Chapter 215 Lu Jiaming's Choice, An Unexpected Discovery

[Private Chat · Ye Qingqing: Lu Jiaming, I believe you've guessed my method. This cost me my final trump card. You know very well what's more important: keeping your life or dying while holding onto that Research Center.]

[Private Chat · Ye Qingqing: By the way, we can only rescue a few individuals. It's impossible to save everyone. At most, it'll be you plus a single-digit number of people.]

[Private Chat · Ye Qingqing: This is only because your strength is relatively high; otherwise, there would be no way to conduct a rescue. Most players will simply have to be abandoned.]

[Private Chat · Ye Qingqing: Don't be reluctant to part with it. Right now, you only have the Research Center; without the Research Personnel, it's mostly useless anyway. Continuing to guard it is a futile effort. You might as well hand it over voluntarily, and I can still offer you a generous position here.]

[Private Chat · Ye Qingqing: Your strength is decent, and I am willing to place you in an important position as my right-hand man.]

Ye Qingqing's words were like knives, stabbing into Lu Jiaming's weak points one by one.

She was right; without the Research Personnel, the Research Center was indeed mostly useless.

This Ye Qingqing... she was too good at hiding. Even now, Lu Jiaming didn't know her appearance or her specific strength, only that her faction was slightly weaker than his own.

But Lu Jiaming calculated in his mind that even if Ye Qingqing's strength exceeded his own, it wouldn't be by much.

Otherwise, she would have already taken over and annexed his faction.

Therefore, if he really defected to her, given that their strengths weren't far apart,

would she really let him live in peace instead of being wary of him or even plotting against him?

Thinking of this, Lu Jiaming felt it wouldn't work; he couldn't trust this person!

But Su Ze... was even more dangerous! His strength was simply unfathomable!

So how should he choose?

Lu Jiaming grit his teeth, wavering between Su Ze and Ye Qingqing.

One was an unfathomable overlord, the other a faction Leader who hid their identity.

Neither side was easy to trust.

But in the next moment, a thought exploded in his mind like a thunderclap.

Since it was hard to trust either side, but he had already asked for help, if he didn't join Su Ze and ended up provoking him later...

The best outcome he could hope for would probably be dragging Su Ze down to die with him, right?

In terms of threat level, Su Ze was much more terrifying!

He took a sharp breath and made his decision.

He ignored Ye Qingqing's private chat and directly opened the chat window with Su Ze.

[Private Chat · Lu Jiaming: No problem! I agree!]

Just as the message was sent, Su Ze's reply arrived almost instantly.

[Private Chat · Su Ze: Submission includes but is not limited to manpower, resources, and buildings. I will give you a chance to be a Leader under me; whether you are up to the task depends on yourself. Wait a moment, I'll be there soon.]

Su Ze's conditions were clear: total submission and following his orders from now on.

Lu Jiaming felt bitter, but at this point, he had no other choice.

[Private Chat · Lu Jiaming: You must be quick! I can't hold out here for much longer.]

After ending the private chat, he abruptly turned to look at the players around him who were already on the verge of collapse.

“Everyone, listen to my command! Smear Pot Bottom Ash on your bodies! Quickly!” Lu Jiaming shouted hoarsely.

The players were stunned.

But Lu Jiaming's authority remained, and they immediately sprang into action.

Many people, with trembling hands, smeared the black powder onto their bodies, even staining their clothes a dusky gray.

The description said that smearing this all over the body would grant a 'Stealth' effect lasting 10 minutes,

with a certain chance of not being discovered by Supernatural Entities below Level 3.

However, just seconds after the Pot Bottom Ash had been applied, there was a loud "bang" as one of the main doors was completely destroyed!

“Ga ga...”

Accompanied by blood-curdling laughter, at least dozens of Wandering Ghost drifted in through the broken doorway.

Their pitch-black eye sockets looked exceptionally eerie in the dim light.

The Wandering Ghost drifted in, ignoring some of the players smeared with Pot Bottom Ash and passing right by them.

But many Wandering Ghost seemed to have caught a scent and lunged straight at other players.

“There's a chance of not being discovered, but the number of Supernatural Entities is just too high!”

Lu Jiaming's heart sank.

It was impossible to truly prevent all the entities from discovering them!

Seeing them attack, Lu Jiaming shouted, “Counterattack! Fight back! I've already called for reinforcements; you must hold on!”

Immediately, many players took the willow branches Lu Jiaming had distributed earlier and lashed out at the entities.

They had already applied the ox gall tears, allowing them to see these entities clearly for a short time.

But it was precisely because of this that they felt even more panicked.

After all, these things were truly terrifying to behold, putting far more psychological pressure on them than the zombies from the previous round!

“Snap!”

The branches struck the entities, giving off a few sparks, and some willow leaves scattered to the ground.

“Screeech—!”

The entities let out shrill, miserable cries,

but immediately following that, their expressions became even more distorted and malicious. Instead of retreating, they advanced and lunged at the players.

Clearly, the willow branches were effective, but not very.

Meanwhile, Lu Jiaming and his four core executives held peach wood swords. They were stronger and could actually kill these Wandering Ghost.

However, the number of Wandering Ghost was simply too great; the speed of killing them couldn't keep up with the speed at which they poured in.

“Damn it!” Lu Jiaming growled; he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures! Quick, use the simple explosives and molotov cocktails!”

He knew these things had a high immunity to ordinary physical attacks, so he wasn't sure if they would be effective.

The reason he hadn't thrown the explosives and molotov cocktails earlier was,

firstly, he was worried that opening the door would give the Wandering Ghost an opportunity to enter,

secondly, he feared the explosives and molotov cocktails would damage his own doors, lowering their durability even further,

and thirdly, he was worried they would be ineffective against the entities.

So he had hesitated to use them.

But now the situation was urgent, and he couldn't care about that anymore!

“Yes!”

Upon receiving the order, the players immediately pulled simple explosives and molotov cocktails from their backpacks and threw them at the incoming entities.

“Boom!”

The simple explosives detonated among the group of entities. Though the power wasn't great, there was some effect.

The Wandering Ghost let out sounds of injury, and their bodies wavered.

Next, the molotov cocktails were thrown.

“Crash!”

Flames spread across the bodies of the entities.

“Screeech—!”

The entities let out even more shrill cries of agony. Writhing in the flames, they drifted backward as if avoiding a plague!

“It's working!” Lu Jiaming's eyes lit up.

The flames from the molotov cocktails could actually force these entities back!

This was an unexpected pleasant surprise!!

He immediately ordered: “All players, focus on using the molotov cocktails! Don't hold back!”

Inside the building, fire light flickered everywhere, accompanied by continuous screams.

The players saw hope, and their morale lifted slightly.

They desperately threw molotov cocktails, attempting to use the flames to block the Wandering Ghost' assault.

Lu Jiaming and the core executives took the opportunity to swing their peach wood swords, reaping the entities that were forced back by the flames...