76: Chapter 76 Killing Gao Yuan. Rules of Slavery.

The team returned fully loaded.

The team of over a hundred people stepped out of the Dark Purple Forest in dead silence.

Only the light clanking of armor plates and weapons merged into a cold current that filled the first-floor lobby of Building 0.

At the entrance of the staircase.

Gao Yuan stood with the thirty-some people he had gathered, blocking the path upstairs like a wall.

He narrowed his eyes, sweeping his gaze across the returning team.

Many were injured and covered in bloodstains.

Beside Lin Qing, several core team members had weak breath and exhausted faces, supporting one another.

Especially Lin Qing, who was supported on both sides by Ruan Ruoruo and Su Xixi; his face was pale, his footsteps unsteady.

Gao Yuan's heartbeat quickened, pounding heavily.

He saw clearly that Lin Qing's group had definitely run into a tough nut to crack in the forest, and were now at the end of their rope.

And once his Grade-A talent [Rage] was activated, his combat power could temporarily surge to the peak of the Elite rank.

The curve at the corners of Gao Yuan's mouth widened uncontrollably.

An opportunity! This was his only chance!

Earlier, seeing Lin Qing suddenly disappear, he had taken his men up to the Ninth Floor to raid their base.

However, as soon as they set foot on the Ninth Floor corridor, their group of thirty was forced back by a wave of chilling cold air, nearly freezing solid.

This also made him realize that integrating the floor and becoming a Walker would grant protection from the special entity on that floor.

Raiding their base was completely impossible.

And if he missed this opportunity, once they recovered, he would never have another chance to rise up.

As for those hundred-plus people, as long as he took down the core members of Lin Qing's dormitory first...

Hmph...

They weren't the only thirty-odd people on the first floor.

"Boss Lin, back already?"

Gao Yuan stepped forward, the mockery in his tone undisguised.

"Looks like quite a harvest. Why not share a bit with us brothers? From now on in Building 0, we'll stand on equal footing, how about it?"

Lin Qing's gaze didn't even linger on his face.

He merely lifted his chin toward the five Dorm Leaders behind Gao Yuan who had once betrayed the Ninth Floor and were currently hanging their heads.

"I'll give you a chance."

"Come over."

Those five trembled violently. Without the slightest hesitation, they scrambled out from Gao Yuan's crowd, crawling on all fours to kneel in front of Lin Qing's team, pressing their foreheads tightly against the cold ground, not daring to look up.

Gao Yuan's expression instantly darkened.

"Lin Qing, what is the meaning of this? They are my people now!"

Lin Qing acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.

The ground beneath his feet shattered into a shallow pit, and his entire body shot forward like an arrow released from a string, defying spatial distance.

Gao Yuan only felt his vision blur.

Just as he was about to burst out and activate his talent, a hand gripped his neck like iron pliers, lifting him up with one hand!

At the same time...

Two blurry afterimages zipped past from behind Lin Qing, left and right.

Blade light and sword wind intertwined.

The seven or eight core subordinates around Gao Yuan didn't even see the figures clearly before feeling a chill at their throats; all their strength was drained in an instant, and they slumped limply into pools of blood.

The entire lobby fell dead silent.

Holding Gao Yuan by the neck, Lin Qing slammed him against the wooden wall.

With a loud boom, the wooden wall cracked, and wood splinters fell in showers.

Looking at Gao Yuan's face, flushed red from lack of oxygen, his tone was as calm as if stating a minor matter.

"I gave you a chance."

"You're useless."

As the words fell...

He applied force with his five fingers.

Crack!

A crisp sound of bone fracturing echoed.

Gao Yuan's head drooped at a bizarre angle, the light in his eyes quickly dissipating.

Lin Qing released his grip, letting his corpse slide to the ground.

Dragging the corpses of Gao Yuan and his core subordinates, he walked to the center of the lobby, looking at Wang Qiang whose legs were already shaking violently from fright.

"Hang them up."

Wang Qiang shuddered, immediately bowing and scraping as he ran over, calling the Labor Group members to fetch ropes and hang all the still-warm corpses from the lobby ceiling.

All the survivors on the first floor looked at the corpses swaying gently overhead in absolute silence.

The shadows cast by the corpses felt like nooses around everyone's necks.

...

Back on the Ninth Floor.

Lin Qing had Bai Nian tally the losses, then spoke to the hundred-plus survivors.

"Everyone gets a share of today's harvested food. Each person will also be allocated an extra one hundred milliliters of fresh water."

A wave of suppressed cheering erupted from the crowd.

"Now, everyone go back to your own dormitories."

Hearing this, the crowd turned to leave.

Just then, a young man who had awakened a Grade-B talent plucked up the courage to speak: "Boss... Boss Lin, what about those fruits..."

Before he could finish his sentence...

An Mumu leaned against the doorframe of Dormitory 9001, her peach-blossom eyes arching slightly, her voice crisp yet ice-cold.

"What? Want a taste?"

She looked around at the people who had stopped in their tracks, greed and yearning shining in their eyes.

"Listen up, every single one of you, and know your place."

"You are merely of enslaved status. Keeping you alive and sharing the dormitory defense with you is already a massive grace."

"If anyone dares to harbour designs on what doesn't belong to them again..."

An Mumu's eyes landed on the young man who spoke up.

"In the future, the shared defense for your dormitory will be revoked."

The young man's face instantly turned paper-white. The people in his dormitory immediately glared at him as if they wanted to kill him.

"Get lost!"

An Mumu spat out a single word.

Everyone scattered like startled birds and beasts.

...

Inside Dormitory 9001.

The girls of the core team sat around the furnace, but the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

Lin Qing sat in the main seat, playing with the weirdly alluring purple treasure chest in his hand, in no rush to open it.

He looked at everyone.

"Open the chest first, or distribute the fruits first?"

As soon as he finished speaking...

"The fruits!"

Su Xixi was the first to speak up, staring at Lin Qing with eyes full of unbearable anticipation.

Her words were like a fuse.

Although Shen Zhiyi and Zeng Yulin didn't say anything, their clenched fists and glowing eyes said it all.

An Mumu even leaned right next to Lin Qing, her warm breath blowing against his ear.

"Why open a chest? It's just an Epic chest, how can it compare to awakening a talent?"

She pointed to herself, then to Su Xixi and Shen Zhiyi.

"The few of us are still waiting to escape the misery of being 'talentless people'."

"Brother Qing~, distribute the fruits first!"