Chapter 56 You Have People, I Have Money: Another Way to Make Money

For a long while, he looked as if all his strength had been drained away. His once ramrod-straight back slumped, and his face was clouded with an indelible bitterness.

He gave Su Ze a deep bow.

"I'm sorry, Student Su Ze. I was being delusional."

His voice was raspy, carrying a hint of pleading.

"But our Dormitory... it really can't hold on much longer."

"I beg you, give us a chance. As long as you're willing to lend us the materials, we're willing to pay any price! From now on, whatever you ask us to do, we'll do!"

Su Ze looked at him without much reaction.

Any price?

He had heard too many of these empty promises.

He simply leaned lazily against the wall and suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"I'm the kind of person who never does a losing business deal."

The last bit of color drained from Xu Feng's face.

However, Su Ze's tone shifted as he sized him up with interest.

"Though, I am a bit curious. You're from Dormitory 811 on the Eighth Floor, right?"

Xu Feng snapped his head up, completely stunned, and blurted out, "How did you know?"

Su Ze smiled.

"I guessed."

He explained unhurriedly, "If you were just a normal person trying to use this method to get something for nothing and strike it rich, you should have known better and left after I exposed you just now."

"But you're still lingering here, throwing away your pride. That can only mean one thing—you've been pushed to the end of your rope. Aside from this method, you can't think of any other way to survive."

"So the question is, looking at this entire Dormitory building, who is in the most danger right now? Who lacks resources the most? Who needs to clear the zombies from their doorstep the most?"

Su Ze's gaze seemed to pierce through the floorboards, seeing the tragic state of the Eighth Floor directly.

"Naturally, it's that Dormitory 811, which was besieged by zombies all night and even had its door nearly torn down."

Hearing this, Xu Feng felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet straight to his head.

This man... his mind was terrifying.

Just through a few words and reactions, he had deduced Xu Feng's situation and background with absolute clarity.

He nodded bitterly, effectively admitting it.

"Yes..."

"So, the reason you proposed this idea..."

The smile on Su Ze's face deepened. "You want to borrow my materials to first clear those dormant zombies at your Dormitory door, reducing the threat for tonight."

"At the same time, you'd earn money to buy materials so you can continue repairing the door and resisting the zombies."

"The idea is lovely, but the reality is that even if I take all the copper coins dropped by the zombies, as long as you get to clear the horde at your door, it's a massive win for you, isn't it?"

Xu Feng's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Put that way, he really had been greedy...

"Still, I really am curious..."

"What on earth did your Dormitory do to provoke such divine wrath that the zombies are so obsessed with you?"

Su Ze rubbed his chin, looking intrigued.

"Oh, wait, you just said you have 'enough manpower'..."

"You couldn't have... taken in people other than the six tenants in your Dormitory, could you?"

"But I've heard other dormitories have taken people in too, and they didn't cause such a huge commotion. You guys have made it so that those zombies don't even care about the homeless players wandering the corridors; they just stare at your door and pound away..."

Su Ze's expression became strange. "Could it be... you've taken in a lot of people? Otherwise, why would you say you have enough manpower?"

Xu Feng shuddered, feeling as if he had been stripped naked and left standing before the other man.

All his disguises and all his calculations had become transparent before this man.

He completely gave up resistance, his voice full of defeat.

"Yes... in our Dormitory, there are eighteen people in total."

"Pfft—"

Su Ze nearly choked on his own saliva.

"How many? Eighteen?!"

Good grief!

A standard Dormitory is for six people, and you've gone and tripled it!

No wonder the zombies are rushing your door like they're on stimulants!

Su Ze finally understood.

This wasn't just breaking the game rules; this was practically dancing on the edge of the game's bottom line.

It was practically a courtesy that the system hadn't flagged them for cheating.

"No wonder... no wonder you could upgrade to a Level 3 door." Su Ze came to a sudden realization.

"Turns out you relied on numbers to brute-force the resource gathering."

Xu Feng smiled bitterly. "Yes. When the game started, I was the only one from our Dormitory in the building. The other students were all outside on the playground for class."

"So, they discovered the existence of supplies immediately and gathered them up first."

"I... I couldn't bear to see them without a Dormitory, being hunted by zombies outside, so I brought them all back to 811 on the 8th floor, and then organized everyone to collect supplies."

"It was equivalent to the manpower of three dormitories searching for resources for a single Dormitory. That's how we barely managed to upgrade the door to Level 3."

"But I didn't expect... that because we violated the rules, the zombies would specifically target our Dormitory... we're about to break."

At this point, Xu Feng's voice was filled with confusion and self-doubt.

"Maybe... maybe I really was wrong. I shouldn't have taken them in. If there were only the six of us, we'd definitely be doing well right now..."

Su Ze looked at him like this and asked casually, "What's in it for you? Taking such a huge risk to save a bunch of unrelated people."

An even more bitter smile appeared on Xu Feng's face.

"I once... swore an oath to protect the country."

"Even though I've taken off that uniform now... I really can't just stand by and watch my classmates die in front of me without helping."

Su Ze fell silent.

He looked at this somewhat stubborn, even naive man. For the first time, he felt a trace of inexplicable respect for someone.

Although he himself would never make such a "stupid" choice.

However, he didn't mind giving this kind of person a chance.

Of course, he had to make a profit too.

Seeing Su Ze remain silent for a long time, Xu Feng thought it was a lost cause, and the last flicker of light in his heart went out.

He bowed to Su Ze once more, his voice raspy.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Student Su Ze. I was being too presumptuous."

With that, he turned around and began to leave with heavy steps.

Every step felt like treading on cotton—hopeless and powerless.

He no longer knew how to go back and face those seventeen pairs of expectant eyes.

Just as he was about to head down the stairs, Su Ze's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Wait a minute."

Xu Feng's footsteps paused, and he turned back stiffly.

A faint smile still hung on Su Ze's face.

"While I won't 'cooperate' with you by lending you materials for nothing."

"However..."

"You have people, and I have 'money'..."

"I do have another idea for you to earn money. I wonder if you're interested in hearing it?"