As long as you have the courage, fierce ghosts go on maternity leave.

The atmosphere turned awkward. Despite his concern for face, Aerandir couldn’t help muttering, "Even if... even if it were Alexander, what of it? We are now both Ghost Emperors, and not necessarily... not necessarily much weaker!"

Aerandir’s tone was clearly faltering.

Fortunately, no one called him out on it because the moment he uttered the code ’44011,’ the hall had already emptied!

Inside the bar, Quillhart watched the crowd swell, his fingers beginning to tremble. With a quivering hand, he placed two prince-tier and one soldier-tier beetles on the counter.

"Quillhart, this isn’t enough! There are so many of us here; there’s not enough for one drink each!" The bar was now full of people, and someone started to heckle.

The beetles tide had arrived too quickly, and even though Sofia had established a survivor base overnight, this night was bought with the lives of billions worldwide.

Hence, these base inhabitants were called survivors.

Humanity had survived, and order had been established under Sofia’s powerful influence.

But clearly, these survivors were lucky to have snatched up some essential supplies like food and clothing under such circumstances.

Luxuries like tobacco, alcohol, and snacks were procured by those who hunted beetles outside the base, risking their lives—hence their considerable value.

Although Quillhart had chanced upon a beetle tide and made a considerable find, he couldn’t afford such wasteful spending!

Pulling out his last soldier-tier beetle from his pocket and slapping it on the counter, Quillhart felt like slapping himself.

That’s what you get for boasting!

But the next moment, something happened that made him wish he were dead.

Bang!

The door was flung open, and countless survivors flooded in like a tide. The first person barged in and shouted excitedly, "Where’s the beer? I want to drink heartily with that generous philanthropist!"

"Right! Where’s the great philanthropist? We came because we heard someone was footing the bill, such a good person must be thanked!"

"That... wasn’t there talk of beetles being given away? I’m still a student; can I get one first?"

"Damn it!"

Quillhart sighed, sat on the bar, and with a look of utter despair said, "Boss, take a look at this hundred-odd pounds of flesh and see how many bottles of liquor it’s worth. If not, just chop it up for everyone to snack on with their drinks! There are no more beetles left!"

"How could they be gone!" The man who rushed in first became anxious and said, "I heard there was a room full of beetles here!"

"That’s right! I heard they were all king-tier!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"What king-tier? They’re clearly Emperor-tier! I’m still a student, big brother, could you give me one first? I’m not picky; Emperor-tier, king-tier, either is fine!"

As the crowd of survivors who had rushed in started to become increasingly agitated, and even more survivors squeezed towards the door from outside. It was at this point, looking at Quillhart’s despondent face, that Alexander finally stood up and walked towards the bar.

"See what this is worth!"

While saying this, he slapped a half-meter-long brick onto the bar.

The bar owner named Vince jumped in shock, thinking he was facing a robber wielding a brick. However, the next moment, his gaze sharply focused, fixating on the brick on the counter.

"Ghost Treasure! An Evil Spirit-tier Ghost Treasure!"

"Speak, how much is this thing worth?" Alexander waved his hand impatiently.

"It’s worth at least one king-tier beetle!" Vince immediately responded.

However, no sooner had Vince spoken than the self-proclaimed student jumped up in anger, saying:

"A king-tier, my ass! Boss, you’re too greedy. I’ll offer two! Big brother, I’m just a student; I only have these two beetles. Can you sell me this Ghost Treasure?"

Alexander smacked his lips.

Although it was a bit strange to be called big brother by a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with a full beard, the two king-tier beetles were indeed tempting!

After all, in the Horror World, they represented the birth of two king-tier evil spirits.

And if they contained a sufficient amount of forbidden power, there was no need to say more, it could well be a hundred Ghost Pills!

Whether it was two king-tier beetles or a hundred Ghost Pills, exchanging them for an Evil Spirit-tier Ghost Treasure, even Alexander, a man who could make capitalists weep, felt it was a bit ruthless.

However, the man beside him obviously didn’t think so. He pushed the bearded student aside with one hand and said: "I’ll give an Imperial-tier beetle for that brick. I want it!"

As these words were spoken, the bar suddenly went quiet. But Alexander still saw a few Imperial-tier survivors with decent strength showing a look of hesitation on their faces.

It was clear the limit had not yet been reached!

"I’m not selling this Ghost Treasure,"

Alexander shook his head. If this brick were the only one he had, he would have sold it immediately.

But he had as many of these things as he wanted!

After dismantling all the hell warrior camps in Cangshan City, plus the countless loot from instances acquired for free before, he could pile these up and fill the entire survivor base.

"Not selling?"

The crowd was somewhat disappointed, and even angry.

Especially that man with the beard who was pretending to be a student, he righteously burst out:

"You are free to sell or not, but why bring it out if you aren’t selling? Are you playing with us? The thing I can’t stand the most is people like you; I must seek justice on behalf of everyone!"

Although the fellow was somewhat shameless, Alexander did not get angry. A smile appeared on his face as he spoke to Vince: "Turn this Ghost Treasure into drinks. Since Quillhart said I would pay, I naturally won’t go back on my word!"

"Big brother is generous! Get me a bottle of vodka; I’ve wanted to taste it for a while now, but sadly, I’m a student with little money!"

The bearded man stepped forward excitedly, but the collar of his shirt was suddenly grabbed from behind by a burly man.

Ignoring his struggles, the burly man threw him behind and then addressed Alexander:

"Brother, your generosity is admirable! But don’t be rash, all the survivors from the base are heading here. Even if you trade this Ghost Treasure for drinks, it won’t be enough for everyone!"

"That’s easy to handle!"

A smile emerged on Alexander’s face as he waved his hand in front of him.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

...

As the sounds of heavy objects hitting the ground rang out, more than a hundred huge bricks piled up over a meter high in a vertical stack, completely filling the space in front of the bar.

Suddenly, the entire bar fell into an unusual silence.

After a long while, Vince came to his senses and shouted to the waitstaff behind him: "What the hell are you waiting for? Move all the drinks and snacks from the warehouse up here! Don’t leave a single item behind!"

"Is this what a great philanthropist looks like? So dazzling, hundreds of Ghost Treasures! Just like that, without even blinking an eye, he brought them out!"

"That’s not a philanthropist; he is clearly my foster father!"

"Foster brother, so you are also a son to our father! We’re all one family!"

...

In an instant, inspired by Alexander’s generosity, the whole bar erupted with excitement.

"Fa..."

A muscular man came over, the word ’father’ hadn’t fully left his mouth when he saw Alexander’s face darken and he quickly corrected himself:

"Big brother, no! Boss! Boss, where did you get so many Ghost Treasures? Do you have any to spare? Could you sell me one? Name your price! As long as I can afford it, even a lower quality one would do!"

"There are no lesser ones, only better ones!"

Alexander said as he casually waved his hand, tossing a brick mined from the hell warrior camp’s hall and of Fierce rank towards the man next to him.

"For me?"

The man was momentarily stunned, then became excited.

With this brick, he would no longer have to fight with his bare hands.

Although cumbersome to use, it was satisfying! Especially when dealing with small and numerous creatures like the black beetles.

A brick could send a whole swarm flying with one smash, just the thought of it was exhilarating.

Right then, grinning foolishly, he hugged the brick and excitedly said: "From now on, I’ll also call you boss. I’m selling my life to you. Just say the word, and I’ll charge into a swarm of beetles!"

"That’s not necessary!"

Alexander actually took a liking to this forthright man and said, "I’ll hire you for six months! And I definitely won’t send you to your death on purpose. After six months, it’s up to you if you want to stay or go!"

"No problem! I’ll listen to the boss!" The burly man had been impulsive, but he was touched by Alexander’s words and agreed without a second thought.

"What about me? I’ll sell my life too, not just for half a year, but for a whole year!" The bearded man also spoke up.

Despite his somewhat shameless act of pretending to be a student, don’t forget that everyone present were survivors.

Those who have survived have faced real life-and-death situations, walking through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Those truly scared witless would have hunkered down long ago, not daring to take a step outside the base, let alone come here.

Moreover, the base itself wasn’t completely safe.

According to the information Alexander got from the survivors in the bar, every so often, an unpredictable number of beetles would mysteriously rush into the base as if it were some sort of selection test.

The faint-hearted couldn’t possibly survive until now.

"Fair enough, fair enough!"

Seeing the bearded man and many other survivors all with eager faces, Alexander showed a fox-like smile, took out a piece of paper, and handed it to the bearded man:

"Drop a bit of your blood on this, and the brick is yours!"

As Alexander’s words fell, a ghost-class brick clanged down onto the ground in front of the bearded man.