Thanks to GreenKiTea for the kofis, enjoy the bonus chapters!

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On the second day of the zombie tide, while everyone was scrambling to cope with the dire conditions, the Peace District Mall quietly restocked food supplies.

To preserve chili and bamboo shoot seeds, Jian Xingyi planted them on his double-yield Grade A farmland. Combined with the harvest from the lava volcano zone, he sold 102 jars of pickled bamboo shoots priced at 1,000 dawn coins each and 46 jars priced at 2,500 dawn coins each.

On his two remaining Grade A plots, Jian Xingyi planted lychees on one and watermelons on the other. These seeds were essential for maintaining his current crop rotation. Consequently, he also sold 30 watermelons at 3000 dawn coins each. However, during this zombie surge period, aside from staple foods, few would need watermelons for dungeon runs. Thus, he cultivated only one plot.

The remaining B-grade plots contained one lychee tree, three feed plots, and the rest were potatoes.

Jian Xingyi didn’t sell all the potatoes. After preparing potato and pork stir-fry meal boxes, he stored the 160 boxes from Grapevine Peak and listed the remaining 40 boxes at his standard price of 2,500 dawn coins each.

In fact, Jian Xingyi still had 80 boxes of stir-fried potatoes and meat unsold in his backpack—these were reserved as backup rations for his own guild.

After listing all these items, Jian Xingyi noticed sales had stalled.

If everything sold out, he could have earned 407,000 coins, but now he’d only made under 150,000.

Jian Xingyi thought about it. Well, that made sense.

102 cans of mixed radish, 46 cans of spicy bamboo shoots, 30 watermelons, 40 boxes of stir-fried potatoes and pork…

Not an overwhelming amount, yet hardly insignificant either.

But Jian Xingyi had listed even more goods just the day before, and those had sold out almost instantly. Back then, everyone was stockpiling food for the zombie tide. Now, with the tide already underway, people would only spend money at the zombie tide mall if they were literally starving.

The listing intervals were too short, and the timing was off.

But once items were listed, they couldn’t be returned.

Though returns weren’t possible, he could adjust the item settings—like… changing the target region.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, the time had finally come. He really did need to shift his buying and selling to the Lava Volcano Zone. He had no idea what the situation was like over at Liehuo’s end, but even if Liehuo wasn’t willing to pay the 5x commission fee, Jian Xingyi didn’t care anymore.

After all, Jian Xingyi hadn’t really cared about customers from the Lava Volcano Zone before; he’d only been trying to win them over. But now, he genuinely needed them.

Jian Xingyi unblocked Liehuo from his strangers list, only to discover Liehuo had been messaging him.

Liehuo: 【Big shot, after thinking it over, we figured five times is actually okay… Big shot, cut us some slack. Let’s bury the hatchet, forget all past unpleasantness, and start fresh!】

Liehuo: 【Big shot?】

…

Lihuo: 【Are you there?】

Jian Xingyi replied.

Xinghe: 【Sorry, I missed your message. No problem! I’ll list it now and set the transaction fee to be paid by you. Is that okay?】

Moments later, Jian Xingyi received a reply.

Liehuo: 【Great! I’ll be waiting! Deal: Wildfire Guild covers your first three transaction fees. Just don’t forget our server when you trade later! Let bygones be bygones—how about it?】

Xinghe: 【Agreed. Let bygones be bygones.】

Jian Xingyi hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly.

Hadn’t Liehuo been reluctant earlier? Why was he suddenly so accommodating? And he seemed genuinely sincere. Regardless, this was a positive development. Jian Xingyi smiled as she adjusted the settings.

What Jian Xingyi didn’t know was that over the past few days, players in the Lava Volcano region had clashed with the Guild Administrators of the Wildfire Scorching Plains Guild, creating a tense atmosphere.

The Guild Administrators argued why they should pay such exorbitant fees for no apparent reason, while the players accused the guild of selfishness. The trouble had been stirred up by the Guild Administrator, Qingtian. It was the Wildfire Guild that had offended Jian Xingyi, preventing their zone from obtaining his goods, yet the guild refused to clean up the mess.

【So you think having high combat power and 20% of Xinghe’s food means you can just ignore us? Selfish!】

The Guild Administrators had initially only sided with Liehuo, but the argument only fueled their anger and frustration. They felt the players in the Lava Volcano Zone were equally selfish—only seeking personal gain without caring about the interests of those footing the bill.

People are selfish.

Once Liehuo calmed down, he found the whole situation laughable.

To have things escalate this far over Qingtian, or even some obscure Sisi, was truly ridiculous.

Was it really necessary? It was just a handling fee—consider it a lesson learned. Why push things to such an impasse with the bigwigs of Xinghe over money and resources? It was simply not worth it!

Therefore, Liehuo now only wanted to resolve this farce.

No matter how high Jian Xingyi’s price was, he was willing to pay it.

At worst, he’d cover it from his personal account, not touch the guild’s funds. After all, they were the tenth-ranked guild—they couldn’t be that broke!

Meanwhile, after Jian Xingyi adjusted the permissions, the remaining 257,000 units of goods were released into the Lava Volcano Zone.

The system fee was 30% of the total goods value. Liehuo originally only needed to pay 77,000, but he voluntarily added five times that amount, bringing the total to 385,000.

Seeing the final sum, Jian Xingyi couldn’t help but sigh.

Grapevine Peak had placed an order worth 800,000 in one go. After a long tug-of-war with Wildfire, he finally reached a conclusion.

Though Grapevine Peak’s financial strength was incomparable to begin with, and there were still two more transaction fees to cover, Blaze had previously given Jian Xingyi the distinct impression of being an exceptionally difficult client to deal with.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself: For the next two food listings in the Lava Volcano Zone, he had to make a big splash and squeeze out two more hefty fees!

Likewise, Liehuo likely wanted to demonstrate sincerity. During this critical period, he not only paid promptly but also rounded up Jian Xingyi’s transaction fee to 600,000 yuan.

Jian Xingyi received the payment… 600,000 in fees!

Simultaneously, Liehuo posted an announcement in the Lava Volcano Zone channel. He first apologized to the zone’s players and Jian Xingyi, then clarified that he had privately settled Jian Xingyi’s fees, thereby calming the anger of both players and guild members.

Only then did Jian Xingyi’s items appear on the Lava Volcano Zone’s trading channel.

【Finally…! I’ve waited for this day!】

【Peace Mountain players are stockpiling goods for the zombie tide, while I’m starving! Praise Guild President Liehuo’s foresight!】

The listed items… sold out instantly.

After completing transactions in both regions, Jian Xingyi netted a total of 1,007,000 dawn coins!

Everyone thought that was the end of it. Little did they know, minutes later, an outrageous item appeared in the Peace Mountain region, sending a small shockwave through the community.

—Lychees were listed!

—A full 64 pieces, priced at 15,000 coins each.

Fifteen thousand was a rather peculiar figure—perhaps manageable for the elite, but an astronomical sum for ordinary folk.

Initially, people were perplexed.

【Holy crap, what kind of world is this… We’re struggling to survive here, while some big shot is feasting on ‘Concubine’s Smile’! Jealousy’s making my eyes red!】

【Now curious about the big shot’s farming skills—how did they even acquire and grow lychees?】

【First glance: Holy crap, that’s expensive. Second glance: Lychees… actually makes sense?】

【This is insane! Seeing lychees in the apocalypse makes me want to buy them, but I can barely afford food, and they’re so pricey!!】

Two minutes later.

【Wait? Check the description… Seriously?!】

【What the…?! Hold up, lychees are selling like crazy! Gotta talk to the Guild President! This feels like a must-buy!】

Lychees are naturally delicious and tasty. If not for their exorbitant price, everyone would be scrambling to buy them.

But now it’s not just a delicious treat—it comes with a buff that makes you unstoppable in the zombie horde!

So everyone, including Jian Xingyi, watched as these 64 lychees were snapped up in a frenzy. Half an hour later, every last one was sold out.

It was the height of the zombie horde, and the public chat was buzzing with strategies, countermeasures, and gear from the horde shop.

Yet a novel topic abruptly emerged, dominated by players from Peace Mountain and Lava Volcano. They discussed a “big shot” named Xinghe.

【What’s his deal? What are his skills? Anyone else who maxed out Management Skills, enlighten us! This is insane! So jealous— Is it too late for me to pick up management skills now?】

【Honestly, it’s too late… You can still grind combat now, though it’ll cost you. But management is all about compounding gains—it snowballs to grow. Without initial resources, it’s nearly impossible to build up.】

【Someone in my guild picked management skills, but mostly for recipe conversions and buying farmland.】

Others heard there’s a food-selling big shot in Peace Mountain and are super curious.

【Seriously? 100% accurate lychees? Sounds too good to be true…】

【We’ll find out tonight if it’s legit, but as a Peace Mountain player, I’ll stake my reputation on it—haven’t tasted it myself yet, but it’s absolutely real! Xinghe is the food king!】

【Passing through Lava Volcano Zone. If you ask me, Xinghe’s a big shot—got money, land, and food!】

【Just spouting off here, but this time the top DPS spot will definitely go to Grapevine Peak. But the top survival spot? Might just go to… Long Live for a Hundred Years!】

【Hahaha, don’t jinx it! That seems unlikely, right? If the guild as a whole is weak, can Xinghe alone make that much of a difference?】

After the Zombie Tide event concludes, there’s always a data leaderboard. The top ten earn corresponding rewards, with higher ranks receiving richer prizes.

The most anticipated is the damage chart—Grapevine Peak will undoubtedly dominate, given the absurdly high monster counts and health bars they face.

The survival chart, however, factors in multiple elements—essentially the most cost-effective victory, including member casualties and overall losses.

Discussions about Jian Xingyi were heating up on the public channel, though he remained oblivious—busy… counting his money!

Jian Xingyi received a direct deposit of 960,000 dawn coins!

Combined with the remaining 130,000 from repairing the fence and other goods, his total reached 2 million!

Yes!!

Jian Xingyi breathed a sigh of relief. Two million was enough to buy four Ark Lanterns!

Though this meant spending his entire balance, it didn’t matter. Tomorrow was the day Grapevine Peak would come to collect orders—another income stream. Plus, with fences selling for 100,000 each, Heiye and the others might chip in to help out.

After handling all this, Jian Xingyi rested a bit longer, and it was almost midnight.

【Attention players of Dawnbreaker V2.0: Zombie Tide Carnival – Day Two will commence at one system time!】

After the system announcement, the night grew even darker, shrouded once more in that thick, persistent gloom.

Today, a grayish mist even settled over the area, amplifying the eerie atmosphere.

But thankfully… There were lamps!

Jian Xingyi and the other three gathered around the lamp, finding it utterly fascinating.

This lamp resembled an ordinary oil lamp, small in size. Yet, once placed beside the fence, it genuinely illuminated the surroundings much more clearly. Unfortunately, its coverage was limited. No wonder the system had provided eight lamps—Jian Xingyi discovered that each gate required two lamps for full illumination.

Still, it was better than nothing. The lamps significantly boosted everyone’s morale. Jian Xingyi noticed several people tagging him in the guild channel, mostly to express gratitude.

In pitch darkness, a lamp always offered immense reassurance.

After eating the lychee, Jian Xingyi sat on the fence with the others, waiting.

Originally, he was just a non-combatant logistics support member. But after consuming the lychee, he suddenly became a massive asset. Earlier that day, Firelight had specifically asked if he would join the mission. After all, Jian Xingyi had initially planned to stay behind—both because he feared the danger and because he saw no necessity for his presence.

But now, with a big shot protecting him, personal safety wasn’t such a concern. And besides… it was absolutely necessary.

As it turned out, having one more person made a huge difference in combat strength.

Before the alarm sounded, Cola said, “Same plan as before: Firelight covers the left, Nana covers the right. Xinghe and I go in together. If a boss shows up, we take the boss.”

Cola addressed Jian Xingyi: “Watch me for cues. Just follow my lead—but of course, don’t push beyond your limits.”

“Got it…”

Though Cola usually appeared carefree and irreverent, always cracking jokes, he proved utterly reliable when it mattered.

The group waited.

Jian Xingyi asked with concern, “How are things at Grapevine Peak…?”

Higher-level guilds faced greater dangers. Who knew what was happening at Grapevine Peak?

Cola sighed helplessly, “The zombie difficulty is absurd. Remember the giant we faced last night? Grapevine Peak’s main gate had eight of them, and the side gates each had two.”

Jian Xingyi: “…”

Holy crap.

One giant was already pushing their limits here, and the side gates were just minor threats! With tonight’s difficulty supposedly ramped up, it was unimaginable how fierce the battle at Grapevine Peak must be…

Jian Xingyi frowned. “Then…”

Cola shook his head. “Tonight’s still up in the air, but we should be able to handle it for now… probably. Honestly, I think this zombie tide is the system trying to push people to their limits. This difficulty level is just unreasonable compared to previous ones.”

Previous zombie waves adjusted difficulty based on guild level. But whether it was small guilds like Long Live for a Hundred Years or powerhouses like Grapevine Peak, this wave’s difficulty didn’t match their tiers at all—it felt like it had been ramped up several times over.

Cola said mysteriously, “But luckily, there were no casualties last night. Plus, someone pulled off some crazy moves.”

“Huh?” Jian Xingyi blinked curiously.

Cola looked toward Firelight, whose eyes lit up instantly. He began recounting his Shanhai captain’s heroic feat with the pride of a speaker on stage: “When our captain saw the fence about to collapse, he ordered everyone to extinguish their torches! Then, using ropes and contraptions, he leaped onto the giant’s neck and plunged a huge machete right into its skull! Absolutely insane!”

Jian Xingyi: “…”

Holy crap.

You turned a zombie game into Attack on Titan, huh…!

Nana frowned. “It’s highly efficient, but honestly, that’s incredibly dangerous.”

Cola added, “True. It’s basically walking straight into the zombies’ mouths. But you know Shanhai’s temperament—his pursuit of extremes and thrills has long surpassed what’s normal for humans.”

Jian Xingyi thought to herself: So that’s how he became the server’s top player? Because he just likes it?

Like how he loves managing, so he maxed out his management level!

Firelight: “The captain’s gonna get chewed out by the Guild President when he comes down…”

Nana shrugged. “Can’t be swayed. Persuading an AI is pointless.”

The others proceeded to explain in detail to the curious Jian Xingyi how Shanhai had used the device to leap up. As they spoke, the system alert sounded again.

【Attention Dawnbreaker V2.0 Players: Zombie Tide Carnival – Day 2 will commence in half a system hour!】

The alarm began blaring, its volume steadily increasing.

A thick fog descended tonight, as if challenging the lanterns’ light. It was terrifying to imagine how disastrous the night would be without them, shrouded in darkness and mist.

Jian Xingyi took a deep breath, ate a lychee as midnight approached, and raised his gun.

Though his pistol was the system’s default basic model, its precision was its strength. Upgraded to Grade A, it would suffice for now.

As the system counted down and the alarm intensified, the second day’s zombie tide… arrived once more!

“Thud, thud, thud…”

Unexpectedly, this wave opened with a giant.

The group froze.

The ground shook violently around them. Jian Xingyi nearly lost his footing. Judging by the commotion… giants were approaching all four gates!

Cola and the others reacted swiftly, immediately opening fire.

This time, with the lamp providing light, the Firelight and Nana’s rapid-fire shots made the waves of the zombie sea fall layer by layer, significantly increasing their efficiency.

Cola and Jian Xingyi focused intently on aiming for the zombies’ heads. Just as the giant was about to reach the first barrier, the two successfully took it down.

But before Jian Xingyi could breathe a sigh of relief, another giant appeared.

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened.

Huh?

System, why are you suddenly churning out giants like they’re going out of style!

Jian Xingyi scrambled to reload and chamber a round, while Cola leaped to the highest point of the guild gate to spray fire at closer range.

With the light, they could fire more accurately, but another problem emerged—they could now clearly see just how terrifying the sea of corpses opposite them truly was.

Jian Xingyi watched as the giant drew nearer and nearer, while below, the tide of zombies flowed endlessly. They resembled the ant nests he’d seen before—poke it, and a dense swarm poured out.

Now, the swarming zombies pressed against the gate, their gaping maws and flailing limbs contorted as they shoved their “comrades” forward in a desperate push to break through.

Facing this hoarse-screaming, terrifyingly grotesque, overwhelming horde of zombies, Jian Xingyi’s legs grew weak. Yet instinct took over—he shouldered his rifle and, relying on muscle memory, kept pulling the trigger. After all, his accuracy was 100%.

After the second giant was taken down, no new giants appeared. Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, disaster struck unexpectedly.

It wasn’t at the gate itself, nor from the direction the zombie horde had come. Instead, the ground beside the gate suddenly cracked open.

The fissure widened until it became a massive pit. And from within that pit… more zombies crawled out!

Standing at the rear of the fence, Jian Xingyi clearly saw the swarm of zombies crawling out of the fissure behind Nana and Firelight. Pale, withered hands reached up from the pit bottom, desperately trying to wriggle free.

Jian Xingyi screamed, “Behind you! Zombies!”

Fortunately, the two reacted quickly, immediately turning to open fire.

Now they were truly caught between two fires!

How could the system cheat like this?!

The zombies had successfully gained access to the guild through this backdoor, receiving a speed boost. Firelight and Nana exchanged a glance. Firelight immediately charged toward Jian Xingyi, hoisting him onto his shoulder.

Firelight was quite large, and lifting Jian Xingyi felt like hoisting a sack of rice.

“…!”

Jian Xingyi was startled.

Simultaneously, Nana prepared a rope, tossing one end to Cola and the other to Firelight. Firelight, carrying Jian Xingyi, grabbed the rope and pulled himself up onto the wall.

Once they reached higher ground, they saw hordes of zombies swarming toward them, all crammed against the wall. The sharp scraping of their nails against the stone sent chills down their spines.

Jian Xingyi stared at the zombies beneath his feet, his hands trembling slightly.

With Cola and the others keeping watch, the main gate remained under control. But the other three gates… the situation was dire.

Heiye bellowed through the megaphone: “Don’t panic! Keep your heads! Retreat to higher ground!”

“On Feiyi’s side, front-line fighters follow him to eliminate the monsters outside the gate. Rear-line fighters, stay calm! No panicking! Focus on clearing the crevices!”

“Lone Wolf has already broken through! Front-line, follow him!”

It seemed other doors had also come under surprise attack.

Worse still, Nana had received a message. Given the urgency, the sender used voice instead of text, which Nana played immediately.

“Things are bad! Nana, prepare yourself… Dawen’s injured. Whether he’s infected… we don’t know yet. If possible, we need you back to cover his position!”

Nana’s body trembled.

Jian Xingyi guessed that ‘Dawen’ was her boyfriend.

Nana instinctively glanced at Cola. Cola said, “It’s your call.”

Nana surveyed the chaos around her, her lips trembling slightly. But she took a deep breath, quickly suppressing all emotion, and replied to the terminal: “I understand. I’ll return after this battle. I can’t withdraw abruptly now—it’s unethical. Please get Dawen home safely first, okay?”

“Got it! No problem!”

Nana shut off her terminal, her expression turning stern. “I’m going to take out the fissure.”

With that, she leaped over the wall, drawing her spear and rifle to coordinate their attacks.

Cola slapped Jian Xingyi’s shoulder hard. “Snap out of it! Keep going!”

Firelight provided support for Nana, prioritizing monsters within the guild’s area, while Jian Xingyi and Cola worked together to block the zombies surging in from outside.

Now, all the fences had been destroyed by the sudden onslaught of zombies.

…Damn it!

After regaining his focus, Jian Xingyi hammered the trigger of his machine gun relentlessly, his expression unusually fierce. After all, losing 400,000 credits at once was bound to sting.

…He had a premonition that not a single fence would remain this time! His only hope now was that the lights wouldn’t get destroyed too.

This setup was clearly forcing players to buy cannons, but just repairing the barriers had already drained his balance!

Not a single drop left!!!