Chapter 207 That son of a bitch, Lu Jiaming?

Chen Xueming looked at the group of stunned researchers before him, feeling quite satisfied.

He cleared his throat and waved his hand grandly once more.

"Just having a door isn't enough. We can't have our experts sleeping on the floor, can we?"

"Go, bring the materials from the warehouse and set up several iron bunk beds in every Dormitory!"

As soon as he said this, the already numb researchers were once again shaken to the core.

Beds?

Sleeping in beds?

What kind of cosmic joke was this!

It had been nine days since the survival game began! In their eyes, things like beds had long since become synonymous with antiques.

In the skyscraper, let alone beds, even a slightly level patch of empty ground was a scarce resource. Most of the time, they would just find a random corner, lay down some cardboard, and be grateful just to lie down.

All Wood and Iron Material had been immediately gathered by Boss Lu to repair and upgrade the gates or manufacture weapons.

This was the norm in the apocalypse!

But now, this Jinghai University had not only upgraded their doors to level four but was actually going to build Iron Beds for them?

Extravagant!

Too damn extravagant!

Watching Chen Xueming's subordinates actually start pulling Iron Material out of their backpacks and assembling them on the spot with a series of clangs, the researchers felt their worldview being repeatedly trampled.

A researcher stared at the scene in a daze and subconsciously swallowed hard.

"Um... Boss... Boss Chen..."

The woman called Qin Yue summoned her courage and spoke tentatively.

Her voice carried a faint, imperceptible tremor.

"You said just now... food... is an unlimited supply?"

"Bread... is there enough for everyone?"

Chen Xueming was directing his men's work when he heard this. He froze, turned his head, and looked at her as if she were an alien.

"Bread? How could there not be enough of that stuff?"

Finding it a bit amusing, he casually pulled a large pile of ordinary Bread from his player backpack and piled it directly on the corridor floor.

"Here, whoever's hungry, help yourselves. If it's not enough, I've got more."

Boom!

Looking at the mountain-like pile of Bread, their eyes instantly turned red.

The experts, who a second ago had maintained the reserve of high-level intellectuals, pounced with a howl the next second like wild dogs that had been starving for three days and nights!

"It's mine! Don't grab it!"

"Save one for me!!"

They didn't care about their image at all, grabbing Bread and stuffing it into their mouths desperately. Eating too fast, they choked until their eyes rolled back, forcing it down with their saliva.

Their ravenous behavior left Chen Xueming and his men dumbfounded.

"Holy crap... are these people reincarnated hungry ghosts?" one subordinate whispered.

Chen Xueming also had a strange look on his face.

"I say... is it really that bad? You can't even... afford Bread?"

A middle-aged researcher, who was clutching three loaves of Bread and munching wildly, paused upon hearing this and almost burst into tears.

While hiccuping, he said indistinctly, "We have it... but it's rationed... we only get... *hic*... five a day. One loaf is only the size of a fist; anyone would be hungry."

Chen Xueming frowned. "Your boss is way too stingy, isn't he?"

"Sigh, it's not entirely Boss Lu's fault."

Another slightly calmer researcher sighed and explained, "The situation in our skyscraper is quite complex. There are three major factions in total."

"The floors Boss Lu controls basically only produce materials and weapons. Food and fresh water resources are held by another faction, and they don't give much. Boss Lu has no choice."

"Yeah, all the food in the skyscraper is distributed uniformly by the upper management. Being able to guarantee us researchers five loaves of Bread a day is already very preferential treatment. Many ordinary players can only get three compressed biscuits a day."

Listening to their explanation, the expression on Chen Xueming's face became increasingly strange.

He scratched his head and asked a question that stunned all the researchers.

"This stuff... can't you just open the Survival Mall and buy it with copper coins whenever you want?"

"And it's very cheap; one loaf of Bread is only three copper coins."

The entire corridor instantly fell into a dead silence.

The movements of all the researchers froze in place.

Their mouths were stuffed with Bread, but their eyes were wide and round as they looked at Chen Xueming in disbelief.

Mall?

copper coins?

They certainly knew of the existence of copper coins.

But...

For a long time, their combat mode had been ordinary players using area-of-effect weapons like molotov cocktails and simple explosives to blast large groups of zombies from a distance.

When the zombies were dormant, only those appointed elite members were qualified to go out and clean the battlefield to recover the dropped copper coins.

They had seen those copper coins, but they had never owned them.

In their understanding, copper coins were strategic materials belonging to the upper management, used to buy more advanced weapon blueprints and materials from other factions...

A young researcher suddenly had a realization.

His voice trembling, he asked, "You... when you kill zombies, you kill them yourselves, and the copper coins... you get them yourselves?"

"Not exactly," Chen Xueming replied. "During collective actions, they go to the boss, but during free actions, they belong to the individual. Plus, the boss distributes a portion to the leaders! The leaders also give out rewards to everyone. Even without those rewards, at the very least, he helps upgrade everyone's Dormitory and distribute food. Currently, everyone's Dormitory is at least level 4, and no one lacks food or fresh water—at least everyone can eat their fill."

"At least level 4..."

"Everyone can eat their fill..."

This sentence was like eight heavy hammer blows, slamming hard into the hearts of every researcher.

They... finally realized!

What "food resources controlled by other factions" bullshit!

What "Lu Jiaming has no choice" bullshit!

It was all nonsense!

Lu Jiaming wasn't unable to let them eat their fill; he simply wasn't willing to spend even one extra copper coin on them, his "assets"!

He would rather use those copper coins to exchange for stronger weapons and consolidate his rule than spare a tiny bit to improve the basic lives of his subordinates!

And to think they were grateful to Lu Jiaming before!

And to think they thought five loaves of Bread a day was a huge blessing!

And to think they were still holding onto that ridiculous notion of "enduring humiliation while waiting for rescue" just now!

"Lu Jiaming! You bastard!!!"

A researcher slammed the Bread in his hand onto the ground, his eyes bloodshot, and roared through gritted teeth.

This roar was like lighting a powder keg.

"Fuck him! He's raising us like pigs!"

"I do research for him every day, and after all that, he's not even willing to let me eat my fill of Bread!"

"Rescue? Bah! I want him dead right now!"

For a moment, curses rose and fell throughout the entire corridor.

The researchers had completely exploded.

They felt like a group of fools kept in the dark, being sold by someone while they were still foolishly helping them count the money!

...

Meanwhile.

Global Financial Center, top floor.

Boss Lu's expression was solemn.

Beside him, a confidant was reporting respectfully.

"Boss Lu, I've just finished private chatting with most of the researchers."

"They all said that although they are physically in the enemy camp, their hearts are with us. They will definitely not serve Jinghai University seriously and are all waiting for our rescue."

Hearing this, Lu Jiaming nodded and sighed.

"Good."

"Tell them to stay steady and just treat it like a vacation."

"Although we can't rescue them in the short term, we absolutely cannot let them serve Su Ze willingly. Otherwise, the gap between us and Jinghai University will only grow wider..."

"Just stall for as long as possible..."