Chapter 270 Wang Meng's Courage, Mall 3.0

Chen Xueming rubbed his hands, waiting for Su Ze to speak.

Su Ze didn't keep him waiting too long; his gaze swept over the crowd as he opened another list.

"Aside from combat performance, the formulation of this Merit System is also a great achievement," Su Ze began. "Without rules, there is no order. This system will allow the entire faction to operate more smoothly."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xueming straightened his back even further.

"Li Xinran." Su Ze read out the first name.

Li Xinran, standing on the edge, jerked her head up, her breathing instantly losing its rhythm.

"You proposed the core suggestion for differential assessment and filled the loopholes in the system. Reward: forty free attribute points."

Li Xinran bit her lower lip and habitually lifted her chin, though her eyes held undisguised excitement.

Since joining Su Ze's Dormitory, she had finally earned Su Ze's true affirmation.

These forty attribute points were enough to raise her status significantly.

Even if this was just her own internal feeling.

"Jiang Yuwan, for coordinating and organizing the plan; Su Meier, for verifying the material exchange ratio. Both are rewarded with forty points."

Jiang Yuwan pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses and nodded calmly.

Su Meier gave a charming wink: "Thank you, Landlord~."

Finally, Su Ze looked at Chen Xueming.

"Chen Xueming, for drafting the details and pulling three all-nighters in a row to perfect the basic framework of the entire system," Su Ze closed the virtual panel in his hand, "Eighty free attribute points."

"Holy crap!" Chen Xueming jumped up, dancing with excitement, "Thank you, Boss! From now on, this life of mine belongs to the Boss!"

Eighty points!

This was even more than he had imagined!

Wang Meng, standing nearby, slapped Chen Xueming on the shoulder, "Not bad, Old Chen! You pulled off something big without a sound!"

Xu Feng also walked over and patted Chen Xueming's other shoulder: "Old Chen, congratulations."

The other Leaders stood by, watching the three of them with envy, but no one could find any fault.

For these three days, they had been grinding in the Simulation Training Ground and hadn't participated in the system construction at all, so it was perfectly normal that they received no rewards.

The current situation was already very clear.

Within the entire Jinghai University faction, Su Ze was the absolute dictator.

Under his command, Wang Meng was the top warrior, holding the most capable Third Floor; Xu Feng was the commanding strategist, whose tactical command was significantly better than Wang Meng's; Chen Xueming was the Chief Research Officer and the Leader of the Research Personnel and production staff, responsible for research and production.

These three had completely stood out among the Leaders.

What made everyone most convinced and respectful was Su Ze's clear distinction between rewards and punishments.

Qiao Yunfeng was Qiao Yunge's own younger brother, and Qiao Yunge was by Su Ze's side every day; who didn't know she was the Boss's lover?

But in this assessment, Qiao Yunfeng still had to grind along with everyone else. Because he didn't make the top three, Su Ze didn't show even a hint of favoritism, only giving him the sixty-point reward for third place individually, which Qiao Yunfeng had earned through his own efforts.

Such consistent, fair decisions made all the Leaders feel increasingly at ease.

With such a terrifyingly powerful and fair Boss standing at the front, if the sky were to fall, the tall ones would hold it up; they only needed to work hard and earn their rewards.

"Alright." Su Ze interrupted their pleasantries, "The commendations and rewards end here."

The ten Leaders immediately put away their smiles and stood straight.

"Next, implement it according to the plan just announced. The Merit System will be fully rolled out, and each floor must hurry to adapt."

Su Ze looked at them, "Also, for those of you who didn't get a ranking, don't just focus on training blindly. Go consult Xu Feng more and learn how to manage team coordination; those who can't improve their personal combat power, go find Wang Meng for advice."

"Xu Feng, Wang Meng, you two will have to work harder." Xu Feng and Wang Meng both nodded in unison.

"Chen Xueming." Su Ze called out again.

"Here!" Chen Xueming quickly stood at attention.

"As for technological strength, you need to step it up," Su Ze's tone became a bit more serious.

"Don't spend all day messing with small, trivial things. What I want is an equipment production line capable of arming the entire floor. As for resources and materials, as long as they are in the warehouse, you can use them as you please. If they aren't there, have the people below go out and search for them using combat merit points."

Chen Xueming nodded heavily: "Don't worry, Boss. I'll make a list when I get back; I definitely won't delay things!"

"Finally..." Su Ze swept his gaze around,

"Don't slack off just because the current situation is stable. The next wave of monsters, the Vampire, possesses true intelligence and is different from the two types of monsters we've encountered so far. We all need to arrange and prepare in advance."

"Understood!" The ten Leaders replied in unison.

Following that, Su Ze gave a few more instructions before letting all the Leaders disperse.

The large Simulation Training Ground soon became empty, leaving only Su Ze and the women from his Dormitory, Shi Yetang, the hidden Gai Qian, and Ye Qingqing, who was dressed like a secretary.

Jiang Yuwan closed the notebook in her hand and looked at Su Ze.

"Actually, I wanted to ask just now."

She pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, "The Third Floor under Wang Meng has thousands of people. During today's assessment, almost every one of them had a peach wood sword in hand."

Jiang Yuwan paused, then clearly posed her question: "I remember very clearly that the peach wood swords in the Survival Mall, including the Evil-Breaking Talisman you just took out as a reward, are marked in the limited area with a limit of one thousand items per zone. These quantities don't add up at all."

Su Meier leaned closer to Su Ze and blinked curiously: "That's right, Landlord~, where did Wang Meng get so many limited-edition items? Could it be that he exploited a bug in the system?"

Su Ze laughed upon hearing this. He swiped his fingers in mid-air and set his system panel to public display mode.

"See for yourselves."

The women immediately gathered around.

When they saw the semi-transparent mall interface in front of Su Ze, everyone was stunned.

The interface style, categories, and even the product icons were completely different from the Survival Mall they usually saw.

Most conspicuous was the top right corner, where a golden logo was shining brightly: [Survival Mall v3.0].

"Version 3.0?" Li Xinran couldn't help but exclaim, "Our mall doesn't even have a version number, how did yours update to 3.0?"

Su Ze leaned back in his chair and tapped it open.

"When personal total assets exceed ten million copper coins, it triggers an achievement, and the system will automatically trigger a mall upgrade."

He typed the words "peach wood sword" into the search bar. The interface switched.

The peach wood sword, which was marked as "Limited Purchase 1000/1000" in the regular player mall, had the limit quantity column changed to "Unlimited" in Su Ze's interface.

"For most players, the Survival Mall is currently just the basic version."

Su Ze pointed at those items, "But for me, the purchasing rights for those limited items you see are completely unlocked. Not only that, I also have an exclusive 3.0 limited area; the things sold inside cannot be found in your current malls at all."

Jiang Yuwan suddenly realized.

"So, those peach wood swords of Wang Meng's were actually bought by you for him?"

"He came to complain to me the night before last," Su Ze closed the search interface, "He said the Third Floor was full of roughnecks who couldn't learn complex tactical coordination in a short time, and asked if I had any cheap weapons that could be mass-equipped. I just helped him purchase a batch."

"He's quite smart, knowing to come to you through the back door," Qiao Yunge curled her lip, "I thought you were giving him special treatment."

"It doesn't count as special treatment."

Su Ze said casually, "I already made it public that I possess the mall 2.0. Although I didn't mention 3.0, they all hold at least a million copper coins now and are also at version 2.0. As long as they think of this and come to me to help them buy, I will help."

Jiang Yuwan quickly calculated on the side.

"One peach wood sword costs one thousand copper coins. With so many peach wood swords, that's a huge sum of millions..." She looked at Su Ze, "Wang Meng has basically emptied out the Third Floor's entire savings, right?"

"Not just the Third Floor's team resources." Su Ze nodded, "He threw in all his own private copper coins as well. Burning his bridges, this kid really has some guts."

"I see. So that means your mall has already been upgraded to 3.0 for a long time, right? No wonder you directly opened up the material search permissions." Jiang Yuwan suddenly realized.

"Players go out to search for materials and exchange them for combat merit points and copper coins. They want to become stronger and buy high-level equipment, but the regular mall has purchase limits or some things can't be bought. In the end, they still have to come to you. The resources of the entire faction are actually constantly circulating in your hands."

Su Ze didn't deny it.

Revitalizing resources, letting his subordinates work themselves to the bone, and reaping the benefits himself—this is what a Leader should do.

Just then, Jiang Yuwan changed the subject, her expression becoming serious.

"It's a good thing that Wang Meng has guts, but by throwing all his resources into peach wood swords, isn't he worried about what to do for the next round?"

She flipped to another page of her notebook.

"After all, according to the intelligence you provided, the monster for the next round is the Vampire."

"This type of monster possesses true intelligence, is extremely fast, and can even fly. And currently, all the weapons and items needed for the next round are unknown..."