379: Chapter 379 To Protect or to Destroy? Adults Should Always Take a Chance!

Lin Xiao took the skill book.

His gaze focused slightly, and the skill book's information panel appeared in his field of vision.

Level 5 [First Aid Spray], perfectly replicated without any defects.

Tian Xiwei continued, "I will continue to construct this skill book later. It is mainly because the [Darkness] stacks have reached the limit, but my own mental energy needs some time to fully recover."

She looked at the ring on her hand and sighed, "I am already wearing several pieces of equipment that increase recovery rate, but this cooldown time still cannot be compressed any further."

"It is okay. Do not worry about the skill book; we have plenty of time," Lin Xiao comforted her.

Subsequently, he opened the trading panel and sent the two constructed level 5 skill books to Ruan Li in the rear.

At the same time, he attached a short private message: "Distribute these two to the selected medical team members first and have them learn it immediately. There will be more later."

After finishing this, Lin Xiao was preparing to continue walking forward when Princess Xiyao suddenly walked up from behind to the side.

She walked to Yimu's side, stopped at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, and then turned her head to look at Lin Xiao.

"Brother Lin Xiao, has this Miss Yimu joined your team?"

Lin Xiao's footsteps paused slightly.

After recalling and confirming that he had never revealed this matter to outsiders, he looked at Princess Xiyao: "Yes. How did you know?"

He did not say the second half of his sentence.

Because he did not think Jing Hua was the type to talk about everything to outsiders.

As the leader of the Merfolk Tribe, Jing Hua was very rational.

Princess Xiyao blinked.

Her eyes, which had a golden halo, contained some kind of indescribable emotion.

"I smelled a scent."

"A scent?" Lin Xiao glanced sideways slightly.

"Miss Yimu has your scent on her." Princess Xiyao's tone was very flat, as if she were talking about a very ordinary matter.

"Before, when Jing Hua said she was moving to Room 07-01, she also carried Brother Lin Xiao's scent, just with a different concentration."

Although Princess Xiyao's voice was not loud, it was still heard by Xiao Tian and Yimu nearby.

Tian Xiwei's steps slowed down by half a beat, and she pretended to look at the distant pool.

Yimu froze in place, then silently moved a step to the side, distancing herself from Lin Xiao by more than half a body length.

Fortunately, when she went out, she wore a veil hat, and the black gauze completely covered her face.

Otherwise, others would definitely have been able to see the shyness on her face that was impossible to conceal.

Seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly awkward, Lin Xiao hurriedly coughed dryly.

But there was no extra expression on his face, and as usual, it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

"Yimu has indeed joined the team. Her sensing ability will be of great help for the subsequent exploration of the ruins. As for the scent, I do not understand what you mean."

Princess Xiyao did not continue to explain but squeezed to his side.

The distance was very close, close enough to smell that faint, special fragrance on her body.

She raised her head, her expression serious for the first time.

"Brother Lin Xiao, I want to join the team too..."

"Sorry."

Without waiting for Princess Xiyao to finish speaking, Lin Xiao immediately responded, as if he had prepared this answer long ago, "I promised Jing Hua."

As soon as Jing Hua was mentioned, Princess Xiyao's expression suddenly changed.

That face, which was usually gentle and soft, sank, and her brows knitted together.

Her voice even carried a layer of sharpness that had never been heard from her before: "Why does she need to agree? She is not my mother, and my affairs..."

She did not finish the second half of the sentence.

A rainbow-colored light curtain rippled out from the direction of the Imperial Palace.

The shockwave swept across the grass, causing the surrounding airflow to whistle.

Several Merfolk Guards instinctively raised their double-bladed tridents to protect Princess Xiyao, but she waved her hand to signal them to step back.

After the light curtain passed, the surfaces of the remains that had been lying on the grass for over a hundred years suddenly lit up with a faint glow, as if responding to the resonance of something.

Immediately after, a notification message popped up in the center of all passengers' fields of vision.

[Attention all passengers, a public event has been triggered]

[The Heze Royal Family prayed to the Four Gods and exhausted their last strength to build a magnificent Imperial Palace. The radiance of the Imperial Palace shrouded the once-fertile land.]

[However, as time passed, the remnants of The Propagation continued to multiply. The radiance of the Imperial Palace gradually dimmed under their gnawing, and a crisis is about to descend upon this land once again.]

[Please, all passengers, spare no effort to protect the safety of the Imperial Palace and hold the last piece of pure land for Heze.]

[Current public event difficulty: Epic]

Lin Xiao took the opportunity to free himself from Princess Xiyao's entanglement and turned to look at this notification, falling silent for a long while.

Protect the Imperial Palace? Protect the last piece of pure land in Heze?

For a moment, he did not know how to complain.

Would the so-called pure land have so many remains?

Moreover, the event card he chose was clearly [Destroy, This World].

The initial plan was also to let the Insect Swarm crush the core of the Imperial Palace, causing the protection mechanism to completely collapse, then he would take people in to scavenge for treasures, and after finishing, he would turn around and clean up the Insect Swarm.

When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits; it was simple and efficient.

However, according to the description of the public event, only by protecting the Imperial Palace could it be upgraded to a Legendary event; otherwise, the rewards would remain at "Epic."

The treasures in the Imperial Palace, and the rewards of a Legendary public event—which one should he choose?

Lin Xiao let out a soft breath.

In this life, it is impossible not to be greedy.

Therefore, he must think of a good way to cheat!

Lin Xiao recalled the event cards that appeared today and suddenly caught a trace of something unusual.

A sentence was mentioned in the event card [Pray to the Statue].

[...It is just unknown whether, when the blessings are gathered, it is the god responding to you, or you responding to the god's expectations...]

Responding to the god's expectations?

This sentence was thought-provoking.

If it was not trying to be mysterious, then what did it mean?

Could it be that...

"Brother Lin!"

A voice message that suddenly popped up in the chat channel interrupted his thoughts.

Fan Sinian's voice was mixed with the muffled sound of shields colliding with insect shells.

In the background, there was also the continuous low humming of the Scarab Beetle swarm.

"Brother Lin, the public event is out. What do we say? Should we continue to guard the rift?"

Immediately after, a few more messages popped up.

[05-05 Chen Pingan: I observed that those insects are constantly besieging the Imperial Palace, but it seems there is a barrier, and they cannot break in for a while.]

[14-04 Liu Bi: The barrier might not last long. This group of insects is very strange; the more we kill, the more there are. It is even more bizarre than what we encountered in the Cloud Palace yesterday!]

[10-10 Hao Ke: Train Conductor, what should we do? Should we protect the Imperial Palace?]

...

Facing everyone's questions, Lin Xiao pondered for a while and then responded:

[Car 07-01: Don't be anxious. Continue to follow my previous plan. Guard the rift and limit the number of the Insect Swarm entering the wind wall.]

[Car 07-01: Let those insects consume all of the Imperial Palace's defensive measures, then we will act!]