Chapter 145 Trap, Situation is dire

Squelch!

The long spear was like a dragon, accurately piercing through the eye socket of a Level 3 Zombie and penetrating its entire skull.

Su Ze exerted force with his wrist and gave a sudden flick, throwing the corpse at another zombie pouncing from the side. Without stopping his pace for a second, he continued to charge forward.

While clearing the obstacles along the way, he carefully discerned the direction from which the zombies were appearing in dense numbers.

Although these low-level zombies were slow-moving and had low intelligence,

there seemed to be a hidden pattern to their appearance.

As long as he went against this "tide," he would definitely find the source!

Su Ze was firmly convinced of this.

However, what he didn't know was that in places he couldn't see,

a large number of Level 3 and even LV4 Zombies were being guided by an invisible force through other intersections.

It was as if they intended to form a new "source."

At the same time,

countless zombies silently circled behind him, forming a massive encirclement.

He was plunging headlong into the depths of a trap meticulously laid out for him by the enemy.

After taking down a few more zombies blocking his path,

Su Ze was about to go deeper when his movements suddenly stiffened.

He frowned and quickly brought up his personal virtual screen.

In one corner of the screen, the number of copper coins representing his personal wealth was dropping at an abnormal frequency!

[Ding! Consumed copper coins * 4!]

[Ding! Consumed copper coins * 8!]

[Ding! Consumed copper coins * 4!]

A series of system notification sounds rang out in his mind one after another.

These weren't notifications for killing zombies, but pure expenditures!

Su Ze's heart skipped a beat.

This consumption speed...

It was the turrets!

The serial crossbow box and Heavy Crossbow Turret were firing at the same time!

Something happened at home?!

This thought instantly popped into his head.

He knew Jiang Yuwan's personality well; that woman was calm and rational, and she would never consume copper coins so recklessly unless it was absolutely necessary.

Unless...

A crisis had occurred at the Dormitory.

Su Ze immediately tried to use his authority as the landlord of Dormitory 404; he wanted to see if he could check the surveillance footage at the Dormitory entrance.

The next second, a tiny virtual window, similar to a surveillance screen, popped up.

The image displayed was exactly the scene outside the door of Dormitory 404.

In the dim corridor, dense crowds of zombies were charging at the Dormitory door like mad, with no shortage of burly LV4 Zombies among them.

Under the precise fire of the turrets, the heads of the LV4 Zombies were pierced one by one, relieving the door of immense pressure.

Although the situation was tense,

it seemed they could hold out for a while.

The door hadn't been upgraded yet either.

Su Ze breathed a small sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the people were safe, and he believed Jiang Yuwan would take the initiative to upgrade the door.

This meant things hadn't reached the most critical point yet.

More likely, it was just a special way of communicating.

She was letting him know that the situation in the Dormitory building was not optimistic; while their own Dormitory wasn't in mortal danger, most players were likely in a precarious state.

Therefore, he had to get back as soon as possible!

Thinking of this, he no longer held anything back. Suddenly increasing his speed, he charged at full tilt toward the direction from which the zombies were swarming.

But he didn't know that the "source" he had identified had long since been tampered with.

Instead of getting closer to the exit, the direction he was heading was taking him further and further away from the only path to survival...

...

Meanwhile, at Dormitory 404.

[thorn vine door · Durability: 12/80]

Looking at the durability that had already fallen below the warning line, Jiang Yuwan's cold face showed no ripple of emotion.

"Upgrade!"

She decisively pressed the confirmation button on the virtual panel.

[Ding! Spend Wood material * 200 and Iron Material * 100 to upgrade to Level 4 fine · Lv.4 thorn vine door?]

"Yes!"

Buzz—

On the Dormitory door, the green vines glowed brilliantly. The cracks that had appeared under the zombies' impact were instantly repaired, and the entire door seemed to become even thicker and sturdier.

New attributes appeared before Jiang Yuwan's eyes.

[thorn vine door]

[Level: 4]

[Quality: fine]

[Defense: 80]

[Durability: 200/200 (Wood material * 1 repairs 1 point, Iron Material * 1 repairs 3 points;)]

[Special Effect: "Thorn Counter-damage" — When this door receives a melee physical attack, it will reflect 8% of the damage back to the attacker.]

[Upgrade Path: Spend Wood material * 400 and Iron Material * 200 to upgrade to Level 5 fine · Lv.5 thorn vine door / For more upgrade paths, please obtain higher-level door blueprints;]

[Dismantle: Obtain Wood material * 100, Iron Material * 50]

[Description: A door that looks very difficult to mess with; it deals counter-damage.]

Both defense and durability were significantly improved, and even the counter-damage effect was enhanced!

Seeing the durability instantly restored to full, the women in the Dormitory all breathed a sigh of relief together.

"Sister Yuwan, what do we do now?" Yao Qingya wiped the sweat from her brow and asked nervously.

"If this continues, the materials and copper coins will run out sooner or later."

Just then, Su Meier, who was responsible for taking inventory of the supplies nearby, suddenly spoke up.

"Commander Jiang," she brandished a few blueprints in her hand, "I found that we still have quite a few common-quality turret blueprints in our Dormitory, and we have enough manufacturing materials."

"Although they aren't very powerful, if we trade them to Wang Meng and the others for them to use, it could help share some of the pressure and let them hold out a bit longer."

This proposal made Yao Qingya's and Liu Qiaofei's eyes light up.

However, Jiang Yuwan shook her head and refused without even thinking about it.

"No."

"Common turrets are too weak and not cost-effective; they struggle to kill Level 3 Zombies, let alone LV4 ones."

She analyzed calmly, "With those copper coins, it would be better for them to save them to upgrade their Dormitory doors a few more levels."

Jiang Yuwan's gaze fell on the door that had just been upgraded.

"Most equipment and items don't have the chance to be upgraded, but the door does."

"As long as it keeps being upgraded, it can at least ensure that our Dormitory and the core dormitories of the ten great leaders remain safe."

She knew very well that if she wanted to protect the foundation Su Ze had built,

or even live better in the apocalypse, relying on just their few dozen people would be far from enough.

Those ordinary survivors were the greatest resource for the future.

She had to find a way to save more people!

But just then, her private chat channel began to flash frantically again.

It was messages from the ten great leaders, and everyone's tone was filled with unprecedented anxiety and despair.

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: Ms. Jiang! It's no good! There are too many zombies! Too few people have opened their trade channel, and materials can't be sent through at all! Many brothers' Dormitory doors are about to break!]

[Private Chat · Zhuang Qianhao: Same here! I can only watch helplessly as their doors are smashed, and there's nothing I can do! Requesting backup!]

[Private Chat · Xu Feng: If we don't think of something soon, our people are going to suffer massive casualties!]

One after another, the distress messages popped up before Jiang Yuwan's eyes like death warrants.