Don't move, it's a robbery!

After a chase and a run, I finally managed to get Little One and Reggie back to the first floor.

Although I suspected the zombies couldn't get to the first floor, to ensure safety, I immediately ran back to the first floor and shut down the mechanism, closing the tunnel between the first and second floors.

Even if that monster could turn stones into quicksand, it would still take him several days and nights to dig up such a long road, even if he had unlimited magic power to keep digging.

At this point, the situation for all of us was rather bad. Little One had finally managed to wake up, but then he was stabbed again and is now completely unable to move. Although Reggie is not seriously injured, she was originally just an ordinary little brat, and now she is a complete burden.

I wasn't much better off myself. Not only were my hands and feet injured, making me much less agile than before, but I also lost all my weapons.

Thankfully, that gorgeous zombie couldn't come up, otherwise I'd probably be dead today.

I collapsed to the ground and began to treat the injuries on my hands and feet.

Because of the pills, the wound healed too quickly, causing a small piece of skin to grow together with the charred clothes. I had to painfully remove it and then silently wait for the wound to recover.

It took a lot of effort to get all this done. After treating my injuries, I started thinking about what to do next.

Going down to confront that monster head-on was obviously not a good idea. Although I destroyed its smoke scepter, preventing it from using that wide-area explosion spell, it could still cast other spells, and the rings it wore on its hands did not seem to be ordinary items. I had been inexplicably controlled before.

Add to that his uncanny swordsmanship, and even in a contest of pure martial arts, I might not be able to secure a victory.

If we don't go down, the tomb's exit will definitely be locked, and we'll have to wait for Eve and Leos to rescue us. However, given their combined strength and Leos's easily captured nature, if they encounter an ambush, it's uncertain who will be the one to rescue whom.

Ah, you really have to rely on yourself to get by.

I composed myself, turned around and took stock of my belongings to see how much longer I could last.

There are still plenty of food pellets, but not much water left, and only a small half-bag of monster pills remains; the Rabbit Knife and the Three-Star Staff are both gone, the Desert Eagle Musket is still there, but I don't know how to use it.

Just then, I noticed that the sword hilt I had picked up earlier had also been brought up along with it.

"Tsk, the 'Tribute' greatsword, it just broke like that... Do you think this broken greatsword is still worth anything? If I sold it to Tina, how much would she pay me?"

Neither Little Dot nor Reggie answered. I turned around and realized they had fallen asleep.

"Alright, go to sleep then. It's good to recover some energy."

I found an open space and lay down to rest.

Before I could even close my eyes, "West Copper" suddenly popped out again, looking extremely excited.

(ง•̀ȏ•́)ง: "I get it! That's why 'tribute' couldn't be used before! Someone tampered with its system!"

"What?"

(ง•̀ȏ•́)ง: "Don't just stand there! Go check out the altar. There should still be quite a few clues. Maybe I can even restore it!"

I was a little confused, but I still followed 'West Copper's' instructions and came to the vicinity of the altar.

The altar was already covered in blood and dust. Looking at the vein-like patterns on it, I felt uncomfortable again and wanted to smash it completely, but 'West Copper' stopped me and asked me to take it to examine the patterns on it carefully.

It was then that I noticed that the patterns engraved on this altar were very similar to those I had seen at the bottom of the pool in the main burial chamber. They all had many strange characters on them. Although I couldn't understand what they meant, I was certain that they were the same kind of script.

The only difference is that the patterns at the bottom of the pool are recessed on a flat surface, while the patterns on the altar are raised. However, if you only look at the lines, they are actually the same lines.

"What is this? Is it some kind of special magic circle?"

(•ิ_•ิ): "No, these are programming diagrams."

"Huh? What's that?"

(•ิ_•ิ): "You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you, just think of it as a magic circle. The person who designed this thing is pretty clever, they actually found a way to tamper with the system's functions."

Next, "West Copper" started using some strange terms, such as permission separation, processor control, bypassing administrator permission restrictions, independent operation control, and so on, all of which were difficult to understand.

These words seemed to be directed at me, yet also seemed to be talking to myself, leaving me somewhat confused and unable to understand what they were saying at all.

Seemingly noticing my dissatisfaction, "West Copper" surprisingly began to explain its meaning to me.

According to Xi Tong, "tribute" was not an ordinary treasure.

Like "Western Copper," it can grant people special powers by signing a contract with them. However, "tribute" is a level lower than "Western Copper." Although both can grant people special abilities, "Western Copper" can directly turn people into contractors, while "tribute" can only turn people into contractors' followers.

Attendants, attendants—if there were no master, where would attendants come from?

Although it possesses powerful functions, "tribute" cannot function independently. Without contractors or the main system, it is a completely useless piece of junk.

For example, if I sign a contract with 'West Copper', then 'West Copper' can directly grant me power. And at this time, if Tina also receives 'tribute', then Tina can also immediately obtain a special contract.

However, Tina's contract was not signed with "tribute", but rather with me through "tribute".

I can gain power from "West Copper" by completing "West Copper" tasks, and similarly, Tina can gain power from "Tribute" by completing "Tribute" tasks.

However, I am responsible for providing the tasks and rewards for the tribute mission.

When 'West Copper' gives me a mission, I can transfer the mission and a portion of the reward to 'Tribute', and then 'Tribute' can give Tina a mission. Once Tina completes the mission, she will receive the reward, and 'West Copper' will also mark me as having completed the mission.

In other words, I don't need to do anything; I only need to pay a small portion of the compensation to directly enjoy Tina's hard work for free.

It's so dark! It's fucking dark!

But that's not all; "tribute" also has an even more special function.

If a contractor fails to complete the mission of "Western Copper", "Western Copper" can directly eliminate the contractor, and "tribute" has a similar function.

If the follower is unable to complete the task issued by "tribute", some attributes such as lifespan, magic power, and luck will be deducted, and then "tribute" will transfer all the deducted items to the contractor.

In other words, contractors can force their followers to pay tribute by issuing tasks that are impossible to complete.

If the previous function was merely exploitation and oppression, then this next function is basically equivalent to outright robbery. Moreover, while it could be outright robbery, it adds a precondition, which is truly infuriating.

This kind of setting, which sounds unreasonable, will naturally cause dissatisfaction among others, which is probably why some people want to tamper with the function.

Thinking about this, my gaze toward the altar became somewhat complicated.

The mysterious figure who attempted to secretly tamper with the "tribute" function is, without a doubt, an ancestor of the Kadir family. This also explains why that magnificent mummified corpse was so powerful.

It turns out he had once been a hero's follower.

Although it's unknown how he obtained the "tribute" greatsword, or why he left the hero to establish a city in the remote and impoverished Linde City, he must have been an extraordinary person.

Perhaps he couldn't stand the oppression of "tribute" and the heroes, which is why he tried to modify the "tribute" function.

However, the method of sacrificing children still makes me feel very uncomfortable.

"By the way, since the function of 'tribute' has been altered, what is its effect now? Does it mean that the ability can be activated without a contractor? Or has the autonomy of the followers been adjusted so that their attributes won't be arbitrarily deducted?"

( ˶'ᵕ'˶): "How could that be? Deleting an existing function would destroy it. Here, we've added a function that allows an ordinary person to become a follower of a contractor's follower. The function is basically copied from the original ability of 'Tribute'."

"What?"

( ˶'ᵕ'˶): "Previously only contractors could exploit their followers, but now followers can also exploit their followers!"

Damn! Why is there another layer of outsourcing now?

After hearing about the power of "tribute", I initially felt some sympathy and recognition for the ancestor of the Kadir family, thinking that he, like me, was a warrior against oppression. But it turns out that this guy never even thought about resisting exploitation, and was even preparing to exploit others together. I was so angry that I wanted to smash the altar with a stick.

Unfortunately, I lost my stick.

(；￢_￢): "You still look down on others? Aren't you a robber yourself? You dare to resist oppression? You have no shame."

"I don't care! I'm furious right now, and I've made up my mind. I'm going to fight him for it no matter what! Otherwise, I won't be able to swallow this!"

(；￢_￢): "They've been dead for a hundred years. Besides, you can't even beat their zombies. Didn't you get utterly thrashed before? What are you going to use to steal from them?"

"It's not a big problem. I wasn't very confident at first, but after hearing what you said, I suddenly have an idea."