Bang, bang, bang.
At this moment, several knocks sounded from outside the basement, causing everyone's expressions to change. Xu Xiaoyou made a shushing gesture, her gaze darting toward the entrance.
"Um, excuse me, is anyone inside?" A timid and hesitant voice drifted in, sounding like a young girl.
"Who is it?" Xu Xiaoyou's tone was icy.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I'm just... I'm just... what should I do..."
Everyone was left at a loss, looking at each other with confusion written on their faces.
"Open the door," Xu Xiaoyou said.
Someone nodded and opened the door, revealing the figure standing outside.
It was a girl with long pink hair that flowed down to her waist. She was petite, wearing a lace-trimmed long dress with white inner linings extending from wide sleeves. Most strikingly, above the girl's head floated a... glowing angel halo?
Even more eye-catching was the pair of small wings behind her. The feathers were fluffy and soft, swaying gently, making one feel an inexplicable urge to reach out and squeeze them.
Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the crowd, the girl appeared very uneasy. Another young woman wearing a black and white butler's uniform grabbed the girl by the back of her neck and carried her into the room, placing her upright on a chair before giving an enigmatic smile.
"Hehe. I'll just quietly leave a soft and squishy little princess here. Don't do anything bad, okay?"
"Laiqing, don't leave me here alone, hmph..."
The girl's mosquito-like voice was cut off by the 'thud' of the door closing.
She looked at the people in the room and noticed everyone was staring at her. Shrinking her shoulders, she silently took off the glowing angel halo and tucked her small wings away.
"She is..."
Someone with sharp eyes recognized the girl.
"The leader of Daybreak Elegy, Li Liujin?"
"It really is her, the little princess of Life Daybreak?"
"Li Liujin-sama, I'm your fan!"
"Eh?" Feeling the enthusiasm of the crowd, the pink-haired girl was slightly stunned.
At this time, Angelina walked up to Xu Xiaoyou and shrugged.
Xu Xiaoyou understood what she meant.
Everyone in Oasis knew that the leader of Daybreak Elegy was a famous mascot. Because of her incredibly cute appearance, she was widely adored, and her heart-healing prayer magic had melted the hearts of countless people.
There was only one reason for her to appear here.
The Guild Alliance didn't trust them and had specifically sent this innocent little princess here to perform 'soft surveillance' on them.
"Should we kill her?" Angelina asked, crossing her arms.
Hearing this, the pink-haired girl sitting on the small stool was so scared that tears began to well in her eyes.
"She looks like a lot of trouble."
"If you lay a hand on her, do you want to be bombarded by the 'Pink Jellyfish Guardian Fan Club' public opinion, Anya?" Xu Xiaoyou's mouth twitched slightly.
"Besides, she's only sixteen."
"You're not being fooled by her appearance, are you? She's the little princess of Life Daybreak. Do you think someone who grew up in that family environment could really be that simple?" Angelina sneered.
"Think about your Little Blue Bird. She's only been in contact with the family for a short time, and look what she's become. You don't still think she's some simple and innocent little white flower, do you?"
"Anya, don't always think about fighting and killing..."
Li Liujin listened uneasily to the two of them discussing her, feeling completely out of place.
The Guild Alliance's move was truly insidious.
With her present, the meeting certainly couldn't continue. Fortunately, the main points had already been discussed, and the minor details would naturally be handled on the fly as the plan was implemented; there was no need for further discussion.
Xu Xiaoyou gave a warning look to the burly men who were trying to feed Li Liujin snacks. Looking disappointed, the men shrugged and filed out of the room. The meeting, which was only half-finished, was forced to an end.
"Sorry, did I cause trouble for you?" the pink-haired girl said softly.
"There are many things I can't decide for myself..."
"Timid and weak." Angelina made no effort to hide her disgust. She snorted and followed the players out the door. "Tsk, what a pain."
Li Liujin fell silent, the small wings on her back drooping.
Soon, only Xu Xiaoyou, Akabane Tsubaki, and Li Liujin were left in the basement. Akabane Tsubaki silently observed their expressions before leaning toward the pink-haired girl and holding out a few pieces of bitter melon candy.
"Jin-jin, want a taste?"
"Eh, what's this?"
"Hehe, you'll know once you try it."
"Ugh... so bitter."
'From the looks of it, these two seem to know each other?'
Xu Xiaoyou thought to herself.
It made sense. One was the little family head of the Akabane family, and the other was the little princess of Life Daybreak. It was perfectly normal for two people of similar status and age to have common topics. The only ones she was familiar with who had started from scratch were herself and Anya.
Xu Xiaoyou stopped focusing on the two girls and walked to the small window. The cool night breeze brushed against her face, making her thoughts feel much clearer.
Not much had happened in the past two days. Deep Blue Tide had pestered her for a while, but after realizing he wouldn't get a response, he left silently, leaving behind a message that he would bring her a big surprise the next time they met.
As a luminous prism grade fixer, he had seen through her true state the moment they met. Paper could not contain fire forever; she had to grow up before the packaging of 'Dark Gold Rose' was completely burned away.
She needed to speed up the favorability tasks for Bai Youyou and Akabane Tsubaki.
As for why she chose the 'prison', which was easy to attack but hard to defend, as the next target for Light-Chaser Garden, she naturally had her own considerations beyond the points mentioned in the meeting.
After the battle two days ago, the size of Light-Chaser Garden had expanded to nearly a hundred people, and everyone was equipped with a set of gear. Although it was vastly different from the equipment of the elite units of those large guilds, they could still be considered a force with decent combat power.
She was confident she could lead this force to conquer the prison.
As for the second reason.
Not long ago, Xu Xiaoyou had received another letter from the 'Unknown Visitor'. 'Sevia Winter?' had explicitly pointed out the prison and hoped she could go there.
She needed to find out what exactly had happened to Tang Xin.
There were about twenty minutes left before the alliance meeting started. Having nothing better to do, Xu Xiaoyou allocated a portion of the guild's operating funds and performed a ten-pull.
She didn't think it was a big deal, but with one pull,
She accidentally hit a gold pull.
【Guild Fixed Capital Card × 9】
【Skill Card: Moon-Trace Time-Hibiscus × 1】
【Skill Card: Moon-Trace Time-Hibiscus】
【Quality: art (gold)】
【Effect 1: After use, you can reset the time of any object, granting the target the 'Moon-Trace' effect, rolling back the target's status to 24h ago. Note: When the 'Moon-Trace' effect is triggered, it means the check was successful, and the Moon-Trace card durability is permanently reduced by 1. Current durability: 2】
【Effect 2: After use, you can pause the time of any object, granting the touched target the 'Time-Hibiscus' effect, completely stopping the target's state until 1s has passed based on your time. Note: When the 'Time-Hibiscus' effect is triggered, it means the check was successful, and the Time-Hibiscus card durability is permanently reduced by 1. Current durability: 2】
Rate on N.U.
