Upon hearing Ye Qi's words, Xiao Lou's face turned deathly pale.
Although Shao Qingge disliked Cheng Ziyang, he could sense it. After everyone learned that Cheng Ziyang had betrayed Ye Qi, they didn't have a good impression of him. However, given CEO Shao's personality, he wouldn't be so ruthless as to kill someone directly.
But just now, Shao Qingge actually used Hairdryer to throw Cheng Ziyang into the raging fire?!
Cheng Ziyang would definitely be burned to ashes. Shao Qingge's treatment of Cheng Ziyang was definitely suspicious, coupled with Xue Qing's screams... It turned out that the four of them were ambushed by the Zerg while they were up there, and CEO Shao was even infected!
At this moment, the college students from the Distant Place Association were still following behind. If they knew that Shao Qingge had been infected, they might take action against CEO Shao. They absolutely could not show it and let them know about this.
Xiao Lou immediately composed himself and used the Telepathic Connection to tell Yu Hanjiang the bad news.
Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly, walked up to Ye Qi, and asked in a low voice, "What's going on?"
Ye Qi's nose stung with tears. He lowered his head, forcing back his tears, and said in a trembling voice, "Just now, two Zerg sneaked onto the roof from the side, escaping Li Qingzhao's control. They suddenly attacked from behind. I didn't notice, and CEO Shao was scratched by the Zerg while protecting me..."
Yu Hanjiang said, " Was Cheng Ziyang also infected? That's why CEO Shao threw him into the fire?"
Ye Qi shook his head: "No, when Cheng Ziyang was ambushed, he pulled Xue Qing in front of him to shield her, which caused Xue Qing to be infected."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance—from Ye Qi's description, the two could imagine the situation at the time. Both were ambushed by the Zerg, but Cheng Ziyang chose to pull his teammates to take the hits, while Shao Qingge chose to risk his life to protect his teammates.
These are two completely different approaches.
A person's subconscious reaction in a crisis is enough to reveal their character.
They were right to trust Shao Qingge. Don't let CEO Shao's usual lazy demeanor fool you. When he's in the city, he sleeps in every day, treats the heart room like a vacation, and always talks about how easy it is to win without lifting a finger, and he's always joking around with them...
But at the crucial moment, this man's courage impressed even Xiao Lou!
Seeing Ye Qi's pale face, Xiao Lou gently pressed his shoulder and said softly, "Don't blame yourself too much. Protecting you was his own choice. You can't be entirely blamed. If you were infected, everyone would be just as sad."
Ye Qi kept his head down and didn't say anything.
Xiao Lou continued, "Besides, being infected isn't hopeless. Didn't Captain Yu analyze it before? The A-grade secret room resets the data. The injuries Challenger sustained in the secret room will be automatically cleared. As long as we protect CEO Shao and don't let him die, and we get him through the game, he will recover and become the unharmed CEO Shao he was before when we returned to the main city."
Ye Qi nodded gently: "Mm..."
Xiao Lou asked, "Can you still sense CEO Shao's signal? Using Telepathic Connection."
Ye Qi tentatively asked Shao Qingge in his mind, " CEO Shao, can you hear me?"
Shao Qingge's laughing voice echoed in my mind: "I can hear you. I haven't mutated, and I don't seem to feel anything special. Maybe the Zerg are still adapting to my body?"
Ye Qi told Xiao Lou the results.
Xiao Lou breathed a slight sigh of relief. After being infected, it would take some time for the mutation to fully occur. The patients he had seen at the hospital were the same; they were normal at first, but after mutating, they would uncontrollably attack humans. Of course, those that went out of control were probably lower-level Zerg; the smarter ones would even disguise themselves and launch sneak attacks.
Qin Guan's " Telepathic Connection " connects the spiritual worlds of two people, allowing them to communicate spiritually, rather than superficially. Therefore, CEO Shao at this moment is definitely not pretending; he still possesses his own consciousness.
Not knowing when he mutated, Xiao Lou thought for a moment and whispered to Ye Qi, "You and CEO Shao use the Telepathic Connection channel to keep in constant communication. If the communication channel is suddenly cut off, it means his consciousness has been controlled by the Zerg. At that time, you immediately use the flute to control him. We only have 5 minutes in this underground passage. There are still Zerg outside. We can't let them catch up. Let's leave the passage first."
Yu Hanjiang agreed with Xiao Lou's opinion, saying, "Insects can burrow underground. We've blocked the back and side paths, but if they burrow down from above, we'll be surrounded. So, let's leave the secret passage first, and then we can figure out how to deal with CEO Shao. He shouldn't lose consciousness in 5 minutes."
Ye Qi nodded vigorously.
The three walked and spoke in hushed tones. Shao Qingge could sense the conversation between Ye Qi, Xiao Lou, and Yu Hanjiang at any time, and he replied, "The bigger picture is more important. Let's get out of the secret passage first. I should be able to hold on for a few more minutes."
Just then, Gao Xiaoyi from the Distant Place Association suddenly walked over, his face pale, and asked, "Sir, what exactly happened just now? Why did you throw our captain into the fire with the Hairdryer?"
The boy with glasses added, "The fire was so big, Cheng Ziyang would have been burned to ashes if he'd been thrown in. What grudge do you have against him to do this? And where's Xue Qing? She was screaming just now, why didn't she come down?"
It's normal for these people to have problems.
After all, they had witnessed Shao Qingge blowing Cheng Ziyang into the fire, so they must have been both angry and confused.
Ye Qi's face turned pale. Just as he was about to explain, he heard a voice beside him that sounded like a half-smile: "The plot is a bit complicated. Let's hurry up and go. We can talk as we go."
After all, the Zerg army is still behind, now
This is not the time to stop and argue.
Gao Xiaoyi nodded, signaling her teammates to follow, and they talked as they walked.
Shao Qingge said, "Back in the Spade 3 secret room, our Xiao Ye was soloing, and your captain Cheng Ziyang was also soloing. The two of them were matched together and became temporary teammates. But after most of the supplies were stolen, your Captain Cheng actually abandoned Xiao Ye and ran away."
At this point, Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze becoming incredibly sharp: "Because of his betrayal, Xiao Ye was eliminated from the Spade 3 secret room and went to the Nightmare Secret Room to eat tree leaves for 14 days. You can imagine for yourselves how difficult it was for him to return from the Nightmare Secret Room."
Upon hearing this story, everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
Everyone has experienced the Spade 3 secret room. Looking back now, Financial Crisis, while not particularly difficult, is not easy either. If supplies are stolen, it can be very troublesome, especially if teammates run away with the supplies—this is tantamount to cutting off supplies and causing others to be eliminated!
Gao Xiaoyi and the others obviously couldn't believe it either. How could their usually sunny and handsome captain be like this?
Is it really true that you can know a person's face but not their heart?
Gao Xiaoyi frowned slightly: "That's your subjective statement, we can't completely believe it... Besides, even if what you said is true, he wronged Xiao Ye in the past, he could have made amends in other ways, why did he have to kill her?"
Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow: "What if he also killed someone?"
Gao Xiaoyi was slightly taken aback. Recalling Xue Qing's screams just now, a chill ran through her: "Could it be... Xue Qing?"
Shao Qingge smiled faintly: "Selling out teammates is either a one-time thing or a never-ending series of times. Do you understand what I mean?"
Everyone understood. A person who betrays their teammates will do it again and again, because the instinct for survival will make them only think of themselves. What do teammates matter compared to life?
Those who would never betray their teammates will stand by them even in life-or-death situations, willing to share the burden and die together.
Just like domestic violence either happens zero times or countless times, a man who doesn't commit domestic violence will never hit his wife, but a man who does commit domestic violence, once he does it, even if he kneels down and apologizes, he will not be able to control himself and will do it a second time.
Shao Qingge's meaning is very clear: Cheng Ziyang sold Ye Qi in Spade 3 before, and just now he used the same trick to sell Xue Qing, and even caused Xue Qing's death... Blood debts must be repaid with blood, and he should pay with his life!
Ye Qi felt even more upset when CEO Shao explained the reasons to everyone with clear logic.
He wondered how long CEO Shao could maintain this state of mind.
Ye Qi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He stepped forward and explained softly, "Just now, the four of us were ambushed by the Zerg outside. When your captain, Cheng Ziyang, realized he was being attacked, he immediately pulled Xue Qing in front of him to shield her, causing Xue Qing to be infected by the Zerg. Xue Qing said she didn't want to be a puppet of the Zerg, nor did she want to implicate you after being infected, so she rode her scooter into the fire and committed suicide."
Ye Qi really admires this girl's courage, and the other teammates were also shocked when they heard it.
The members of the Distant Place Association looked increasingly grim upon hearing this. The young man adjusted his glasses and said in a deep voice, "No wonder we heard Xue Qing's screams earlier. How could Cheng Ziyang do this..."
A girl next to Xue Qing, who was close to her, looked furious. She clenched her fist and said, " Cheng Ziyang didn't have many self-defense cards. He must have only thought about his own survival at the critical moment, which is why he harmed Xue Qing! If he hadn't done that and had notified me, I might have been able to save them in time. Poor Xue Qing..." By the end, the girl's voice was choked with sobs.
Ye Qi handed the card holder to Gao Xiaoyi, saying, "This is Xue Qing's card holder; she asked me to give it to you."
The girl's fingers trembled as she took the card holder.
Just then, Gao Xiaoyi's expression suddenly changed: " Cheng Ziyang, he..."
Everyone turned to look at her. Gao Xiaoyi was silent for three seconds, then lowered her voice and said, "He's dead."
The boy next to her paused for a moment, then asked, "Was the contract book handed over?"
Gao Xiaoyi nodded: "Yes, we all signed Cheng Ziyang's contract book. According to the rules of the contract book, if the team leader dies in the secret room, the position will be passed on to the second person who signs the contract. I have known him the longest and was the second person to sign the contract. Now, on the contract book, I am the team leader. I just saw the notification that the team leader handed over in the floating window."
She took out a high-end contract book and showed it to her teammates.
Sure enough, Cheng Ziyang's name was no longer on the list, and Xue Qing's name had also disappeared.
The deaths of their two teammates were clearly a heavy blow to their team, and everyone remained silent with pale faces.
Xiao Lou sighed softly and comforted her, " Keeping someone like Cheng Ziyang around is the most unsafe thing. If you get to the S-level secret chamber, what if he sells you all out of a desire to survive? He doesn't deserve to die, it's just a pity that Xue Qing was innocently implicated."
Gao Xiaoyi quickly calmed down and turned to her teammates: "There's no time to be sad. I'll keep Xue Qing's card for now. Now that I'm the captain, it's my responsibility to lead everyone through this secret room—cheer up and let's go! There's a huge horde of Zerg waiting for us outside. Nobody wants to go out and feed the bugs, right?!"
Hearing her words, the group regained some of their spirits and quickened their pace.
Gao Xiaoyi walked up to Ye Qi and said, "Thank you."
Ye Qi said, "No need."
Gao Xiaoyi was silent for a moment before saying, " Cheng Ziyang's betrayal of you... I was just a teammate of his, and I have no right to apologize on his behalf."
However, the fact that you were able to emerge from the Nightmare Secret Room shows that you are very capable, and you will definitely have good luck in the future.
Ye Qi: "..."
What good luck? He even caused CEO Shao to get bitten by the Zerg.
Ye Qi forced a smile at her and continued walking forward, communicating with Shao Qingge in their mental world. Suddenly, Shao Qingge said in her mind, "I'll also entrust my card holder to you for safekeeping. I don't have many useful cards, but I feel more at ease leaving them with you."
Ye Qi nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take care of it for you..."
CEO Shao's cards are indeed not very useful. Cards like ATM, Stock Curve, and Rich and Willful have no offensive power and cannot be controlled. The most useful card, " Rich and Willful," costs 5 million gold coins to copy. He himself has never drawn any offensive cards, which is why he did not use cards in critical moments but instead used his body pillar Ye Qi to protect himself.
Ye Qi couldn't help but say, "I'll give you all the chances to participate in the lottery from now on. I'm never participating again."
Shao Qingge chuckled and said, "No, what if I draw a bank or fund again? That would be all show and no substance."
Ye Qi: "You still have the mood to joke..."
Shao Qingge patted Ye Qi on the shoulder and said, "Don't be nervous. I'm just being parasitized, not dead. I'll be back to normal as long as you clear the level."
Ye Qi could only mumble a "hmm".
The two chatted as they walked, and five minutes passed quickly. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the exit of the passage.
Thanks to Yu Hanjiang's repeated surveys of the underground passage and the fact that the surrounding side paths were blocked by solid marble walls, everyone proceeded smoothly. Xiao Lou had activated the drone function, constantly monitoring the exit's movements on the card. At this moment, the exit was extremely quiet; not even the sound of any small animals could be heard.
Xiao Lou nodded to Yu Hanjiang to indicate that it was safe outside. Yu Hanjiang immediately used his Lightness Skill to fly up, forcefully lifting the snow-covered manhole cover with both arms, and said, "Get on, everyone!"
Those with flight or jump cards quickly went up, while Ye Qi and CEO Shao were pulled up by Yu Hanjiang using a white silk card.
Yu Hanjiang covered the manhole with the manhole cover and glanced around.
It was already late at night, and the surroundings were pitch black. All the buildings in the distance were dark, and the streetlights were all off. The group could only observe their surroundings by the light from the lantern in Xiao Lou's hand.
Yu Hanjiang remembered that the streetlights were still on when he came to scout the area last time. He frowned and said, "The Zerg may have damaged the city's electrical system. Without streetlights at night, we will have even more difficulty moving around."
Xiao Lou agreed, saying, "They are indeed very agile at night, so their night vision must be very strong."
He looked at Gao Xiaoyi and said gently, "Everyone, this is all I can do to help you."
Gao Xiaoyi was taken aback, but quickly understood what the other person meant.
—The underground tunnel was dug by the other side, and the gasoline barrels were prepared by them. They only eliminated some of the Zerg that emerged from underground. It can be said that the people who followed this team benefited from the situation and were able to escape smoothly.
Xiao Lou wasn't obligated to take them with him during the evacuation, but he did anyway.
Given Cheng Ziyang's betrayal, Gao Xiaoyi was too ashamed to continue following Xiao Lou. She simply nodded and said, "Okay, the rest of us will leave immediately. Also..."
She took out Xue Qing's card holder, handed a [Ethanol] card to Xiao Lou, and said earnestly, "This card is for you as a token of my gratitude. Thank you for leading everyone to safety and for avenging Xue Qing. I think Xue Qing would be happy to give you this card."
Xiao Lou took it and saw that it was an S-grade ethanol reagent card, capable of continuously producing ethanol, with a time limit of 30 minutes per batch, and a maximum production of 100 bottles. The ethanol concentration was higher than that of commercially available alcohol, making it more likely to cause a fire.
In the Zerg's fire-fearing chamber, this card that constantly produces the chemical "ethanol" is definitely one of the most useful cards, and this girl actually gave it away.
Xiao Lou said, "Give us this card, and what about you?"
The boy with glasses next to me said, "I can use electricity to start a fire and seal off an area, so the ethanol card won't have a big impact on us. Since Senior Sister Gao gave it to you, you should accept it. Thank you for helping us survive."
He was a top student in physics, and the cards he drew were all related to electricity, optics, and magnetic fields. One of them was a circuit card that could instantly release a large number of wires to form a closed circuit, control the current in the area, and cause the wires to short-circuit at any time, causing a fire. People paralyzed by his electricity couldn't escape, and it was actually more effective than splashing alcohol.
Gao Xiaoyi said, "Don't worry, we still have some cards. We'll avoid the Zerg from now on. We were too careless tonight. We shouldn't have killed the vanguard so quickly. We didn't expect the vanguard to be a suicide squad, reporting to the main army."
Xiao Lou also didn't expect that if he hadn't dealt with the vanguard so quickly, the Zerg army might not have come knocking on his door so soon.
He gave Gao Xiaoyi an approving look and said, "Good luck to you."
Gao Xiaoyi thanked Xiao Lou and then led everyone away.
She gave the [Ethanol Brand] to Xiao Lou because she didn't want to owe Xiao Lou's team a favor. After all, Captain Cheng Ziyang had harmed Xiao Ye, and it was truly rare that everyone was still willing to take them away. If they hadn't been taken along, they would have been overwhelmed by the Zerg horde long ago.
Watching Gao Xiaoyi's departing figure, Xiao Lou thought to himself that this female captain was more decisive than Cheng Ziyang. With the Distant Place Association team's strength, without a teammate like Cheng Ziyang who might stab them in the back at any moment, they would have an easier time clearing the level. Xiao Lou really didn't dare keep them around any longer, especially since CEO Shao had been infected, which was a concern for the distant...
He didn't know the people in the Fang Association, so he couldn't take any more risks.
Only after everyone had walked away did Xiao Lou turn around and look at them, saying, "I have bad news."
Liu Qiao, Lao Mo, and the others immediately gathered around, their ears perked up.
Xiao Lou whispered, " CEO Shao has been infected."
Everyone's expression changed, and they all turned to look at Shao Qingge.
Shao Qingge sighed and rubbed his forehead: "Don't be afraid, I don't want to bite you right now."
People weren't afraid; their eyes were filled with concern, not disdain or disgust. This warmed Shao Qingge's heart. At that moment, he was absolutely certain that even if he were infected, his teammates wouldn't abandon him.
Xiao Lou said, " CEO Shao hasn't lost consciousness yet, but we need to prepare in advance. Everyone needs to prevent CEO Shao from being controlled by the Zerg and continuing to disguise himself and ambush us. At the same time, we also need to protect CEO Shao from being summoned away by other Zerg or fused with him."
Upon hearing this, Shao Qingge couldn't help but joke, "You can treat me as a test subject for the Zerg and study me carefully to see the process of Zerg mutation. Maybe you'll make new discoveries and be more adept at dealing with the Zerg in the future."
Hearing his relaxed tone, everyone felt a little uncomfortable.
No one wants to be infected. Shao Qingge is indeed optimistic; he wasn't panicked or afraid at all about something so serious...
Xiao Lou turned to look at Shao Qingge and said earnestly, " CEO Shao, don't worry, we will do our best to help you pass the level."
Shao Qingge chuckled: "Yes, I believe in everyone's abilities, so you don't need to feel sorry for me."
Xiao Lou said, "The problem is that we can't keep such a big person like CEO Shao under our control all the time, and we don't know when he might mutate. So... I've thought of a solution. I wonder if CEO Shao would be willing to cooperate?"
Shao Qingge said with a smile, "I'll listen to Professor Xiao. What's a good idea?"
Xiao Lou coughed lightly, touched his nose, and said, "I'll shrink you."
******