Lily rubbed her temples; she had pretty much figured out the situation.
The current situation was likely that her appointment as acting supervisor had made her a thorn in the side of someone or some faction within the Wildfire Gang.
Then that person or faction found players, intending to use them to eliminate her.
From a normal perspective, this was a very good deal.
How to find a reliable killer?
That was the question.
If they were unlucky and found a fool like a "Five-Star Killer" who killed the wrong target, or a scammer who outsourced the assassination mission layer by layer, not only would the assassination mission fail, but they themselves would also likely be exposed.
Finding players eliminated this concern.
You could say players didn't understand assassination, but you couldn't question the determination of a player who accepted a mission to complete it.
Moreover, players were a very good scapegoat.
Given the current relationship between players and the Wildfire Gang, unless players went around shouting through loudspeakers, no one would ever suspect that the mastermind was actually from the Wildfire Gang.
"Too bad your target is me!"
Lily chuckled.
Above the Stars, no one understood players better than her.
At the Abandoned Cooling Plant, no one was more popular with players than her.
She only needed to show her face and do nothing else to easily resolve this move from her enemies.
However, Lily didn't plan to simply resolve the crisis like that.
These past two days, she had suddenly appeared to rescue Excavation Princess, who was blocked by thugs, and then acted as if she cared deeply about the players' safety in front of them, expending great effort to successfully win over a group of players.
Now that the players had delivered themselves to her doorstep, how could she easily let them go?
Lily, activate!
...
Under the faint moonlight overhead, Patrick Star and the others advanced slowly.
It was 7:20 PM, and they had spent half an hour avoiding one NPC after another, finally arriving near the mission location.
Patrick Star took a deep breath and looked back at Excavation Princess, Convert to My Lily, and the others following closely behind him.
"Everyone, do one last check to see if there are any issues with the traps and props we've made," he instructed in the team channel.
A few seconds later, Excavation Princess was the first to reply with "no problem," followed by a string of "+1s."
"Good."
Patrick Star then repeated the pre-arranged tactics in the channel.
"Does anyone have any questions? If not, let's split up and act. Be sure to watch your step. We've already come this far, so don't expose our whereabouts due to carelessness and allow the target to prepare."
"You can rest assured, Pai Da."
"I'm a master of stealth games."
Patrick Star smiled and nodded.
To ensure the mission's successful completion, each of them had prepared weapons like daggers, iron rods, and bows and arrows this time. They had also learned from Lily's advanced tactics, acquiring a batch of quicklime, rusty nails, chili powder, tripwires, nets, and lubricant.
With preparation and a sneak attack, he was at least 80% confident he could take down this mission target in one go!
After quietly waiting for more than a minute, everyone successfully reached their designated positions.
The evening wind blew debris rolling across the street, carrying a hint of chilling Killing Intention.
Under the dim light, Patrick Star surveyed Four Directions.
Everyone held their breath, and everyone was excited.
That was 3500 experience points.
For experience, for leveling up, for getting closer to Lily, for digging deeper into the story hidden behind Lily, damn it!
Patrick Star slowly raised his right hand.
When his right hand fell, that was when the operation would officially begin.
Five, Four Directions...
Patrick Star counted silently in his heart.
When he counted to two, something unexpected happened to everyone.
"How long are you going to hide?"
In the silent night, a slightly muffled voice suddenly came through the wall.
Holy crap!
The effect of this sound was no less than a jump scare in a horror game.
Several players were directly scared blank and began to look around helplessly.
The remaining players began to wail in the team channel.
"It's over, it's over, we've been discovered, how can we ambush now?"
"Damn it, how did she find out? We didn't make any sound along the way. Does she have an ability similar to sensing qi?"
"Is she cheating?"
"Pai Da, Pai Da, do we still fight?"
"This voice sounds a bit familiar."
Patrick Star was also startled.
But he had seen big scenes in other games, so he quickly calmed down.
The more this kind of moment, the less you could panic.
If the opponent was very strong, then they wouldn't be able to escape the moment they were discovered. Rather than escaping, it was better to turn back and fight.
If the opponent was very weak, then they had nothing to worry about and should just go for it.
In summary, it was one word—
Fight!
"Still according to the original plan, Black Tiger Afu and I will be the main attackers and attract attention."
"That's right, who cares about anything else, just fight first!"
Black Tiger Afu, being a battle maniac, had been holding back for a long time. Hearing Patrick Star say this, he stopped pretending. He lifted his newly bought iron rod and crashed through the half-open door like a wild bull, rushing into the room.
Seeing him go in, Patrick Star quickly followed.
"Ah—"
Black Tiger Afu raised the iron rod high above his head and brought it down with a powerful jump-slash, smashing it fiercely at the person in the room.
The force was swift and the speed extremely fast. The person in the room only had time to raise their left arm.
Bang!
The iron rod hit something solid.
Patrick Star's heart swelled with joy. Good opportunity.
He slid out from behind Black Tiger Afu's massive body, gripping his dagger, aiming directly for the mission target's left ribs.
But in that instant, he suddenly clearly saw the mission target's face. Isn't this Lily?
"Stop, everyone stop!"
Patrick Star forcefully twisted the dagger to the side.
He himself avoided it, but the other players who rushed in from the window and from behind couldn't avoid it in time.
"Pai Da, I'll help you."
Convert to My Lily drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
Whoosh.
An arrow shot straight for the back of the neck.
Excavation Princess, on the other hand, raised her knife and charged forward, howling.
Patrick Star didn't have time to shout a second time, nor did he have time to stop them. Off-balance, he could only watch helplessly.
Time seemed to slow down countless times at this moment.
He watched Lily turn around, saw Lily flick her right hand to knock away the incoming arrow, saw Lily extend her left hand to grab the blade of the knife Excavation Princess had brought down, and then twisted it forcefully, snatching the knife away.
"Fu Fu?"
Excavation Princess froze in place.
The next second, Lily grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall. Under the impact of the brutal force, she was lifted into the air.
During this process, not a single damage number floated above Lily's head, nor did any wounds appear on her body.
Not injured?
Patrick Star let out a long breath, but immediately his heart tightened again.
"Why is it you all?"
Lily's eyes were incredibly cold, and her voice was equally cold.
Excavation Princess struggled to look down. She saw that the cold eyes were clearly filled with disbelief.
In fact, at this moment, all the players, including Excavation Princess, also felt incredible disbelief.
Why was it Lily? Why was their assassination target Lily?
If so, didn't they betray Lily's trust and repay kindness with enmity?
It's over, it's all over!
They had finally managed to raise Lily's favorability to 82, and now it would probably drop directly to -82.
Convert to My Lily, who took the mission first, was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Was there anything more regrettable, painful, and despairing than betraying someone he liked?
He wished he could just stab himself.