Chapter 28 I've Become a Ruthless Businessman, and a New Goddess Target Appears

"I... I understand!"

From the crowd, a bespectacled young man suddenly shouted excitedly,

his voice trembling with emotion.

"Boss isn't exploiting us; he's establishing order for us!"

"With these rules, those of us sharing weapons won't have to worry about being cheated or betrayed! Everyone can focus on killing zombies and earning money in peace!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was as if everyone woke from a dream!

They weren't fools. Although Su Ze's rules were domineering,

they also established something most scarce in this apocalypse—order.

An order guaranteed by the strong!

This was more reliable than any verbal alliance!

"Boss is wise! Boss is saving us!"

"Sniff... I thought there was no way out. Thank you, Boss, thank you for showing us a clear path!"

"Boss Su Ze is our savior!"

For a moment, the corridor was filled with endless sounds of flattery and praise.

The faces of those who had just harbored resentment towards Su Ze were now only filled with tearful gratitude.

The way they looked at Su Ze had transformed from initial fear and jealousy into fanatical worship.

"Line up! Get in line, damn it!"

The tall, sturdy young man from earlier stepped forward to maintain order on his own initiative. Glaring, he lowered his voice and berated,

"Anyone who dares to cut in line or make loud noises, disturbing the dormant zombies—don't wait for Boss Su Ze to act, I'll be the first to throw you out to feed the zombies!"

The crowd immediately became extremely docile.

A long line silently spread out from the entrance of Dormitory 404 on the fourth floor.

They pressed against the walls, stood on tiptoe, and even deliberately slowed their breathing, afraid of making the slightest sound.

The scene was both eerie and absurd.

Gradually, more and more people joined the queue.

Soon, the line filled the entire fourth-floor corridor,

even winding down the stairs, passing through the third and second floors, almost reaching the first floor.

"I'll rent... I'll rent an ordinary one!"

"The five of us will share one! Boss, here's our collateral!"

"Boss, I have a [Shoddy Wooden Chair Blueprint] here. It's trash, but can it be traded for some food?"

"Boss Su Ze, would you look at..."

Su Ze leaned against the door frame, expressionlessly conducting one transaction after another.

Collecting collateral, handing out weapons, or exchanging supplies for things he found valuable.

Most people offered junk, but occasionally there were pleasant surprises.

[Obtained: Ordinary Animal Trap Blueprint *1]

[Obtained: Ordinary Hemp Rope *5]

[Obtained: Delicate Component *2]

The quality of these items wasn't high, but Su Ze accepted them all without refusal—even a mosquito's leg is meat.

What he truly anticipated were those teams that had gone out to search for supplies last night.

Only those people might have truly good items in their hands.

But he wasn't in a hurry.

Because he knew that last night, he had conducted almost a carpet-like sweep,

and ninety percent of the slightly valuable items in the entire school had likely ended up in his backpack.

The quality and quantity of the supplies refreshed today would be far inferior to the first day.

Those people would soon discover this harsh reality,

and they would inevitably come to trade with him sooner or later.

Time passed minute by minute.

An hour later, most of Su Ze's weapons had been rented out.

The fourth-floor corridor had effectively become a temporary "heroes' starting point."

People formed small teams of two or three, carefully left with their newly rented weapons, searching for lone zombies, beginning their first day of fighting for survival.

Right at that moment, a message popped up in the public channel without warning.

[6F-527-Zhou Kai (landlord): Hahaha! You fools are still lining up outside 404? Let me tell you a secret—supplies in the school refresh daily! I just found over a dozen brand-new loaves of bread in the teaching building! [Image]]

The image clearly showed over a dozen loaves of bread, their packaging appearing enticing even in the dim light!

This message was like a bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly causing a huge uproar!

Survivors in the long queue stopped in their tracks, pulling out their virtual screens to check.

When they saw the image and the message, everyone's expressions changed.

"What? Supplies refresh?"

"Holy shit! Is that true? Then why are we lining up here?"

"Damn it! I knew that Su Ze couldn't have so many supplies—he must have scavenged them all!"

"A bottle of water for 6 copper coins! Renting a crappy weapon for a day costs 10 copper coins! This is robbery!"

"Black-hearted merchant! I almost fell for his trap!"

The suppressed queue instantly became restless; whispers turned into angry curses.

The previous gratitude and awe towards Su Ze vanished instantly in the face of huge potential gains.

Their gazes towards Su Ze were filled with the anger and resentment of being deceived.

"Let's go! We'll find supplies ourselves! Why should we work for him!"

A young man roared, the first to break from the line and dash towards the stairwell.

With someone taking the lead, the rest could no longer hold back.

"Right! We'll find them ourselves!"

"Damn it, I'm not renting!"

"Exactly! Geneva refund! No, return the goods!"

Curses and roars rose and fell.

But no one dared to actually charge forward.

The dark arrow slots still exuded a chilling, heart-palpitating coldness.

Su Ze watched all this coldly, his face showing not the slightest ripple.

He had long anticipated this moment.

"Those who want their collateral back, return the weapons," he said calmly.

A few survivors who had just rented weapons and hadn't gone far turned pale, then flushed. Ultimately, unwillingly, they threw the weapons back, retrieved their water and biscuits, and ran towards the stairwell without looking back.

They were going to compete for supplies!

With the first, came the second, the third...

Within just a few minutes, the once-long queue instantly scattered like birds and beasts.

People retreated like a tide, cursing Su Ze wildly in the public channel as they ran, venting their resentment.

The corridor, which had just been crowded with people, suddenly became empty and desolate.

Only seven or eight people who had just rented weapons and hadn't left yet stood in place, looking at each other, somewhat at a loss.

They looked at Su Ze, then at the empty queue, their faces filled with hesitation.

One of them, a skinny young man who had rented a steel pipe, gritted his teeth and said to his companions,

"I think... it's still safer to have a weapon in hand. What if we accidentally wake a zombie while looking for supplies?"

Hearing this, the others nodded in agreement, finding it reasonable.

Thus, these few did not return their weapons,

but instead formed a team and cautiously left as well.

Su Ze sat there the entire time, not even lifting an eyelid, as if completely indifferent to this sudden turn of events.

They would be back.

He unhurriedly collected the collateral items from the floor, one by one, into his Dormitory.

Just then, a figure who had been standing at the very end of the queue, silent all along, slowly moved.

That person wore a loose trench coat, a mask, and a hood, bundled up tightly and keeping their head down the whole time,

making their features unclear. But every step they took seemed to carry a unique rhythm, swaying gracefully.

Su Ze's eyebrows imperceptibly lifted a fraction as he watched her quietly.

She stopped about three meters away from Su Ze.

Then, slowly raised her head.

The hood slipped back, revealing a face mostly covered by the mask, but those eyes were enough to make any man's heart flutter.

They were a pair of utterly charming peach blossom eyes. As her gaze shifted, it seemed to carry hooks, capable of ensnaring one's very soul.

"Little handsome..."

Her voice carried a hint of lazy hoarseness, like a feather gently tickling the heart.

"I heard you're... recruiting beautiful female tenants here?"

The corners of the woman's eyes lifted slightly, tracing a seductive curve,

but deep within her eyes, there was a trace of elusive shrewdness.

Before her words even finished, the system's prompt suddenly rang in Su Ze's mind!

[Ding! A qualified goddess target detected!]

[Goddess Name: Su Meier]

[Bond Effect Preview: If successfully bound and a bond is established, will obtain the exclusive bond effect—'Treasure Gathering': Will refresh one random supply item daily (the quality of the refreshed item uses the highest quality among all item types currently owned by the host as the baseline (current highest quality: Fine)]

Su Ze's heart skipped a beat.