Hall Leader Liu gently pushed aside the tea leaves floating on the surface of his tea with his left hand, blowing on it as he shook his head.
"Are you saying you don't know? Or is it not?"
Jiang Sisi saw Hall Leader Liu shaking his head and didn't know what he meant; surely he wasn't just blowing on the tea to cool it.
"I don't know, but one thing is certain."
"Oh, what is it?"
"Whether it's the Storm Clan or the Dwarf, for some unknown reason, they know part of the truth but cannot speak of it. Currently, it seems only humans are completely in the dark."
Hong Ziyu sat to one side, looking at Hall Leader Liu, then at Jiang Sisi, and finally, as if seeking help, looked towards Old Zhou, who had just walked in.
"What are they talking about? What did that Dwarf let slip?"
Old Zhou sat down beside Hong Ziyu, his expression solemn as he explained.
"He said that 'the higher-ups' would not allow humans to become the masters of Obsidian Town."
"What's wrong with that sentence? Is there a problem?" Hong Ziyu still didn't understand.
"First, the Hall Leader said that the various clans above are suppressing humans, but this was only the Hall Leader's guess. Master Fran, being one of the various clans, heard it but did not deny it."
"Wait, I saw him eating just like me the whole time; what if he simply didn't pay attention?"
During the meal, Hong Ziyu had been eating very seriously because those dishes were his favorites.
"Second, even if Master Fran truly didn't hear that sentence, it still doesn't make sense. Because whether it's us or that girl, when we discuss Obsidian Town, we always start from the Unyielding Hall and never mention humans."
"But Master Fran's exact words were, 'the higher-ups will not allow humans to become the masters of Obsidian Town.' Did you notice? It was 'humans,' not 'Unyielding Hall,' which is almost an admission that they are indeed suppressing the development of humans."
Hong Ziyu was dumbfounded, having not thought of this step at all.
"What if Master Fran just had a slip of the tongue?"
"Oh, young man, don't underestimate Master Fran; his thoughts are much more subtle than his appearance suggests."
Based on Jiang Sisi's observations of Fran and the information she possessed, this Dwarf master, though irritable, was meticulous beneath his rough exterior, and it was highly probable that he intentionally let something slip.
"Yes, but what exactly do the various clans want? With the military strength of their High Heaven City, if they truly wanted to annihilate us, they wouldn't need all this trouble."
Old Zhou rubbed his brow; although they had long suspected it, when the plight of humans was truly confirmed, it still gave them a headache.
"Hall Leader Liu, what do you think their purpose is?"
Jiang Sisi looked again at Hall Leader Liu, who had remained silent.
Previously, with Master Fran present, they represented three different factions.
But after Master Fran left, Jiang Sisi's position became very subtle; she could represent 'them' from the Town Lord's Mansion, or 'us' representing humanity.
"Rearing..."
"What?"
"They seem to be... rearing humans."
"What does Hall Leader Liu mean by that?"
Although Jiang Sisi got the unexpected answer she desired, she still found it difficult to understand.
"Miss Jiang, have you ever considered that Obsidian Town has been established for a long time, and we have only been here for a short year or two, yet both the Unyielding Hall and Cross Street are considered first-class powers in the town? How did we manage that?"
With Hall Leader Liu's prompting, Jiang Sisi finally realized this strange question.
After all, she hadn't been in town for long and hadn't experienced the rise of the Unyielding Hall and Cross Street, so she naturally wasn't as sensitive to these changes as Hall Leader Liu.
"At first, I didn't understand either, and I thought it was because the strong cultivators of the various clans would all go to High Heaven City after breaking through to Nine Star, which led to a lack of high-end combat power for them, giving the humans, whose foundation was still shallow, an opportunity."
"However, later I found that this was not the main reason."
"Miss Jiang, have you ever noticed how many people in the Storm Clan of the Town Lord's Mansion broke through after the last beast tide?"
At Hall Leader Liu's question, Jiang Sisi's brows furrowed even deeper.
She thought carefully and realized that after the beast tide, very few people in the Storm Clan had broken through.
"Did you notice? Humans break through much faster than the other clans."
"After we reach Black Iron Nine-Star, if we want to make further progress, we must also go to High Heaven City, but High Heaven City does not have its own human forces."
"To seek further breakthroughs, dependence seems to be the only way out."
"Humans are like a species being reared; for certain purposes, the various clans restrict resources and strictly control the number of us 'released from the pen' to ensure we don't get out of control."
"Although there are still some questions I can't figure out, the situation for humans seems grim."
"After arriving in Obsidian Town, because of the safe environment, many people's evolution speed has slowed down, which is understandable, but precisely because of this, taking control of Obsidian Town is even more crucial for us."
As Hall Leader Liu finished his last sentence, the sky outside just happened to darken.
Two children, who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old, walked in from the side hall, activated the electrical crystals in front of the hall, and then skipped and chased each other as they left.
The main hall lit up, and on the wall behind Hall Leader Liu, the plaque of the Unyielding Hall hung high, with the hall's motto, "Heaven and Earth are not benevolent, the common people are unrighteous," written on the wall beneath it.
Jiang Sisi originally felt that Hall Leader Liu lived a very tiring life; after all, he constantly spoke of the greater good of the race, which she could not understand.
In Jiang Sisi's view, under the iron law of the jungle in the Different World , egoism was the key to becoming stronger and surviving.
But when she saw the two children and the hall's motto on the wall, she somewhat understood.
Unlike a false nobility, she saw true "great heroes who serve their country and people" in this man.
Although Jiang Sisi still thought Hall Leader Liu was thinking too far ahead, the struggle between races would one day turn into a massive wheel that would crush everyone.
Not everyone had the ability to stop the giant wheel.
Before they were crushed to pieces, it was a good thing that there were those who were willing to take the lead and rally people to stand up.
Jiang Sisi drained the tea in her cup, then stood up.
"Hall Leader Liu, rest assured, I won't have eaten this meal for nothing today. The Storm Clan, having been suppressed by other clans before, may not be of one mind with them."
"Although an alliance will, in some sense, infringe upon the interests of the Town Lord's Mansion, Obsidian Town is essentially a place where strength reigns supreme, and the Town Lord's Mansion has long been a mere formality."
"From the Town Lord's perspective, as long as the distribution of benefits is reasonable, I believe the Storm Clan will instead be the best 'accomplices' for humans."
"It's getting late today, so I won't bother you further. I should go back and report to the Town Lord."
After Jiang Sisi finished speaking, she walked towards the door.
Hall Leader Liu and Old Zhou stood up to see her off, escorting her all the way to the main entrance of the Unyielding Hall.
After walking a few steps, Jiang Sisi suddenly turned back and asked.
"Oh, by the way, Hall Leader Liu, there's one more thing I'm curious about."
"Back then, you intentionally allowed Cross Street to grow, didn't you?"
Hall Leader Liu did not answer, merely continued to wave goodbye to Jiang Sisi.
Seeing this, Jiang Sisi did not press further, turned, and walked away.
She had already received her answer.