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“Fourth bounty of day one: Brady. Holy Dragon’s Heart acquired: four.”

A golden light shot up into the sky, but it was too far away from Lilith and Erica.

Apart from Lilith, no one could have foreseen the sudden shift of the fourth bounty.

“Huh? Why?” Erica looked at the three Holy Dragon’s Hearts in her hands and the distant golden light pillar.

“Why did I become the target when I had just three, but not now?” she asked with a perplexed look on her face.

“Because everyone assumes the highest number right now is five in possession, so they could safely increase their count as long as they don’t exceed that limit.”

“But they didn’t realize I would suddenly lose two Holy Dragon’s Hearts,” Erica realized with a start.

“Correct. Through these experiments, I’ve probably figured out how this bounty system works,” Lilith said as she observed the golden light with a somewhat sinister smile.

“Firstly, the target of the bounty can change, regardless of whether the current target is eliminated or not. As long as the number of Holy Dragon’s Hearts in their possession isn’t the highest, they will lose their bounty target status.

“Secondly, the Holy Dragon’s Hearts can be transferred but not discarded. Any means of transfer, except for prohibited purchases, will alter the holder’s count. Merely discarding them won’t reduce your count, this is likely to prevent participants from hiding hearts intentionally.”

“Thirdly, that so-called reward…”

Lilith’s voice trailed off.

“Reward? What reward?” Erica looked perplexed.

Lilith sighed softly, realizing Erica had likely skimmed through the rules rather than reading them thoroughly.

“At the end of each bounty period, either the person who defeats the target or the target who manages to survive will receive five Holy Dragon’s Hearts as a reward.”

“Five? That’s quite generous.”

“Indeed. Logically, confident participants should vie for it. But for some reason, it seems like all the participants are indifferent to such a generous offer. It’s almost like they’re in zen mode.”

Lilith scratched her head, unable to understand what the other participants were thinking.

She quickly gave up and pushed aside her concerns.

“I have another speculation regarding this bounty thing, but this is not the right time to experiment on it.”

“Huh?”

Before Erica could react, Lilith abruptly grabbed her and said, “I have something really important to do. Come with me for a moment.”

“Huuuuh? Why do I have to go too? I’m just a harmless little healer and…—” Before Erica could finish her sentence, Lilith whisked her into mid-air, streaking across the sky like a jet fighter, leaving only a trail of echoing sounds in the sky.

Two minutes later, Lilith landed with Erica, who promptly collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest and began throwing up bile.

“What… kind of flying was that? That was really rough.” The two-minute flight nearly detached Erica’s soul from her body.

“Really? It wasn’t even thirty percent of my full speed, I think,” Lilith replied nonchalantly while fixing her messed-up hair.

“Not even thirty percent? Are you even human? You’re crazy, too crazy!” Erica accused tearfully.

“Am I human? Who knows? Maybe I’m not?” Lilith chuckled softly.

Erica shrank back. “I was just spouting nonsense, please don’t scare me.”

Lilith suddenly raised her finger to her lips and hushed Erica. “Shhh, someone’s coming.”

“Okay.” Erica obediently crouched in the corner, clutching her head like it was a routine.

Lilith looked at her speechlessly before redirecting her attention to the front.

About a hundred meters away, beside a small stream, a figure glanced around cautiously before cupping water to drink.

It was at this moment that Lilith decided to greet him. “Hello there!”

“W-W-Who… the heck…!” The man choked, as expected.

Of course, choking was not going to kill an expert. The man quickly recovered and regarded Lilith with extreme caution.

“Who are you and what are you up to?” he demanded.

“What am I up to?” Lilith echoed the childish question, giving the man a perplexed look.

“What else can I do except take your Holy Dragon’s Heart on my body and claim the bounty?”

“You didn’t join the Anti-Princess Alliance?” the man asked in surprise.

“What’s this Anti-Princess Alliance?” Lilith inquired, equally surprised.

“You don’t even know what’s that? Did you spend all your time sleeping as soon as you got here?” The man’s contempt was evident.

“Seems like you’re just another loser who knows your situation is hopeless and gives up without even trying. No wonder Mr. Card didn’t invite you into the alliance,” he continued, insulting Lilith.

Lilith looked at him speechlessly.

Oh well, I’ll let him consider me a loser for the time being. After all, I did take a nap as soon as I entered this little world.

Nevertheless, Lilith caught all the important information. “Who’s this Mr. Card and what exactly is this alliance?”

The man regarded her with a patronizing air and said, “Well, since you’re such a pitiful existence, I’ll be generous and enlighten you. The Anti-Princess Alliance is a group formed under Mr. Card’s leadership. Its purpose is to combat the two formidable opponents—Princess Estelle and Princess Luna, and ultimately eliminate them before the end of the second round by any means necessary to restore order to the tournament.”

“To achieve this objective, we’ve made a pact with Mr. Card with three conditions—to not engage with anyone other than the princesses, refrain from actively gathering Holy Dragon’s Hearts, and avoid unnecessary conflicts. The terms of the pact become void once Princess Estelle and Princess Luna are eliminated.

“Though I’ve never met Mr. Card myself, I’ve heard that several individuals I’ve encountered received his guidance and have become integral members of the Anti-Princess Alliance.”

After finishing his explanation, the man crossed his arms and looked down at Lilith arrogantly,

“Little girl, since you’re not entirely unpleasant to look at, would you care to join the Anti-Princess Alliance?”

“Ah, so that’s what it is. The Anti-Princess Alliance is essentially a gathering of trash who can’t handle the overwhelming individual combat prowess of Estelle and Luna on their own. Instead of facing them solo, they opt for safety in numbers. So this Mr. Card… is the garbage station manager? That seems to sum it up quite nicely,” Lilith mused to herself, ignoring the arrogant man.