45: The terrifying employees in the mall

"What do you mean I'm perverted?"

"Not the Zombie Gede kind; those are super expensive, I wouldn't bear to part with them."

Li Zhou's forehead creased with black lines as he said irritably.

"Not like the Zombie Gede? Then what kind is it?"

Fang Xiaolu's face showed curiosity.

If it wasn't like the Zombie Gede Butcher, then it would be fine.

But are robots nowadays that advanced?

Guiding players to rest isn't something an ordinary robot can do.

"You'll know in a while."

"For now, I'll have to trouble you. Once we're done, I, your boss, will treat you to a big meal!"

Patting Fang Xiaolu's shoulder and painting a rosy picture, Li Zhou smiled and turned to walk towards the monitoring room.

Watching his retreating figure, Fang Xiaolu's curiosity grew.

"Oh, boss, just tell me! Why be so mysterious?"

"Nope, trade secret."

"But I'm your loyal employee, boss! I swear I won't leak anything!"

"It's nothing, just some ordinary robots, similar to what you see in cartoons. Alright, there are players coming again, go greet them quickly."

"Oh..."

After successfully coaxing Fang Xiaolu away, Li Zhou entered the monitoring room and closed the door behind him.

"System, if the Haunted House upgrades to Level Three, can I really purchase employees?"

Without even sitting down, Li Zhou eagerly asked.

Earlier, when he was considering whether to hire a few more regular employees, he suddenly heard a system prompt.

As long as the Haunted House's level was raised to Level Three, the system store would unlock some new items.

Among them were some ordinary-level horror employees.

They were called ordinary horror employees because their horror levels were mostly around 0.1 or 0.2.

They were several levels below Zombie Gede.

They would certainly be scary, but not *that* terrifying; most ordinary people could handle them.

"Ding, yes!"

"Moreover, the higher the Haunted House's level, the higher the level of employees in the store."

The system's cold voice rang out, still devoid of emotion.

"Well, that's great!"

Hearing the system's confirmation, Li Zhou excitedly slapped his thigh.

Before, he actually had a lingering concern.

The Haunted House clearly allowed him to recruit one horror employee for every level it advanced.

However, the fright value required for the Haunted House to upgrade was simply too high.

It was only Level Two now, and the fright value needed for an upgrade had already reached a terrifying ten million.

It was conceivable that if he wanted to continue upgrading later, the fright value would definitely be an astronomical number.

The Haunted House was so large; three or four horror employees would definitely not be enough.

Even ten, Li Zhou felt, would be too few.

Now, upon hearing that he could also purchase horror employees from the system store, he immediately felt relieved.

"By the way, System, is there any difference between horror employees purchased from the store and those recruited?"

"Ding, the horror level of employees in the system store is generally one-tenth to three-tenths of the horror level of currently recruitable employees."

"For example, when the Haunted House level is raised to Level Three, the host can summon an employee with a horror level of around 1.5, while horror employees in the system store will have levels between 0.15 and 0.45."

"Additionally, employees purchased from the system store also require the host to pay wages, with the wage amount also being one-tenth to three-tenths of the wages of recruitable employees."

Hearing the system's explanation, Li Zhou stroked his chin.

The horror level is only one-tenth to three-tenths of the recruited employees?

That's a bit low.

But it's fine.

If quality isn't enough, make up for it with quantity.

He would fill every corner of the Haunted House with these horror employees, while the recruited employees, like Goethe, would each be responsible for a specific enclosed scene.

A blueprint gradually formed in his mind, and as he thought about the future development of the Haunted House, Li Zhou couldn't help but curve his lips.

He was already eager to see countless players being scared.

"Oh, they've already reached the third floor?"

"Good speed."

Just then, a prompt appeared in his mind.

Li Zhou then realized that without him noticing, Song Yang and the others had already successfully reached the third floor... Inside the Devils Castle, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

Song Yang still stood at the very front.

He held an antique crucifix in his hand, looking warily at a redwood-like door in front of him.

Behind him, Dai Xiaomei, Yuan Hao, and the others also looked extremely vigilant, even their breathing had become very light.

This was the third floor, and not far ahead of them was the staircase leading to the second floor.

The scenery on the third floor was largely similar to the fourth floor.

After coming down the stairs, it was still a corridor.

However, there were several rooms along these corridors.

At this moment, everyone stood outside the first room.

Yuan Hao told everyone that he had encountered a swarm of rats after opening the first room before.

Originally, everyone planned to stay away from that room and quietly walk past it.

But because of a remark from Yuan Hao, they had no choice but to brace themselves and come to the first room.

"Are you sure you saw a parchment inside earlier?"

"This crucifix can only be used three times."

Song Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead. There was almost no sound in the castle, and it was filled with an eerie, deathly silence.

In such a perilous and silent environment, even he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Turning his head, Song Yang looked at Yuan Hao behind him and asked in a very low voice.

"I'm sure!"

"That parchment is in the center of the room; we must get it!"

Yuan Hao nodded, his tone firm.

"Alright!"

"I trust you!"

Hearing Yuan Hao's words, Song Yang seemed to have made a certain decision.

He suddenly handed the crucifix in his hand to Yuan Hao.

"What are you doing?"

Taking the crucifix, Yuan Hao was stunned, somewhat not understanding Song Yang's intention.

"You take them and hide by the stairs on the fourth floor first!"

"Later, I'll open the door and lead these rats towards the second floor."

"Then you seize the opportunity to go in and get the parchment, then meet up with them at the stairs, and finally just wait for me to revive!"

Song Yang spoke, his tone very serious.

"The crucifix can only be used three times; we can't waste it!"

"We still don't know what dangers lie ahead. I'm exchanging one life for one parchment; it's not a loss!"

"Moreover, after I lead these rats to the second floor, I can also check the situation on the second floor in advance."

"How about it, no loss at all!"

At these words, everyone was stunned.

Ye Kexin covered her mouth, her gaze at Song Yang filled with admiration and shock.

Song Yang... he was planning to use his own life to increase the chances of everyone clearing the level!