in terror.

But the next second, she heard a "whoosh" and it seemed like she was wearing a new set of clothes.

No, that's a cloak.

The young nobleman's servant draped a large cloak over her shoulders, as if he had prepared it in advance. Afterward, he even covered the cloak's hood, completely concealing her two conspicuous pairs of black cat ears, and the cat tail at the back was also hidden under the wide cloak.

After doing all this, Ah Xue was still bewildered, only to hear the young man and the servant looking her up and down and then talking to each other.

"So, Irene, if you were just a casual observer, could you tell she's a catgirl?"

"You can't tell at all! Once this cloak is put on, not only her, but I feel that any other orc could look like a human."

"Hmph, now you know why so many powerful people like to wear cloaks, right? Cloaks are magical artifacts!"

The young man's smug explanation only made Ah Xue more confused and bewildered.

What does that mean?

Could it be that he doesn't want others to discover his cat-human identity?

That's not right!

In Ah Xue's memory, these human nobles should be the ones who love to show off the most. They would take pleasure in leading rare demi-human slaves on the street and enjoying the envious glances of others. Many nobles even had a special competition at banquets to see who could bring out the best demi-human slaves, using it as a way to save face.

But now, that young man wants to hide his identity as a cat-person?

There was no time to give Ah Xue any more time to understand, because Liao Ji walked up to her, and this should be considered the first thing Liao Ji actually said to her.

"So, what's your name?"

"What are you yelling about?"

"It's your name, your name," Liao Ji repeated.