Had Asta mentioned it?
She seemed to have indeed mentioned it.
Although she hadn’t explicitly stated what the punishment was, she did mention that Lin Li had a peculiar personality and that it was best not to anger him.
Judging by the current relationship between the two, Asta must have been hiding something from her back then.
Of course, this concealment wasn’t due to betrayal but rather because she had been punished by Lin Li and was too ashamed to speak of it.
As for the methods of punishment, they could already be glimpsed from the many tricks Lin Li had just displayed!
Herta didn’t blame Asta for being vague.
Even if Asta had explained everything in detail, it wouldn’t have stopped Herta from exploring this world.
A direct confrontation with Lin Li was inevitable.
And Herta, as a member of the Genius Society, the most intelligent human on The Blue, and one who had caught the gaze of Nous, naturally had her own pride.
Asta had told her to try not to anger Lin Li, but Herta still spoke her mind openly.
If an Emanator-level powerhouse lacked even this much temper and confidence, they might as well not be in the game.
Faced with Lin Li’s provocation, Herta calmly retorted, “Asta mentioned it.
So, what’s the punishment?” Her unexpectedly strong and confrontational attitude made Lin Li take notice.
Logically, it shouldn’t have been like this.
Herta must have learned a lot about the NPC World from Asta’s words.
Picking a conflict with him rashly wasn’t a wise choice.
Unless she already had a countermeasure!
Lin Li checked Herta’s current status through the Information Panel—[Confident and Poised].
Heh, so she really had prepared a countermeasure in advance.
This piqued Lin Li’s curiosity a little.
How did Herta plan to counter his [Interaction] control method?
Lin Li quickly ran through the information he had about Herta in his mind, already forming some conjectures.
“As expected of an Emanator of Erudition, you’re quite confident, Miss Herta!” The distance between the two was now less than half a meter, yet Herta still met his gaze without a trace of fear.
Snap!
A crisp snap of the fingers.
“Well then, I’ll grant your wish!”
Herta was about to mock him further when she found herself unable to move, exactly as Asta had described.
A hint of perfectly measured panic flashed in her eyes, as if she were frightened by this state of losing control over her own body.
Lin Li inwardly exclaimed, “Wow, who would have thought that the elegant and proud Lady Herta would also be so skilled in acting?”
If Lin Li hadn’t seen that the status in her Information Panel remained [Confident], he might have truly been fooled by her performance.
Since Herta was putting on an act, it would be almost inappropriate for him not to play along.
Lin Li decided to go along with her scheme and give her a big surprise!
Despite being restrained, Herta remained calm inside.
Restraining her was only Lin Li’s first step; the second step would undoubtedly be the so-called punishment.
And she had already anticipated Lin Li’s method of punishment.
Judging from Lin Li’s actions toward Asta, this guy was a lecher, so the punishment would likely involve taking advantage of her or getting a little too hands-on.
As soon as Lin Li’s attention was focused on her main body, and he was lost in lustful thoughts, that would be her moment to strike back!
The facts indeed aligned with her expectations—Lin Li was a lecher.
But the way he indulged in his lust completely caught her off guard!
Snap!
Another crisp snap of the fingers!
Herta was baffled.
Why was he standing there motionless, with such a strange look in his eyes?
Because she was forcibly restrained by [Interaction], Herta couldn’t move at all, and her field of vision was severely limited, so she couldn’t see the changes happening to her body!
In Lin Li’s eyes, Herta’s elegant and charming purple-black dress had vanished without a trace, leaving only her pair of high-heeled boots.
He had just used the [Appearance] function to silently remove all of Herta’s clothing, leaving only her boots!
Lin Li smiled at the corner of his mouth, quietly admiring the girl’s stunning nude body.
Her skin was as smooth and delicate as fine jade, her curves were perfectly proportioned as if crafted by nature, and her full, soft peaks were like rolling hills…
He circled around Herta, his gaze brazenly sweeping over her from head to toe, front to back, occasionally clicking his tongue in admiration.
Such an invasive gaze made Herta feel uneasy.
Instinctively, she sensed something was wrong, as if she were standing naked before him.
But that shouldn’t be possible—he hadn’t even touched her, so how could he have removed her clothes?
She couldn’t wait any longer!
Herta decisively split off a strand of consciousness to control a Little Herta doll, quietly entering the room!
The dolls had been hidden by Herta in the hallway outside earlier.
At this moment, Lin Li had circled around her and stopped, conveniently facing away from the door.
What a perfect opportunity!
Two Herta dolls flashed into the room at an incredible speed, each wielding a large hammer, mercilessly swinging them toward Lin Li—
The hammers looked sturdy enough that if they landed solidly, they would surely knock him unconscious.
Freeze!
In the nick of time, Lin Li calmly turned around and instantly restrained the two Herta dolls.
The movements of the Herta dolls were instantly frozen, each holding a hammer larger than their own height, looking rather comical.
When Lin Li noticed that Herta’s status remained [Confident], he had already considered what means she might use to counter his control ability.
The answer was the Herta dolls!
Lin Li knew that Herta could take control of the dolls with her consciousness at any time.
Since the NPC World was a 100% replica, the replicated Herta dolls naturally couldn’t escape the control of Herta herself.
The fact that the [Interaction] function could only control the body and not the consciousness, thus unable to prevent Herta from using her consciousness to control the dolls, was easy to figure out.
Once he understood, things became simple.
He deliberately turned his back to the door, exposing a flaw, and observed the state of Herta’s true self to determine the timing of her attack.
When Herta’s true self shifted from [Confident] to [Puzzled] and finally to [Multitasking], Lin Li knew she had made her move!
After gaining control of the two Herta dolls, Lin Li turned around and smiled faintly at Herta’s true self, saying, “Is that all?” As for Herta’s true self, she had now become [Fuming with Rage].
It was no wonder—from the perspectives of the two Herta dolls, she saw her own jade-white body and finally understood why Lin Li had been scrutinizing her earlier!
Her clothes had been removed, and she hadn’t even noticed!
It was only then that Herta realized that despite her thorough preparations, she had still underestimated Lin Li’s methods!
“I bet there’s still a whole crowd of Herta dolls outside.
Why don’t you bring them in for another try?” This time, Lin Li leaned in close to Herta, their faces almost touching, his warm breath brushing against her stunning features.
“Or have you given up?
Are you ready to face the punishment for offending me?
Here comes the second update!”