Chapter 208 Intelligence, Pre-Battle Arrangements

Su Ze tapped his fingertip lightly, and a detailed display immediately popped up on the virtual screen before him.

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: Boss, I cracked that guy's mouth! The situation over at the Global Financial Center is more complicated than we thought. There are three major factions in total, keeping each other in check.]

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: Lu Jiaming is the strongest of them. His own basic combat power is around 70 points, and he has four core lieutenants under him, all with combat power between 62 and 65 points.]

Su Ze looked at this set of data, his fingers tapping gently on the tabletop.

70 points?

This number wasn't high.

One could even say it was very weak.

His own current basic combat power was over two hundred points, and with the bonuses from various equipment and Bonds, his actual combat strength far exceeded that value.

It seemed that taking over the Global Financial Center might be even simpler than he had anticipated?

Just as this thought emerged, Wang Meng's next message popped up immediately after, like a bucket of cold water instantly dousing Su Ze's ideas.

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: But Boss, that kid Zheng Siyuan also spilled some lethal intelligence! Those bastards under Lu Jiaming have strapped a massive amount of explosives and Molotov cocktails to the load-bearing structures on the second floor of the building! He said the three major factions have an agreement: once the building is breached by an external enemy, they'll detonate them immediately, bringing the whole building down and taking everyone with them!]

Su Ze's finger tapping on the table came to a sudden halt.

Blow up the entire building?

That move was certainly ruthless enough.

The Global Financial Center was a landmark building, a hundred stories high.

Once it completely collapsed, the world-destroying power of such an event was something even he couldn't guarantee he'd walk away from unscathed.

He didn't want to gamble, and he certainly didn't want to get injured in a place like this.

After all, there was still a covetous Shi Yetang hidden in his Dormitory building.

Once he showed signs of fatigue, there was no telling what that ghostly thing might do.

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: Also, the other two factions aren't pushovers either. One of them got hold of a special structure called the [Explosion-Proof Trench] and installed it directly in the lobby on the First Floor. Once that thing is activated, the whole building becomes like an iron tortoise; nobody can get in! Plus, it can be remotely repaired using materials and copper coins. You simply can't break through it with brute force!]

Su Ze slowly narrowed his eyes.

Explosives, plus an infinitely repairable turtle shell.

It seemed the path of a frontal assault was completely blocked off.

[Private Chat · Su Ze: I understand. Have Zheng Siyuan and his people follow you for now. Find some odd jobs for them to do; don't let them stay idle. Wait for my notice for the subsequent plan.]

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: Yes, Boss!]

Wang Meng soon sent another message, along with a trade request.

[Private Chat · Wang Meng: Right, Boss, I also searched a little gadget off Zheng Siyuan. He said he relied on this before to maintain cross-regional contact with that woman Li Xinran. Now that he's joined our side, he's lost contact with the building's side. This thing might be of some use.]

Su Ze clicked accept.

[Cross-Regional Communicator]

[Quality: fine]

[Type: Special Item]

[Effect: Can bind to one player or faction outside of this region for one-way communication (Once daily, lasting ten minutes each time).]

[Current Bound Target: Global Financial Center - Lu Jiaming]

[Description: Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Please respond if you can hear me!]

Looking at the description of this item, a playful smile appeared on Su Ze's face.

If a frontal assault wouldn't work, then he'd change the way he played.

Perhaps making Lu Jiaming's people come out on their own was the better choice.

He temporarily put away the communicator and then opened the interface of the mirror of surveillance, locking the perspective onto the woman named "Li Fen" in Dormitory Number Nine.

In the image, the woman in her fifties was with the other Research Personnel in an empty Dormitory, discussing something intensely over a pile of component blueprints, looking perfectly normal.

Su Ze observed for a long while and still found no abnormalities.

This Shi Yetang was camouflaged seamlessly.

"No rush, take it slow."

Su Ze closed the mirror of surveillance and decided to wait and see for the time being.

He got up and left the Dormitory, beginning a new round of resource gathering in the midnight campus.

...

Time passed quickly.

As the first glimmer of light at six in the morning pierced the darkness, Su Ze happened to return to the bottom of the Dormitory building.

At almost the same moment, the cold mechanical notification sound rang out punctually in the minds of all players.

[Attention all players! The three-day rest period is about to end!]

[At midnight tonight, a new round of the survival game will officially begin!]

[Shi Yetang type for this round: Supernatural Entity.]

[Please, all players, make full preparations to face the new challenge!]

As soon as the announcement came out, the atmosphere of the entire Jinghai University instantly became tense.

Su Ze wasted no time, immediately summoning all the players and gathering them in the open space in front of the Dormitory building.

Utilizing the Halo effect of Unity is Strength, he had them seize the final moments to practice the newly learned Spirit Guarding Incantation and Soul-Shaking Roar.

As for Zheng Siyuan and his few trusted subordinates, as well as the group of Research Personnel who had just defected, they did not participate in this collective training.

Although they were somewhat confused, they didn't dare to ask too much.

Zheng Siyuan and the others were assigned by Wang Meng to do some odd jobs like moving supplies and clearing the grounds.

Meanwhile, the group of Research Personnel, under Chen Xueming's leadership, had already begun enthusiastically trying to set up the first simple production line.

Time passed minute by minute.

The sun set in the west, and night slowly descended.

When the last trace of light was swallowed by the darkness, Su Ze had everyone stop their training.

Over four hundred players gathered in a dark mass on the square, their faces filled with solemnity and unease.

Su Ze stood atop a high platform, looking down at the crowd below, his voice clearly reaching everyone present.

"It's about to get dark. At midnight, we will face a brand new enemy—Supernatural Entities."

"For everyone's safety, and to ensure we successfully pass this round of challenges, there are some things that need to be arranged now..."