Of course, when you thought about it carefully, it wasn't all that surprising.
Back in the day, I'd lived in this pirate city for quite a while. Though I hadn't been able to satisfy all my cravings, I hadn't exactly been reduced to living on nutrition paste, either. I could always get my hands on some frozen meat, canned food, or dehydrated vegetables.
I'd even come across some high-end ingredients a few times. I just hadn't thought they were important.
"Not only did we eat there, we even ate and took some with us," Feifei added.
In truth, Great Freedom City's wealth was even greater than Yu Lian had imagined. According to everyone, the moment they disembarked—before they'd even had a chance to attend the banquet—the city's administrators had offered them at least ten billion New Eden credits' worth of valuables. The haul included precious metals, gemstones, cash, and even bearer securities.
They hadn't even called it "ransom to buy their lives." They'd simply described it as a tiny, insignificant gift to welcome them and make a friend, keeping their attitude as humble as possible.
They said you didn't hit someone who greeted you with a smile. The banquet and negotiations that followed were naturally quite cordial.
Colonel Singh, who was in charge of intelligence, reported to Yu Lian that all eleven of Great Freedom City's administrators had attended, except for the two who were out of town. The current chief administrator—the equivalent of the city's mayor—was a Kaldan gnome named Bache. Short and stocky, he was efficient, honest-faced, and smooth-spoken. He didn't look at all like he could fight, let alone like a ruthless underworld boss. He looked more like a well-trained banker.
That made sense. A good banker couldn't look too shrewd or mercenary. He had to seem