Chapter 246 Safe House
[It has been detected that all conditions for opening the guild system have been met. 】
[The guild system will be updated in ten days. ]
[All dungeons are temporarily closed for ten days. (Players who are still in the dungeon don't have to worry. The dungeons in progress will be adjusted to ensure that all dungeons complete the final task within ten days.)]
【Please stay tuned for more details. 】
…
The top floor of the Shell's premium lounge area.
The huge conference room was sparsely populated and looked quite empty.
Yan Chengfan sat at the top, holding a nail clipper in his hand. His head of white hair seemed to be always unkempt and fuzzy, which was totally inconsistent with the panoramic view inside the shell displayed by the land window behind him.
After finishing his nails slowly, he raised his head and looked around.
On the left, sitting closest is the ghost lion Wang Ying. The blonde girl is playing with her hair out of boredom. Behind her is Gan Mi. The smiling tiger of the past has not smiled for a long time. Next to Gan Mi is the equally silent astrologer.
Overall, the people are quite complete.
But there are too many spaces on the right side.
There were three empty seats in a row, and only Cen Jinyue was left playing games with her head down.
Collector, Pope, doctor.
The positions for these three people are all vacant.
"Where's Xu Yan? Didn't he fail to enter the book?"
Yan Chengfan was a little curious.
As mimics who had experienced the previous round of the game, after seeing the total points reach the critical value, they slowed down the pace of entering the copy.
Hearing this, Cen Jinyue pulled her head out from the game console screen with a look of regret.
"He started a guessing game in Xu Zhiyan's live studio a few days ago and lost three million points. He seemed to be a little overwhelmed. Tsk, do people with the surname Xu particularly like money?"
"Even if your surname is not Xu, you will like money."
Gan Mi's mouth corners slightly raised and he took over the conversation.
Thinking of the collector and Xu Zhiyan, he imagined that if Xu Zhiyan lost three million, he would probably be so angry that he would become autistic.
Even the astrologer, who seldom spoke, took the initiative to speak.
"Stay away from guessing, it hurts others and yourself."
The conversation involved the Pope and the doctor.
They all watched the live broadcast of the Split Hospital instance.
Mimics have little to no emotions.
Even though two partners died at once, the guys in the conference room didn't show any sadness, except for the one who lost three million points.
The deaths of the Pope and the Iron Knight were accidents, but the doctor was different. Someone was targeting him and made a detailed and careful plan.
Yan Chengfan frowned and tapped his fingers quickly on the table.
"Have you found out who is funding Mad Dog?"
The system has been targeting all players indiscriminately, and they have become accustomed to it.
And in a corner unknown to them, a third party force has emerged, and someone is targeting the Mimics.
This kind of targeting seemed to have appeared before, but Yan Chengfan had never taken it seriously. He thought they were just humans and didn't need to pay too much attention to them.
However, while watching the live broadcast, he found that this third-party force did not seem as ordinary as he had imagined.
"Who helped him implant the special evil object into the Blood Moon?"
It is impossible for ordinary humans to leave the last round of the game alive. The only ones who can know the rules of the last round of the game should be the mimics, but the mimics can sense each other's identities.
Yan Chengfan could be sure that there were no traitors among the mimics.
Cen Jinyue, who was assigned to investigate the third-party forces, finally put down the game console in her hand after hearing the question. She scratched her hair and shook her head before speaking.
"We had not thought that a third party would have such a plan. Now we have added more information and sent people to investigate."
Originally, Mad Dog was missing and his ranking even dropped to outside the top 200. He just thought that the other party was sponsored by someone and went into hiding. After all, the bounty was still there.
But now it seems that even the disappearance of the mad dog from sight is part of the other party's mission.
Yan Chengfan nodded, indicating that he understood.
“We are paying the price for our arrogance.”
"Their target is clear: doctors."
The mad dog changed his appearance in order to find an opportunity to lurk beside the doctor and kill him.
As the player with the strongest healing attribute known so far, the Doctor was quite famous. To Yan Chengfan, the Doctor's death was even more painful than the Pope's... and his death was so stupid.
The body that could repair itself infinitely rolled under the monster's feet and was crushed again and again until the bones and flesh were completely separated.
They are obviously the two people least likely to die.
Yet they all died.
Cen Jinyue became much more serious.
"From the information we have so far, this third-party force other than the system should have other subordinates. I will continue to follow up. If you have any information, please tell me."
After saying this, his eyes moved back and forth between Yan Chengfan and Gan Mi's faces, and he spoke hesitantly.
"Once the Pope dies, all the humans he dragged into the game and bred as new mimics will probably not live long. But if they die one after another, it shouldn't be a big problem."
"Does Xu Zhiyan want to deal with it?"
If it weren't for this bold player, then at least they could have saved the doctor instead of watching that guy die so stupidly.
The next second, two voices rang out.
"He hit it by mistake this time."
"He doesn't look like a member of a third party."
Yan Chengfan and Gan Mi spoke subconsciously at the same time.
Although the two had different tones, they both spoke very quickly.
The conference room fell silent.
Now, even Wang Ying, who was picking her hair out of boredom, raised her head and looked at me with an idiot look.
Yan Chengfan was the first to react. He frowned and patted his head.
"Being affected by the memory of nothingness is the price of gaining power."
Compared to Yan Chengfan who gave a simple explanation, Gan Mi did not say anything else.
Cen Jinyue felt that the atmosphere was a little off.
...So we need to deal with it?
This question lingered in his mind for a while, but he ultimately did not ask it.
Forget it, he's just a greedy businessman.
Cen Jinyue didn’t think Xu Zhiyan would have anything to do with the third-party force they mentioned. Previously in the Split Hospital, if the rules in the maze had not been too targeted at players, the doctor would never have died.
Just when he thought there would be no follow-up on the issue of Xu Zhiyan, Yan Chengfan spoke again.
"Gan Mi, go and kill him."
He glanced at Gan Mi with his narrow eyes, and his tone was as casual and light as ever, as if he was saying, "The weather is very good today."
Gan Mi also gave an answer quickly.
"good."
Having said the wrong thing, he did not make any further excuses and took on the task steadily.
Yan Chengfan laughed.
"Okay, let's move on to the next topic. The guild system will be opened in ten days. According to the information left over from the last round, there should be some special construction."
After hearing this, Wang Ying's eyes brightened up.
"Oh! Is it the thing that can strengthen the personal panel? I remember that it seems to require a lot of materials to open it. Does anyone have a list? Should we prepare in advance?"
Ghost Lions are very interested in everything that can enhance themselves. As survivors, they know much more information than other players.
Gan Mi expressed his disagreement with this.
"The guild system hasn't officially opened yet, so no one knows whether the new round of consumables will be the same."
In the last round of the game, these materials and props used for guild construction were sold at sky-high prices. In this inescapable game, every opportunity to become stronger is extremely precious.
After a little thought, Yan Chengfan decided to stock up.
“These things aren’t worth much now.”
Although the players at the top of the list are all very rich, they cannot withstand the huge consumption after the guild system is activated.
Gan Mi saw that Cen Jinyue also nodded, and he didn't say anything else.
In this round of infinite games, the system has modified many things, and many of them are reductions with self-destructive tendencies.
No one knows what form the guild will take after the new round of updates.
But I don’t know what state of mind I’m in.
He neither told others that he had seen Mad Dog in the shell before, nor did he analyze the system in depth. He was even a little glad that Xu Yan was not there, as businessmen are always more perceptive when it comes to investment.
The meeting is over.
When Gan Mi was leaving, she met a player who had just left the dungeon at the entrance of the premium rest area.
The other person's clown mask was hanging on his wrist, which was somewhat conspicuous.
When he met this man in the dungeon before, he was very curious why a taciturn lone wolf would use the clown as his title.
The two people's eyes met in the air for a moment, and then looked away.
Gan Mi walked towards the commercial street.
The Joker headed for the path behind the senior lounge area.
…
Shell provides players with a variety of consumption venues with a full range of categories.
When the man with the clown mask put away the mask, he walked along the path into the alley and opened a door leading to the underground at the end of the alley.
In an instant, the loud music drowned him out.
This is a bar that looks a bit cheap and vulgar. Hot NPCs are twisting their bodies on the high platform in the middle of the bar. No one knows whether these noisy customers are players or NPC atmosphere groups.
Without stopping, he walked to the end of the bar, then went down again and turned into a relatively quiet first floor.
He walked to the booth with familiarity and sat down. Someone was already waiting for him there.
“You’re here.”
The hoarse female voice sounded a little scary. It was the hooded woman who had gone to the rest area to pick up Xinan.
"Um."
The clown nodded, and there was a hint of emotion in his calm eyes.
"Has he lost control? Why would he kill the Pope?"
No names were mentioned, but both he and the woman knew who this 'he' referred to.
According to the plan, Mad Dog will kill the doctor Song Longchuan in this copy. Killing the guy in charge of treatment among the mimics is an important part of their plan.
The doctor's attack power is very weak. Although he has a lot of defensive items, as long as the siblings Lu Jian and Lu Fan are separated from the doctor, with the strength of the mad dog, they should be killed quickly.
And now, in order to kill the Pope, Mad Dog has revealed some information.
"The summoner did not pursue the matter."
The woman responded with this.
Then she pushed out a piece of paper with a list of materials written on it.
"The guild system is about to open."
“Be careful with acquisitions and don’t get noticed.”
The Joker took the list and stuffed the items into his pocket without saying anything else.
…
at the same time.
Xu Zhiyan collected the hospital supplies, pretended to log out of the game, and quickly returned to the safe house. It was morning at that time, and he had just finished his sleep and it was dark.
After opening his eyes, before he was fully awake, Qu Ji and Xiao Cui Gu handed him four tablets and filled their space in front of him.
"Brother Xu, this is the recent income and expenditure of the safe house. Since the upgrade and launch of the healing pillow bundle set, the overall revenue has increased significantly. This is the income and expenditure record of the blind box machine. This is the schedule for the next ten days when the safe house cannot log in to the dungeon. Oh, and there is also the Christmas plan I just made..."
Xu Zhiyan suddenly woke up, took the tablet, and immediately started working.
The safe house system, which was waiting for its host to wake up and prepare to give a surprise, was placed at the rear.
[Wuwuwuwu host~ This time the slicing recycling safe house has been upgraded! It has been upgraded several levels! Do you want to take a look at me first?]
It tried to cut in line to get the host's attention, but was not very successful.
Xu Zhiyan, who was looking at his income, didn't care about that.
"We'll talk about the upgrade later."
After they seized the market for basic supplies in Infinite Games, their revenue has been doubling. Especially after the introduction of healing items, players' points have flowed into the safe house's accounts like running water.
But pillows are not disposable consumables after all, so after a brief period of explosive growth, profits began to gradually stabilize.
Xu Zhiyan felt very relieved when he looked at the long list of points data on the account.
As a result, when he received the technology tree consumption bill the next second, his expression became a little tense.
"What's going on? Negative...negative growth?"
Losing money? The technology tree he spent a lot of money on actually lost money?
Xu Zhiyan couldn't accept this.
He almost fainted just by seeing the consumables on the transaction receipt.
Upon seeing this, Qu Ji quickly called up the detailed income and expenditure.
"No, Brother Xu! It's not that the whole business is losing money. Basically, we are making profits. There is only one item that is losing money. Well, it seems that the loss is a bit big."
Its sound became smaller and smaller.
All income and expenditure of the Nightmare Community are managed by Asa, which is only responsible for the summary.
Everything was going well in the previous few months, and the low- and mid-end props we developed had been making huge profits.
Who would have thought that just a few days ago, after Xu Zhiyan entered the copy, the Lord of Ghosts and Gods approved a research and development project. In just a few days, the points were deducted like water.
More than four million...
In less than three days, more than four million points were consumed.
The safe house system told it this quietly.
It was not even time for the monthly audit, but it asked for the account book in advance.
Although he didn't know what Lord Ghost was secretly developing, Qu Ji felt that as an almighty butler, he must not hide it from Xu Zhiyan!
That's more than 4 million points! It felt that if it knew about it but didn't report it now, when 4 million became 40 million, all the guys in the safe house would be hung on the ceiling by Xu Zhiyan!
On the side, the safe house system stopped urging.
It recalled the conversation between the ghost and Asa that it had overheard before, and couldn't suppress its curiosity, so it added fuel to the fire.
[Host, the consumables above are written strangely, as if they were modified in a hurry!]
Xu Zhiyan raised his eyebrows, somewhat surprised.
"Oh? So you know something?"
He is not a fool. There must be something wrong when the system says this, and it roughly knows what the problem is.
[Hmm... this, I don't know either, but you can ask the amazing Asa! ] Fortunately, the system is not that stupid and knows how to pass the blame on to others.
"Oh, it looks like it has something to do with Bai Jin."
After hearing the system's hesitant words, Xu Zhiyan immediately came to a conclusion.
Looking at the more than four million points that had turned into bubbles and flew away, the emotions that Bai Jin had previously felt moved by disappeared in an instant!
What the hell! More than 4 million points in three days!
Damn it, he worked so hard to invest and packaged and sold all the slices, but he only earned less than 30 million points. If he didn't keep an eye on it and let the project continue...
Xu Zhiyan didn't dare to think about it.
His heart is bleeding.
Suddenly he couldn't concentrate on reading other forms. He motioned Qu Ji and Xiao Cui Gu to go to the office to wait for him, and then he rushed to the Nightmare Community with the safe house system.
In the Nightmare Community, which has evolved into a high-end technology prop production center, all you see are clean and bright pure white buildings.
The overall urban style is mainly silver, black and gray, showing the style. The shaped trees planted on both sides of the road add a touch of color to the nightmare community.
Seeing Xu Zhiyan coming from afar, the monsters who were planting shaped trees put down what they were doing and wanted to say hello.
But before he came close, his unhappy expression and the low pressure emanating from his body made the monsters immediately pick up the shovels and saplings in their hands, lower their heads and start working hard.
So scary!
Who on earth dares to make the heir of the safe house angry?
…
[Mr. Ghost, with all due respect, the product is already perfect enough. ]
[The more powerful something is, the more damage it will cause to the user. In so many R&D modifications, the scientific research NPC has reduced the side effects to a minimum. What exactly are you dissatisfied with? ]
“Not enough.”
The ghost's voice was cold and filled with dissatisfaction.
Asa was a little upset.
As a technology tree system, it never thought that one day it would encounter such a picky leader in research and development.
[The consumption is too high and it is easy to be discovered. ]
It gave a subtle hint.
[Although these expenses are nothing compared to..., you should always consider that I have to submit the account book every month.]
At the very beginning of this project, it was expressed that the consumption and benefits were not proportional, and it would be difficult to balance the accounts if the losses were too great. As a result, the project development went incredibly smoothly.
But who knew that Mr. Ghost's requirements were so high that he directly doubled the estimated budget, making things full of twists and turns.
Asa placed his hopes on the safe house system.
I hope this idiot can reveal the project details to Xu Zhiyan as soon as possible.
The ghosts and gods did not speak.
But the dissatisfaction in His eyes almost overflowed.
Just when the atmosphere became tense, Asa received a surveillance alert - the person with the highest authority in the Nightmare Community had logged in.
It relaxed instantly.
In fact, it is very interested in the project proposed by the ghost, but as a system, it knows very well who is in charge of the accounts and who has the final say in the family...
[Mr. Ghost, I have received a new notification that Mr. Xu is on his way here.]
[He is the person with the highest authority in the scene. ]
Asa immediately added on the panel, as if he was afraid that the ghost would escape and leave it here alone to face the bill.
[I can't stop Mr. Xu.]
[Surveillance footage shows that he is holding a tablet in his hand, which should contain a project bill. [Picture.jpg]]
Guishen stood in a research room full of screens, looking at the pictures on the screens with a little surprise.
The air in the room froze.
Subtle fluctuations of power appeared in the space.
Asa was worried that he would not be able to wait for the highest authority to arrive and the R&D room would be demolished first, so he quickly changed the subject.
[Mr. Ghost, do you mind if I ask you about personal matters? ]
Without waiting for the ghost to answer, it started asking on its own.
[Why don't you confess your feelings to Mr. Xu? According to the data, Mr. Xu doesn't dislike you, and he is not so obsessed with a certain point in his relationship.]
[As the only important person to Mr. Xu, if you confess now, there is a 97% success rate. ]
【[picture.jpg]】
This time the picture shows the scene inside the R&D room.
The red wish tree sapling was hugging its branches and trembling. It had been told that it was placed here as a supplementary supply.
【Mr. Xu is completely bound to you. 】
[As the owner of the safe house, you make a suggestion, and the possibility that he will refuse is very small. ]
AsaHere is a detailed personality analysis report of Xu Zhiyan.
It made a judgment based on the information in the report. If the ghosts and gods really wanted to do something to his successor, according to Xu Zhiyan's character, he would not refuse as long as it was not too excessive.
The person with the highest authority is tactful and will not show it very obviously even if he is unwilling.
After all, if they fall out, the cornerstone of the safe house, ghosts and gods, will be lost.
Asa didn't wait for the ghost's answer.
It saw that the ghosts and gods, who usually refused to even raise their hands, were now condescending to poke the screen with their fingers.
【What are you looking for? 】
"How do you turn off your relationship question and answer module?"
【……】
During the conversation, Xu Zhiyan, with a sullen face, was welcomed in by the intelligent machine at the door.
Seeing that Guishen and Asa's panels were there, he placed the tablet in his hand on the table and tried his best to keep a steady expression.
"Everyone is here. I have a small question."
"What does this confidential R&D project mean?"
This is also something that makes Xu Zhiyan angry.
At first he thought that he did not have enough permissions to view the specific name of the project. After clicking for a while, he found that it was not that the project was confidential, but that the name of the project was "confidential" when it was established.
Considering the clear and concise R&D reports that Asa usually submits, it is self-evident who named this project.
"Bai Jin, I think I need an explanation."
Xu Zhiyan slowed down his voice.
Considering the special situation of ghosts and gods, he didn't want to be too aggressive.
But on the way here, the safe house system, like a loudspeaker, told everything it knew. Guishen and Asa worked together to modify the name of the research and development consumables for the new project. After a careful look, he found that the bill and the content did not match.
So what exactly is it that requires the ghosts and gods to personally order it to be modified?
Xu Zhiyan stared at the talisman paper covering the ghost's eyes for a while with a serious expression. After several minutes, he suppressed his emotions and spoke.
"This is not a matter of money. I don't value money that much. It's mainly because I was kept in the dark. You know what I mean..." Since the ghost and god were unmoved and kept their mouth shut, there was nothing he could do but appeal to their emotions and reason with them.
Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, the ghosts couldn't help laughing.
The tense atmosphere was broken, and he began to confess as if he had faced the reality.
A work-in-progress plan was stuffed into Xu Zhiyan's hands, and along with it, the hands of ghosts and gods.
Xu Zhiyan felt the ghost holding his hand, and the next second, the scenery of the entire research and development room turned into a dim void, with only the swaying candlelight around emitting light.
The two switched positions.
As if to facilitate demonstration, the ghost stood behind Xu Zhiyan, stretched out his hand and overlapped his right hand with the other person's right hand.
His bones expressed joy after touching his body.
"Qu Ji said that there will be a festival in a few days, and they will prepare gifts for you."
He is not very clear about the festivals that humans will celebrate.
But He really wanted to give Xu Zhiyan a gift.
"……What?"
Xu Zhiyan realized belatedly that the ghost was talking about Christmas.
In order to encourage the monsters to work hard, he arranged seasons for the four seasons of the year, recording every festival and celebrating all the major festivals, including the Spring Festival and Christmas, to give benefits to the monsters to motivate everyone.
As for giving him a gift?
This seems different from what he imagined?
The ghost's cold fingertips passed through his fingers, and their right hands overlapped in an ambiguous posture.
Xu Zhiyan felt his hand being lifted up.
An inexplicable feeling came over him, and he felt as if he was controlling something.
The next second, a space vortex appeared in the open space in front of him.
Countless black substances poured out from the vortex, like shadows and blood vessels, condensing into a giant black hand more than three meters high. A burning sensation and tingling came from the back of the hand.
In the blink of an eye, a huge translucent hand bone appeared in the black giant hand and gradually merged into it.
Xu Zhiyan was a little dazed.
It was the first time that he controlled his power so intuitively.
The cause and effect are presented.
The ghost wanted to give him a gift, but didn't want to inform him in advance, so he approved the project himself...
The ghost whispered and explained the purpose of the gift.
“It will protect you.”
He couldn't enter the copy, couldn't be with Xu Zhiyan, and there were even so many troubling slices.
Although the research and development of similar props requires a huge amount of effort, and an unknown amount of power was taken from Him in just a few days, He felt that all the efforts were worth it when He thought that Xu Zhiyan, who had always been targeted by the system and could not improve, would finally have new power.
Thinking of the list of consumables on the receipt, Xu Zhiyan pursed his lips with mixed feelings.
From beginning to end, this thing looks like it was taken from the body of a ghost or god and reassembled.
No wonder everything in consumables is so expensive.
How can something that can survive the flesh and blood of ghosts and gods be cheap?
...How can there be such a stupid guy in the world who treats himself as a tool and takes him apart to make props to give away!
Xu Zhiyan felt that he should now explain the issue of squandering money to Party A. Even if he recovered a lot of trunks, they should not be used indiscriminately.
"Why... I mean this is too expensive. I can usually use other items in dungeons."
To say it's not necessary would be a lie.
He wanted more than anyone else to have power at his disposal.
But the props in front of us are too expensive.
Suddenly, a cold finger was placed on Xu Zhiyan's lips, and he heard the gentle voice of a ghost coming to his ears.
"Because you're worth it."
“You deserve the best in this world.”
Since I can't accompany you.
Then He hopes that His power can replace Him and accompany Xu Zhiyan in the copy.
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