As time passed, the one walking out of the park's public restroom was no longer that G-0 Tyrant dressed in a chilling military uniform who kept everyone at a distance.
The wide brim of the sun hat was pressed very low, casting a soft circle of shadow over her face, revealing only a small chin and a faint lip color.
On her upper body was a fresh white sleeveless short-sleeved shirt, the soft fabric outlining a slender figure that had not yet fully developed.
On her lower body was a black pleated miniskirt, the hem swaying gently with her steps.
Her waist was adorned with several stylishly designed metal rings, and a black leather garter matching the overall style was fastened around her left thigh.
Descriptions aren't as good as a direct picture; here is Bat's new outfit ٩(๑•̀ω•́๑)۶
Stripped of her signature Gothic military uniform, Lilith at this moment looked like an exquisite doll who had snuck into some cool-style clothes for a vacation.
A rebellious coolness peeked through the cuteness, strangely blending in with the atmosphere of the laughing tourists around her.
As if confirming there were no familiar gazes nearby, Lilith temporarily shed the cold shell of leadership majesty that usually enveloped her.
Her tense shoulder line relaxed slightly, and even her walking pace had a lazy, casual feel.
She walked with a clear goal toward a brightly decorated milk tea shop.
"A large pearl milk tea, full sugar, with ice."
As the crisp and tender Chinese words were spoken, the waiter at the front desk froze for a second. Fortunately, to deal with global tourists, the park was equipped with basic multilingual translation devices.
She quickly reacted and started making it with a smile.
Holding a milk tea cup almost as big as her face, Lilith took a large, satisfied sip. The cold, sweet liquid slid down her throat, making her narrow her crimson eyes slightly, revealing a trace of imperceptible pleasure.
This wasn't enough.
Her gaze drifted toward the specialty snack street not far away.
For the next ten minutes, this cool-looking silver-haired loli completely transformed into a scavenger.
Takoyaki, crispy snake, blue jelly, rainbow marshmallows, fried donuts covered in thick frosting... she was like a child with intense curiosity and no restraint, buying almost anything that caught her eye.
Soon, her arms were filled with a pile of colorful snack bags and boxes, almost submerging her petite frame.
With a mountain of snacks in one arm and a large cup of milk tea in the other, Lilith strolled down the park's wide main road in a posture that was the epitome of "gap moe" compared to her usual image.
There was still an hour before the park officially opened and organized the first batch of tourists to take the sightseeing cable car to visit the gentle herbivorous dinosaur area.
The air was filled with excitement and anticipation.
The staff also handed out a booklet to every tourist, featuring silhouettes of those mutated dinosaurs, instantly pushing everyone's expectations to the limit.
Many people were already impatient to see these mutated dinosaurs.
Lilith slowly sipped her milk tea while inconspicuously scanning the excited crowd with her crimson eyes, half-hidden by the shadow of her hat brim.
A trace of a smile played on her lips. Compared to her previous smiles that only moved up by a pixel, Lilith's smile this time was very natural.
"Survival mission..."
She whispered to herself, her voice almost swallowed by the surrounding noise.
"It seems this world won't be lacking in surprises."
The Balancer's intervention and the alien sculptures on the signposts all indicated that beneath this seemingly happy and peaceful resort, deadly undercurrents far exceeding the original plot were surging.
Before the storm arrived, Lilith intended to enjoy a moment of rare leisure.
Just then, a blond, blue-eyed boy, half a head taller than Lilith, was passing by her, led by his parents.
The little boy happened to look up, his gaze passing through the gaps in the snacks and meeting Lilith's crimson eyes, half-hidden in the shadow, and the lingering faint smile on her lips.
Time seemed to stand still for a tenth of a second.
"Plop."
The ice cream cone in the boy's hand fell straight to the ground, cream splashing onto his small leather shoes.
He was completely oblivious, his mouth hanging open and his blue eyes wide, as if he had seen an elf out of a fairy tale, staring blankly at Lilith, his soul seemingly lost.
The next second, the little boy suddenly broke free from his mother's hand, pointed at Lilith, and shouted in a childish but incredibly loud voice.
"Mommy! Mommy! I want that big sister to be my wife! She's so pretty! I want to marry her!"
A small area around them fell silent instantly.
The smiles on the boy's parents' faces froze, and then they turned beet red. They looked at Lilith in extreme embarrassment, scrambling to cover their son's mouth while nodding apologetically.
However, when they clearly saw Lilith's exquisite, doll-like face under the hat brim, a flash of undeniable amazement crossed their eyes as well.
Lilith: "..."
She stopped sipping her milk tea, her crimson eyes casting a faint glance at the excited little boy. Her brow furrowed imperceptibly, and then her pink lips parted slightly, uttering a clear and disgusted Chinese sentence.
"Tch, brat."
Her tone was flat, yet it carried a sense of condescending indifference.
Although they couldn't understand Chinese, her expression and tone were enough to convey her attitude.
The boy's parents became even more embarrassed, apologizing repeatedly as they forcibly picked up the boy, who was still clamoring for Lilith to be his wife, and practically fled the scene.
Soon, the boy's aggrieved wailing and his parents' "loving education" could be heard in the distance.
Lilith looked away expressionlessly and continued sipping her milk tea, as if the little interlude just now had never happened.
Only the genuine smile at the corner of her mouth seemed to have faded slightly.
Holding her mountain of snacks, she was about to find a quiet corner to deal with some of her inventory.
Just then—
"Leader...?"
A crisp, familiar female voice, three parts hesitant and seven parts surprised, rang out not far from her side.
"Crunch."
The pearl milk tea straw Lilith was biting was unconsciously bitten flat.
Her whole body was like it had been hit with a pause button, instantly freezing in place!
Under the hat brim, those crimson eyes suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks!
Beneath the hat, a pair of fluffy ears among her silver-white hair suddenly stood straight up!
Along with them, the surrounding hair puffed out slightly in a circle, as if affected by static electricity.
Lilith turned around stiffly, like a rusty robot.
Her gaze met a pair of blue eyes that were flashing with surprise, curiosity, and a gradual shift toward horror.
Leah.
Apocalypse Base's Number One Blood Bag and Acting Leader was currently wearing casual sportswear suitable for movement, with her hair tied in a neat ponytail, traces of excitement from a chance encounter with an acquaintance still on her face.
But this excitement quickly froze and shattered upon seeing Lilith's current look and the mountain of snacks in her arms.
Leah's gaze moved from Lilith's cool yet cute vacation outfit to the mountain of snacks she could barely hold, then to the large cup of milk tea in her hand—half-drunk with a flattened straw—and finally settled on Lilith's face. Though mostly hidden by the brim, her expression was completely frozen, and the light in her eyes was disappearing at a visible rate.
Oh... Oh my god!
This... this is the Leader?!
The Leader who, back at the base, had a cold face and could make people's legs go weak with just a look... cough! Could make people's legs go weak when fighting in her true form?!
Holding snacks, drinking milk tea, being publicly proposed to by a kid, and calling others "brat" with a face full of disdain?!
This contrast is way too terrifying?!
Leah's mind went blank, with only one thought frantically flashing across the screen.
I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!
I saw something I wasn't supposed to see! The Leader's true personality! Will I be silenced?!
The Leader likes drinking blood so much, will she suck me dry in a fit of rage?! Where will she bite? My arm? My neck? Or directly... I don't dare think about it!
Leah could clearly feel that, with Lilith as the center, the surrounding air seemed to drop by a dozen degrees instantly, and that familiar cold aura permeated once again.
Though not as tyrannical as during combat, the social-death-induced killing intent contained within made Leah's legs start to go weak.
Lilith gave Leah a deep, deep look, filled with shock, speechlessness, and a trace of annoyance.
But more than that, it was a cold resolve of "since you've seen it, there's no other choice."
She didn't speak.
She just silently shoved the half-drunk cup of milk tea into Leah's empty hand.
The movement was so forceful that a few drops of milk tea splashed out.
Next, she began to transfer the colorful mountain of snacks from her arms, all at once and without explanation, into Leah's arms, one hand of which was already occupied by the milk tea.
Crispy snake, takoyaki, blue jelly, crepes... various packaging bags piled up with a clatter, quickly submerging Leah into a second mobile snack rack.
"Hold this."
Lilith finally spoke, her voice returning to its usual coldness, but even flatter than usual, carrying an unquestionable force.
"Finish it."
She pointed at the milk tea.
"Finish them."
She pointed again at the snacks filling Leah's arms.
Then, she raised her crimson eyes, her gaze piercing the petrified Leah, who looked like she was about to cry, like an ice pick, and added one word at a time.
"Not."
"A single."
"Scrap left!"
After speaking, she pressed down her hat brim, turned around, and walked away from the disaster scene with her black leather boots, never looking back, quickly heading toward a secluded viewing bench not far away.
Leaving behind only Leah, holding an armful of snacks and milk tea, disheveled in the wind and wanting to cry but having no tears.
She stood there, pondering the life-and-death task of how to finish a large cup of full-sugar milk tea and a mountain of snacks in one day.