“Bahaha! I feel full just watching you eat.” The Gluttony Emperor patted his stomach, looking at Yeon-woo’s empty plates.

Yeon-woo thought it was funny. ‘Hilarious.’ He snorted. The Gluttony Emperor was feeling full just from watching him? In fact, he had eaten most of the food. His stomach, which had grown twice its original size, was proof of that.

Of course, Yeon-woo had eaten quite a lot as well. The Gluttony Emperor was someone he would kill someday, but he had no reason to refuse something nice, especially since it was a chance to taste elixirs he didn’t even know about.

There was a soup cooked with Fenghuang, the apple that increased your lifespan with just a single bite, mermaid meat that increased your stamina, and the divine wine that kept ghosts away, among many others. Yeon-woo saw his stats increase right away.

“And lastly, try this. It’s perfect for clearing your palate.” It was a golden wine in a small flask. It was beautiful, like waves reflecting the morning sunrise. It was the most unique out of all the foods he had enjoyed. Yeon-woo examined it with his Draconic Eyes and was taken aback. “This is…?”

The Gluttony Emperor chuckled. “Hehehe. You recognized it right away. You are correct. It is…”

‘Jamshid’s Liquor!’

“It’s liquor made by the King of Thousands, who was as cruel as the Vampiric Lord. I only drink it when I entertain special visitors.”

Yeon-woo didn’t have anything to say. The Gluttony Emperor was serving Jamshid’s Liquor as a digestif? He clearly considered Yeon-woo a special visitor, but Yeon-woo felt the irony of his efforts to get the liquor.

“What are you doing? Hurry, drink it. Heh, it’s nice.”

The Gluttony Emperor tipped the flask back with a happy smile. His layers of fat shook. Yeon-woo looked at him for a moment and brought the flask to his mouth. He could feel the Factors in his body try to circulate. ‘Boo.’

「Yes…sir.」

Before his body absorbed Jamshid’s Liquor, Boo took it and stored it elsewhere.

[You have obtained one of ‘Jamshid’s Liquor’.]

[Currently collected: 3/5]

A message appeared saying that the liquor had been separated into the subspace.

Yeon-woo sighed. He looked at the Gluttony Emperor calmly. The emperor was still trembling from the aftereffects of Jamshid’s Liquor. It was like looking at a high drug addict.

Yeon-woo wondered at the difference in power between him and the emperor. He could see open spaces through his Draconic Eyes, and the emperor’s imperfections were tangled up in a complex manner.

He suddenly wondered what would happen if he ran towards the emperor with Vigrid? The Gluttony Emperor’s obsession with dragon meat had begun a long time ago, and that was why he’d begun to pressure Jeong-woo.

‘That’s also why he sent Viscount Lao.’ He was someone who Yeon-woo had to kill one day, just like Summer Queen. He felt an impulse to do it now, but he slowly regained control over his emotions.

The Gluttony Emperor wasn’t someone who could be defeated that easily, and even if he succeeded, there were two dukes, thirty-six marquises, and 108 counts to deal with, not to mention thousands of soldiers. He wouldn’t be able to escape them all. It wasn’t time yet.

The Gluttony Emperor opened his eyes. Ignorant of Yeon-woo’s thoughts, he smiled. “It’s so fun to eat with a cherished friend.”

“I’m the grateful one. This is a present I’m giving to Your Majesty.” Yeon-woo pulled out a box and handed it to a servant next to him.

The emperor rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. “Goodness. You didn’t have to do something like this. You shouldn’t have bothered, but since you’re offering it already, I won’t reject it.”

What had Yeon-woo brought? The Gluttony Emperor opened the box excitedly. Then, his eyes widened and his double chin trembled. “Th-this is…?”

“Dragon meat and Dragon Blood. As you can see, it’s the Summer Queen’s.”

“Oooooh!” Boom! The Gluttony Emperor jumped up from his chair. His cheeks were flushed with anticipation. The dragon meat and Dragon Blood he wanted so much were finally in his hands, and it was from the last dragon, the Summer Queen! “Tuan Tien! Quick! Quick!”

Boom! Boom! Duke Tuan Tien hurried over as the Gluttony Emperor beckoned to him.

* * *

“Hahaha. Today is the happiest day of my life. When will I be able to experience a day like this again?” The Gluttony Emperor put down the plate he had been licking and trembled.

Yeon-woo laughed. He didn’t like seeing the Gluttony Emperor so happy, but the things he gave the Gluttony Emperor were useless to him. He had only brought dragon meat scratched off from the Summer Queen’s ribs, and the blood was just diluted leftovers.

It was hilarious to see the Gluttony Emperor so happy with trash, especially since he was someone who ate soul shark roe soup or Fenghuan soup until he was full. Yeon-woo thought that value was truly subjective, and he couldn’t help laughing.

A red light appeared in the Gluttony Emperor’s eyes and vanished. His large stomach rumbled grotesquely as though he were a snake digesting something it had swallowed whole.

Urrrng! The pocket watch trembled.

‘What?’ Yeon-woo put his hand inside his jacket and touched the pocket watch. It was different from the vibration he’d felt when he heard his brother’s voice. ‘It’s like the time it came into contact with the Despair and Grief of the Black King.’ Then that meant…‘Does the Gluttony Emperor have something to do with the pocket watch?’

The voices of the two Cyclopes rang in his head.

『Master, that’s…』

『It’s a Soulstone. Ha! Are they that common?』

‘What?’ Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. Why was a Soulstone present? The two Cyclopes shared a vision with Yeon-woo, showing him something inside the chest of the Gluttony Emperor. The dragon meat that he’d eaten was being taken apart and circulated throughout his body.

『It looks like Gula.』

『But he’s not even using five percent of the Soulstone’s power. Is he ignorant of Luciel’s power? Hmph! That’s like putting a necklace on a pig!』

Brontes and Steropes couldn’t help criticizing the Gluttony Emperor, but Yeon-woo managed to learn something. There were many things that were strange about the Gluttony Emperor, and it was difficult to say where his power originated. But if he were only borrowing his strength from the Soulstone, then wouldn’t there be a way to defeat him?

The Gluttony Emperor had a power that could digest the Factors he swallowed and turn them into his power. Of course, Yeon-woo wasn’t going to give the Gluttony Emperor his power, but it would take a strong player like the Martial King to challenge the Gluttony Emperor. ‘When I think about it, the Gluttony Emperor was once seen as the weakest and most powerless king in the history of Blood Land’s leaders. And then, all of a sudden, he became stronger.’

It would make sense that he had borrowed the strength of Luciel’s Soulstone, just as the two Cyclopes said. Yeon-woo might have just discovered a way to bring the Gluttony Emperor down. He hid his sharp expression. ‘How can I bring the Gluttony Emperor down?’ He decided to make the emperor his next target.

The Gluttony Emperor had finished digesting, and he began to speak in a serious voice. “If you need anything in the future, let me know. I swear on my name that the entire empire and I will forever be your friend.”

‘He looks like he’s high.’ Yeon-woo nodded. It seemed appropriate to bring it up now. “Then, may I request something from you?”

“Go right ahead. I said I’m your friend.”

Did the emperor realize how much danger he was putting himself in by saying those words?

“Can I have some more of Jamshid’s Liquors?”

“Hm? The liquor? Did you like it that much?

“Actually, I have to use it for something else.” Yeon-woo explained that he needed it for a weapon.

“How much…do you need?”

“I need about two casks.” The truth was that he only needed two cups, but he wanted to take as much as he could.

The Gluttony Emperor didn’t respond for a while. Although he’d offered to do anything, Jamshid’s Liquor was something else. He had to struggle to get the Jamshid’s Liquor as well, and it was so precious that he was always careful with it. When Yeon-woo asked him for so much, the emperor felt his heart plunge to his feet. “What will happen if you can’t get it?”

Yeon-woo answered with a slightly exhausted expression. “I might be in danger, and it will be harder to help you in the future. Of course, this is only a request, so you can reject it. How can I force you to give me something?” Yeon-woo made it sound like he didn’t mind, but the Gluttony Emperor couldn’t lose face as an emperor by taking back his offer.

There were many subordinates watching him in the dining hall, certain that he would give Yeon-woo the liquor.

“Your Majesty.” Duke Tuan Tien carefully approached the emperor and whispered in his ear.

Yeon-woo’s eyes flashed. He wondered what the emperor would say.

“Ahem! You said you need the liquor, right?” The emperor’s eyes narrowed as he coughed. “But as you know, Jamshid’s Liquor is extremely precious, and I cannot give it without permission from my advisors.”

“Is that so? Oh well.”

“However, it’s not impossible. Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“You were also attacked by that damned Spring Queen on the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth floor, right?”

Yeon-woo realized what the emperor was going to say. “Yes.”

“Then work with us. We’re allying with Black Dragon to take revenge for Duke Ardbad’s death. Help us.”

Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. ‘Work with Black Dragon? To take down White Dragon?’ He said, “I might not be of much help.”

“Don’t be like that. Do you think I don’t know you split Triton up on your own? And you have those friends in the shadows.”

‘He knows about Shanon and the others.’

The Gluttony Emperor spoke like it was nothing, but Yeon-woo didn’t miss the nuance in his words. It was incredible that his Spirit Familiars had only been noticed now. With everyone’s attention on him, all of his tactics were being revealed, and it was clear that Blood Land had investigated him, too.

“And the Fantasy Regiment.” The Gluttony Emperor eyed Creutz. “And even…” At that moment, he wasn’t just a fussy, wealthy man but the emperor of a country. “The One-horned tribe!”

A violent aura spread through the hall.

* * *

‘That was easy.’ Yeon-woo smiled with all his teeth bared behind his mask. He could get his enemies to fight each other and take possession of Jamshid’s Liquor just by lifting a single finger. The only thing that worried him was the participation of the One-horned tribe, but the Martial King would take care of that. ‘It wouldn’t be strange if accidents happened during the fighting.’

Yeon-woo was already planning a way to take the Gluttony Emperor’s life in the confusion of the battle. Shanon began to hum to himself.

「Stabbing in the back, stabbing in the back! What a fun song~♬」