Tie Tou immediately got to work after Bai Qi's help made him the new underground emperor. He purged the remnants of Kingpin's crew, promoted and cultivated his own loyal followers, consolidated power, and developed new industries. He poured all his effort into it, not daring to pause for a moment, for fear that Bai Qi would be displeased on his next visit, and that his own round head would be removed from his shoulders.
As the saying goes, what you fear most is what happens. Tie Tou was so exhausted from working day and night that he was about to doze off at his desk.
Just as he was about to lie down, Bai Qi arrived with Xiao Yu, startling Tie Tou so much that he fell under the desk.
He peeked out from under the desk at the strange little girl Bai Qi had brought back.
As a demon, Tie Tou couldn't believe that such a young, inexperienced little girl dared to speak to him that way, and yet she was still alive and well. Tie Tou imagined that the demon must have some peculiar fetish, and this girl was a carefully dressed plaything to appease him, which was why she dared to speak so boldly.
But Tie Tou soon realized he was wrong, and terribly wrong. This was no ordinary little girl; she was a little devil herself.
Despite her small stature and young age, she could summon those terrifying black-clad ninjas. And from their appearance, the ones summoned by this girl seemed even more terrifying than those summoned by the demon.
Tie Tou was a sensible man. He knew that neither his master nor this blue-skinned little girl were individuals he, a mere mortal, could afford to provoke.
As the saying goes, when gods fight, mortals suffer. He, an ordinary person, should just hide and pretend not to see.
The result was that Tie Tou, curled up under the desk, had his limbs numb and lost all sensation due to fear. With a sharp shout from Xiao Yu, his body instinctively twitched, his head bumped against the desk, and a cup on the desk fell, leading to the scene at the beginning.
Knowing he had been discovered, Tie Tou sheepishly emerged from under the desk.
Fortunately, besides Bai Qi and Xiao Yu, there was no one else in the office. Otherwise, Tie Tou's subordinates would have been flabbergasted. This was hardly the demeanor of an underground emperor; he looked like a scolded elementary school student.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Tie Tou stammered, "Why don't you two chat, and I'll get you both a cup of water?"
Bai Qi could see Tie Tou's fear and couldn't help but sigh for the poor kid.
Bai Qi waved his hand and said, "You go out first. Stand guard at the door and don't let anyone else in."
Tie Tou was relieved by Bai Qi's words. He didn't dare to linger any longer and bolted out of the office.
"Boss, are you alright?"
Seeing their boss emerge from the office in such a disheveled state, his subordinates waiting outside rushed forward to inquire if he was injured and were also curious about what could have made the underground emperor so flustered.
Closing the office door, Tie Tou placed his hands on his knees and took several deep breaths by the window.
Once Tie Tou had recovered, the dignity of an underground emperor returned. He glared at the two men who had approached him and said, "Stop asking. Knowing too much sometimes isn't good for you."
The two were intelligent and immediately understood the meaning behind their boss's words, quickly falling silent.
One of them, being particularly attentive, seized the opportunity to present a fine cigar he carried, and then respectfully lit it for Tie Tou with his lighter.
Seeing his subordinate's initiative, Tie Tou felt pleased and took a deep puff of the cigar.
As Tie Tou exhaled a large smoke ring, his highly strung nerves finally relaxed. He waved his hand and said, "You two can go now. Tell everyone that the Empire State Building is under lockdown today. No outsiders are to be allowed in, and this floor is to have increased security. We must ensure not even a fly can get in."
"Yes, boss. We'll get right on it."
The two took their orders and quickly departed, relaying Tie Tou's commands to all levels.
Tie Tou was a straightforward man. When Bai Qi told him to guard the door, he actually brought a stool and sat there, not daring to relax for a moment.
Seeing their boss so dedicated, his other subordinates felt even more pressure and carried out their orders with utmost care.
Inside the office, the now calm, darkened Xiao Yu understood why Bai Qi had done what he did. If she had stayed there, the agents from Sector 13 might have been eliminated, but she would have been surrounded by reinforcements, not to mention that Bai Qi had even stepped in to block bullets for her.
"Alright, I agree to your terms. I'll follow your arrangements when dealing with Tala."
Blackened Xiao Yu sat in Tie Tou's executive chair and emphasized, "But don't forget what you promised me: a magnificent palace and to teach me demonic script."
Seeing Xiao Yu compromise, Bai Qi had no reason to refuse.
"Don't worry, you'll be living in a magnificent palace within three days."
Bai Qi quickly fulfilled his promise.
With the black shadow ninjas working around the clock, the palace built for Xiao Yu rose from the ground, completed at a visible speed.
After completion, Bai Qi took Xiao Yu to see her palace as soon as possible.
The moment Xiao Yu saw the palace, her eyes widened in amazement.
"My heavens, is this my palace?! It's... it's too beautiful."
Bai Qi, standing beside her, said gentlemanly, "Of course, my beautiful queen. From now on, this shall be your exclusive palace."
To show his sincerity, shortly after Xiao Yu moved into the palace Bai Qi had built for her, Bai Qi arranged her first demonic script lesson. However, the choice of textbook was rather interesting.
There were many ancient books recorded in demonic script, but Bai Qi chose one titled "The Journey of a Demon."
This book recorded the words and deeds of the Sacred Lord during his reign.
The author of this book was even more intriguing. The author was not a demon but a human.
Bai Qi used this book as a textbook to teach blackened Xiao Yu the demonic script.
Among all ancient scripts, demonic script was the most difficult to learn. It would take ordinary mages over ten years to grasp even a fraction of it, and decades, or even longer, to master it.
This was also why her father hadn't taught Xiao Yu.
In her father's opinion, most magic related to demonic script was dark magic, which was strictly forbidden for a novice mage apprentice like Xiao Yu. Moreover, learning demonic script was time-consuming. With that time, why not learn the more important energy magic?
Over the next week and a half, Bai Qi provided Xiao Yu with systematic demonic script instruction. To Bai Qi's surprise, Xiao Yu, who was learning such a cryptic and difficult script, grasped it immediately. Her progress was almost a new height every day.
If Bai Qi hadn't intentionally compressed the daily learning time from the original three hours to one hour, Xiao Yu would have completely mastered the demonic script within this week.
In response, Bai Qi could only exclaim that those favored by both righteous and dark energies were indeed terrifying.
"You've arrived."