Hijacking the Three Kingdoms with My System

Chapter 8: Grain is More Expensive Than Gold

Hua Xiong’s head stopped rolling on the silk carpet. His bulging eyes seemed to stare at Yuan Shu with a silent accusation: "You didn't defeat me, bastard."

Thick blood seeped out of the cleanly severed neck, forming a dark red puddle that slowly touched the tip of Yuan Shao’s tiger-skin boots.

Inside the magnificent command tent, time seemed to freeze.

No one spoke. No one moved.

The only sound was the rhythmic *crunch-crunch* coming from Zhang Fei’s mouth as he finished the last of the french fries in Jo Fan’s woven basket. The sound of chewing was utterly impolite, crude, and somehow... deeply satisfying for Liu Bei’s faction.

"Impossible..." Yuan Shu finally hissed, breaking the silence. His thin face twitched with suppressed shame and anger. "This must be a coincidence! Hua Xiong must have been exhausted after killing Yu She and Pan Feng! This lowly archer merely stole the victory at the last moment!"

"Coincidence?"

Cao Cao's voice cut through Yuan Shu's excuse like a hot knife.

The short man in the red robe stepped forward, looking at Hua Xiong's head with the admiration of an art collector. "Lord Yuan Shu, look at this neck. The cut is clean. One stroke. Bone and flesh separated without hesitation. This is not luck. This is high-level *Art of Killing*."

Cao Cao turned to look at Guan Yu, his eyes shining. His obsession was palpable. "General Guan, you said you were only a Mounted Archer? From today on, anyone who calls you lowly is blind."

Guan Yu stood tall, his eyes half-closed, his left hand stroking his long beard with a slow, arrogant movement. "Only a boar's head. Not worthy of excessive praise."

"Arrogant!" shouted another general from the Yuan faction.

"Enough!" Yuan Shao, the Alliance Leader, finally stood up. He tried to restore his authority, which had briefly collapsed. He looked at Liu Bei and his three brothers with an expression that was a difficult mix of gratitude and fear of their potential.

"Liu Bei," Yuan Shao said heavily. "Your brother has rendered a great service. He has erased the Alliance's shame. As I promised, I will grant a reward..."

"Gold!" Yuan Shu interrupted quickly, his eyes cunning. "Give them a hundred taels of gold and tell them to leave. They have done their duty. We don't need outsiders in the core strategy meeting."

Jo Fan, who was busy cleaning his portable wok with a rare system item—a wet wipe—suddenly stopped.

"Gold? What good is gold if we starve to death on the road?" Jo Fan thought. "War inflation has raised the price of rice by 500%. Gold is just heavy metal that fills up a backpack."

Jo Fan cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem."

He walked forward, past Guan Yu, and stood beside Liu Bei. His face was still pale from the earlier fear, but his eyes were sharp, calculating the odds.

"Esteemed Alliance Leader," Jo Fan said, his voice polite but with a subtle hint of sarcasm. "Gold certainly glitters. But our troops... I mean, Lord Liu Bei's volunteer troops, have a more pressing problem than heavy pockets."

"What do you want, Little Advisor?" Yuan Shao asked impatiently.

"Regarding stomach deer..." Jo Fan answered briefly. He held up the last french fry remaining in the wok. "Our troops have been eating wind and drinking dew on the journey here. Our horses are thinner than stray dogs. Gold cannot be eaten, Sir."

Jo Fan looked Yuan Shao directly in the eye.

"Instead of gold, we request grain. Five hundred *picul* of grain. Fifty decent warhorses. And access to the armory to repair our rusty spears."

"What?!" Yuan Shu glared. "That's robbery! Grain is scarce! Do you think we are a charity granary?!"

"Lord Yuan Shu," Jo Fan smiled wryly, the smile of a Glodok merchant cheating a tourist. "Hua Xiong's head on the floor... what is the price of your life if Hua Xiong had entered here? Is your life cheaper than five hundred *picul* of grain? Well, I didn't know the lives of Yuan nobles were discounted so cheaply."

"YOUR MOUTH IS POISONOUS!" Yuan Shu half-drew his sword.

"Agreed," Cao Cao said suddenly, once again saving the situation. He chuckled. "This boy's logic makes sense. Our lives are expensive. Grain is cheap. Yuan Shao, give them what they ask for. Or do you want to be called stingy toward a hero?"

Yuan Shao was cornered. His prestige as a leader was at stake. If he was stingy, his reputation would be ruined. If he gave in, he would lose a fortune.

"Fine!" Yuan Shao grumbled, waving his hand. "Give them the grain and the horses. But place their camp on the furthest wing! I don't want the smell of your strange cooking disturbing my meetings again!"

"Thank you for your generosity, Sir!" Liu Bei exclaimed quickly, bowing respectfully before Yuan Shao could change his mind.

Jo Fan sighed in relief. *Logistics secured. Mission successful.*

However, as the tension subsided, Jo Fan felt something wet dripping from his nose. He touched it. Blood.

[SYSTEM WARNING: OVERHEAT]

[Excessive use of 'Strategic Focus' while cooking under high pressure.]

[Host Physical Condition: Drastically reduced. Requires rest or high glucose intake.]

Jo Fan's vision blurred. The world spun slightly. He almost stumbled, but a strong hand held his back. It was Guan Yu.

"You are bleeding, Advisor," Guan Yu whispered, his voice low so the nobles wouldn't hear. "Do not show weakness in front of these wolves."

"Relax, General Guan," Jo Fan wiped the blood with his sleeve, smiling weakly. "It's just... a side effect of too much MSG. Let's get out of here. I need fresh air."

They exited the main tent. The cold night air immediately greeted them, contrasting with the heat of the politics inside.

The Alliance troops cheered upon seeing Hua Xiong's head, which was now impaled on the gatepost. The morale that had been shattered was now soaring. The names of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei began to be chanted around the soldiers' campfires.

"We did it," Liu Bei said, his eyes shining at the sight of the grain carts being sent by Yuan Shao's logistics. "Five hundred *picul*! That's enough food for three months!"

"Don't celebrate yet, Boss," Jo Fan said, sitting weakly on a cartwheel. He secretly opened his Inventory. The reward from the previous mission: [Barbeque Sauce Sachet (x5)].

"Why?" asked Zhang Fei, who was busy selecting new horses from Yuan Shao's stable. "Their strongest enemy is dead. The rest are just small fry, right?"

Jo Fan shook his head. He opened one sachet of barbeque sauce, licking a little to get a sugar rush and flavor. The artificial smoky taste calmed his strained nerves.

"Hua Xiong was just a guard dog, Lord Zhang," Jo Fan said softly. "The dog is dead. But now... the owner is going to be angry."

"Dong Zhuo?" Liu Bei asked.

"Worse," Jo Fan looked west, toward the dark, towering Hulao Pass gate in the distance. "Dong Zhuo has an adopted son. A monster wearing a pheasant feather crown and riding a red horse that can run a thousand *li* a day."

Guan Yu narrowed his eyes. "Lu Bu."

The name was uttered like a curse. Even in an era where information was slow, Lu Bu's name was already a horror legend. The God of War. A man said to possess the strength of a hundred men.

"Exactly," Jo Fan nodded. "Hua Xiong was about technique. But Lu Bu... Lu Bu is a natural disaster. You can't fight a natural disaster, you just try to survive it."

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached from behind.

"An interesting philosophy."

They all turned. Cao Cao stood there, alone, without guards. He carried two bottles of high-quality wine in his hands.

"Lord Cao!" Liu Bei saluted.

"Spare the formalities," Cao Cao waved his hand, then sat down on the ground next to Jo Fan, not caring that his expensive robe got dirty. "I came not as a General, but as a culinary connoisseur."

Cao Cao looked at Jo Fan with sharp, scrutinizing eyes.

"Those french fries earlier..." Cao Cao began. "The taste was strange. It's not in any recipe book in the Han Dynasty. The oil was clear, the salt was pure white like snow, and the texture... crisp but not hard."

Cao Cao leaned his face closer to Jo Fan.

"And you... Jo Fan. The way you speak, the way you insult Yuan Shu, the way you predicted Guan Yu's victory... You are not from here, are you?"

Jo Fan's heart stopped for a moment. *Damn. This guy is too smart. His psychopath radar is strong.*

"I am from a small village in the mountains, quite far to the west of here, Sir," Jo Fan replied, putting on a failed innocent face. "We have secret family recipes."

"A lie." Cao Cao chuckled. He offered the wine bottle to Jo Fan. "But I like liars. Liars are politicians who are honest about their intentions."

Cao Cao took a sip of his own wine, then looked up at the sky.

"Young man, Yuan Shao is a sinking ship. He is too weighed down by his ego. Join me. I have ambition, I have an army, and I have chefs you can teach that recipe to. I will give you the position of Chief Military Advisor. Ten times the salary this Mat Seller can give you."

An open offer. Employee poaching right in front of the boss.

Zhang Fei growled, ready to explode. But Liu Bei restrained him. Liu Bei wasn't angry. He just looked at Jo Fan calmly, waiting. He had no wealth to keep Jo Fan, only trust.

Jo Fan looked at the wine bottle in Cao Cao's hand. An enticing offer. If he joined Cao Cao, the game mode would become Easy Mode. He would win quickly, live luxuriously, and perhaps return to Jakarta sooner.

But... he looked at Liu Bei. The man who gave him a ride when he was almost dead. A man who genuinely cared about the people, not just power. And most importantly... his System was called "Crazy Strategist," not "Safe Strategist."

Jo Fan took the wine bottle from Cao Cao's hand.

"An interesting offer, Lord Cao. This wine must be expensive," Jo Fan said.

Then he poured the wine onto the ground.

“Glug. Glug. Glug.”

Cao Cao's eyes widened in shock, while Zhang Fei gaped, thinking, “What a waste of good wine.”

"But I apologize," Jo Fan smiled wryly, wiping the drying nosebleed from his nose. "I have a principle. I cannot work for someone whose chef doesn't understand proper frying techniques. In your place, everything is boiled, and that will make all the food bland."

"Besides..." Jo Fan patted Liu Bei's shoulder. "My boss here is poor. But he lets me cook whatever I want. Freedom is expensive, Lord Cao."

Cao Cao was silent for a moment. His face was expressionless. Then, slowly, a wide smile spread across his face.

"Hahahaha! Good! Very good!" Cao Cao stood up, dusting off his backside. "You refuse me for french fries and freedom? You are truly crazy, and I like that. I hope we never meet on the battlefield as enemies."

Cao Cao turned and walked away, his red robe fluttering.

"Prepare yourselves, Jo Fan. Tomorrow we move to Hulao Pass. Lu Bu is waiting. And this time... your french fries might not be enough to save your necks."

After Cao Cao disappeared into the darkness, Liu Bei exhaled deeply.

"You refused Cao Cao..." Liu Bei said in disbelief. "He is the strongest man in this Alliance."

"He's a toxic boss, Lord Liu," Jo Fan replied, feeling his head spin again from low sugar. "He's the type who will squeeze you dry and then discard you when you're no longer useful. Better to be poor but happy, right?"

"Speaking of happy," Zhang Fei interrupted, "Are there any leftover fries?"

"All gone!" Jo Fan snapped.

"My system is on cooldown!" Jo Fan thought, then smiled at Zhang Fei. "Now help me lift these sacks of grain. Tomorrow we will see true hell."

[New Mission Unlocked: The Boss Fight - Hulao Pass]

[Target: Survive Lu Bu for 10 minutes.]

[Reward: Recipe for 'Crispy Fried Chicken' & Life (Optional).]

Jo Fan stared blankly at the notification.

"Survive for 10 minutes? Against Lu Bu?" Jo Fan gave a hollow laugh, the laugh of a desperate man. "Damn system. Lu Bu can slaughter a battalion in 5 minutes. This isn't a mission, it's a death warrant."

That night, Jo Fan slept on a pile of grain sacks, dreaming of the soft mattress in his apartment, while in the distance, lightning flashed above Hulao Pass, as if welcoming the arrival of the God of War.