Chapter 94 Sanctuary 8

Chapter 94 Shelter 8

At 9 a.m. on the 6th day, the system's mechanical voice announced, "Shelter I22 (this server) has 906 players, 1,903 NPCs, and 10,629 zombies remaining."

At 9 a.m. on the 7th day, the system's mechanical voice announced, "Shelter I22 (this server) has 862 players, 1,526 NPCs, and 3,785 zombies remaining."

Zombies were being eliminated rapidly.

The hunters' skills grew increasingly proficient, though accidents still occurred. Zombies often lunged from corners or behind, grabbing and biting people before they could react, resulting in significant casualties.

As time passed, the number of zombies dwindled further, and more players began to voice suspicions. "Is there something wrong with the drop rate? I've killed over thirty zombies and haven’t gotten a single drop!"

"Out of fifty thousand zombies, have even ten crystals dropped? Every day, people talk about someone hitting the jackpot, but all I see are residents starving to death."

"With the zombie count dropping from fifty thousand to just over three thousand, at least we won’t have to worry about a siege in the late game. As for when the crystals will drop… it's all luck at this point."

Faced with the crowd's skepticism, Qin Mo kept a calm face. "Apologies, but for the safety of our customers, we cannot disclose the names of the lucky winners." But inwardly, he was fuming.

Their tactician kept muttering, "I know," and "I have it under control," but refused to explain anything clearly.

Qin Mo cursed under his breath—who knew what that guy was scheming? If he didn’t speak up soon, they should just go their separate ways. After all, compared to clearing the game, Qin Mo valued his life more.

Besides…

Qin Mo's expression darkened. They weren’t long-term teammates to begin with. They had merely crossed paths in the last Virus Town instance, knew each other’s backgrounds, and happened to enter the same instance this time, forming a makeshift team.

He had witnessed the tactician's brilliance firsthand. In Virus Town, the tactician had insisted from the start that all players escort the virus host to the hospital for quarantine—but no one listened.

As a result, what should have been an easy clear turned into a nightmare-level difficulty! Players barely held on until the 11th or 12th day before bailing on the instance.

This time, after entering the instance and running into each other, someone suggested they team up and let the tactician take the lead. The others would follow orders, ensuring they didn’t repeat the mistakes of the last game.

Everyone agreed, thinking it was a great idea.

The plan worked well initially, and the temporary teammates even believed obeying the tactician was a brilliant idea. Things were supposed to proceed as planned—zombies cleared, the system announcing victory, then scamming the exchange for a big score before leaving the instance with their pockets full.

But no one expected the exchange to send help so early to clear the zombies! This unexpected move threw everything into chaos.

The temporary teammates grew restless but managed to hold their nerves, waiting for the tactician to come up with a solution. Yet at the critical moment, the guy went completely silent! He acted confident but refused to share his thoughts.

When things went smoothly, everyone worked together in unity. But when setbacks arose, the team fell apart…

Qin Mo, for one, was already considering his way out.

Lost in thought, he was jolted back to the present when someone approached him.

"The boss wants to see you. Come with us," the leader said calmly.

Qin Mo glanced around, his heart sinking. There were ten of them, all dressed in neat black uniforms, professional-looking. As far as he knew, only the merchant group’s security team wore such uniforms in the entire shelter.

Unaware of the situation, bystanders excitedly speculated, "Maybe the merchant boss wants the antidote and sent for him personally? Damn, should've gone to med school."

Qin Mo remained composed, replying coolly, "Fine, I’ll go with you." But inwardly, he sighed—they had acted faster than expected, making escape difficult.

At this point, his only option was to expose the mastermind and save himself. He lowered his gaze, masking the gears turning in his head.

**

Hearing that the man in the white coat had been taken away by the merchant group’s security team, Su Han rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought. Honestly, she couldn’t figure out that something was off anymore.

Ever since the merchant group abruptly announced two days ago that they would also be hunting for crystals, Su Han had sensed trouble brewing.

To prevent the merchant caravan from exposing the scam, the rational approach would be to swiftly complete the transaction and then leave the shelter under the cover of darkness. After all, with the vast world out there and supplies in hand, they could go anywhere.

For this purpose, Su Han even hired people to keep watch, waiting only for the white-coated group to leave the shelter so she could ambush them!

Yet, they simply refused to leave, calmly staying inside the shelter as if... they wanted to be caught.

Su Han had muttered more than once in private—how could masterminds who fooled thousands with their intellect be so foolish at a critical moment?

But the facts proved otherwise—they really were that bold! Bold enough to set up the scam, bold enough to face the consequences.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Zhong Rui asked casually.

Su Han replied earnestly, "I'm pondering the likelihood of someone getting 'ganked' while playing a game."

Zhong Rui, "..."

He realized his companion's train of thought had gone completely off the rails.

"What if getting caught by the caravan was intentional? Think about it differently," Zhong Rui suggested.

Su Han remained expressionless. "Forgive my limited experience, but I’ve never encountered such a blunt conspirator."

Not just blunt, but stubborn too. Knowing full well the caravan would eventually catch on, they still stubbornly stayed waiting for disaster.

"Being caught doesn’t necessarily mean death," Zhong Rui said pointedly.

"Nothing in this world is absolute," Su Han replied indifferently. "If they had known there were no crystals in the zombies' brains, the NPCs would never have gone hunting voluntarily. They got played—plain and simple."

"The very people who tricked them are standing right there, and the NPCs just happen to be in position for payback. Why would they let them go? Because of the Vitality Potion?"

"But as far as I know, the caravan actually has its own medical team in secret, and they’ve recently made a breakthrough with the unknown virus. Rumor has it they’ve already developed a prototype—it’s only a matter of time before the final product is ready. Where would that leave everyone else?"

"The only thing that can make someone willingly let go of hatred is sufficient benefit," Zhong Rui said, locking eyes as he emphasized each word. "If they claimed the Vitality Potion could cure all diseases, what do you think the NPCs would do?"

Instantly, Su Han’s expression froze.

**

At the same time, Qin Mo was brought before the caravan’s boss.

"My surname is Huang—just call me Boss Huang," said a middle-aged man lounging comfortably in a genuine leather chair. He spoke slowly, "Could you tell me, what exactly are the odds of obtaining the crystals?"

Should he insist that the crystals truly existed in the zombies' brains but just hadn’t been found, or should he confess and reveal the truth? Qin Mo agonized over the choice.

Boss Huang smiled nonchalantly. "If after two more days, you still come up empty, have you considered your fate?"

Qin Mo broke into a cold sweat instantly. Today was Day 7 of the game; two days later would be Day 9. With less than ten days, he couldn’t leave the instance freely. Yet, he had caught the attention of the shelter’s most powerful figure—this was basically a death sentence.

Only then did he have his wake-up call. Why were the others either playing the lucky winners or hiding in the crowd to stir things up, while he alone stood before the masses in a white coat? They were clearly setting him up as the fall guy!

If the scam was exposed, he'd be the first head on the chopping block, while the others would remain unscathed!

The more Qin Mo thought about it, the more indignant he became. It was a scam they all set up together—why should he be the only patsy? So he blurted out, "There are no crystals. The whole thing was a lie from start to finish."

Boss Huang had already figured as much, so he wasn’t surprised. He pressed coolly, "Why?"

If the act was just to auction the potion at a high price, he could understand. But from the current situation, the act was meant to lure people into fighting zombies—which was very strange.

Qin Mo started weaving his story.

According to him, some guy named Gao Chen had stumbled upon a batch of potions that could cure the unknown virus. Just as the young man was about to sell them to set himself up for life, he found out his only family member got taken out by zombies.

From that moment on, the young man developed a deep hatred for zombies. He deliberately set up this scheme with the sole purpose of wiping out every last zombie!

Others, either having been rescued by him or promised a vial of medicine as a reward once the plan succeeded, went all out to help.

The Gao Chen mentioned in the story was actually the real name of the mastermind. Unconsciously, Qin Mo pinned all the blame on Gao Chen.

"Gao Chen..." Boss Huang murmured, "That name rings a bell."

Qin Mo decided not to hide anything anymore and spoke bluntly, "He was the first lucky one who brought a hundred pounds of rice into the inner circle and is now working for the caravan."

"So it's him," Boss Huang ordered his subordinate, "Bring him here."

"Yes," the subordinate acknowledged, then left.

"How many people are involved in total?" Boss Huang asked again.

Qin Mo lowered his head, "Besides me, there are four others. They are..." He left nothing out, cooperating fully.

Boss Huang turned his head and said gravely, "Did you hear that clearly? Go and take care of them."

"Yes," several others responded and left.

Qin Mo remained expressionless, knowing he had no choice. If he didn’t come clean, he would surely die. In that case, better them than him. After all, they were just a temporary team with no bonds or loyalty to speak of.

Soon, Gao Chen was brought into the room.

Boss Huang asked casually, "I heard you deliberately set up a scheme to trick residents into fighting zombies for personal revenge. Is that true?"

Qin Mo felt a sense of vindication, thinking, "Now it's your turn!" But when he looked up, he saw Gao Chen smiling nonchalantly.

"Whatever. The details don’t matter anymore," Gao Chen said casually, sitting down confidently in front of Boss Huang with a lazy smile. "Care for a miracle cure that can heal all diseases?"