After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

Should the normal exit route for players be closed? Should the instance be forcibly terminated?

Tang Li's movements suddenly stopped.

No, if the instance is forcibly closed, not to mention whether players can still escape normally, everything they have done will have been in vain.

However, the so-called "Strange Events Management Section" did not do this directly, indicating that there is still room for negotiation.

A red barrage of comments, visible only to Tang Li, floated eerily in mid-air.

[System notification: The Ghostly Affairs Management Department has created a meeting room. Blink to indicate you agree to join the meeting.]

Tang Li blinked.

[You have entered a temporary meeting convened by Jiang Xing of the Ghostly Affairs Management Section. Meeting number 7777. The meeting will last five minutes. Please be aware of the time.]

Tang Li was on high alert.

Then a colorful pop-up window swarmed her, and some unknown creature gave her a doting eight-tooth smile, above which flashed a line of fluorescent text that should have been obsolete in Tang Li's world long ago:

Not enough meeting time? VIP members are here to help! Renew your membership to extend your meeting time. The "Benteng Meetings" member center reminds you: We've lost you for 10440 days, and we await your return!

Tang Li's serious expression underwent a subtle change.

The Department of Strange Events Management sounds impressive, but its funding is actually quite limited. Wasn't the last member who had the money to hold a video conference 10440 days ago?

10440 days... Isn't that 28 years and 7 months ago?

The Department of Supernatural Affairs Management, did you run out of money for memberships long before I was born?!

The colorful splash screen makes a grand exit with a spiral effect, revealing a magnificent nebula of twinkling stars. Apart from the dazzling background, everything else, including the function bar, is no different from the interface of any ordinary meeting app on the market.

The profile picture bearing the name "Qiu Xia" was the first to flash its megaphone icon: "Nice to meet you, Miss Tang!"

"In this bizarre world, war rages, and heroes abound. If not for a deep mutual respect, who would risk their own life for another's future? However! If the other is already beyond redemption, why risk everything and ruin your own life? I advise you to be careful; self-preservation is the right path..."

Tang Li felt dizzy and disoriented.

She finally understood what Gu Xiaoying meant by describing it in his diary as "excited and high-spirited classic voice of an ancient hot-blooded young man".

"The Department of Supernatural Affairs Management"—what a respectable name! Surely the people in that department aren't crazy?

A soft cough. It was as if a mysterious hand had pinched Qiu Xia's mouth shut.

A calm, fast, and professional male voice rang out, and an avatar with the words "Jiang Xing" lit up.

"Hello player Tang Li, I apologize for interrupting your game. But please don't worry, time flows faster in the meeting room. Five minutes in the meeting room is equivalent to only one second in the current instance. Therefore, your instance completion progress will not be affected."

"In addition, the viewers in the live broadcast room will not know that you have entered the conference room. Please abide by the confidentiality regulations and do not reveal the existence of the Ghostly Affairs Management Department or the content of the meeting discussion."

"I will briefly explain the current situation to you: The dungeon boss, Gu Xiaoying, has signed a contract with the management department, and the dungeon has become the territory of the Mysterious Lord. Your ongoing action of 'pushing the dungeon back to its original world' will cause losses to the Mysterious Lord and affect the normal operation of the Mysterious World."

"Therefore, we are contacting you now to stop your actions."

Tang Li slowly raised an eyebrow: "The condition for clearing the dungeon is to fulfill the wish of Boss Gu Xiaoying, and his wish is for Gu Xiaomei to leave the dungeon and live a long and healthy life. If I want to achieve the condition for clearing the dungeon, I must take this action."

"If you consider this unacceptable behavior, I can only suspect that the conditions for clearing this instance are actually impossible to meet, that the instance is unsolvable, and that this is unfair."

"Moreover, as far as I know, completely clearing a dungeon will destroy that dungeon, which is the same consequence as my current actions. Therefore, your claim of 'causing losses to the Mysterious Lord' is completely unfounded."

Jiang Xing's tone remained restrained and professional: "The destruction and theft of a dungeon cannot be generalized. Even if a dungeon is destroyed, it will release a large amount of energy at that moment, which is exactly what the eerie world needs."

"To use an imperfect analogy, if a dungeon is a chicken, players repeatedly leaving the dungeon is like eating eggs in the eerie world; while players destroying the dungeon by completely clearing it is like killing and eating the chicken directly."

"But what you are doing now is like stealing a chicken and throwing it into your neighbor's yard."

"As for the dungeon boss's wish, it's naturally not something that can be fulfilled in this way. You probably already know that."

Jiang Xing, who had always been as businesslike as a robot, suddenly smiled, a smile that added a touch of charm to his appearance. "Just a little while ago, didn't you personally send a private message to the top ten viewers on the donation leaderboard, asking if there was any way to kidnap the designated eerie NPC alive after the dungeon crashed?"

Tang Li recalled the only time she had ever defended her fans: "..."

Knowing so much, you wouldn't happen to be one of the top ten on the donation list, would you?

In fact, Tang Li could vaguely sense the goodwill hidden beneath the other party's rigid behavior. Given the unequal information, the fact that he not only did not use his power to threaten or intimidate her, but also patiently argued with her, was already commendable in the context of this bizarre world.

"Then I'll be frank," Tang Li said bluntly, "I must send Gu Xiaoying, Gu Xiaomei, and Nanjiang to the original world. Therefore, I will definitely continue to connect the dungeon with the original world."

"However, our goals do not conflict with your demands."

"We're only sending people over; we don't need the instance."

Tang Li's mind raced as she discussed her ideas, repeatedly confirming their feasibility. "Since Gu Xiaoying is the dungeon boss and can't leave the dungeon, I'll find a way to weaken Gu Xiaoying and let Lei Hong, the director of the eerie private hospital, take over. Once Lei Hong becomes the dungeon boss, Gu Xiaoying and the others will be free."

"At that time, no matter where Gu Xiaoying goes, it will not affect the fact that the instance can remain in the strange world."

As she spoke, her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and she felt that her logic was becoming more and more coherent and complete. "The new Boss, Lei Hong, committed a serious crime in the original world. For him, returning to the original world would only be a shackle and a cage. Therefore, he will definitely refuse to return, and you don't need to worry about the respected eerie lord suffering territorial losses."

"As for Lei Hong, he's a hundred times more ambitious than Gu Xiaoying. With him taking over as the dungeon boss, the dungeon's upgrade and star-rating system will be just around the corner. This can only benefit you, right?"

"So," Tang Li said confidently, head held high, "would you consider my proposal?"