“Before we start, I would like to make sure we are on the same page about something.” Before Emily could congratulate herself for the fact that she somehow convinced Shaw, the young woman suddenly said something else. “I am willing to help protect the people here, but I am only willing to do so if I become the leader of this precinct. That is non-negotiable.”

Back when Shaw expected to leave this precinct sooner or later, she was fine with perhaps offering her service to whoever was in charge of this settlement in exchange for a more comfortable living environment. After all, there was no need to fight over the right to be a temporary leader over a bunch of soon-to-be-dead followers.

But if she wanted to put in the effort and actually help this settlement survive and grow, she had to make sure she herself would be the one most benefited by this growth. There was no way she would help the players in this camp level up, only for them to serve someone other than her.

To be fair, Shaw never enjoyed being a leader. During her last life, she was a warrior who fought for leaders, and when those leaders inevitably died, she would move on to new ones. Her charisma and leadership abilities were in the dirt. Still, it was never too late to try something new. Plus, what could go wrong? If her leadership failed too badly, she could always rely on her strength and put down whatever dissent by force.

She knew more about the game than anyone else in the camp. That meant while she wasn’t the best leader, she would make much better decisions than people like Captain Larson.

Emily frowned at Shaw’s words, knowing all too well what she meant. Shaw was an outsider in this precinct. Captain Larson and members of the police force had no idea who she was, and neither did the civilians. The only connections Shaw had in this camp was her and the few players that survived the escort trip, and their view on Shaw was conflicted. There was no way Shaw could somehow win a vote, and if she wanted authority, she would need to establish it by force.

“A lot of people will not be happy about this.” She warned.

“That will not be a problem. I will handle that.” Shaw simply stated while staring into Emily’s eyes. “All I want to know right now is what you think. Where does your loyalty lie, Emily? With your Captain, who will fail everyone in this camp, or with me? You know as well as I do that I can, and will, save this precinct. I won’t save everyone, but I will fare a lot better than your Captain.”

For a while, Emily sat there, unsure of what to think or say. In a sense, she knew what was the best thing to do. Captain Larson was a good and admirable person, but his way of doing things would fail everyone who trusted him. The monsters outside wouldn’t care about how selfless he was. Maybe he would one day realize what had to be done, but how many would be dead before then? And how many more would pay the price after missing the best opportunity to level up?

Shaw, on the other hand, was a cruel person. In fact, a part of Emily suspected she was more deserving of the name monster than the things outside. If she became the leader of the precinct, a lot of dissenters would die. But...but she was their only hope of surviving in this horrific game.

As a police officer, Emily despised the idea of turning on her superior and colleagues, especially when all they wanted to do was help defend the weak and the innocent. But after seeing what she saw, she was all too aware of the price of inaction.

She knew what had to be done, and if doing so meant making herself a traitor, then so be it.

“Fine.” She finally agreed. “But on one condition. No killing unless you absolutely have to.”

“Of course.” Shaw nodded. “Once I become the leader, every person here is a valuable asset. However, if I see some people as threats, I will not hesitate to terminate them. I hope you can understand that.”

“Very well.” The valkyrie drew in a deep breath as she made up her mind. “What do you want me to do?”

Shaw nodded in satisfaction. She could tell Emily was conflicted, but there was a certain strength within her. She was the type of person who would fight until her last dying breath for what she believed in. When she first met Emily, she hoped to change her and make her less of a fighter for justice so she wouldn’t suffer the same fate as before. In hindsight, that was never going to work. And if she could somehow make Emily a heartless psychopath like herself, would she still be the valkyrie?

She recollected her thoughts and turned back to Emily.

“Here’s the thing. If I want to, I can take over this camp by force. No one will be able to stop me. Not your Captain. Not the officers. Not Baron, even if he tries.” Shaw frowned. “But that will make my future ruling a lot more difficult. I need to establish my own authority within the camp. For now, it is in my best interest to wait. As time goes on, more and more people will see the failings of the current leadership, and when the time is right, I will step forward and prove to everyone that I will be a better leader than Captain Larson ever can be. With the public, the players, and the officers all in our support, Captain Larson will have no choice but to give up his power. Even if he doesn’t, taking power by force will do a lot less damage to my image.”

Emily nodded slowly. Shaw wouldn’t be charging into the fray and killing everyone in her way. That was good. “And how should we establish our authority?”

Shaw gestured at the window.

“You said it yourself. Soon, you will be going outside with a task force. If we do nothing, the task force will likely be wiped out. We cannot allow that. The veteran officers will make brilliant players, and we need the food and other supplies to prevent a full collapse.” She pointed at Emily. “That is where you will come in. When you go on the trip with the task force, I want you to save as many of the officers as possible. I want you to show them how powerful you are, and let them know that they are only alive because of you. Fight on the front line. If I understand correctly, Captain Larson won’t be a part of the task force, correct?”

“Yes. He will be staying back in the precinct.”

That by itself wasn’t that surprising. After all, it would be absurd for leaders to be charging on the front line. But in a situation like this, that would make the Captain look very poorly. It was almost as if he sent his own men to die while hiding in safety himself.

“Great.” Shaw grinned. “That would make your heroic actions stand out even more. When the time comes, the officers will know what choice to make. Hopefully.”

Of course, there was one issue with the plan. Emily was only at level 3. All it would take was a pair of level 3 NPCs or a level 4 NPC to end her plan. Shaw was well aware of that. She herself couldn’t really go along with the task force, as she had other things to attend to, so she couldn’t feed Emily any exp. What she could do was make sure Emily was more than sufficiently well equipped.

On her way here, Shaw encountered quite a few high-level NPCs. After she killed them, she collected the loot boxes but didn't really have the opportunity to open them. These boxes could come in handy now.

With a few taps on the interface, she brought the loot boxes into the open and handed them to Emily. The young officer was a little surprised at first, but she quickly opened the boxes one by one.

Congratulations! You have opened a level 5 silver loot box!

Congratulations! You have received a new weapon: The Dagger of Agony

Congratulations! You have received the following attributes: Reflexes +3

...

Congratulations! You have opened a level 7 gold loot box!

Congratulations! You have received a new weapon: The Wooden Shield

Congratulations! You have received a new weapon: The Stone of Resilience

Congratulations! You have received the following attributes: Strength +4

Shaw was very generous with the loot boxes. If she opened the boxes herself, she probably could’ve received a lot more attribute points and gotten a lot stronger, but she could always go out there and hunt for more boxes. As of now, Emily was important enough for Shaw to spend this many resources. She was the proxy in which Shaw could use to secure the loyalty of the officers.

The Dagger of Agony came from the silver loot box from the level 5 goblin. Supposedly, aside from being very sharp and very deadly, this weapon could cause excruciating pain to those it wounded. High level players and NPCs could ignore this pain, but it was more than enough to cripple low level enemies and make them defenseless for a while.

The Wooden Shield and the Stone of Resilience came from the level 7 gold loot box from the tree. The former was a giant shield that was large enough to cover Emily’s entire body. The wooden texture was a little concerning, but if the descriptions were true, the shield was a lot tougher than it looked. It was a little heavy for ordinary people, but the increase in Strength Emily received quickly solved that issue.

The Stone of Resilience was a one-time piece of equipment. Once activated, the stone could give its owner extra durability for five minutes. The description claimed that in those five minutes, the owner would be as durable as the level 7 tree itself. Considering Shaw had to get her Strength to 38 to kill the tree, it was a rather impressive boost.

By the time Emily opened all the loot boxes, she already had the attribute points of an average level 4 player. With all the weapons and equipment she had, she should be able to take on a normal level 5 NPC in an even fight. That should be more than enough for her to shine on the supply-gathering mission.

At the same time, as Emily prepared herself, Shaw turned her attention back to herself. Emily would do her best to influence the police officers in the precinct and subtly switch their loyalty. At the same time, Shaw herself would be in charge of handling the players. She would show them that she, Amy Shaw, would be the best leader they could possibly hope for, and it would be in their best interest to stand by her.

Of course, many of the players might object. Baron, possibly. Maybe even Peter. They believed that they were destined for greatness, and having to bend the knee to her might seem embarrassing. If that was the case, then Shaw couldn’t afford to leave voices of dissent within the precinct. If she was going to invest in the precinct, then she wanted to be its absolute leader.

Either way, she would handle them, one way or another.