Chapter 228 The Shocked Crowd

An Lan stood at the end of the dim corridor, her fine-quality peach wood sword pointing diagonally toward the ground.

Her valiant face showed little emotion, but her tense shoulders relaxed slightly only when she saw Su Ze.

“Su Ze, the Supernatural Entities have stopped spawning.”

An Lan’s voice was steady, carrying a crisp efficiency. “The Wandering Ghosts on this floor have basically been cleared out.”

The more than ten thousand people following behind Su Ze fell into a collective, deathly silence at that moment.

Shen Jie rubbed his eyes and looked at the empty corridor again, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.

“Bo... Boss, who is this heroine?”

Shen Jie’s voice had a slight tremor. He had personally seen how troublesome those Wandering Ghosts were—things that were nearly immune to physical attacks and appeared and disappeared like ghosts.

Su Ze’s tone was flat: “My tenant, and my woman, An Lan.”

As soon as he said this, a faint sound of collective gasps echoed through the crowd.

The players who had just relocated from the World Financial Center instantly looked at An Lan with different eyes.

They had originally thought that most women around a powerhouse like Su Ze were just eye candy, but looking at it now, how was this eye candy?

This was simply a god of slaughter!

The core members behind Lu Jiaming exchanged looks, seeing the bitterness in each other's eyes.

Several grown men like them, combined with many other players, had struggled to defend a single floor, yet one woman had cleared an entire floor by herself?

Gai Qian’s current mood was more complex than anyone else's.

As a veteran player who had survived three rounds of the game, she had an almost pathological sensitivity to stats.

“To clear an entire floor of Wandering Ghosts single-handedly in an environment like midnight...”

Gai Qian calculated rapidly in her mind, “Her basic combat power must be at least over a hundred, and she’d have to be a mage-type build focused on spirit and intelligence. If she’s a well-rounded balanced type, her basic combat power would need to be at least 150 or more to have this kind of suppressive force.”

She looked at An Lan’s physique, which, though valiant, clearly showed a sense of physical power, and waves of shock crashed through her heart.

“Could she be a well-rounded monster?”

Gai Qian looked down at her own illusory palm. As a veteran player, her current basic combat power was only 152 points, and that was only because she had become a Supernatural Entity, completely abandoning Stamina and strength attributes to pursue an extreme, specialized path.

In a direct confrontation, she was confident she could win against An Lan, but that was based on a veteran player's skill set and the premise that her status as a Supernatural Entity made her immune to most physical damage...

And the opponent couldn't have weapons or items that countered Supernatural Entities too heavily!!

But An Lan was just a rookie player!

Just as everyone was intimidated by An Lan’s achievements, a series of messy but powerful footsteps came from the stairs above.

“Boss!”

“Senior Su Ze, you’re finally back!”

Wang Meng’s signature loud voice rang out first, followed by the nine Leaders including Xu Feng, Qiao Yunfeng, and Zhuang Yi, who quickly walked down the stairs with a lingering aura of slaughter.

As these nine people stood there, the originally spacious corridor instantly felt quite crowded.

Wang Meng wiped the sweat from his face, cupped his fists toward Su Ze, and said in a booming voice:

“Reporting to the Boss: all Supernatural Entities from the second to the Tenth Floor have been completely cleared!”

Xu Feng immediately added: “Currently, no players have died. However, due to the influence of the Ghost Cries, a small number of weak-willed players have fallen unconscious and are already being treated.”

The atmosphere in the corridor completely exploded at this moment.

Lu Jiaming stumbled, nearly failing to keep his footing.

Ye Qingqing’s eyes widened even further, and she stood there like a wooden chicken.

“Completely... cleared?”

Ye Qingqing murmured to herself, “And... zero deaths?”

How is that possible!

At the World Financial Center, they had a veteran player like Gai Qian sitting in command and had used expensive turret and sleeping pill tactics. Although they also had zero casualties, it was more of a clever trick...

But here at Jinghai University, from the sound of it, they had actually fought their way through directly?

Gai Qian was no longer just shocked; she felt her entire worldview collapsing.

“This means... there are nine more powerhouses before my eyes with strength similar to that An Lan?!”

Gai Qian stared fixedly at Wang Meng and the others.

She didn't know that these nine Leaders were currently in an extremely terrifying state.

Although Su Ze’s [Burst] Bond was about to end, that temporary attribute as high as 460 points still buffed these Leaders with one-tenth of his combat power through the [Enfeoffment] effect.

A full 46 points of additional attribute buff!

Among them, Su Ze had already removed Jiang Yuwan’s Enfeoffment slot and transferred the buff to the newly promoted Leader, Zhuang Yi. The current combat power of these Leaders was at least around 150 at the minimum!

Not to mention they had also learned two rare-grade skills Su Ze had bought from the mall.

“Rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns... How can powerhouses of this level appear in batches less than an hour after the second round started?”

The way Gai Qian looked at Su Ze had changed from wariness to complete awe.

What kind of resources did this man possess to be able to cultivate ten top-tier generals capable of sweeping everything before them in such a short time?

Even though she knew annexing other regions gave large attribute point rewards, it shouldn't result in so many people reaching this level, right?

Su Ze ignored the psychological activities of these newcomers and looked at Wang Meng, speaking calmly:

“Report on the specific gains.”

Wang Meng flipped open the registration book in his hand, his expression excited:

“Boss, we just did a count. Each floor spawned about 1,500 Wandering Ghosts, all at Level 3 Zombie grade. No higher-level elite monsters were found.”

“One Wandering Ghost drops 40 copper coins, with a very low probability of dropping soul stones.”

“After clearing our ten floors, we harvested a total of 600,000 copper coins. The brothers have already pooled the money; I’m transferring it to you now.”

Following Wang Meng’s operation, the amount of copper coins on Su Ze’s system panel instantly jumped by a huge margin.

Six hundred thousand.

In the early stages of the apocalypse, this was absolutely a massive sum of money that could drive anyone crazy.

The players who came from the building felt their eyes turn red with envy as they heard this.

Jinghai University’s side made 600,000 in less than an hour?!

Su Ze nodded and said casually:

“Transfer 180,000 back to yourselves. Reward the players according to their specific contributions as per the previous rules. For those injured or unconscious, double their supplies.”

“Yes! Thank you, Boss!”

Wang Meng and the others responded in unison, their voices echoing in the corridor and causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

This generous posture dealt another heavy blow to the newly joined players.

Handing out 180,000 copper coins in rewards just like that—this kind of extravagance was something they hadn't even dared to imagine before.

Su Ze turned around and looked at the tens of thousands of “new immigrants” with complex expressions behind him.

“Wang Meng, send people to register these new players. Make a preliminary division of manpower based on the specific circumstances.”

Su Ze’s gaze fell on Lu Jiaming.

Lu Jiaming’s heart tightened, and he quickly puffed out his chest.

“Lu Jiaming.”

“Present! Please give your orders, Boss!”

“From now on, you will take your original men and officially take over the first floor of the Dormitory building.”

Su Ze paused, his tone brook no argument, “Replacing Li Tie’s previous position as temporary Leader.”

Lu Jiaming was completely stunned where he stood.

He had thought that as a defeated general who had just surrendered, Su Ze would definitely marginalize him first or even confiscate his armaments.

But he never expected that Su Ze would directly make him the Leader of a floor?

Even if it was only the first floor, it was still a position of genuine power!

“Boss... You, you’re really letting me manage the first floor?”

Lu Jiaming’s voice was a bit dry.

Su Ze looked at him with a deep gaze.

“I’m giving you a platform now. If you can’t manage it well, or if you harbor any thoughts you shouldn't... someone will naturally replace you. Li Tie will also stay with you as your deputy.”

Su Ze didn't finish his sentence, only lightly patting Lu Jiaming on the shoulder.

That seemingly gentle pat made Lu Jiaming feel a pressure like a mountain suddenly descending upon him.

“Please rest assured, Boss! If I, Lu Jiaming, dare to have a second heart, may heaven strike me down!”

Lu Jiaming nodded with great excitement, even though he knew Li Tie’s presence also served as a warning to keep him in check.

But he was satisfied.

“Qingqing, Shen Jie.”

Su Ze’s voice rang out again.

The two of them quickly stood up straight.

“You two, come up with me.”

Su Ze turned to glance at the illusory figure of Gai Qian following at the very back.

“You come along too.”