Fool, Even If I Kill You, It's Still Mine

The gunfire stopped. The young man with the sword crumpled to the ground, and Lord M14's muzzle followed Zhang Yang's gaze toward the staircase in the distance.

There, two young men of about the same age still wore smug expressions.

The reversal had come so suddenly that the two onlookers in the distance hadn't had time to react.

"Bang!" Pure white Soul Power surged from Lord M14's muzzle, and a Soul Power bullet shot toward one of the tall young men.

With a sharp clang, a puff of dust rose from the wall beside the staircase.

The man had somehow brought a broad-bladed Xuanhua Broad Axe up in front of himself. Zhang Yang's bullet had struck the axe's blade and bounced away.

Meanwhile, the thin young man beside him had already vanished around the stairwell.

The shot had missed, but Zhang Yang wasn't disappointed. It only meant they'd live a few more minutes.

The man gripped his Xuanhua Broad Axe and glared at Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang returned the glare just as fiercely.

Meanwhile, Soul Power was draining rapidly from Zhang Yang's body, while the magazine of his M14 slowly filled with Soul Power bullets.

He'd used too many bullets to kill the young man with the sword. The magazine, which held only ten rounds, was now empty.

Seeing Soul Power swirling around Zhang Yang, the young man guessed he was preparing some kind of move. Without wasting another moment, he turned and ran up the stairs, disappearing from Zhang Yang's sight.

His retreat was completely unexpected.

But objectively speaking, it was the best way to deal with Zhang Yang.

At long range, a ranged fighter was the father of a melee fighter—especially when Lord M14's attack power was so absurdly unfair. To a melee Soul Master, that gun was the strictest of fathers.

If that Soul Master had dared to get close, Zhang Yang could have used the ten-round M14 to teach him a lesson.

But now he'd gone upstairs, and Zhang Yang had a lot to think about.

The ten bullets finished loading. Zhang Yang checked his Soul Power.

138/147.75.

After storing ten bullets, his Soul Power was still in excellent shape.

He took a Painkiller to make sure his injuries wouldn't affect his fighting ability for five minutes.

One dose of the Physical Enhancement Agent greatly boosted his stamina for five minutes.

One dose of the Perception Enhancement Agent expanded his range of perception for five minutes.

One dose of the M2 Muscle Injection boosted his carrying capacity for five minutes.

Fully stocked, Zhang Yang shouldered the Power of Nine Dragons, feeling terrifyingly strong, raised his M14, and crept toward the staircase.

At the bottom of the stairs, he pricked up his ears and listened carefully. Unfortunately, he heard nothing.

If anyone upstairs moved, the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor would never escape his ears.

No movement. Zhang Yang felt a little more at ease and continued creeping upstairs.

Keeping close to the wall, he moved up cautiously, carefully checking each spot as he went.

The staircase in the Heding City Academy cafeteria was a broad, open, single-flight wooden staircase.

Its open construction left few places for someone to hide, making it relatively easy to clear.

As he stepped onto the middle of the stairs, Zhang Yang kept his gun aimed straight at the top, ready for someone to suddenly appear.

But just then, with a creak of the floorboards, a fierce gust of wind suddenly struck from behind him.

"Seven Treasures Have Names: First, Strength."

"Great Strength Axe Cleave!"

The enemy with the Xuanhua Broad Axe Martial Soul had been waiting on the landing above, quietly watching Zhang Yang expose his back.

Meanwhile, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master was positioned midway along the second floor, ready to provide the axe wielder with buffs from afar.

When he saw Zhang Yang carefully checking his position and, after deciding it was safe, exposing his whole back, he thought the moment had come.

The Xuanhua Broad Axe Soul Master's Yellow Soul Ring lit up. A pale golden glow of Soul Power shimmered around the axe in his hands. Combined with its enormous size, it looked fearsome.

But just as they thought they'd caught Zhang Yang with his back turned, he spun around as if he'd been ready for them all along. His muzzle snapped into position in an instant.

He aimed at the Soul Master with the raised axe and glowing Yellow Soul Ring and held the trigger down.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang..."

The bullets poured from the magazine. The Xuanhua Broad Axe Soul Master, who had been descending from above with imposing force, suddenly went limp and crashed to the ground at Zhang Yang's feet.

"Clang!"

With the second "bodyguard" down, only one tender, juicy boss remained upstairs.

Soul Power surged around Zhang Yang again. As the bullets reloaded, he took the stairs two at a time and charged onto the second floor. He pointed his M14 at the stiff-looking figure there. "Don't move, or I'll shoot you dead."

Seeing Zhang Yang reach the second floor without a scratch, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master knew the situation was beyond saving.

It seemed he was going to die here today.

But as a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master with a boundlessly bright future, he tried one last time to struggle free.

"Brother, let me go." As he spoke, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master took off his ring and gently placed it on the round table beside him. "If you agree, all the gold bars inside are yours."

Then he slowly turned around. "And that's not all. If you escort me back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Fortress, I, Ning, will reward you handsomely."

"Bang!"

One shot to the head. The frail Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master died on the spot.

Watching him fall, Zhang Yang scoffed. "What a fool. Even if I kill you, it's still mine."

"Reward me handsomely," my ass.

There was no Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Fortress on the Heding City Academy map. How was Zhang Yang supposed to escort him there?

It was like taking a mission from the Doctor in Babel Tower, only for the Doctor to ask you to escort him to Ascension Point D.

Escort him where, exactly?

He'd barely make it home before a guided missile smashed into his face.

After reloading, Zhang Yang went to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master's loot box and opened it.

"Gold, Pure Gold Lighter, value: 62155."

"Gold, Seafood Porridge Can, value: 58505."

"Gold, 'Sapphire' Tequila, value: 81502."

"Gold, coffee, value: 68903."

"Gold, Nutritious Porridge Can, value: 59704."

"Gold, Aviator Glasses, value: 82094."

"..."

A backpack stuffed with Small Gold and a decent amount of Small Purple—no wonder the boss's backpack was so loaded.

There was also the ring on the table.

"Gold, Soul Tool Ring"

"Value: 151564"

"Equipment"

"0.016KG, 1 slot"

"Special storage equipment. When equipped, grants 9 secure storage slots. Items in secure storage are not dropped upon death. Equipment drops after 3 deaths."

"Oh?" Seeing this equipment, Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow.

It wouldn't drop until he died three times. Not bad. He'd keep it for when his 3×3 Experience Card expired.

He searched the Soul Tool Ring.

A 3×3 search grid appeared, and valuable items refreshed one by one.

"Gold, Clan Gold Thumb Ring, value: 97802."

"Gold, Military Map Case, value: 152022."

"Red, Sect Villa Suite"

"Value: 1025678"

"Durability: 40/40"

"Use location: Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Fortress—Sect Villa District"

"Key used to unlock a suite in the Sect Villa District."

"Red, Ten Thousand Foot Gold Bar, value: 333903"

"Red, Ten Thousand Foot Gold Bar, value: 333903"

"Red, Ten Thousand Foot Gold Bar"

"Value: 333903"

"Craftwork collectible"

"4.25KG, 1×2 slots"

"A solid gold bar. Can be sold for money."

"Red collectible special effect: increases currency value and the number of Gold Soul Coins obtained in looting maps."

What? Gold bars? Two of them?

Zhang Yang was beside himself with joy. The heavy gold bars weighed a ton in his hands.

Damn Collector was finally complete. At last, his 3×3 could be finished.

Of course, besides the gold bars, Zhang Yang had another huge haul: that 1,000,000-value red keycard.

As expected of a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master. He might not have much else, but he had money.

Every red keycard represented a room with an exceptionally high loot rate, along with several high-yield containers.

Unfortunately, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Fortress was clearly a high-level, late-game map. Zhang Yang, who was only level nine, couldn't go there yet.

After looting the boss's box, Zhang Yang took a quick look through the two bodyguards' boxes.

As expected, their loot contained only a handful of valuable items. Altogether, they were worth barely over 30,000.

After searching the second floor again, Zhang Yang returned to the first floor and finished looting the Bot Loot Box he'd left behind.

There was still something good waiting inside.

Sure enough, a flash of red light appeared, and a 1×1 red item refreshed.

"Red, Premium Peace Apple, value: 128888."

"Ah, a Peace Fruit. Not bad."

A smile spread across Zhang Yang's face.

Compared with the hefty gold bars, he preferred this big, red Peace Fruit.

Not only could it improve his physical condition, but its name meant something to him, too.

Peace Fruit. Peace.

Who didn't hope to live a whole life safe and sound?