"That's true, but losing these supplies won't have much impact."
"Yeah, being driven into the Wasteland isn't a big deal."
A few players whispered among themselves.
This made Lily's voice even more distorted.
"You don't understand, you don't understand anything! The Wasteland outside the settlement is full of pollution sources. Whether it's humans, animals, or plants, as long as they come into contact with a pollution source, they will mutate. At best, they'll die; at worst, they'll turn into irrational monsters. Even the most powerful scavengers don't dare to stay in the Wasteland for long. What can you do if you go there? Do you want to become monsters and then be killed by me?"
"That's not it, but you..."
"You, you, you, you, you, what the hell are you talking about! My business is none of yours. It's just a damn quest; if it fails, it fails. Instead of worrying about me, worry about yourselves. Ask yourselves why you came here in the first place."
This barrage of scolding directly stunned the players in the room, and no one spoke for more than ten seconds.
Lily remained very calm inside.
She wasn't worried at all that her words would scare the players away; she had already considered this before coming here.
If the players ran away, she could probably count this as single-handedly taking down the entire player stronghold, and she would surely gain a lot from the [Counterattack] quest.
The downside was that she might be suspected of being connected to the players and thus attacked by the Wildfire Gang, but it wasn't a big problem. The money she had accumulated from killing Brother Biao and capturing players earlier was already enough for her to take Anya and flee to other settlements.
What would the players choose?
Lily scanned the surroundings.
Calamity Dragon clenched her fists, her emotions stirred.
[Damn it, even my dad never scolded me like that!]
But being scolded didn't feel so bad, it seemed. After all, Lily was scolding them because she cared about them and didn't want to see them go to their deaths. And Lily's anxious and angry expression was much more appealing than her previous poker face.
Well, maybe not 'much more appealing,' but mainly, the character suddenly felt more fleshed out.
She was no longer a reclusive master hidden behind clouds, but more like a true older sister figure.
Perhaps this was the so-called game immersion?
If this were a gacha game, Calamity Dragon felt she might be spending money right now.
The reactions of the other players were not as intense as Calamity Dragon's; they all spoke in the team channel.
[Damn, Patrick Star said it well!]
[Awesome, Patrick Star, how did you come up with that?'Supreme Will,' 'Undead,' 'Beyond the Mist'—you stitched together all the words Lily said!]
[Listening to this, I even feel amazing myself, but in reality, I just wanted to play a game to pass the time.]
[Although you just wanted to pass the time, it's undeniable that you did save the world.]
[To be honest, it wasn't until this moment that I found this game fun. I remember a game I used to play; even though I had leveled up enough to easily one-shot the final BOSS, due to game mechanics, I could only watch helplessly as my teammates who had accompanied me all the way sacrificed themselves. In the end, I couldn't even say goodbye to her according to my own wishes.]
[Brother, this time we are creating our own story, so we must have no regrets!]
[Stop, stop, I'm fired up!]
The fervent Convert to My Lily was the second to step forward: "I'm staying too! I will never let the Wildfire Gang hurt you, Lily!"
Immediately after, Excavation Princess, Calamity Dragon, and some players Lily hadn't seen before also stepped forward.
"I'm staying."
"Me too."
In the end, only Black Tiger Afu stood alone in the corner.
"Why are you looking at me? Don't you know me? I'm only here for a fight; I never thought about leaving from the beginning."
"Hahaha!"
Laughter filled the room.
"You all."
Lily's gaze swept across the faces of each player, as if to engrave each of their appearances firmly in her mind.
Good, good, you guys are really getting it!
"I've said all this, but you still won't listen. If anything happens to you in the end, it has nothing to do with me!"
Convert to My Lily said, "This is my own choice. No matter what, I won't blame you, Lily."
Lily turned her head away.
The others didn't know if she disbelieved them or was simply displeased that her good intentions had been ignored.
[What should we do?]
[We need to find a way to make Lily calm down.]
[As long as we fight well, Lily will naturally calm down.]
[Don't rush, let me check first.]
Calamity Dragon secretly cast a reconnaissance skill on Lily.
[Name]: Lily
[Template]:?
[Main Class]:?
[Sub Class]:?
[Health]:?
[Attributes]:?
[Skills]:?
[Talents]:?
[Favorability]: Cherished (83)
[Danger Level]: Red
When the data came back, Calamity Dragon almost thought she had misread it.
What, 83? Isn't that 1 point higher than the initial 82?
So Lily was a tsundere character after all. She said 'it has nothing to do with me' and turned her head away, but in reality, her favorability didn't drop but increased.
Calamity Dragon quickly shared the data panel with the other players.
Seeing this data, all the players were relieved.
[Lily is so good, always tolerant of me.]
[Next vote, we must make Lily first!]
[Charge, charge, charge! Since favorability didn't drop, just charge!]
Excavation Princess looked at Patrick Star: "How do we fight?"
Patrick Star said, "A head-on fight is too difficult. Let's split into two groups. One group stays here to set traps, and the other is responsible for intercepting and luring the Wildfire Gang members near the traps. Oh, and also notify those who are out. When they rush back, it'll be perfect for a counter-encirclement."
A player shook his head: "There are too few people outside. Even if all of them can make it back in time, they probably won't be able to form a counter-encirclement."
"It doesn't matter, I'll make a move!" Calamity Dragon crossed her arms.
Excavation Princess paused, then reacted: "I almost forgot Sister Disaster is a rich lady!"
Calamity Dragon chuckled, immediately pulling out her trump card—
Posting on the forum, spending money to recruit people for assistance!
"Good, good, now the win rate feels a lot higher."
"Don't be careless. The opponents are mostly Elite Monsters, and the leader is very likely a mini-BOSS."
"Afraid of what? They're just mortals. Even if it's a god, if they show a health bar, I'll kill them for you to see!"
"Brother Gui Yi, go enchant your weapon with some golden fluid."
"It's a pity time is too tight, otherwise I could create a dust explosion and blow up those bastards."
A group of players gathered, and soon they had their roles assigned. They weren't worried at all about the impending battle.
Only battle!
With everything ready, Excavation Princess, who was the first to meet Lily, walked up to her: "Lily, the battle is about to begin. You should leave now while you can, to avoid being caught in it."
Lily pouted: "At this point, do you think I can still leave? If I leave, they'll suspect even more that I'm connected to you."
"Ah, what do we do now?"
Lily extended both hands forward: "Do it. Tie me up and beat me up, create some injuries on me."
Excavation Princess quickly refused: "No, absolutely not! How could I hit you?"
The other players echoed her in agreement.
Lily couldn't help but emphasize: "I've been here for almost ten minutes. Do you think the people outside will believe that I haven't encountered any accidents in ten minutes?"
It did seem hard to believe.
"Alright, hurry up. After you're done, escort me out and use me as a hostage to threaten them. They definitely won't accept; instead, they'll try to provoke you into killing me. You don't have to worry about anything; just throw me aside once the fight starts, and I'll leave on my own."
Although Lily had said it to this extent, no player dared to make a move.
Convert to My Lily's eyes immediately turned red.
Damn it, Lily is already risking her identity being exposed for us, how can we let her make a bigger sacrifice!
"If you won't, then I will!" Lily raised her hand.
Excavation Princess quickly came up and grabbed her sleeve.
"Stop, stop, stop, Lily, I'll tie you up, alright? Forget about hitting me. Let my hair down and just dab some red paint on me as a disguise. Anyway, they won't be able to see clearly from a distance."
The two sides finally reached an agreement.
A minute later, Excavation Princess and Calamity Dragon escorted Lily out, one on each side.
As they reached the doorway, the two of them exchanged glances.
This time, Lily's sacrifice must not be in vain!