Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"..."

Such a familiar name.

Now with his significantly increased thinking speed, Bai E instantly found the always gentle and reserved smiling girl from his memories.

It was her? What a small world...

"I can only pass on a message for him, there's no guarantee it will work..."

"That's good... that's good..." Gilder agreed readily, but there was a hint of hesitation at the end of his tone.

Gilder had looked utterly dejected when he mentioned this privately, as if resigned to death.

Wanting to see his own sister was less about missing her, and more about seeing her one last time...

But Gilder didn't explicitly say this, only pleading him to convey his wishes to the adults, and the death wish... was just his speculation.

After a moment's hesitation, he ultimately chose not to spell it out.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Gilder smiled, though his smile was tinged with weariness.

"If nothing's wrong, you should rest. You've had a hard time managing this mess."

"It's not hard!" Gilder's eyes trembled slightly, and any trace of being wronged instantly vanished.

["Lucky Strike" Charge +5.]

Watching the adult's silhouette fade into the night, three shadows emerged beside Gilder out of nowhere.

"Boss, haven't you spoken yet?"

"..." Gilder pursed his thin lips, remaining silent. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire

Another shadow chimed in immediately, "Yeah boss, we all followed you because we believed in you, but what about now? We've been working ourselves to death every day, and I haven't seen a hint of that 'land flowing with milk and honey' he promised us."

Along with Gilder, there were other refugees who had not entered the city and opted to lay low. He had chosen a few trustworthy and clever youths to work under the adult's command.

Often, the implementation of policies required both overt and covert coordination; sometimes the presence of an atmosphere group was also crucial. This was one of Gilder's little tactics.

Usually, they would hide their previous acquaintance, but now...

"The ones in the city have made contact with you, right?"

"It seems you already know..." said a young man leaning against the doorframe next to Gilder, his tone somewhat helpless, "You know the conditions the folks in the city have, their lives are good now. We all have talents, and if we go over there, we can get the same treatment as them, which is surely better than here..."

"No!" Gilder interrupted vehemently.

Of course, he didn't begrudge his former companions a better life; it was just that if these few people defected to the city now, how would they explain their absence?

If it got traced back to the adult, wouldn't that cause trouble for him?

It wouldn't stand up to investigation.

"Boss, we're not ungrateful. You saved me, protected me from those people, and it was you who led me out of that hellish place and kept me alive. Of course, the adult is also our lifesaver; we could never forget that. But... you can't use that to bind us for life."

"..." Gilder pressed his lips tightly together in a weak rebuttal, "The home you build with your own hands is always more reassuring than someone else's garden..."

"But we can see the garden, home... it's too exhausting." The young man sighed softly, "We can keep helping you, but you need to give us a deadline, okay?"