Work Prophet

"Thank you," Li Yu said as he took the handkerchief and nodded at the bunny-eared girl.

Although she had proactively handed over the handkerchief, the wariness on her face did not fade. "Who are you, why are you here dressed in such strange clothes, and speaking a bizarre foreign language? What's even more strange is that I can understand what you are saying. How did you do that?"

Li Yu did not immediately answer the bunny-eared girl's question. After wiping his mouth, he looked up at the new moon above and then at the mechanical watch on his hand and the mobile phone he was holding.

Without exception, all displayed the time as 10:05 AM, just five minutes after he had finished his interview.

Li Yu countered, "Who are you, where is this place, and that little thing on your chest... who gave it to you?"

The girl hesitated for a moment, probably feeling that these things were not secrets. Thus, she answered, "I am Ireya from Green Field, the second daughter of Ruse of the Blood Eyes. This place is Rock Snow City, the mansion of Marquis Kuren."

After finishing, she paused, seeing no reaction from Li Yu. She said incredulously, "My heavens, have you never heard of my name, nor do you know who Marquis Kuren is?"

"As you said, I am a foreigner," Li Yu said, actually quite shocked by what was happening to him.

Because all of this clearly was not some prank, and it was no longer something that existing scientific theories could explain.

He almost instantaneously moved from that room with only one chair, room number eight, to this courtyard. This was coupled with what Xu Mengyuan had previously discussed with him about the multiverse and string theory.

Even though he still found it unbelievable, Li Yu had to start accepting the possibility that he had arrived in another plane.

At the moment, his doubts were no less than those of Miss Rabbit opposite him. However, having lived in an era of information overload and bombarded for over twenty years with movies, novels, and games, plus more than three years in the workforce, his adaptability was clearly not something Ireya of Green Field could match.

So after throwing up, Li Yu's expression had mostly returned to normal.

—Panic is the greatest enemy.

Realizing his current situation, Li Yu's first reaction was to gather as much information as possible because no matter what action he planned to take next, information was essential.

"Then the last thing you should be doing in Rock Snow City is sneaking into Marquis Kuren's mansion, foreigner," Ireya warned, "especially since you are a human."

"What about being human? Are you at war with humans?"

"Where exactly are you from? Even people from the other side of the strait wouldn't be completely ignorant of the Empire's basic situation," Ireya said, her gaze towards Li Yu growing more suspicious.

But the latter just calmly looked back at her.

"It's always me answering your questions. You could at least answer some of mine," Miss Rabbit grumbled dissatisfiedly.

Li Yu still remained silent.

It wasn't that he didn't want to speak, but rather that he knew nothing about this world, and the level of civilization here obviously did not match that of his own plane. He was worried that a wrong word might bring disaster upon himself.

After a long while, Ireya compromised, "Fine, these things are common knowledge. If you ask anyone on the street, they could tell you that the Red Lion Empire was established jointly by the Half-Beast, humans, and dwarves, and it is the strongest empire on the Bratis Continent.

"When the Empire's founding Emperor, Furious Lion Alexandro, took up arms, he swore by the name of his ancestors and the gods on the shores of Wind Chime Lake, covered in red leaves, that upon his success, he would grant equal treatment to all followers, whether Half-Beast, human, or dwarf, treating everyone equally. This event was historically known as the Tri-Racial Alliance, but..."

"Did the Furious Lion betray his own oath later?" Li Yu raised his eyebrows.

Ireya sighed, "Not exactly, while Emperor Alexandro was alive, he always kept his sacred oath with the other two races. However, after his death, the situation gradually changed. Compared to humans and dwarves, Half-Beasts have significant advantages in strength, stamina, and agility. Typically, a Half-Beast warrior with the same training could defeat four human soldiers or at least seven dwarves."

"During the unification war, the heroes among the Half-Beasts greatly distinguished themselves. Afterwards, when the Emperor rewarded them for their merits, many of them were granted lands and titles. Although there were also some outstanding ancestors among humans and dwarves, their numbers were far less than those of the Half-Beasts."

"Of course, the crucial point is that humans' lifespans are far too short, only a few decades at most, and the longest-lived individuals can barely make it past a century. Half-Beasts, on the other hand, generally live over two hundred years, and some families can even reach four hundred."

"This also means they have more time in their lives to go out warring, expand their territories, accumulate honors, and as time went by, the number of humans and dwarf nobles in the upper echelons of the empire kept decreasing, until today, six hundred years later, Lion Heart Castle has been firmly controlled by twelve Half-Beast families."

"Humans and dwarves have mostly become commoners, and some minor nobles have chosen to attach themselves to the great Half-Beast nobles, becoming their vassals."

"After the loss of Emperor Alexandro's suppression, discrimination against humans and dwarves in the noble circles of the empire became more and more common. A human of unknown origin like you, rashly entering the Marquis Mansion, could be killed on the spot by guards without even a detention for interrogation."

Li Yu was somewhat surprised, not understanding why Ireya, being a Half-Beast herself, seemed to subtly favor humans and appeared quite dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.

"Foreigner, if you want to travel within the Red Lion Empire, you'd better first learn about the local customs, or you might accidentally lose your life," Miss Rabbit warned. "Take advantage of the fact that no one besides me has discovered you yet, and leave this place quickly."

"Where should I leave from?" Li Yu asked.

???

"Just leave the way you came in," Ireya replied with an attitude that suggested it was his problem, not hers.

"I'd also like to return the same way I came, but the route I took is rather special... You must have seen it just now, it was like... like a magician casting a teleportation spell." Li Yu didn't know how to explain multiple universes and string theory to Miss Rabbit, so he tried to use metaphors that she might understand.

However, she looked even more confused. "Magician, what's a magician? And what is teleportation?"

"Oh, so this world has Half-Beasts, dwarves, but no magic and magicians? What about elves? Goblins?"

Miss Rabbit was about to answer when suddenly her long ears twitched and her face changed color, "Not good, someone is coming. You need to hide quickly; it would be bad if you're discovered."

Li Yu looked around and noticed that the trees in the courtyard were sparse and mostly of smaller varieties, the tallest being a sweet osmanthus tree, which obviously couldn't hide an adult.

The only option that seemed feasible for hiding was the flowerbed nearby, but Li Yu had just extended a leg when he quickly drew it back.

Ireya seemed even more anxious than he was and urged, "What are you still standing there for? Get in there fast!"

"Those are roses, they have thorns," Li Yu replied.

By then, the footsteps were very close; even he could hear them, and it seemed the other side had noticed them talking as their pace quickened.

Now, it was too late to hide.

So when Guard Captain Levin walked into the courtyard, he saw Ireya standing together with an unfamiliar human male.