Chapter 231 Coincidence? I can tell you your biggest secret now.

Ye Qingqing and Gai Qian remained kneeling on the ground, their bodies trembling slightly from fear.

Shen Jie gritted his teeth and knelt down with them, stiffening his neck as he spoke, "Boss! I'm willing too! If there's a punishment, punish us all together! I only beg you to give them a way out!"

"It's all my fault. I was too naive, thinking I could play clever tricks..." Gai Qian's expression was incredibly complex as she took all the blame upon herself.

"Qingqing was only listening to me. Whatever you want to do, do it to me. I only beg you to let them go."

Su Ze watched this scene of deep camaraderie and shared fate with a blank expression.

He slowly put the soul nourishing bottle into his backpack before speaking composedly.

"Three factions, and each faction has one special building and one Halo."

"Besides that, your building has another Halo you haven't mentioned, right?"

Ye Qingqing trembled all over and nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at grain.

"Yes! Yes! Even if you didn't ask, I was planning to say it!"

She explained urgently, "I... I have an Halo called [Increasing Revenue and Reducing Expenditure]."

"The effect is that for every 100 copper coins consumed by my faction, 20 are waived."

Su Ze raised an eyebrow.

Increasing Revenue and Reducing Expenditure?

Interesting.

Shen Jie's [Prayer Altar] is responsible for specifically increasing the refresh quality and probability of key materials like turret blueprints.

The [Heavenly Blessing] Halo under his faction increases the luck of his players, making it easier to find these high-quality materials.

Gai Qian's [[High-Energy Substance Detector]] can accurately locate truly valuable items, including the main turret blueprints.

Finally, Ye Qingqing's [Increasing Revenue and Reducing Expenditure] Halo significantly lowers the consumption of money-burning machines like automatic turrets.

Combined with their building's Level 5 Gate that can automatically pick up drops...

Prayer, amplification, target detection, killing, recycling, and cost reduction.

A practically perfect closed loop was formed just like that!

No wonder they could use turret tactics to forcefully protect over ten thousand players during nights infested with Supernatural Entities.

Not bad, this combination of moves is indeed impressive.

If I get my hands on all of these, the boost to my own faction would be massive.

It's just...

A hint of doubt flashed through Su Ze's mind.

This is too much of a coincidence.

Whether it's special buildings or Halos, the system gives a choice of one out of five.

Gai Qian said she's a veteran player, but in reality, she has only gone through three rounds of survival games.

How did she manage to gather all these things that are so complementary and fit together like a match made in heaven?

This luck is simply a bit too good.

Su Ze didn't believe in coincidences, but he didn't show any outward signs of suspicion.

He looked at them.

"Transfer all copper coins and silver coins to me."

"Don't keep any materials."

Hearing this, the hearts of Ye Qingqing, Shen Jie, and Gai Qian were bleeding.

In the end, they couldn't escape being stripped clean, but naturally, they didn't dare say "no" and quickly opened their system panels to start transferring assets.

[Ding! Player "Ye Qingqing" has transferred to you: 1,034,568 copper coins, 5 silver coins.]

[Ding! Player "Shen Jie" has transferred to you: 1,084,574 copper coins, 3 silver coins.]

[Ding! Player "Gai Qian" has transferred to you: 2,218,731 copper coins, 14 silver coins.]

A series of notification sounds rang out. Su Ze looked at his skyrocketing assets and did a quick mental calculation.

It added up to over four million copper coins and more than twenty silver coins.

It looked like a lot, but considering it was the entire fortune of a faction with over ten thousand players—and they had been burning money on turrets—this amount was actually much lower than he had expected.

But thinking about their survival mode, it indeed belonged to the very expensive category. Both the Explosion-Proof Trenches and the turrets were major money-sinkers.

So, it was still reasonable.

After transferring all assets, the three remained kneeling on the ground, as silent as cicadas in winter, their heads buried deep and their breathing cautious.

Just then, Su Ze received private messages from Wang Meng and other Leaders.

"Boss, the inspection is complete. This new batch of people is clean; they aren't hiding anything."

Su Ze then nodded slowly and looked at the three in front of him.

According to his usual style of doing things, people like Ye Qingqing and Gai Qian, who dared to play tricks in front of him, should have been dealt with long ago.

But as it happened, these two women were both system-certified "Goddesses."

The Bond effects they carried—one [Assistance] and one [Ghost Body]—were of immense value to Su Ze. It would be a real pity to kill them.

"They've finished the inspection and confirmed you aren't pulling any more stunts."

Su Ze's voice was flat, revealing no emotion.

"So, I'll spare your lives this time..."

As soon as he said this, Ye Qingqing and Shen Jie exhaled in relief almost simultaneously, their faces unable to hide their wild joy.

However, before they could fully relax, Su Ze's next words sent their hearts back into their throats.

"However, while you are spared the death penalty, you cannot escape punishment."

In an instant, the hope that had just risen was doused by a bucket of cold water.

Ye Qingqing looked up timidly, her voice trembling, "Then... what is the punishment?"

Su Ze glanced at them, a mysterious curve forming at the corners of his mouth.

"You'll find out soon enough."

The three turned pale, their hearts filled with uneasy guesses, yet they didn't dare ask another question.

"Alright, get up."

Su Ze waved his hand and first instructed Ye Qingqing, "You, go find a woman named Liu Yuanfang. She will arrange things for you."

Then, he looked at Shen Jie.

"You, go find Wang Meng. He will arrange your lodging and tasks."

"Yes! Boss!"

The two felt as if they had been granted a grand amnesty and scrambled up from the ground. Not daring to delay for a moment, they turned and left quickly.

For a moment, in this secluded corner, only Su Ze and the illusory Gai Qian remained.

Su Ze turned around and approached step by step until they were less than half a meter apart.

He stared into Gai Qian's pitch-black eyes, as if trying to see into the depths of her soul.

Gai Qian felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze, and her illusory body began to fluctuate unstably.

"Before, there were always outsiders around. I even took into account that only Ye Qingqing and Shen Jie, whom you consider your own people, were present. Now, there is no one else."

"Tell me, your biggest secret."

"And your identity."