Chapter 58 The terrifying profit of over 20,000, and Jiang Yuwan's worries

Seeing Su Ze return, Jiang Yuwan's tense nerves visibly relaxed a bit, though her cold face showed little change.

"Senior Su Ze!" Liu Qiaofei's eyes lit up like a kitten seeing its owner, and she quickly stepped forward, her eyes filled with admiration.

Yao Qingya still instinctively stepped forward to check if he was injured, only silently retreating half a step after confirming he was unharmed.

Su Meier sashayed over and pressed close, her soft body almost hanging off Su Ze's arm, her voice both seductive and soft: "Landlord~ You're finally back, I was worried to death."

The thirty-plus girls not far away also looked over, their eyes a mix of awe and dependence; Su Ze's appearance was like a shot of adrenaline for them.

Su Ze gave them a nod as a greeting, then pushed the door open and entered Dormitory 404.

The women immediately followed in a tacit understanding.

Su Meier followed them in, closing the door behind her, and explained with a smile.

"Most of what we sold today were basic food and materials. Those things were already in our backpacks, so we could trade them directly."

"On the contrary, we collected quite a few strange materials and some blueprints, so the Dormitory space hasn't decreased much."

"Even those low-quality weapons' durability basically hit zero after a day's use. Once it hits zero, they crumble into dust, so we cleared them out. Otherwise, there wouldn't even be a place to stand right now."

Su Ze sat on the edge of the bed and signaled for them to continue.

Jiang Yuwan cleared her throat, opened the small notebook in her hand, and began to report today's results.

"Regarding weapon rentals, a total of 180 low-quality weapons and 51 ordinary weapons were rented out. Twenty-seven low-quality weapons and twelve ordinary weapons were not returned on time. The collateral has been confiscated; the lessees are likely dead."

"Regarding material sales, drinking water and compressed biscuits were the most consumed. A total of..."

She rattled off a long string of numbers, organized clearly.

"Since it's the first day, most people don't have many copper coins, and many still have supplies from the newbie gift packs, so their purchasing power is limited. However, we received many types of collateral and trade items."

"Besides a large amount of copper coins, there are even more of various materials we haven't seen before."

"Few people are willing to give up Wood material, Iron Material, and Stone Material used for repairing the gate. Instead, rare materials whose uses they don't understand themselves are traded the most."

"In addition, we received a batch of blueprints and skill books, but the quality isn't high. They are mostly ordinary-quality furniture blueprints and some auxiliary skills."

Su Ze listened quietly, not caring about those ordinary blueprints and skill books.

This was normal. People would prioritize keeping slightly better things for themselves and wouldn't easily trade them.

He didn't plan on making that furniture now anyway. Dormitory space was limited, and he needed to save room for the supplies he would scavenge tonight.

"What's the total profit?" Su Ze asked.

Jiang Yuwan took a deep breath and announced a number that made everyone's heart race.

"Deducting the startup capital you gave us earlier, today's net profit is a total of 22,763 copper coins."

Hiss—

Even though they were already mentally prepared, Yao Qingya and Liu Qiaofei couldn't help but gasp.

One day!

In just one day, they earned over 20,000 copper coins!

This was equivalent to killing over 10,000 zombies!

It was simply an astronomical figure!

Jiang Yuwan transferred all the copper coins to Su Ze through the system.

[Ding! Received a trade from Player 'Jiang Yuwan', copper coins +22,763!]

Su Ze looked at the new number on his personal panel—[copper coins: 24,863]—and nodded in satisfaction.

Without speaking, he used his landlord authority to pull up the attribute panels of the four of them with a thought.

The copper coin balances of the four were, without exception, all zero.

After confirming this, Su Ze withdrew his gaze.

"There's also some good news."

Jiang Yuwan looked at Su Ze, a rare smile appearing on her face.

"The [thorn vine door blueprint] you saw in the Survival Mall before, the special material [Mutated Thorn Vine] needed for construction, someone brought it to trade for food today."

"Now, as long as you buy the blueprint, you can upgrade the Level 3 Gate at any time."

Su Ze's eyes lit up as well.

Finally, something truly good had come.

Although it was only Level 3, if he bought it and continued upgrading it, an Excellent quality gate should be quite a bit stronger than a gate of the same level, right?

"Not bad." He nodded. "Wait until the gate's durability has dropped a bit more tonight before upgrading."

After reporting the good news, the smile on Jiang Yuwan's face suddenly faded, and her expression became somewhat solemn.

"However..."

"While trading today, I also paid attention to some situations."

"Most survivors now, except for those who have been shrinking back in their Dormitories, those who rent weapons only dare to attack lone zombies in other buildings outside the Dormitory building. The zombies in the Dormitory building are too dense and easily awakened, and while wide places like the playground have zombies spaced far apart, the numbers are terrifying, so no one dares to act recklessly."

"Basically, everyone is very cautious, fearing they'll wake the zombie horde and trigger a zombie wave, and also fearing injury and infection. So the killing efficiency is very low, and the speed of obtaining copper coins is also very slow."

"But..." She changed the subject, looking at Su Ze with concern.

"I have a premonition that soon... besides us, others will open the Survival Mall."

"After all, with you trading supplies for copper coins on such a large scale today, many people will surely risk their lives to kill zombies and accumulate copper coins after securing their basic survival."

"Once they reach 100 copper coins and open the Survival Mall, our three-fold selling price will be exposed. At that time, we'll likely become the target of public criticism immediately."

Jiang Yuwan's analysis made the faces of Yao Qingya and the other two girls turn grim.

They knew very well how much trouble this would cause once exposed.

Cutting off someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents.

Not to mention, Su Ze wasn't just cutting off their path to wealth; he was practically holding a knife to everyone's throat, blatantly robbing them.

When the time came, no one could predict what the angry survivors would do.

After listening, Su Ze had no expression on his face and just waved his hand.

"This was bound to happen sooner or later, what's there to panic about."

He leaned against the headboard in a lazy posture.

"This day was destined to come."

"My goal was never to prevent them from opening the Survival Mall, because that's impossible to stop."

Su Ze's gaze swept across the solemn faces of the three women, and he said slowly.

"My goal is to delay the speed at which they open the Survival Mall as much as possible, while maximizing our own advantage during this time."

"As long as our strength can far surpass theirs, even if they know the truth, what can they do?"

His tone was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable confidence.

Looking at the still-worried group, Su Ze suddenly smiled.

"Moreover, there are ways to make them open the Survival Mall a bit slower."

"Regarding this, I have two ideas..."