Chapter 242 Endless Darkness

Five corpse puppets.

Zheng Siyuan, Qin Yue, Ye Qingqing, Shen Jie, Lu Jiaming.

He quickly went through the list in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt this woman was ruthless to the core.

Zheng Siyuan was Lu Jiaming's confidant in The Mansion, though it was later proven he was actually a major liability.

Qin Yue was the most powerful scientist in their building, the key core figure among the Research Personnel.

Then there were Shen Jie and Lu Jiaming, plus Ye Qingqing.

The three of them were the leaders of the three major factions, each controlling at least ten thousand people.

In other words, although Shi Yetang had infiltrated The Mansion alone, she could actually throw the entire Building area into instant chaos at any time.

Su Ze glanced at her.

"You certainly know how to pick them."

Shi Yetang's expression faltered slightly, and she gave an awkward smile.

"Zheng Siyuan noticed something was wrong with me on his own, so I had to act. He thought he was poisoned, which wasn't true, but I used that to threaten him and make him help me infiltrate your forces."

"Mm, I see. What about the others?"

"Professor Qin Yue... she knows." Shi Yetang paused for a moment.

"But she's very smart and wants to survive. So when I need her cooperation, she proactively hides, and I disguise myself as her to appear in public."

"As for Ye Qingqing and Shen Jie..." Her voice dropped lower, "They have no idea that the power over their health and lives has long been in my hands; they're completely oblivious."

"Lu Jiaming is the same."

Su Ze listened to this with an expressionless face.

Ye Qingqing.

This name made him pause for an extra half-second.

It wasn't because of any personal feelings, but because Ye Qingqing was also involved in a Bond issue; she couldn't actually be allowed to come to harm.

"And that Supernatural Entity... Gai Qian," Shi Yetang hesitated before continuing, "Although she's much stronger than ordinary players, she's still far weaker than me. She didn't notice any of the things I did in secret at all. After all, I only need a split second of contact to complete the process."

Su Ze nodded.

"Can it be reversed?"

"Yes!" She nodded almost reflexively. "I can reclaim them at any time without causing them any harm."

"Reclaim them now."

Shi Yetang showed a look of difficulty. "I need to make physical contact with them."

"If I kill you, will it be dispelled?"

"...No, it will immediately trigger them into becoming corpse puppets."

"I'm serious!!" she said anxiously.

"Fine, we'll deal with that later."

He cut straight to the next question.

"When you controlled Sun Lin to go to The Mansion, what exactly did you do?"

Shi Yetang's expression became visibly more awkward.

"...It was to prevent one of the players from joining your forces and stop you from annexing The Mansion area. After all, even though I thought your strength wouldn't be a threat even with the rewards from the annexation, I still wanted to wait until I obtained that reward myself."

"How did you do it?"

"I had already secretly nurtured a powerful individual." Shi Yetang spoke a bit faster. "He was quite a bit stronger than Lu Jiaming. After all... as a member of the Zombie Royalty, I have the resources to nurture a mere newcomer."

"And then?"

"Controlling Sun Lin to go to The Mansion this time was to find him and force him into the Endless Darkness zone on the outskirts of the area."

Shi Yetang looked up, observing Su Ze's reaction.

"I gave him a specific direction. He could either be killed on the spot by the Sun Lin I was controlling, or enter the darkness, sacrificing most of his health and attributes to reach another area."

"He chose the latter."

Su Ze raised an eyebrow.

No wonder they couldn't find the person.

He wasn't hiding; he had been sent away directly.

This method was indeed simple and crude to the extreme.

He suddenly remembered those few players from Jinghai University who tried to enter the dark zone when the survival game first started.

At that time, the moment they stepped in, their names turned gray.

Looking back now, it wasn't because the darkness itself was an absolute forbidden zone, but because those two had attributes that were too low and health that was too weak. They couldn't withstand the drain of the darkness and were instantly obliterated.

Whereas an individual with enough strength could cross the darkness by tanking the drain to reach other areas.

The price was heavy, but it was better than dying on the spot.

"What level is required to cross the darkness?" Su Ze stared at her.

"That's hard to say. If you have a map and a direction, and the distance is very, very close, maybe a hundred attribute points would be enough. It's just that the loss of attributes and health can't be recovered—everything has to start from scratch. But if you don't have a map or direction, it's very easy to get lost in the darkness, and then... it's almost certain death."

"How far counts as close?" Su Ze frowned.

"One kilometer. The closest is one kilometer."

"That close? There are areas that close together?!" Su Ze was surprised.

"Of course. The previous Taoyuan Residential Area and the current Building are both within one kilometer. During rest periods, the rules cause areas to move closer to each other, which is why they can be connected so quickly."

"Within one kilometer, how is it possible..." Su Ze frowned.

"Are you wondering why, if it's so close, you can't see or hear anything? Actually, the Endless Darkness zone absorbs all light and sound. Anyone who enters will instantly lose all five senses." A flash of suspicion crossed Shi Yetang's mind, but she still answered obediently.

Su Ze nodded in realization.

"And the drain beyond one kilometer?"

"For every additional kilometer, the cost in attribute points almost doubles compared to the previous kilometer. That is, for the second kilometer, it costs two hundred points, making the total for two kilometers three hundred attribute points."

Su Ze was startled by this.

From the looks of it, the drain values increased almost exponentially!

Then even a few extra kilometers would be enough to become an insurmountable chasm?

"Besides walking through the darkness, there should be other ways to reach other areas, right?"

Shi Yetang nodded.

"Yes, but the one with the lowest cost is a special teleportation-type building. The rest basically involve using various items to reduce the drain as much as possible. Of course, each race has its own unique way of crossing. For example, our Zombie Clan uses corpse puppets as transportation while hiding ourselves in special items to preserve our strength."

She hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to add more.

"By the way, in the Endless Darkness, not particularly far from here, there's a guy whose rise has been equally terrifying. His area has a teleportation-type building—a Teleportation Altar."

"And in this vicinity, I suspect he's the only one who has one. The spawn rate for this type of building is very low."

Su Ze looked at her.

"Wu Fangzhou?"

The moment that name was spoken, Shi Yetang's pupils shrank violently.

The last trace of faint suspicion in her heart completely vanished at this moment.

He even knows about Wu Fangzhou...

Just how much intelligence does this man possess?

If there had been a single lie or omission in her answers just now, Su Ze would have probably dealt with her already, wouldn't he?

Fortunately.

Fortunately, she had been honest.

"Show me the distribution map of all the nearby areas."

Without any hesitation, Shi Yetang took a map from her backpack and handed it over with both hands.

Su Ze took the scroll, unfurled it for a glance, and then naturally put it into his backpack.

After doing all this, he looked up at Shi Yetang.

Shi Yetang met those eyes that were calm to the point of being cold, and her body involuntarily tensed up.

"You can probably guess," Su Ze's tone was very flat, "my current strength is only a temporary boost."

Shi Yetang's body stiffened.

Who wouldn't know that?

No matter what means Su Ze used, this kind of terrifying Burst state couldn't possibly be his normal state...

If it were his normal state, he wouldn't need to go to such great lengths at all.

"So—"

Su Ze looked down at her, enunciating each word.

"Once my time is up, who knows if you'll try to get rid of me even at a great cost?"

"So, if you want to live, give me an absolute leverage that will keep me from killing you."