A Vicious Plan

In the blink of an eye.

Another four days had passed.

Half of the twenty-day time limit for this secret realm had already gone by.

Yet during those four days, Chen Ye and Tang Zichen had encountered only one zombie.

This showed that zombies still preferred hiding in the mountains and forests.

They did not particularly like coming near the river...

Morning.

After Chen Ye and Tang Zichen finished breakfast—fish—they gathered to discuss their next move.

"Today is already the eleventh day. Over the past ten days, we've killed a total of eight Jumping Corpses, and that includes the Black guy we ran into on the first day..." Chen Ye said.

Actually.

That was already an excellent result for an ordinary team.

But neither Chen Ye nor Tang Zichen was particularly satisfied.

Chen Ye, in particular, was extremely dissatisfied.

They had only killed eight zombies. Even if each one gave the full six potential points, that was only forty-eight points total. Split evenly with Tang Zichen, they would each get just twenty-four points.

It was not even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

He could get more attribute points than that by casually training for two days.

Even though Tang Zichen had killed all the zombies over the past ten days while Chen Ye acted as a hands-off manager and mooched off the potential points...

"Class Monitor, I think we need to change our strategy."

Chen Ye said, "If we keep searching for Jumping Corpses by relying on luck, I'm afraid we won't kill many even by the time this ends."

Tang Zichen looked curious when she heard that. "Didn't you already try using blood to lure the Jumping Corpses last time? Do you have another idea?"

That was right.

As early as the third night, Chen Ye had tried cutting himself and drawing some blood to attract zombies.

Unfortunately, the plan had not worked.

Chen Ye guessed that it was probably because the secret realm was already filled with the scent of blood.

After all, ever since the secret realm opened, people had been dying almost every day.

"Actually, I do have another idea..."

Chen Ye hesitated for a moment before saying, "But this plan might be too cruel..."

Tang Zichen's delicate brows furrowed. She seemed to have thought of something, then asked:

"Are you thinking of capturing anyone we encounter, finding a Jumping Corpse to bite them, turning all of them into monsters, and then killing them one by one? Using that method to obtain a large number of potential points?"

Chen Ye was immediately stunned.

Then he quickly realized that someone must have done this before.

Otherwise, Tang Zichen would not have guessed what he intended from a single phrase like "too cruel."

"Someone did that before?"

"Yes!"

"What happened to that person afterward?"

"Very badly. He implicated his family and turned them into pariahs. In the end, he was tortured to death by his enemies to vent their anger. He also caused his country to pay an enormous amount in compensation. As for him, he was publicly executed!"

Chen Ye: "..."

That outcome was indeed rather tragic!

"The incident caused an enormous uproar at the time because the freshmen in the same class as that person suffered devastating casualties."

As Tang Zichen recalled it, she said, "That person had an S3 talent. He contacted several S-class talent users and carried out a vicious plan in the secret realm, using people to raise gu."

"At first, the plan was very successful. No team could stand against them. As long as anyone encountered them, they would basically be captured... It was said that the group harmed several hundred people!"

"Later, the Jumping Corpse they controlled drank too much human blood and then... evolved!"

Chen Ye was slightly taken aback when he heard that.

He had not expected the zombies in the secret realm to be able to evolve.

Well, zombies in movies could indeed evolve too...

But why had Old Liu not told them such important information?

"The evolved Jumping Corpse became terrifying. Its combat strength increased by more than tenfold, and even alloy weapons became completely ineffective against it."

Tang Zichen continued, "That person and his companions could no longer control the Jumping Corpse. They were even hunted down by it instead, and the plan spiraled out of control..."

"Although no one knew how that person escaped, the evolved Jumping Corpse went on a killing spree in the secret realm and slaughtered many freshmen."

"By the time the twenty days ended, fewer than one in ten freshmen came out alive. Their minds were severely traumatized as well, and many of them ended up in psychiatric hospitals."

"Some survivors exposed what that person had done, causing a huge uproar."

"The higher-ups of Esper Associations in various countries were all furious after receiving the news. With their governments' cooperation, they pressured the person's country to hand over the culprit and compensate for the losses."

"It was said that the situation nearly spiraled out of control at the time. If it had, the culprit's entire country might have been destroyed by those powerful people..."

After Tang Zichen finished speaking, she calmly looked at Chen Ye.

Chen Ye felt ashamed.

He had originally been thinking of specifically targeting foreigners, figuring it would be fine as long as he did not harm his own compatriots.

He had not expected someone to have already done it and ended up meeting such a miserable fate.

Thinking about it carefully.

The risks of this plan were indeed enormous!

Chen Ye was confident that even if the zombies evolved once, he could still control them. But if someone discovered the truth and leaked it, his fate would probably be the same as that person's.

At that point, experts from around the world would come to exert pressure. Although Xia was a major country, it still would not be able to withstand such pressure.

His father, Chairman Chen, definitely would not be able to protect him!

If it were three years later, Chen Ye would still be confident that he could carve out a bloody path.

But now, with his current strength, faced with such a situation, he could only await execution.

The consequences were indeed too severe.

Taking such a huge risk for the potential points from a single secret realm was completely not worth it!!

"I seem to remember there being no information about this online. The things that happen in the secret realm aren't allowed to be posted online either..."

Chen Ye asked the girl, "So how did you know about this?"

"Teacher Liu told me." Tang Zichen's tone was calm. "He believed I had the ability to carry out such a plan, so he told me about it in advance to keep me from making a mistake."

"That kind of plan has now become a recognized taboo in every country. No one dares touch it."

After hearing this.

Chen Ye felt helpless.

Since the plan he had just considered was too risky and could not be carried out.

He had no idea how to find a large number of zombies either.

Those zombie movies and dramas only talked about the weaknesses of many zombies. They did not say how to attract large numbers of them!

Although some zombies could be lured by specific conditions.

Such as certain music, or direct relatives...

But those kinds of zombies were only rare exceptions.

They had even less reference value in the secret realm.

Without a large number of zombies to farm potential points from, this entire trip would be a wasted journey for Chen Ye.

Meanwhile.

In a forest several hundred meters away from Chen Ye and Tang Zichen, more than a hundred people had gathered.

Their skin colors varied, and they seemed to come from different countries.

But they shared the same goal!

To ambush and kill Tang Zichen!!