Absolute Death Game

"How about everyone just ROLL for it?" Xiao Buli suggested casually, glancing at Wu Tao after speaking.

Wu Tao didn't catch on at first, but then a lightbulb went off, and he remembered something.

Back when they were mixing in the studio, to drive guild development, the upper echelons often led teams through instances. Not only could guild members join, but some solo players also had the chance to participate.

But when coveted loot dropped and conflicts arose with other team members, or when good equipment was already owned and seemed a waste to give to others, deciding on the distribution method became an issue. Making a forceful decision would undoubtedly cause bad blood, so back then, Qingyang Studio came up with a special code.

Generally, if the team leader wanted to auction the loot for Gold Coins, they'd often say, "How about everyone just ROLL for it?"

At this point, other core members mixed in the team would chime in, "ROLL what? Who could ROLL higher than you? Let's auction it for Gold Coins instead."

People have an inherent subconscious contempt for authority and mistrust of leaders, so usually, there would be a clamor, "Yeah, why ROLL? Let's auction it for Gold Coins." The outcome often ended up being an auction for equipment distribution.

Conversely, if the team leader wanted to ROLL, they'd often say, "How about we auction it for Gold Coins?"

Then, the core members in the team would join in, "Auction what? Do you think you're great because you have money? Let's ROLL for it, it's fairer."

The uninformed masses also tended to support the challenger of authority, and in the end, ROLLing was often the chosen method for distributing loot.

By using this tactic, Xiao Buli always maximized his benefits, whether it was getting the equipment he wanted or the Gold Coins he desired, without making the team members feel treated unfairly.

The moment he said this, he immediately gave Wu Tao a meaningful look, Wu Tao thought, here we go again with this trick? But it didn't seem quite ethical to play mind games with the team. After pondering a bit, he decided, what the heck.

"ROLL for what? I think we should auction it for Gold Coins, save us the imbalance of someone ROLLing away with it, and with an auction, everyone gets a share, right?"

Hearing this, Yaoyao immediately supported it, Liu Xing shrugged indifferently while Bai Yunfei thought for a moment and then agreed with a nod.

Xiao Buli amicably said, "Then let's set the starting bid at 50 silver coins, how about that?"

"Sure, I bid 60 silver coins," Bai Yunfei offered.

"I bid 70 silver coins."

"I bid one Gold Coin."

"I bid three Gold Coins," Xiao Buli shouted out a startling bid.

What!? Everyone was stunned, thinking that guy must really be loaded.

"What's the matter?" Xiao Buli looked at everyone with a determined expression.

"You have money, you're impressive." Seeing Xiao Buli's arrogance, everyone chose to give up because the three Gold Coins to be divided among five people (including Xiao Buli), meant that in reality he only needed to pay two Gold Coins and forty silver coins.

Xiao Buli traded sixty silver coins to each person, then pocketed the Tomb Raider's Talisman. Of all attributes, Xiao Buli had an extraordinarily deep impression of Luck Value.

After equipping the new item, the mini-map indeed showed a treasure chest mark—it was the one previously guarded by Wang Kaiguan.

"Yaoyao, you open it."

Yaoyao nodded, went up to the chest, and started picking the lock. The chest wasn't difficult to open, and soon with a click, it swung open to reveal a book inside.

War God Atlas: This is a book on ancient military philosophy, detailing many military principles of marching and waging war.

This item was indeed strange, neither a Skill Book nor a scholarly book, completely unlearnable, but could still be browsed through.

Xiao Buli took a look and found it was all in classical language, utterly confusing to read.

"Does anyone want this?" Xiao Buli asked. This time, he skipped the auction, and nobody chimed in.

Xiao Buli said, "If no one wants it, I'll just take it."

No one wanted the item, so like Wang Kaiguan's Grave-Digging Shovel, it ended up in Xiao Buli's bag.

The group returned to the side path of the tomb and continued advancing, quickly reaching the last boss's room.

The large tomb chamber, resembling a winery, was lined with six large vats. A strange man in a tattered, grey-black magical robe was incessantly pouring various suspiciously colored liquids into the vats. It felt like something out of a mad scientist's lab. The vats were filled with green liquid, seemingly soaking something within. Experience more on empire

Sensing someone's arrival, the strange man turned his head.

Corpse Refiner Geng Lisong said, "Let me tell you some good news. I've just invented a miraculous potion that can turn ordinary zombies into fearsome mutant undead behemoths. Aren't you excited? Hahaha, don't worry, you'll soon witness the magic of this potion."

After saying his piece, he dashed out. Bang! A giant stone sealed both entrances to the tomb chamber. At the same time, a countdown with numbers 60, 59 appeared on the top right corner of the screen.

What is happening? Everyone was stunned, but Xiao Buli immediately began analyzing the boss battle.

(Clearly, this is a timed boss battle, and these 60 seconds were probably our prep time. If we don't use it wisely, we might face the worst-case scenario after 60 seconds.)

He hovered the mouse over the vats, each displaying a durability value, clearly indicating they could be broken. His mind raced, and within three to five seconds, Xiao Buli already had a tentative plan.

"Everyone, go to the vat closest to us and burst it open! Remember, don't touch the other vats."

Hearing Xiao Buli's urgent tone, although still unclear about the situation, everyone gathered around and desperately started smashing the vat. In barely a couple of seconds, they burst it open, and Xiao Buli also immediately summoned his Talisman Soldier.

A large amount of liquid splashed out of the vat, along with a greenish zombie.

This zombie was a common elite with a light-blue name, 'Poison Corpse — Mutant Zombie.'

Almost instinctively, everyone lashed out vehemently at the Poison Corpse. Its attack was average, but it carried a potent toxin. Upon being hit, it immediately released a green poisonous mist, causing everyone nearby to lose health points. Xiao Buli had to cast Resurrection Skills on several people. Luckily, it was just a common elite, and in less than ten seconds, it was slain.

However, Xiao Buli felt no relief, his mood even more somber. "Attack the second vat, fast! Fast!"

Two seconds later, bang—the second vat also burst, releasing another zombie.

But this time, the zombie was drenched in a bloody crimson color. Checking the name, 'Blood Corpse — Mutant Zombie.'

"Everyone, give it your all, don't hold back!" Xiao Buli shouted as he too started throwing Burst Talismans. The zombie was not very strong in attack, but it had a formidable regenerative ability, and it took more than ten seconds to kill it.

By now, everyone had grasped the situation. It was evident that all six vats contained these creatures. Once the 60 seconds ended, they would all burst out together. The more they could eliminate before time ran out, the less pressure they would face later.

The third vat exploded to reveal a zombie entirely black.

'Iron Corpse — Mutant Zombie,' this zombie was characterized by extremely high defense, sometimes not losing any health points from a hit. Xiao Buli hurriedly applied Fire Blade Skills, which finally killed it.

There was no need for Xiao Buli to call out for the attack on the fourth vat, everyone instinctively lunged at it.

What came out this time was a 'Failed Experiment' with virtually no fighting power; it was almost instantly slain.

However, the 60 seconds eventually ran out. Bang! The last two vats exploded at the same time, and two zombies, one dark green and the other dark grey, distinctly different in color, appeared before everyone.

'Explosive Poison Corpse — Mutant Zombie,' 'Yin Corpse — Mutant Zombie.'

"Wu Tao, tank the Explosive Poison Corpse. Liu Xing, take on the Yin Corpse. Kill the one Liu Xing is dealing with first. Wu Tao, go easy on the hitting; the Explosive Poison Corpse should self-destruct before its death," Xiao Buli commanded.

These two zombies were arguably easier to handle than the black and white disasters. The Yin Corpse was quickly eliminated, and the Explosive Poison Corpse had lost a third of its health points when Xiao Buli instructed the Talisman Soldier to tank, and he asked everyone to move away from the creature to launch long-range attacks.

When only a third of its health remained, the Explosive Poison Corpse swelled up as anticipated, bursting with a boom, turning the Talisman Soldier into a cloud of ash, leaving a pile of obscure green flesh on the ground.

The battle ended. Looking at the mess on the ground, Xiao Buli breathed a sigh of relief, glad that nothing had gone awry.