On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

"Huh? A witch? What witch? Does Lord Liao Ji have a witch here? I don't see one."

Styutia acted as if nothing had happened, as if she had just logged in. The little nun tilted her head and cast a gentle and kind look at Liao Ji.

Chapter 238 The Story of the Past (Part 1)

Row.

Liao Ji could understand Styutia quite well. After all, no one wants their dark history to be exposed in front of their loved one. It's like how many people who are chosen by a big truck to be crashed into another world still think about formatting their computer hard drive at the last second.

Tia's barrage of attacks on the witch was essentially no different from a quick format of a hard drive; he would probably be even more anxious in her place.

The witch is essentially just a program of "Zero Dream". Even if you leave her alive, you probably won't get anything out of her. Just kill her and save time.

After almost a month, Liao Ji finally saw the little nun online again. He really wanted to get intimate with her, but with the drastic changes that occurred in the Zero Dream after the witch's death, Liao Ji had to bring his attention back first.

As one of the five "Turbid Calamity Kings" who divided the world, the witch was destroyed. As a result, the concentration of turbid calamity in the corresponding dream world immediately dropped by one-fifth, especially in the area ruled by the witch.

Looking around, Liao Ji saw that the once barren and cracked land now seemed to have been healed and was rapidly regaining its vitality, with the shadows of grass and vegetation already visible.

At the same time, the number of the turbid monsters that originally roamed the wilderness also decreased sharply, either moving to other areas or simply turning into nothingness and disappearing.

Perhaps the only thing that hasn't changed is the sky above, which is still blood red, but compared to the initial chilling dark brown-red, the color is now noticeably lighter.

The change in environment is one aspect, and on the other hand, it's like the reward after defeating the BOSS; the witch left behind many phantoms after her death.

These phantoms formed a series of images, none other than the past stories of "Ashes" and "Shutia".

Liao Ji, who used to be a player, mostly operated from a god-like perspective, issuing commands from a macro perspective by using the various options on the game interface.

These phantoms now provide Liao Ji with another perspective, microscopically filling in many details he was unaware of in the game.

In a small, dilapidated house that resembled a stable, a little girl lay unconscious on a straw mat bed. The little girl slowly woke up, feeling frightened by the unfamiliar place, seemingly not understanding what had happened, where she was, or how she got there.

Fortunately, the shed was poorly soundproofed. As soon as they cautiously approached the door, the youngest daughter overheard the guards' conversation outside.

"I don't know what the leader was thinking, insisting on taking in a child, especially a girl who looks so frail and sickly."

"Who knows? Maybe our leader is just kind-hearted. He even gave up his own room for her."

"Sigh, although kindness is always better than cruelty, I don't want to follow a leader who's too nice. In this world, being kind just means being bullied. How can our settlement develop like this?"

"Development? You're thinking too much. I've joined no less than a dozen small settlements like ours. It's a miracle if we can even survive. In reality, most of them probably disappear within a few months. So take my advice, brother. This settlement isn't yours. Don't be a fool and work for someone else. For people like us, we should just muddle along as long as we can. If something really happens, we should run away as fast as we can. Don't be at the forefront. Preserving yourself is the most important thing. Anyway, if this settlement is gone, we can just find another new leader."

"Hiss, that's true. Sigh! In the end, it would be great if we could become Evil Ones, so we could join those safe and stable large communities."

The phantom ends here, and the next scene shifts to a tense and fierce battlefield.

A number of canine-level monsters surrounded the settlement and were trying to break through the main gate. A dozen or so militiamen from the settlement were being commanded by a person shrouded in the shadows of a cloak, and were fighting hard against the monsters.

At first, things went well. Ash made perfect use of each militiaman, placing each one in the most suitable position to maximize their combat effectiveness.

But the good times didn't last long. As casualties occurred, even Ash, who was in command, remained calm and quickly directed the other militiamen to fill the gaps, but it was clear that the militiamen were not capable of doing so.

Some of them began to grow increasingly hesitant to fight, showing hesitation or even resistance when ordered by Ash to take the lead.

What was originally a battle that could have been ended with a little more effort under Ash's command has now become unpredictable again.

One of the militiamen at the front was caught off guard and had his thigh bitten by a rabid dog. The bloody wound caused him to scream in pain, and his howls made the already panicked group even more unstable. Several of them even showed signs of wanting to run away.

Just then, a beam of holy light seemed to descend from the sky, shining on the wound on the militiaman's leg. It not only drove back the surrounding monsters, but also, to the astonishment of many, the militiaman's wound healed rapidly, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye under the holy light.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. I'm here. I am the Cursed One, and my abilities can heal you all. As long as I'm here, no one will be in any danger!"

"So please trust our leader, trust Lord Ash's command, we will definitely defeat them!"

The little girl appeared from behind and joined the battle, while Ash didn't say much about it and continued to command the militia to fight the monster.

Upon learning that a healer was available to assist them, the militiamen's morale soared, and many were able to fight with renewed vigor, no longer afraid of getting hurt.

The battle ended quickly, concluding with an unprecedented zero casualties at the settlement, marking a complete victory.

The illusionary scene shifted again, and the small, dilapidated settlement of twenty or thirty people had now grown into a considerable size, with the number of people expanding to over a hundred, and the area of ​​the settlement increasing from half the size of a football field to the size of two football fields.

The reason is simple: the rapidly growing militia combat power in the settlement area.

After all, in the past, if they were injured in battle, the minor injuries were fine, but the more serious ones were almost a death sentence. Medicine was the rarest resource in the settlement.

But with the little girl joining the battle, things are different now. The militiamen know that no matter how badly they are injured, as long as they don't die, they can all recover completely under Styutia's care.

Therefore, they were able to strictly follow their leader's commands in battle, and were no longer timid.

As the only Evil One in the settlement and a healer, Sthiuthia quickly gained popularity and was adored by many in the settlement. They rushed to try to talk to her, chat with her, and befriend her.

"Tia, thank you so much. Without you, I probably wouldn't have seen the sun rise tomorrow."

"It's nothing, Uncle Kuro. It's what I should do. Compared to me, Ash, as the commander, is much more capable and protected us."

"Yes, the leader's command is indeed impressive, haha."

"Tia, to be honest, when the chief asked me to take on that snake thorn today, I really wanted to run away. It was only because I thought of you that I gritted my teeth and went."

"Thank you for your trust, Brother Ak. However, I believe that every order given by Lord Ash was the best solution at the time. Brother Ak, you must not have such thoughts next time. You must trust Lord Ash."

"Okay, I understand."

"Thank you, Tia. Sometimes I think, if only you were the leader. Our Lord Ash is always so taciturn, I don't know how to communicate with him."

“Koren, Lord Ash carries the lives of hundreds of people on the ground, including you and me. It is because of this great pressure that he speaks very little. How can we blame Lord Ash for this?”

"Yes, that's true. I don't have time to talk when I'm in a tense battle either. Now I can understand Lord Ash a little better. I was wrong."

"Sister Tia, why does Lord Ash always wear a cloak and never take it off? It's so scary when we encounter him at night. Do you think the leader might not be human?"

"Pfft! Xiaoya, don't think nonsense, how could that be? Let me tell you a secret, actually under Lord Ash's cloak is a super handsome person! He has deep eyes, a resolute face, a high nose bridge, and, and..."

Wow! Ash is amazing!

Chapter 239 The Story of the Past (Part 2)

Looking at the scene in the illusion, Liao Ji couldn't help but clench Sciutia's hand tightly beside him.

In the game, one of Styutia's infrastructure abilities is to improve the morale of the settlement and increase the people's trust in her as their leader.

Such a buff might not be significant in the mid-to-late game, but it is undoubtedly excellent in the early game when manpower is scarce. After all, countless novice players focus too much on expanding their settlements and fail to pay attention to public discontent, leading to their collapse.

Or, as in previous battles, when the level of trust is low, game characters may disobey commands or even run away.

In the game, Styutia's ability is only represented by a skill panel and a percentage number.

But Liao Jicai understood that the +20% leader trust in the early settlement was actually achieved through the little nun's words, which she spoke up for him, the leader.

Styutia immediately helped treat the wounded under her command, did her best to soothe their emotions, explained the importance of her commands, and praised their bravery, which resulted in the characters in the game having an absolutely high level of obedience.

When she had an expansionist mindset and allocated more resources to the soldiers while reducing the treatment of the general population in the rear settlement, causing dissatisfaction among the members, it was Styutia who went around to appease them one by one, telling them that the purpose of doing so was for better development, so that everyone in the settlement would be willing to eat and drink less in order to cooperate with her development plan.

Later on, as their community continued to grow and develop to a certain scale, they naturally went from being unknown to attracting the attention of many other communities.

Liao Ji looked at another phantom.

The phantom image didn't show him; instead, it showed Styutia leading a team on an exploration, which likely corresponds to the "Dispatch" function in the game.

At this time, he already had quite a few Evil Ones besides Styutia. The dispatch team in the picture was resting at night after a battle.

Styutia wasn't asleep; she was planning her route back to the settlement from inside her tent. And yet, in the dead of night, an unexpected visitor arrived.

Liao Ji actually remembered Tia, who was a dangerous-level melee character who was quite good in the early stages and whom he regarded as one of his main members.

After pretending to chat with Sthiuthia for a while, he finally revealed his purpose.

"Tia, have you ever considered leaving?"

"Leave?" The nun in the phantom image frowned slightly, her previously gentle face now showing a hint of brow.

"Well, to be honest with you, we've been fighting together for so long, we're old comrades-in-arms. You should know about the Lanno settlement, right? It's the largest settlement in our area. I heard they have hundreds of Evil Ones there, more than all the people in our Ash Settlement combined!"

“They’ve contacted me now, saying their leader values ​​us and wants us to join them. Let me tell you, Tia, the leader of the Lanno settlement is not like our Ash Lord. He’s not some weirdo who hides himself in a cloak all day. He has connections with the higher-ups at the Azure Base and is supposedly the illegitimate son of a deputy leader!”

"I don't need to explain what the base is, right? It's a towering existence that we settlements can only look up to for our entire lives. With such a background, your future is absolutely limitless. So, Tia, are you coming with me? They even told me that their leader values ​​you highly, saying that if you go there, he'll give you ten times the treatment you have in Ash Settlement now! In my opinion, that bastard leader definitely has his eye on you!"

"Tia, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you can get on his good side, with his resources, it's not impossible for you to break through to the Danger level and become a low-level or even mid-level Disaster level!"

The more this Critical-class Guardian spoke, the more excited he became, his eyebrows dancing with excitement, as if he could already imagine his meteoric rise to power.

But what he didn't notice was the increasingly dim eyes of the nun opposite him.

"No, Helen, I won't go. Styutia will only stay in the Ash Gathering Grounds. I've already made this place my home."

"Tia, oh well! I could have guessed it. After all, everyone in our settlement knows that you're the most supportive of that Ash Lord, and you can't stop talking about your Ash Lord in almost every other sentence."

"Well then, I'm leaving anyway, and I've brought Cologne and the others along. We've all had a get-together, so let's meet again someday, Tia. Sigh, I'm still not used to having you as a teammate, Tia. It's such a shame."

The man was about to get up and leave, but Styutia called him back.

"Helen, could you please wait a little longer? I have a few more potions here, which will be prepared soon. Consider it a farewell gift for everyone. Why don't you go and call Colon and the others over here? By the time you arrive, my medicine will be ready. This will help you recover from your injuries and cure some stubborn ailments. This way, when you arrive at the new settlement, you might be able to better showcase yourselves."

Styutia's words deeply moved Helen. At that moment, he felt that Styutia was a true saint, so selfless and devoted to people, even knowing that they were about to leave, she still wanted to do her best for them one last time.

She really

Helen nodded gratefully, then immediately stepped out of the tent and called over the remaining three or four Evil Ones who had agreed to switch sides to the Lanno settlement.

When they arrived at Sthiuthia's tent, the nun had indeed prepared potions for each of them, which appeared to have been prepared on the spot.

"I'm sorry everyone, Tia's abilities are limited, and I can't help you any further. All I have are these healing medicines to replenish your condition."

"Everyone, drink it while it's hot!"

The four thanked the nun and, without a trace of doubt, immediately opened the healing potion and drank it down. After all, it was Sthija, the recognized angelic saintess of the settlement, who had saved their lives countless times and fought alongside them many times.

until

"Ugh...uh..."

"You...you...the potion...Tia, you..."

"for"

Why?

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!