48: Chapter 48 The Traitor Revealed

"Brother, have some tea."

Qin Weiwei held a cup of hot tea and knelt obediently at Lin Chen's feet. She had specially changed into a simple white dress today, looking pure and harmless.

Lin Chen was checking the register of new captives and casually took the teacup.

Just as the teacup was about to touch his lips—

*Smash!*

The teacup suddenly exploded, splashing scalding tea all over Qin Weiwei.

[Detected "Soul-Severing Powder" toxin; automatically purified]

[Triggered "Attempted Poisoning Tax": Fined 5,000,000 nether talismans]

The skeleton mark on Qin Weiwei's wrist instantly turned blood-red, and her balance showed [-5,000,000].

Her face turned pale, and she froze in place.

"Tsk." Lin Chen frowned as he looked at the wet register. "What a waste of paper."

Zhang Hao reacted, grabbing Qin Weiwei by the throat: "You bitch! You dared to poison him?!"

Qin Weiwei was being choked until her eyes rolled back, yet she suddenly smiled:

"Hehe... it's already too late..."

She suddenly tore open her white dress, revealing a strange rune on her chest. The rune was glowing, getting brighter and brighter.

"Blood Curse Self-Destruction!" the Thousand-Faced Sect Leader exclaimed from a distance. "She's going to take everyone down with her!"

A piercing alarm rang throughout the entire Fortress:

[High-risk self-destruction sequence detected]

[Power Assessment: Capable of destroying all life within a five-kilometer radius]

[Time Remaining: 10 seconds]

Everyone was scared witless.

Zhang Hao let go and retreated repeatedly: "Ma-Master! What do we do?"

Su Qingyu instinctively shielded Lin Chen: "Go, quickly!"

Even the Gold-Armored Knight turned pale: "It's over... this is an Ancient Forbidden Technique..."

Only Lin Chen remained calm and unhurried.

He clicked on the system and found [Insurance Services] under [Special Services].

[Would you like to purchase "Suicide Attack Loss Insurance"?]

[Premium: 10,000,000 nether talismans]

[Coverage: Includes but is not limited to self-destruction, curses, forbidden techniques, etc.]

"Buy it."

Almost at the same moment he confirmed, the rune on Qin Weiwei's chest suddenly went out.

She looked down blankly and found that the rune had turned into a QR code.

[Self-destruction sequence has been insured]

[To continue the self-destruction, please pay 100,000,000 nether talismans for a renewal]

[Current balance insufficient; service suspended]

Qin Weiwei: "???"

Unwilling to give up, she bit her finger, trying to cast a second forbidden technique.

[New self-harm behavior detected]

[Triggered "Dangerous Action Tax": Fined 10,000,000 nether talismans]

[Insufficient balance; spell disabled]

She tried again.

["Death Struggle Tax": 5,000,000 nether talismans]

[Insufficient balance]

Tried again.

["Refusal to Accept Defeat Tax": 2,000,000 nether talismans]

[Insufficient balance]

Qin Weiwei tried every forbidden technique she knew, only to find that even the most basic [Ignition Technique] required a 100,000 nether talisman "Dangerous Goods Management Fee."

And she was already sixty million in debt.

"Why..." She slumped to the ground, her eyes hollow. "You won't even let me die..."

Lin Chen squatted down and patted her face with the register:

"Remember, here, your life belongs to me."

"Without my permission, you don't even have the right to die."

He summoned two underworld soldiers:

"Take her to the 'Repentance Room'."

"Let her reflect on what it means to cherish life."

As Qin Weiwei was dragged away, she was as lifeless as a rag doll.

Zhang Hao breathed a long sigh of relief: "That scared me to death... Master, did you know she was a traitor all along?"

Lin Chen didn't answer but looked at the trembling Thousand-Faced Sect Leader in the distance:

"What do you think?"

The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader's eight eyes widened simultaneously: "You—you even calculated against me?!"

"Why wouldn't I?" Lin Chen chuckled. "Did you really think that stupid woman could hide anything from me?"

As it turned out, everything was within Lin Chen's plan.

He had already discovered through the system that Qin Weiwei and the Thousand-Faced Sect Leader had reached a secret agreement: one would poison him, and the other would lead the army in a feint attack, then they would split the Fortress once successful.

So he deliberately created an opportunity for them, waiting for this very moment—

To catch all the traitors in one fell swoop.

"Impossible!" The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader shook his head frantically. "Our communication was absolutely confidential!"

Lin Chen took out his phone and played a recording:

[Sect Leader, I have already gained Lin Chen's trust]

[I will poison him tomorrow; use the opportunity to attack]

[Once successful, I want half ownership of the Fortress]

It was exactly the content of the secret talk between Qin Weiwei and the Thousand-Faced Sect Leader.

"I forgot to tell you." Lin Chen put away his phone. "The Message-carrying Paper Birds you used—I own that shop."

"Buy ten, get one free, plus free shipping."

The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader completely broke down.

He remembered the enthusiastically selling paper bird shop owner, the VIP card given for spending enough, and...

"Aaaaaah!!!" He slammed his eight arms frantically against the ground. "Even the paper birds were fake goods!!!"

Lin Chen waved to the underworld soldiers: "Take him down and let him keep his disciple company."

"Wait!" The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader suddenly looked up. "I still have a secret! About the Netherworld!"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "Speak."

"In the Netherworld, there is a..." The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader was halfway through when blood suddenly gushed from his seven orifices.

[Leaking secrets detected; triggered "Heaven's Secrets Must Not Be Revealed" punishment]

[Punishment: Permanent silence]

The Thousand-Faced Sect Leader clutched his throat, unable to make another sound.

Lin Chen looked thoughtful: "It seems the Netherworld is even more interesting than I thought."

He turned to look at the other captives:

"Does anyone else want to try being a traitor?"

"Surrender now, and I'll give you a twenty percent discount."

The captives retreated en masse in fear:

"We wouldn't dare!"

"We are absolutely loyal!"

"In life, we are people of the Fortress; in death, we are ghosts of the Fortress!"

Just then, the system notification sounded:

[Ding! Hidden quest "Purge the Traitors" completed]

[Reward: Netherworld Pass x1]

[New map "Blood-Colored Nether River" unlocked]

A black card appeared in Lin Chen's hand, engraved with a blood-colored pattern of the Nether River.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly:

"It seems it's time for a trip to the Netherworld."

In the distance, Qin Weiwei, who was being dragged to the Repentance Room, saw the pass and suddenly struggled frantically:

"You can't go! There's a..."

Before she could finish, a bolt of heavenly thunder crashed down, turning her into charcoal.

[Second leak of secrets; execution carried out]

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

Another one trying to stop him from going to the Netherworld.

It seemed a significant secret was hidden there.

He put away the pass and ordered the underworld soldiers:

"Send them all to the construction site."

"Tell them to work hard; maybe they can get their sentences reduced."

He paused, then added:

"Especially that Qin Weiwei, resurrect her and keep her working."

"She owes me sixty million; it won't be that easy for her to die."

Zhang Hao looked at Qin Weiwei, who was still twitching after being turned into charcoal, and suddenly felt:

Opposing Lin Chen was truly the stupidest thing in the world.

Having to work even after death—who could stand that?

He whispered to Su Qingyu: "Sister Su, isn't Master a bit... too ruthless?"

Su Qingyu looked at Lin Chen's back and said softly:

"In this apocalypse, being kind to your enemies is being cruel to yourself."

"At least... he never hurts his own people."

Zhang Hao thought about it and felt it made sense.

At least they were still alive.

And they could still eat a chicken leg once a week.

This was probably the most luxurious happiness in the apocalypse.