Chapter 243 There's One Last Way

Shi Yetang lay paralyzed on the rubble-strewn ground, looking up at the man before her.

Her heart trembled violently.

Everyone had fought and struggled in the apocalypse; who didn't understand how things worked?

Putting herself in his shoes, if she were the one standing there, she would definitely snap the other's neck without a word.

Only when someone became a true corpse would they cease to be a threat.

Therefore, she was utterly perplexed—why was Su Ze willing to give her a chance to speak?

By any normal logic, this made no sense at all.

In a flash, a thought crossed Shi Yetang's mind.

Cat-and-mouse.

Su Ze was purely playing with her!

He wanted to use this absolute martial suppression to force her to empty her pockets, squeeze out all her secrets and treasures, and then stomp her to death.

It had to be that!

But even though she guessed this worst-case scenario, Shi Yetang still desperately grabbed onto this ethereal lifeline.

She didn't want to die.

She had finally escaped the zombie horde, finally been promoted to the Zombie Royalty, and finally survived until now; how could she be willing to die in a mere novice area?

But what could she offer to truly buy her life?

"I... I'll exchange resources for it!"

Shi Yetang gritted her teeth and hurriedly opened her backpack, dumping things out like trash.

Clatter—

A large pile of crystal cores, emitting various colors of light, rolled onto the ground, illuminating the dim Dormitory in a kaleidoscope of hues.

Su Ze looked down and scanned them.

Good grief, they were all zombie crystal cores.

From fine quality to perfect quality, they formed a small mountain.

His eyelid twitched, and he stared at Shi Yetang with interest: "You're a member of the Zombie Royalty, yet you have so many crystal cores that only drop from killing zombies... Is that appropriate?"

Shi Yetang's face stiffened, and she coughed twice to hide her embarrassment: "Those brainless, low-level things, how can they be considered the same kind? In the eyes of the Royalty, they are purely consumables and materials. If they're killed, they're killed."

Su Ze nodded, looking as if he had come to a sudden realization.

Then, he kicked a crystal core on the ground with his toe and said flatly, "You're trying to brush me off with these? Not enough."

Shi Yetang grew anxious.

She bit the tip of her tongue hard, enduring the heartache, and once again pulled out a stack of golden-glowing cards and blueprints from her backpack.

"These! I'll give you all of these!"

Su Ze's gaze fell on the pile, and his breathing hitched imperceptibly for half a second.

[tenant addition card]*1

[dormitory expansion cornerstone]*7

[perfect quality · Anti-air Heavy Turret Blueprint]*2

[perfect quality · Black Iron Alloy Gate Blueprint]*1

In addition, there was a pile of miscellaneous high-level furniture blueprints and a massive amount of rare construction materials.

A storm of shock surged in Su Ze's heart.

For the current Jinghai University faction, these items were like charcoal in the snow!

He had always followed the path of personal martial dominance, his own strength miles ahead of other players, but the Dormitory's defenses and infrastructure were indeed a relative weakness.

Although his Dormitory's configuration already crushed most players, who would complain about having too many defense towers in the face of increasingly insane monster sieges?

This woman was practically a mobile treasure vault!

However, Su Ze's expression remained unchanged. He even frowned with feigned disdain: "You're trying to fool me with these? Do you think I'm short of this stuff?"

Shi Yetang's heart was in her throat as she explained nervously, "These are all top-tier defensive items. You'll definitely find them useful!"

At this point, her face was full of bitterness.

In truth, she was just a bottom-tier newcomer among the Zombie Royalty and had very little say.

The only reason she could get so many top-tier building blueprints and expansion cornerstones was that the Monster Camp couldn't use them at all!

After all, the Monster Camp was the attacker, while the player faction was the defender.

Why would they need gate blueprints?

Why would they need turrets?

Any usable combat skill books, equipment, or backpack expansion cards she could have used herself, she already had. Anything better wouldn't fall into her hands; they were all divided up by those old fogies at the top...

Su Ze unceremoniously waved his hand, sweeping all the blueprints, cornerstones, and crystal cores on the ground into his backpack.

After collecting the items, he looked at Shi Yetang again, his gaze still cold.

"What else?"

Shi Yetang broke down: "What exactly do you want? Give me a hint!"

Su Ze shrugged: "How should I know what junk is in your bag? Figure it out yourself."

"I'll only know if I can give it to you if you say it!"

"Anyway, time is limited."

Su Ze looked at her calmly, "Let me remind you, this state of mine is about to end. Ten seconds before it ends, if you can't produce something that truly puts your life in my hands, I'll snap your neck."

He paused, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't think about holding back. If I kill you, the items in your bag will drop anyway. It's just a matter of getting them now or later. I suggest you empty everything out now."

Shi Yetang: "..."

She finally understood—the man before her was a living Yama who devoured people without even spitting out the bones!

"fine! I'll give you this too!"

Her hands trembling, she pulled out a pair of high-tech monocles and handed them over.

"combat power reconnaissance glasses, snatched from that unlucky guy Zheng Siyuan earlier. They can show the target's specific attribute values. For you players, they're definitely a divine artifact."

Su Ze took them and played with them for a moment.

This thing was indeed good. In the future, when encountering enemies with unknown backgrounds, he wouldn't have to guess blindly.

He casually tucked the glasses into his pocket and looked down at her: "Just this? Still not enough."

Shi Yetang's heart sank.

She knew that if she didn't hand over a "tribute" today that would make Su Ze feel completely at ease, today would be the anniversary of her death.

She bit her lip until it bled, and with trembling hands, she pulled out a palm-sized, pitch-black, coffin-shaped object from the deepest part of her backpack.

"This is my trump card for crossing the Endless Darkness."

Shi Yetang's eyes were full of reluctance, "Soul Burial Coffin. I hid inside it and had corpse puppets carry me through the dark zones. It can isolate the darkness's erosion to the maximum extent, ensuring attributes don't drop for five minutes."

Su Ze raised an eyebrow and immediately cast an appraisal on it.

[Calamity Crossing Corpse Coffin (Damaged)]

[Type: Special Item]

[Effect: Accommodates Corpse Clan units, isolates Endless Darkness erosion, duration 5 minutes.]

[Restriction: Limited to Corpse Clan bloodlines.]

Seeing the last line, Su Ze's heart stirred slightly.

Limited to the Corpse Clan?

Others might treat this thing as scrap metal, but he was different.

He held a trump card—[Zombie Transformation].

If he ever truly had no choice but to cross the darkness, this coffin would definitely be a lifesaver!

But he hadn't used it in front of her.

So, naturally, Shi Yetang couldn't know.

Since she didn't know, he should continue to fleece her.

Su Ze's face darkened, and he feigned great dissatisfaction: "Are you playing me? This junk clearly says 'Limited to Corpse Clan.' What use is it to me? A decoration?"

Hearing this, Shi Yetang smiled bitterly, "I... I've really been squeezed dry. I didn't bring many good things with me. I haven't been promoted to the Royalty for long, so my foundation is thin..."

Su Ze rolled his eyes and mocked her mercilessly, "For a member of the Royalty, you're doing pretty poorly. No money, and your life is on the line. What are you even after?"

Shi Yetang was left speechless by the retort. Finally, she shouted in desperation, "I've already given everything I can give! What more do you want from me?"

Her eyes were red as she stared fixedly at Su Ze.

"Moreover, there's no such thing in this world that can absolutely control a life! Even if I reveal all the secrets of the Zombie Clan, you'll still kill me if you want to! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!"

"Since you're so self-aware, then get ready to be on your way."

Su Ze didn't take the bait at all.

With a flick of his wrist, a cold, glinting long spear appeared in his hand.

"Wait! Wait a second!"

At the critical moment of life and death, Shi Yetang once again cast aside her dignity as Royalty.

She crawled forward on all fours for a couple of steps, reaching out her pale, delicate hands to fawn over and carefully touch the shaft of Su Ze's long spear, gently pushing it down.

On that eerie and beautiful face, she forced a fawning smile that looked worse than crying.

"Look at you... why take it so seriously. Let's talk things over properly, don't be so quick to use weapons."

Su Ze raised an eyebrow slightly, the tip of the spear still resting steadily in place: "Last words?"

"No, no, no! Actually... actually, there's one last way."

Shi Yetang swallowed hard and said at a rapid pace, "Joining your... or a trusted person's Dormitory under your command!"