Survival in the Apocalypse: Max Level Drop Rate with Abundant Resources

Chapter update reminder: Chapter 176, "The Bamboo Bar Clanged Loudly," available to read here.

Looking at Shen Xi's ambiguous smile, Lord Wu'an frowned even more deeply.

"What a coincidence?" He repeated the two words, a bad feeling suddenly welling up in his heart.

Shen Xi didn't keep them in suspense. With a flick of her right hand, she took out a thick stack of papers from her storage space.

That was a map.

It wasn't a simple sketch drawn on scrap paper, but a detailed map drawn on fine Xuan paper and bound into a book. The cover had four large characters: "Complete Map of the Underground Palace".

Lord Wu'an's pupils contracted slightly.

Shen Xi casually flipped to the first page, which contained a floor plan of the first level of the underground palace. The passageways, compartments, duty rooms, supply warehouses, armories... every functional area was clearly marked, and even the location of the emergency lights that Ying Gujia had added later, the direction of the ventilation ducts, and the distribution of the sewers were drawn in great detail.

The second layer.

The honeycomb-like layout of the cubicles, the location of the stone steps leading to the third floor, the hidden door in the wall, and even the secret room where Gu An had stayed before were all circled in red pen, with the words "Breeding Base Core" marked next to them.

Lord Wu'an could hardly hide the shock in his eyes after only looking at two layers of the map.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen maps before. The military had its own surveying department, which had been mapping the area around Kyoto since the apocalypse. But those maps were all rough lines, general outlines, only showing the general terrain. He had never seen a map as detailed as this, showing every single room, every passage, and every secret door.

"You…" Lord Wu'an raised his head, staring at Shen Xi, "Do you have a detailed map of the underground palace here?"

Shen Xi nodded.

Lord Wu'an's gaze returned to the map, his mind racing.

He knew all too well the value of this map.

The Gu family had been operating in this underground palace for countless years. The palace itself had existed for a long time, and its construction began with Gu Changsheng's generation, expanding, renovating, and reinforcing it generation after generation. Only the core members of the Gu family knew how many secret rooms, hidden passages, and traps were within it. Now that all the core members of the Gu family were dead, those secrets were buried underground with them.

If the military were to explore on its own, it wouldn't be impossible to figure out the entire structure of the underground palace, but it would require a huge amount of time and manpower. Sending a surveying team to search inch by inch would take at least two or three months to explore all four levels. And who can guarantee that the exploration won't trigger any traps or mechanisms left by the Gu family? And who can guarantee that those secret chambers hidden behind the walls won't be missed?

But if we had this map...

Lord Wu'an took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and looked up at Shen Xi.

"In the beginning," he said, trying to keep his voice calm, "could the military possess this map?"

Shen Xi was waiting for these words.

Finally, I can openly and legitimately fleece people.

Shen Xi looked at Wu Anjun's forced calm face and chuckled inwardly.

"Lord Wu'an, you know this too." He opened the map and pointed to the dense markings on it. "This underground palace is very large, with four levels, each with a different function. Where there are dangers, secret rooms, hidden passages, and traps, everything is marked on it."

He paused, then continued, "Moreover, this sacrificial crypt can be developed into a secret base for your military. Look at these conditions: the dome can be repaired, the stone houses can be renovated, the planting area can be expanded, and the water and climate systems are readily available. With sufficient investment of manpower and resources, this place can be transformed into a self-sufficient underground city."

Lord Wu'an did not speak, but his eyes betrayed him.

Shen Xi knew the time was right and continued, her tone slightly seductive: "By then, this will be the military's most fortified stronghold outside Kyoto. It can be attacked or defended at will. Even if something happens in Kyoto, this place can operate independently for a long time. Don't you think this map is exceptionally valuable?"

Lord Wu'an's Adam's apple bobbed.

He certainly knew the value of the map. It was precisely because he knew that he dared not answer. He didn't know what price the Primordial Order would ask for, and what if they demanded an exorbitant amount…

"Um..." Lord Wu'an forced a smile and began to probe, "It's a bit early to use this place as a secret military base. After all, it was heavily damaged in this battle, and repairing it will require a lot of manpower and resources. What do you think... 100,000 gold coins?"

100,000 gold coins.

That's not enough.

He has too many expenses.

Mingying's equipment needed replacing. Although a full set of silver-grade gear was top-tier by ordinary players, Shen Xi wasn't satisfied. Mingying was his right-hand man and needed to be fully armed. An Ying also needed more equipment; currently, he only had a weapon and a pair of shoes, the rest of his gear was empty. How could an assassin survive on the battlefield without armor, accessories, or survival items?

Therefore, we must slay Lord Wu'an today.

"Lord Wu'an," Shen Xi said, "500,000 gold coins, plus 500 pieces of bronze-level equipment or items."

Lord Wu'an's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

"Five...five hundred thousand?!" His voice trembled. "You...you're robbing me?!"

Shen Xi's lips curled up slightly.

"Robbery? You can't make money this fast by robbing."

Lord Wu'an's face flushed red. He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that what he said made sense.

This map is definitely worth the price. Five hundred thousand gold coins sounds like an astronomical figure, but it's nothing compared to the value of this underground palace. If the military can take this place, the time saved in exploration and the casualties avoided are worth several times that amount.

Moreover, Tai Chu deserves the greatest credit for annihilating the Gu family. Without his intelligence, the military would never have been able to find this place. Without him single-handedly storming in and disrupting the Gu family's plans, the army's attack wouldn't have been so successful. Without him dealing with that old monster Gu Changsheng, the military would have paid an even heavier price.

In terms of merit, 500,000 gold coins is not excessive.

But emotionally speaking, Lord Wu'an was truly heartbroken.

Although the military is not short of money, it still has to squeeze such a large sum out of the budgets of various departments.

"Taichu, you..." Lord Wu'an took a deep breath, "You're going to kill me."

Shen Xi smiled without saying a word, but simply weighed the map in her hand.

That attitude clearly said, "Buy it or don't, it's up to you."

"How about I go ask the people from the three major families?" Shen Xi suddenly said.

"Don't……"

Lord Wu'an stared at the map, then at Shen Xi's ambiguous smile, his mind in turmoil.

Buying it would hurt my wallet.

Not buying it would be even more painful.

This map is extremely important. With it, the military can quickly gain complete control of the underground palace and transform it into the most fortified fortress outside Kyoto.

More importantly, he couldn't afford to offend Taichu.

His strength speaks for itself.

If this map were in the hands of an ordinary player, Lord Wu'an would have plenty of ways to make him hand it over obediently. But this is the beginning of time, so he can only negotiate politely.

"Two hundred thousand." Lord Wu'an gritted his teeth. "Add another one hundred pieces of bronze equipment and props."

Shen Xi shook her head: "No."

Lord Wu'an's face flushed even more: "Three hundred thousand! Three hundred pieces of bronze equipment and props."

Shen Xi shook her head again.

Lord Wu'an gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead: "Fine, five hundred thousand! Five hundred pieces of bronze equipment and props, but you have to give me something else, otherwise I won't be able to deliver."

Shen Xi looked at his extremely pained expression and secretly laughed to herself.

He knew he couldn't push him any further.

Although Lord Wu'an is easy to talk to, he is, after all, a member of the military, with his over-seventy-year-old superior and a group of shrewd generals behind him. If he really doesn't budge, Lord Wu'an will go back and discuss it with his superior, and those old foxes will definitely try every means to lower the price. In the end, after all the haggling, he might not even get 400,000.

It's better to finalize it now and take the profits while you can.

"Deal." Shen Xi nodded readily. "Fifty thousand gold coins, plus five hundred pieces of bronze equipment or items. Payment settled, the map is yours, and then I'll give you 3000 resource cards."

Lord Wu'an let out a long breath, his whole body slumped like a deflated balloon, his shoulders drooping.

Five hundred thousand gold coins. The military's savings accumulated over so long were gone in an instant, half gone. But on second thought, 3000 supply cards, each worth 100 gold coins, and they even bargained down to 30, so it wasn't a complete loss.

He took a deep breath, pulled a gold card from his pocket, and handed it to Shen Xi.

"This is a prepaid card from the military at the Kyoto shopping mall, containing 500,000 gold coins." Wu Anjun's voice carried a hint of heartache. "I'll gather the remaining 500 pieces of bronze equipment and props for you in a bit."

Shen Xi took the gold card and weighed it in her hand.

Yes, it is indeed a card issued by the official store of the Doomsday Game.

He nodded in satisfaction, put the card into his storage space, and then handed the stack of maps to Lord Wu'an.

"It's a pleasure working with you."

Lord Wu'an took the map, flipped it open, and after confirming that it was correct, nodded with a pained expression.

"It's a pleasure working with you."

Then Lord Wu'an immediately gave the order to start collecting equipment and props. 500 pieces is a lot for ordinary people, but it is still easy for the military to collect. In a short while, they were all collected.

500 pieces of bronze-level equipment and items can be exchanged for 3000 resource cards.

Shen Xi gave Wu Anjun all the resource cards he had recently accumulated, and his reserves were depleted again.

But it didn't matter. He was in a great mood and turned to walk towards Mingying and Anying.

Behind him, Lord Wu'an watched his retreating figure, shook his head, and sighed with a wry smile. Then he turned around and began to plan the takeover of the underground palace.

At the edge of the ruins, Mingying crouched on the ground, his two-meter-tall body huddled together like a small mountain. Anying stood in front of him, less than eighty centimeters tall.

As Shen Xi approached, he saw a scene that surprised him.

Mingying was taking things out of his spatial ring. One by one, he took out supply cards, and with a slight thought, the cards transformed into streaks of light. In no time, several items were laid out on the ground: two steaming bowls of braised pork rice, two glasses of iced cola, and a bag of beef jerky.

He picked up a bowl of rice and handed it to Shadow.

Shadow looked down at the steaming food box, a hint of confusion flashing in its crimson eyes. It clearly didn't understand why this two-meter-tall behemoth would give it this.

Seeing that it wouldn't take the food, Mingying wasn't in a hurry. He picked up another bowl of rice, used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of braised pork, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it heartily. Then he picked up another piece and offered it to Anying's mouth.

Shadow looked at the glistening braised pork, then at Bright Shadow's face, which was munching with relish. It hesitated for a moment, then opened its mouth and cautiously took a bite.

Shen Xi was stunned.

This person is actually teaching this little thing to eat?

Shadow chewed a couple of times, its scarlet eyes suddenly lighting up. It snatched the lunchbox from Bright Shadow's hand, and without caring whether it was hot or not, it devoured it in a flash. Braised pork, rice, and vegetables—it finished them off in a few bites. Then it picked up the glass of cola, took a huge gulp, the bubbles bursting in its mouth, and it froze, then let out a loud burp.

Mingying looked at it, reached out her big hand, and gently patted its head.

This time, Shadow did not dodge.

Shen Xi stood not far away, watching this scene.

"good."

He murmured, a hint of relief in his voice.

"This guy has finally stopped thinking about the corpse."