My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World-Chapter 382 - 328: Unknown Visitor [Double-Length]

"Don’t listen to her nonsense, Xiaoli!"

Owl stepped forward, and Xu Xiaoyou raised a sharpened iron rod, pointing it at the crowd gathering around while using Xia Li as a hostage.

Xia Li didn’t resist in her embrace, just stared blankly back at her former companions, suddenly feeling a suffocating sensation, as if an invisible serpent tightly coiled around her body.

"Doctor, is what you’re saying true?"

Despite being coerced, Xia Li still wanted to believe in the blonde girl beside her.

Perhaps it was due to their time together, or maybe it was the unintentional gentle gaze from the other person, and that familiar scent, which made her instinctively lower her guard and draw closer to Xu Xiaoyou.

"The right of judgment is in your hands," Xu Xiaoyou said. "If you’re willing to trust me, I can take you back."

"Don’t be swayed by this crazy woman’s words, Xia Li, look at my face... We’re the ones who have been with you the longest, who comforted you when you were afraid, who gave you warmth and lulled you to sleep when you were cold."

Seeing the girl in Xu Xiaoyou’s hands, Night Owl and Sparrow hesitated to move forward. Only Owl carefully kept his hands in front of him, inching closer.

Xia Li buried her face in Xu Xiaoyou’s arm, as she had always lacked her own opinions.

It’s more accurate to say she feared having her own opinions, feared others giving her choices, terrified of messing everything up, feared blame and dislike, scared that these things would drive away everything around her, and always needing to rely on others to survive.

Only through others could she find her own missing pieces, gain a sense of security and belonging, and become a complete self.

Clearly standing in the center of the event vortex, Xu Xiaoyou appeared like a silent bystander, quietly watching as the events unfolded.

Unexpectedly, she stumbled upon a hidden storyline, with these children sneaking out of the lab before the vaccine serum was fully developed. Xu Xiaoyou couldn’t let them leave for the Tredy Nobility’s carriage.

Once the vaccine development rights fell into the hands of the nobility, she would lose her value. Even if she returned alive, the resentful resistance army would never spare her character as the doctor. She didn’t want to receive a low rating for her first novice task.

The playtime was very rushed, she used fragmented time to clarify the ’doctor’s’ position on the Saint Puniel Train. The doctor didn’t belong to any faction but remained independent from both the resistance army and the Tredy Nobility.

For perhaps reasons of guilt, morality, or conscience, the doctor herself leaned towards the Dawn Resistance Army, which is why she conducted experiments in the lower-tier carriages.

Those bionic robots were specifically sent by the Tredy Nobility to monitor her in the lower-tier carriages, to grasp the progress of vaccine development in real-time.

She noticed that other novice players in this dungeon posted that the Dawn Resistance Army was friendly to their faction, except for her, which was already a significant indication.

If nothing unexpected happened, once the vaccine was developed, the resistance army would immediately turn hostile towards her faction and launch an attack against her.

As for directly seeking an opportunity to defect to the nobility, developing a cure in favorable conditions, and celebrating, Xu Xiaoyou didn’t see this as a good choice.

Not only was it easy to get caught by the resistance army, but the role’s portrayal was also one of the criteria for the final score. The doctor she played did not wish for the cure to fall into the hands of the nobility, for some reasons she was yet to understand. Violating the character’s original intention would result in a low score, even if she successfully completed the main storyline.

Other players only needed to fight zombies to earn points and contribute to their faction in this novice dungeon, but for her, it was at hell’s difficulty level. She had to find the right balance in the cracks to possibly achieve a high-score dungeon clearance.

Xu Xiaoyou deeply felt the malice from the Oasis.

If she hadn’t coincidentally fallen below and accidentally stumbled upon these children escaping the lab, the novice dungeon might have ended in a confusing Game Over.

"If you really just want to leave, you can do so now, can’t you?" Xu Xiaoyou said. "You know very well what will happen to her if she falls into the hands of the nobility."

"Is what you’re saying any different from what she’s experienced before?"

"Don’t judge us by your moral standards!" Owl gritted his teeth. "Do you think everyone is a nasty self-centered bastard like you?"

Xu Xiaoyou’s eyes flickered slightly, showing a hint of exhaustion.

"Xia Li, look at me, we are family. Family should have the trust to rely on each other’s backs. If you don’t trust us, no matter how many times things are explained, it won’t matter, got it?" Owl said.

"I’ll only say this once, Xia Li, listen carefully."

"I won’t hand you over to those nobles. I’ll never forget the hatred, it was them who made us orphans. Do you remember Aleksey from the transport team? Through him, I got to know someone from the nobility, an uncle named Benjamin. As long as we get over there, he’ll find a way to take us in."

"He’ll give us food and clothes, and even a warm home."

Xia Li’s voice carried a hint of timidity: "So, we’re not escaping the Saint Puniel Train but defecting to the noble side?"

"This isn’t what you told me from the start, you clearly said..."

"See," Xu Xiaoyou said at the right moment, "they’re deceiving you."

"Why would they deceive me?"