Apocalypse: Become stronger by absorbing flames at the start; my name is the Flame Emperor.

Upon hearing this, the little boy glanced around, looking somewhat hesitant.

"Let me speak."

Lin Yu continued, "In the apocalypse, the strong ultimately reign supreme. Even if a city is attacked by zombies, it will be fought back with blood and lives."

"Every time, countless people die. Who do you think these people are?"

Lin Yu looked at the two sisters and spoke slowly.

"Brother Yu, you mean...?"

"There are tens of thousands of guilds in Yun'an, as well as many unemployed individuals. Once the zombies attack the city, the first to be pushed onto the battlefield will inevitably be the various small guilds and unemployed individuals."

"They are the weakest, so their mortality rate is naturally the highest," Lin Yu said.

"Yes, the last time the zombie horde attacked, my brother represented our family in the fight, and he never came back."

The little boy's eyes reddened as he spoke.

"What does it mean to represent your family in the competition?" The little girl was increasingly confused.

"That's easy to understand. A zombie siege is something everyone has to do to defend against. Do you think the big guilds would volunteer to fight the enemy while ordinary people reap the benefits?"

Lin Yu countered with a question.

"Does Brother Yu mean that the nine major guilds will assign tasks?" Sun Ruoyi asked.

"Yes, after each zombie siege, the nine major guilds will compile statistics and allocate personnel for the next siege."

"For example, each guild must send a certain number of people to participate in the battle. If it's a solo player, they must find two more people to form a team, and each time at least one person must participate," the little boy said slowly.

As they listened, they all felt a little heavy-hearted.

However, they couldn't refute the actions of the nine major guilds, because there was no better way.

Whether you're strong or weak, you have to fight for your own destiny, don't you?

The strong are not obligated to protect the weak indefinitely.

"Actually, there's not much of a problem with the nine guilds' distribution method, but the most crucial thing is that they're too ruthless." Lin Yu recalled some news about this city from his previous life.

"Too ruthless? What do you mean?"

"They have a ridiculous system."

Lin Yu said, "That means paying taxes."

"Pay taxes?"

They were all stunned; this was the first time they had ever heard of this term since the apocalypse.

"Yes. These are rules jointly established by the nine major guilds, and no one dares to defy them." The little boy's voice was very soft, as if afraid of being overheard.

"After each zombie siege, the survivors would collect a lot of crystal cores, which they earned by risking their lives."

"However, the nine major guilds will take a large portion. Other guilds will hand over 30% of their profits, while individual players will hand over 50%."

The little boy spoke through gritted teeth.

"So dark?"

Xiong Ba was stunned.

If this continues, the nine major guilds will become increasingly powerful, while smaller guilds and individual players will no longer have the strength to resist.

"What I find strange is, why don't they just absorb all the small guilds?" the little girl asked, puzzled.

"I don't know," the little boy shook his head.

Lin Yu, however, was perfectly clear-headed.

With such a large number of evolved beings, the nine major guilds cannot handle them all; managing them would be a huge problem.

Secondly, if everyone becomes one of our own, how can we exploit them?

The most important reason is that the person in Kyoto will not allow such a thing to happen. He wouldn't be able to sleep at night if someone else controlled such a massive amount of power.

"What's your strength now? And what's the strength of the people from the nine major guilds?" the little girl asked curiously.

"I'm currently at Tier 1, Level 2."

The little boy lowered his head and said, "The weakest members of those small guilds have all reached the peak of the first tier, while the middle and upper levels are all above the second tier."

"Among the nine major guilds, the weakest are all above the second tier, and the strongest have all reached the third tier."

"The difference is so big."

The little girl clicked her tongue.

She is currently at the peak of the second tier, and she is still several crystal cores away from the third tier.

"Brother and sister, that restaurant over there is the fairest in all of Yun'an. You can stay there." The little boy led them to a huge restaurant.

Looking at the Wang's Restaurant in front of him, Lin Yu smiled.

"Thank you, you can go ahead and get back to work."

Lin Yu took out another Tier 2 item and handed it over; he was in a very good mood today.

Because they were about to arrive at the Forbidden City, his blood was pumping with excitement.

"Big brother, I can't take it." The little boy shook his head resolutely.

Just then.

A drunken young man stumbled out of the restaurant.

Behind him were four or five other people.

Upon seeing this, his eyes lit up, and he grabbed it with his right hand, muttering, "Since he doesn't want it, I'll give it to him."

Lin Yu frowned, quickly withdrew his foot, and with a slight hook, the young man was instantly tripped and fell heavily down the steps.

"ah--"

A scream rang out.

The people behind him sobered up instantly, and they were all shocked. They rushed over and helped the young man up.

"Young Master Fang."

"Young Master Fang, are you alright?"

"Damn it, do I look like I'm fine?"

Fang Shao touched his nose and found it covered in blood, which made him furious and he cursed loudly.

"That man probably has a lot of crystal cores on him. Kill him! Tie up those two women and take them back!" he roared.

Lin Yu frowned upon hearing this and said to Xiong Ba, "It's up to you now."

"Can you kill or cripple him?"

Xiong Ba clenched his fist and revealed a human-like wicked smile.

"random."

After Lin Yu finished speaking, he walked straight into the restaurant.

He really needed a good rest; he'd been fighting and traveling every day for the past few weeks. He only had one more day to reach the Forbidden City, where a major battle was about to begin, and he needed to relax.

Soon, screams of agony rang out from outside.

In less than half a minute, Fang Shao and his group were all lying on the ground with broken arms and legs, groaning in pain.

A large crowd gathered, watching the scene silently, a sense of pleasure seemingly in their eyes.

"Is that Fang Shao from the Dragon Fang Guild whose head got beaten up like a pig's head?"

"Heh heh, that's him. He's always doing bad things, but he's finally met his match. Serves him right." Someone sneered.

"These people are probably in big trouble. With the power of the Dragon Fang Guild, they'll be dragged away in less than half an hour."

"That's not necessarily true. Many of those who came to Yun'an during this period are super strong individuals, aiming for the battle at the Forbidden City. Who knows, these few might be tough nuts to crack even for the Dragon Fang Guild."

"This is going to be interesting!"

In the field.

"You stinking bear, do you know who I am? How dare you hit me?"

Fang Shao grimaced in pain and cursed loudly.

Upon hearing this, Xiong Ba's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, and he said in a deep voice, "I think you're tired of living."