247: Chapter 248, Mr. Zhao

*Click.*

That faint, crisp metallic sound was exceptionally piercing in the quiet night breeze.

Lin Li's muscles tensed like steel bars in an instant!

Without the slightest hesitation, he spun around, pulled Frannie into his embrace, and forcefully shielded her behind him in his blind spot!

Relying on his enhanced, superhuman senses, he could even clearly see a glint of light from an optical scope moving rapidly in the darkness, seemingly adjusting its shooting angle.

Though Frannie, who was forcibly shielded behind him, was normally a well-trained sister with respectable combat capabilities,

her struggles were basically no different from those of an ordinary mortal in the face of Lin Li's level of physical strength.

Frannie could not budge Lin Li's vise-like arms at all.

She did not want to hide behind a man like a fragile porcelain doll, so she tried to break free.

"Don't move! There's a sniper!"

Lin Li growled in a low voice, his tone steady without a single ripple of panic.

Lin Li's mind raced as he pondered how to handle this sudden situation, but a massive wave of doubt also welled up in his heart.

First of all, this was the entrance of the Fire Seed Shelter!

It was extremely close to the core main base, and the surrounding area was packed with surveillance cameras.

Its security defenses could be said to have truly zero blind spots.

What kind of top-tier assassin could possibly sneak in so deeply without making a sound?!

Secondly, if there was an assassin with such terrifying stealth capabilities, they would definitely be an elite ace trained by a major faction.

That begged the question: how could a top-tier, elite killer make such a rookie mistake as letting their scope reflect light?

Finally, what on earth did that assassin want?

If his goal was to assassinate him, the moment he embraced Frannie with his guard down would have been the absolute best opportunity to fire.

Now that he was exposed, why hadn't he retreated? Instead, he was still aiming blindly from the same spot.

Just as Lin Li was filled with suspicion and prepared to shield Frannie while retreating back inside the heavy gates of Shelter,

*Click-clack, click-clack!*

Accompanied by a series of blinding camera flashes, a figure holding an exaggeratedly large camera swaggered out into the open.

Lin Li focused his gaze, and once he clearly identified the person's identity,

his entire body froze, and his back teeth instantly ground together with a loud click!

What heavy sniper rifle was that guy holding?!

That was clearly a high-definition camera fitted with an ultra-telephoto lens!

And that sneaky fellow...

was none other than Nikon Da Niao, the war correspondent player in the Spark Alliance who had repeatedly taken candid shots of the protagonist just to farm forum traffic!

"Fire Seed!"

Veins bulged on Lin Li's forehead as he pointed at the figure and roared,

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Nikon Da Niao held up his heavy camera gear.

Looking at the faction Boss, who was clearly on the verge of exploding with rage, and the cold, beautiful sister,

he didn't feel a single shred of fear.

The guy first came to attention perfunctorily and gave Lin Li a crooked double-headed eagle salute.

Then, Nikon Da Niao grinned shamelessly and answered loudly,

"Reporting, Lord Commander! I am documenting a precious and historic moment for you! Your magnificent posture and romantic love are like a beacon in the dark, constantly guiding our path forward!"

Hearing this little rascal's endless stream of flattering nonsense,

Lin Li still felt a surge of anger.

As expected, it was this kid sneaking around taking photos!

But anger was one thing.

Lin Li was also well aware of the nature of The Fourth Calamity.

If this kind of malicious behavior of invading someone's privacy had happened in the real world before his transmigration, this kid would definitely have been hauled off to the police station for free tea, food, and lodging.

But to these players who treated this place as a 100% realistic holographic MMO, this was just a game world where they could vent their desires without restraint.

Players with certain peculiar hobbies would naturally let themselves go completely and start acting crazy in the game.

Thinking about this kid's ID, Nikon Da Niao,

Lin Li couldn't help but complain inwardly.

"Choosing a veteran photographer ID and carrying heavy camera gear around to take candid photos all day,"

Lin Li cursed in his heart,

"anyone who didn't know better would really think you're just some old veteran photographer who loves landscape photography. Why didn't you just name yourself Mr. Zhao 91? Wouldn't that fit your sleazy vibe much better?"

Complaints aside, Lin Li thought about it and decided that in order to maintain his dignity as a faction leader, he still had to give this reckless player some substantial punishment.

He let go of Frannie and strode over to Nikon Da Niao.

"You have openly violated my personal privacy without permission."

Lin Li looked down at him, his voice cold. "As a result, your favorability with the faction leader of the Spark Alliance will be deducted by 500 points!"

"[PV Notification: Ding! Your faction reputation has decreased by 500 points! Current Relationship: Cold.]"

Nikon Da Niao's face froze as he looked at the bright red notification box that popped up in his field of vision.

If his favorability dropped to Hostile, he would be hunted down across the entire map by the camp guards!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Boss! Have mercy! Don't dock my favorability! I'll delete the photos, okay?!"

Before Nikon Da Niao could finish begging for mercy,

Lin Li reached out with his right hand, grabbed the back of his collar, and lifted the burly man into midair with one hand like a little chick!

"Off you go!"

Lin Li spun him around forcefully a few times, then using his core strength, threw Nikon Da Niao like a discus straight toward the distant sand dunes!

"Aaaaaah—!"

Accompanied by the fading scream, Nikon Da Niao traced a beautiful arc through the air,

landing with a thud headfirst into a distant sand dune.

Having dealt with this mood-ruining paparazzi kid, Lin Li dusted off his hands and turned back to Frannie.

By now, Frannie had recovered from her previous tension.

Putting away her girlish bashfulness, her gorgeous face once again wore the cold and resolute expression of a sister.

Frannie looked straight into Lin Li's eyes and spoke in a serious tone,

"Li."

Frannie took a deep breath.

"While I am a woman, I am first and foremost a daughter of the Emperor. I am not some weakling who can only hide behind you and need your constant protection. I want to protect you, or rather... I want to fight alongside you on the battlefield, having each other's backs."

Looking into her stubborn eyes, Lin Li instantly understood what Frannie was thinking.

In this Warhammer Universe that worshiped raw power, where women were even fiercer than men,

as Battle Sisters, they naturally possessed immense pride. They would never consider themselves weaklings, let alone require pity or one-sided protection from others.

However, before transmigrating, Lin Li was a Huaxia person who had received a modern education.

From a young age, he had been subtly conditioned by the traditional moral values deeply ingrained in his bones to protect women, children, and the weak.

Coupled with how rapidly their relationship had heated up recently, they cherished each other even more.

That was why, in the sudden emergency where he thought there was an assassin, he hadn't thought at all and had instinctively shielded Frannie tightly behind him.

Seeing Frannie's defiant and serious expression, Lin Li smiled.

He reached out and gently caressed Frannie's cool cheek.

"Alright."

Lin Li's eyes were filled with doting affection. "Then next time there's danger, it'll be your turn to protect me."

With that, Lin Li seemed to recall something, and a mischievous grin played on his lips.

He leaned in close to Frannie's ear and whispered in a low voice,

"By the way, during this operation, I received the God-Emperor's blessing once again, and I even used the Miraculous Flame in public."

Lin Li blinked.

"As a sister of the Ecclesiarchy, shouldn't you fulfill your sacred duty and help me perform a deep Stigmata Restoration?"

Hearing this, Frannie instantly recalled the scene of their Stigmata Restoration in the small wooden cabin last time.

The cold demeanor she had just put on shattered instantly, and a rosy blush rushed to her pretty face.

She hurriedly avoided Lin Li's gaze and murmured in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz:

"Mhm..."

...

In the days after returning to Shelter, Lin Li finally got to enjoy a relatively relaxed life once again.

Without the immense pressure of the insect swarm bearing down on their gates,

he spent his days inspecting the factories and schools undergoing emergency repairs on various resource planets, urging on the progress of reconstruction;

at night, he would take Frannie for walks and chats outside Shelter, claiming to the public that they were "sharing their pure faith in the God-Emperor."

This evening,

Lin Li and Frannie were sitting side by side on an alloy rocking chair outside Shelter, comfortably watching a purplish-red gas giant slowly rise over the horizon.

Suddenly, without any warning,

a sharp alert tone for an important message rang out from the pv terminal on Lin Li's wrist.

He frowned, pulled out the pv terminal, and took a look.

On the originally quiet interface, a brand-new main quest box flashing with golden light suddenly popped up:

"[Main Quest Update: Taking the First Steps of Exploration]"

"[Quest Description: The internal conflicts and threats in the Yuanwang Star System have basically been settled. The time to leave the cradle is ripe. Please sow the seeds of civilization and truth, bringing order to more of humanity in this cruel universe!]"

"[Quest Objective: Dispatch forces to fully explore any star system outside the Yuanwang Star System.]"

"[Quest Reward: Completely unlock all permissions for Basement Level 8 (B8) of Shelter; Reward Core-grade Equipment—Gene Assembly Machine (Description: Capable of mass-producing incubation pods equipped with consciousness anchors, as well as customized cloned incubation bodies).]"

After reading it, Lin Li couldn't help but curl his lips.

"Well, well, the main quest that's been stuck for so long has finally popped up."

Lin Li grumbled inwardly,

"This Shelter system is as pushy as ever, never giving me a moment's peace. The base just finished its defense battle, and now it's already urging me to run outside the star system."

Sitting beside him, Frannie seemed to have long grown used to Lin Li pulling out that strange metal plate to check messages at a moment's notice.

She didn't say anything, only sitting quietly by his side and watching.

When she noticed Lin Li falling into deep thought while looking at the screen, seemingly handling some major military matter,

Frannie smiled understandingly, stood up, and without making a sound to disturb him, turned and walked straight back to her convent outpost.

After carefully reading the quest details on the pv terminal, Lin Li snapped out of it, only to find that Frannie had indeed quietly slipped away.

Looking at Frannie's receding figure, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion:

"This girl is really so considerate it makes my heart ache."

Every time Lin Li took out his pv terminal to read battle reports or handle official business, Frannie would voluntarily excuse herself.

She would absolutely never be like those young girls back on Earth who, when a man was busy with serious matters, would throw out a soul-searching question like:

"You're looking at your phone instead of me? Do you not love me anymore?"

After sighing, Lin Li pulled his thoughts back and began to seriously ponder this brand-new main quest.

First, let's look at the quest rewards.

Previously, every time Shelter unlocked a level downward, the system would reward a batch of dormant incubation pods that allowed players to link their consciousness, thereby expanding the player cap.

But this time, Lin Li felt the reward was fundamentally different.

The absolute core of it was that [Gene Assembly Machine]!

Although its item description was very brief:

"Capable of manufacturing incubation pods and incubation bodies equipped with consciousness anchors."

Although Lin Li didn't quite understand the high-tech principles behind the consciousness anchor,

a bold guess instantly surged in his mind!

The function of this thing was absolutely to directly mass-produce cloned bodies for players to link to via a fully automated assembly line!

As long as there were enough materials, however many dormant pods they built, they could produce an unlimited number of cloned bodies!

This meant that as long as they secured this reward, the player cap of the Spark Alliance would be completely lifted!

"We can start making people like crazy now!"