My Abyss Survival Diary

Chapter 91 Spreading Fear

As the morning light from the spores began to shine, Simon arrived alone at the Friendly Camp.

Coincidentally, he happened to run into the leaders of the other four factions.

Elder Chalasu held the glass jar, with his grandson Lin Ying following behind him.

Seeing Simon approaching slowly, Lin Ying eagerly raised his spear, but was stopped by a look from Chalasu.

"Now is not the time to start a war," Elder Chalasu whispered in his ear. "If wild beasts recklessly start a war, it will only benefit those vultures."

He was referring to the two tunnel raiders; Wilson and Sophia were still inseparable.

Wilson lit a cigarette, and Sophia slapped him hard on the back, moved slightly away from him, and caught sight of Simon approaching. She clenched her fists and stepped forward angrily, but finally retreated after Wilson's persuasion, standing resentfully beside him.

The Imperial adventurer, dressed in thick clothing, arrived at the camp early, but he refused to remove his heavy gear, and the sound of his tired breathing could be heard from under his helmet.

A delicious aroma of food wafted from the Friendship Camp, probably from grilled sausages and fried eggs.

Two fanatics opened the camp gates, where the people inside were enjoying a lavish breakfast. However, after the announcement the previous night, the hostages in the camp clearly had little interest in eating breakfast. Under the threat of death, even the delicious sausages and fried eggs tasted like cardboard.

Upon seeing their respective leaders, everyone showed expressions of surprise and delight, eagerly anticipating being the first to be taken away; no one wanted to remain in the camp living in fear.

The camp's owner, Karl, held a cup of coffee and stirred it gently with a small spoon.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted the crowd warmly.

No one responded to him. The Imperial Adventurer waved his hand, Charasu simply nodded slightly, and Wilson and Sophia made no comment.

"Alright, let's begin the ransom process then." Karl waved behind him, and a man wearing a rubber protective suit came to the front of the group.

The first one was Chalasu, who placed a glass jar on the ground containing six scorpion bees.

The man in the rubber protective suit clearly had beekeeping experience, managing to spot one of the bees without letting any other killer bees escape.

Chalasu looked at his people, meeting their expectant eyes, and finally chose his son.

The remaining tribesmen looked at him with obvious disapproval, disappointment, and resentment. His son, a burly middle-aged man, argued with Elder Chalasu, wanting his father to choose someone else, but Chalasu insisted on having his son leave the Friendship camp first.

His son was escorted to the camp gate by a cast-iron warrior.

"Don't worry!" Chalasu loudly promised his remaining dozen or so tribesmen, "I will gather enough Slaughter Bees to redeem you all."

Next up is Simon.

A man wearing a rubber protective suit took a red-eyed killer bee out of a glass jar.

Simon did not choose anyone immediately, but instead approached Klein and his men in the camp.

He looked Klein up and down. It had been a long time since he'd seen him, and Klein's mental state was noticeably better. This was probably because fighting was prohibited in the Friendly Camp, and the lack of survival pressure had improved his sleep. His face was also a little rounder, which was probably related to the recent improvement in his diet.

Upon meeting, Klein pounced on him and gave him a big hug. Surprisingly, his body was surprisingly soft when he bumped into him, despite being a man.

"Long time no see, Simon!"

His bright blue eyes sparkled with joy; if he were a dog, his tail would probably be spinning faster than a helicopter propeller.

Simon patted him on the shoulder, but his next words left Klein frozen in place.

"I'm sorry, I'm not here to take you out this time," Simon whispered in his ear. "I need you to stay in the camp."

A fleeting sense of disappointment crossed Klein's face, but he nodded vigorously. Their understanding was unspoken; Simon had his reasons for keeping him here.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.

"I need you to spread fear. You need to make everyone in the camp feel despair. Tell them that the scorpion bees are not easy to catch and often kill each other in the jars. You don't need to explain it to them. Just spread the fear throughout the camp."

Simon continued to instruct, "Next, push me away, and make sure you look terrible."

Klein nodded calmly, then suddenly shoved Simon away, his face ashen and his teeth clenched.

"I've been with you for so long! Is this how you treat me?" His acting was superb, as he angrily rebuked, "You took someone else away and left me here to die?!"

The Iron Warriors came over to maintain order, and Klein could only sit down in silence, his angry eyes still fixed on Simon.

The onlookers automatically filled in a scenario in their minds: Simon, this despicable boss, had abandoned his underlings, which was why he was so angry and rebelled.

The underlings of other factions also felt a sense of shared fate. This was the best time to demonstrate a person's status within the team. Those with higher status or stronger "professionalism" were naturally fearless, knowing they would be taken away by the boss sooner or later, while the others were trapped in deep fear.

"I'll take that old man away." Simon surprisingly chose Professor Loris.

"Professor Loris? Hmph, not a bad choice." Carl stirred his coffee, a disdainful smile on his face.

Under the shocked gaze of everyone present, the elderly man left the camp with the help of the iron-casting warrior. The old man seemed unwilling to leave, grumbling and complaining, saying that he wanted to stay in the camp.

Next up is the Empire's adventurer, who, even more shockingly, managed to collect over twenty Fiend Bees all by himself—an absurdly large number.

More than twenty swarms of swarming wasps buzzed inside the jar, and it took the beekeeper quite a bit of effort to accurately pull one out.

"How did you manage to do that?" Chalasu asked in shock. Even a professional beekeeper in protective gear couldn't possibly collect so many slain bees.

"I was just lucky." The Imperial Adventurer scratched his enormous helmet.

Finally, there were two tunnel raiders.

Wilson placed his glass jar on the ground; only four scorpion bees remained inside.

"Take two from me," he said to the beekeeper.

Just as the beekeeper was about to take action, Carl suddenly stopped him.

"No! That's against the rules. You can form alliances privately, but that doesn't mean you can pay for the Slaughter Bees on behalf of your allies."

Wilson was stunned, and Sophia froze on the spot.

"My lord, I don't understand..."

Carl took the small spoon and gently ran it across his throat.

"Losing the glass jar comes at a price," he calmly announced. "Today, Sophia will choose one person from her team to be executed."