109: Chapter 109 Rewarding Meritorious Service and Strange Noises from the Grave

Lin Chen stood on the core area of the Fortress—currently the only platform that remained somewhat intact—atop a massive, broken base of a soul suppressing pagoda. Below him was a dense crowd of survivors, numbering less than a tenth of their peak strength; every single one was injured and dressed in rags, their faces a mix of relief at having survived and fear for the future.

But at this moment, everyone's gaze was focused on Lin Chen, a nearly fanatical hope rekindling in their eyes. Because the battle was over, the Lord of the Ultimate End had been "formatted," and Boss Lin was still standing! As long as he remained standing, it meant there was hope—it meant that the rule of "becoming stronger by spending money" was still in effect!

"Quiet." Lin Chen spoke; his voice wasn't loud, yet it possessed a strange piercing quality that instantly suppressed all the whispers and sobbing.

A deathly silence hung over the ruins, with only the wind wailing through the rubble.

"The battle is over; we won," Lin Chen said, his tone as flat as if he were remarking on the nice weather. "Although the losses were heavy, those who survived have all been tested."

His gaze swept across the crowd below; everyone his eyes touched involuntarily straightened their backs, unconcerned even if their wounds split open and bled because of it.

"My rules, Lin Chen's rules, are that merit must be rewarded and faults must be punished." He raised his hand, and at some point, a glowing tablet had appeared in it—the interface of the [nether domain asset system]. "Now, for the rewards."

His fingers swiped rapidly across the tablet.

"Participating Yin Soldiers: basic pension and rewards, 100,000 nether talismans per person! Centurion rank, 500,000! Chiliarch rank, two million!"

As his words fell, streaks of eerie light shot out from the tablet in his hand, accurately landing among the ranks of Yin Soldiers below. Those Yin Soldiers, whose soul bodies had been dimmed by the bitter struggle, saw their forms become solid and grow at a rate visible to the naked eye the moment they received the nether talismans, even faintly exuding an aura sharper than before the war! Their damaged armor and weapons were repaired in the eerie light, becoming as good as new!

The survivors watched in stunned silence, their breathing quickening. This was Boss Lin's method! The combat power of dead people... no, dead ghosts, could be instantly maxed out with money!

"All survivors who participated in defense and logistics: rewards ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 nether talismans, based on contribution!"

Another wave of eerie light showered the crowd. The survivors who received the nether talismans immediately heard system notification tones in their minds; looking at the skyrocketing numbers in their accounts, they trembled with excitement. In this apocalypse, nether talismans were life! They were food, weapons, and safe houses! All the previous fear and effort felt worth it at this moment!

Next, Lin Chen turned his gaze toward Su Qingyu, who stood at the very front of the crowd, her arm still seeping blood and her face pale.

"Su Qingyu."

"Present." Su Qingyu took a step forward, her voice a bit raspy, but her eyes were firm.

"Remaining calm in the face of danger, managing the overall situation, and stopping the internal traitor at the critical moment—your contribution is immense." Lin Chen looked at her, his tone still showing no ripples, but the content made everyone prick up their ears. "Your reward is 100 million nether talismans."

"One... one hundred million?!"

The crowd below instantly erupted into an uproar! Even those survivors who had just received their rewards and were secretly rejoicing were stunned! One hundred million nether talismans! What kind of concept was that? It was enough to instantly turn an ordinary person into a powerful tycoon! Su Qingyu also trembled all over, looking up at Lin Chen in disbelief.

A thick pillar of eerie light, almost solid, descended from the sky and surged into Su Qingyu's body. The bone-deep wound on her arm healed at a visible speed, leaving not even a scar. Her depleted physical strength was instantly replenished, and she even felt her soul undergo a cleansing and strengthening. The balance of nether talismans in her account became an astronomical figure that made her head spin.

"Thank... thank you, Boss." Su Qingyu took a deep breath, forcing down the shock in her heart as she bowed. She knew this wasn't just money; it was a symbol of absolute trust and status. She had truly transformed from the "White Moonlight" who tried to depend on him into the indispensable "Chief Manager" under Lin Chen's command.

"You earned it," Lin Chen said flatly, his gaze then shifting toward the "luxury cemetery" not far away, which had just been erected and still bore traces of fresh soil.

There was a particularly conspicuous new grave there, with a tombstone engraved: Grave of Zhang Hao, Loyal Dog under Lin Chen.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat subtle and somber. Everyone remembered Zhang Hao's miserable yet slightly "gratified" death.

Lin Chen paced over to Zhang Hao's tombstone; looking at the words, a nearly imperceptible curve seemed to appear at the corner of his mouth.

"As for Zhang Hao..." he began slowly, as if speaking to the air or the tombstone, "though his brain wasn't very sharp, he often overdid things, was afraid of death, and always tried to be clever..."

He listed Zhang Hao's flaws one by one, leaving the survivors below looking at each other in confusion, wondering if Boss Lin was about to desecrate the corpse.

"...But," Lin Chen's tone shifted, taking on a rare, almost playful quality, "at the final moment, he self-detonated his sub-core and heavily wounded the Lord of the Ultimate End, which counts as a great merit. Moreover, before he died, didn't he ask..."

Lin Chen mimicked Zhang Hao's weak, dying voice perfectly: "'Master... do I... count... as a loyal dog... now?'"

This imitation made some people below unable to stop themselves from wanting to laugh, but feeling the occasion was inappropriate, they held it in desperately, their expressions twisting.

Lin Chen looked at the tombstone as if he could see the mangled corpse beneath the soil. He gave the same answer as before, but this time, his voice rang out clearly across the silence of the ruins:

"I am officially answering you now: yes."

Just as he finished speaking—

"Thump!"

A dull, clear knocking sound suddenly came from behind Zhang Hao's tombstone—from beneath that thick mound of earth!

Buzz—

Everyone heard it! The few people standing close by jumped back several steps in fright, their faces pale.

"W-what was that sound?"

"It... it came from the grave!"

"Is it Brother Zhang? He... he's not completely dead?" someone asked, uncertain.

Su Qingyu also walked quickly to Lin Chen's side, looking at the grave warily: "Boss, this..."

Lin Chen, however, seemed to have expected it. There wasn't a hint of surprise on his face; instead, he wore a "just as I thought" expression. He raised a hand to stop Su Qingyu's words and said to the grave with great interest, "What? Not satisfied with a 'passing' grade? You want to haggle for an 'excellent'?"

"Thump! Thump-thump!"

The knocking from within the grave became more urgent and forceful! It even carried a hint of... grievance and desperation?

At this, even the Yin Soldiers couldn't help but tighten their grip on their weapons, staring at the grave with flickering soul fires. This scene was too eerie; a comrade who had just been buried was knocking from his grave, right after Boss Lin had "affirmed" him!

"Alright, stop knocking." Lin Chen seemed to have heard enough and waved his hand somewhat impatiently. "I know you're feeling stifled."

He raised the system tablet again, his fingers operating it rapidly while he muttered, "'Yin Soldier Resurrection Insurance (Premium Custom Version),' activation condition: verbal or written certification of 'loyalty' from the manager after death. Certification achieved, executing resurrection procedure..."

As he operated it, Zhang Hao's grave began to vibrate slightly, and the words "Loyal Dog" on the tombstone suddenly lit up with eerie light.

Crack... crack...

The fresh soil on the grave began to loosen and fall away. Under everyone's terrified yet curious gaze, a pale hand with a faint grey-blue tint and long, sharp nails suddenly burst out from the ground!

Immediately after, another hand appeared!

The two hands grabbed the edges of the grave and pushed hard!

A figure sat up from the grave somewhat awkwardly and then stood up unsteadily.

It was indeed Zhang Hao!

The wounds on his body had completely disappeared, but his skin had an unhealthy grey-blue hue, and the whites of his eyes were tinged with a faint deathly aura. His entire presence had become cold and eerie, starkly different from his previous living state. He looked at his hands in a daze, touched his face, and finally, his gaze landed on Lin Chen and Su Qingyu in front of him.

"Mas... Master? Manager Su?" His voice had also changed, carrying a hint of a hollow echo. "I... I'm not dead?"

Lin Chen put away the tablet and gave a scoff. "You're dead, but not completely. I bought you resurrection insurance; now you're in a half-human, half-ghost state. Consider yourself... part of my official 'Yin Soldier' establishment."

Zhang Hao froze for a few seconds as he processed this information. Then, a look of extreme flattery—even appearing somewhat distorted due to over-excitement—instantly blossomed on his deathly face. He flopped to the ground, ignoring the mud all over him, and kowtowed repeatedly:

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master, for the gift of rebirth! From now on, I, Zhang Hao, am your most loyal ghost! If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west! If you tell me to catch ghosts, I'll never chase a chicken!"

This familiar sycophantic behavior, paired with his current half-human, half-ghost appearance, created an extremely absurd and comical scene.

The surrounding survivors went from initial terror to their current speechlessness, their moods like a roller coaster. Sure enough, as long as it involved Boss Lin, anything could happen! Even dying, one could be resurrected as a ghost to continue being a sycophant!

(Hook: Zhang Hao obtained new abilities: wall-phasing and mind-reading.)

Just as Zhang Hao was kowtowing to show his loyalty, he subconsciously tried to crawl forward a few steps to hug Lin Chen's leg. As his body leaned forward, he actually... passed right through a piece of rubble in front of Lin Chen!

"Eh?" Zhang Hao himself was stunned. He looked down at his body and tentatively walked toward a nearby broken wall—without any resistance, he passed right through it!

At the same time, some cluttered inner voices suddenly rang in his ears:

(A certain survivor: "Holy crap, he really resurrected? And turned into a ghost? Will I run into him when I go to the bathroom at night?")

(Su Qingyu: (Frowning slightly) "A half-ghost body... I wonder if it will affect management efficiency...")

Zhang Hao looked up sharply, looking at Lin Chen in both terror and delight. "Mas... Master! I... I seem to be able to phase through walls! And... I can hear what others are thinking?!"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow, seemingly unsurprised by this result, merely commenting flatly, "Oh? It seems the resurrection package came with a few little gifts. Not bad; it'll be more convenient for gathering intelligence and monitoring the enemy in the future."

Hearing this, the wild joy on Zhang Hao's face almost overflowed; he felt that this "death" had been entirely worth it! He immediately puffed out his chest—though as a ghost body, there wasn't much of a chest to speak of—and said loudly, "Rest assured, Master! I will certainly make the most of it and fully demonstrate my value!"

Looking at Zhang Hao, who had returned from the dead, gained new abilities, and was even more sycophantic than before, Lin Chen nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, the rewarding of merit is over." He turned back toward all the survivors and Yin Soldiers, his voice becoming cold and stern once again. "Cleanup of the ruins and reconstruction of the Fortress—begin immediately!"

"Yes! Boss!/Master!" The thunderous response echoed through the ruins, filled with the drive of survivors and anticipation for the future.

With Boss Lin here and money (nether talismans) available, even if the sky fell, it could be propped back up with money!