Apocalypse: I Have A Multiplier System
Chapter 507: 507: Connection

Chapter 507: Chapter 507: Connection

Su Jiyai stood up slowly, her hands still resting lightly on the arms of her chair. Her gaze locked onto the screen showing Maria.

Though her face was calm, her voice turned ice-cold.

“Maria,” Su Jiyai said, “If you’re lying, if this is a trap… I won’t just ignore it. I’ll kill you. Not fast, but slowly. Painfully. I promise you that.”

Maria stood too, her expression unreadable at first. But then, to Su Jiyai’s slight surprise, the woman let out a soft chuckle.

“I heard Boss Su was generous,” Maria said lightly, though her voice trembled just a bit.

Su Jiyai let out a quiet laugh of her own. It was low and quiet, almost playful. But behind it, her tone stayed sharp.

“I am generous,” she said.

“But only to people who don’t betray me. Those who do…”

She tilted her head slightly, remembering Maria couldn’t actually see her, “…they die. And not a peaceful death.”

The room grew a little colder, even though the temperature hadn’t changed. Maria’s body shivered as if she had felt an invisible chill.

She lowered her head slightly in respect.

“I’m not here to betray you,” she said quickly.

“I swear. I need your help, Boss Su. And in return… I can offer something useful.”

Su Jiyai raised a brow. “Useful? Like what?”

Maria straightened her back, her voice more confident now.

“I’ve heard rumors that you can create superpower awakening potions.”

Su Jiyai didn’t reply right away. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Maria continued,

“Before the Collapse, I was a researcher. My job was to study human bodies. I’ve come across many strange diseases… some new, some mutated versions of the old ones.

And I’ve created cures. Not just medicines, but potions. Good ones.”

She leaned forward, placing both hands on the table.

“If you help me save my sister, I’ll give you all of it.

All the formulas, all the potions, everything I know. You’ll be able to heal people and maybe even improve their powers.”

Maria’s voice lowered just a little, her eyes shining with something like pride.

“They weren’t just cure potions,” she said softly. “They were… leveling up potions.”

Su Jiyai’s eyes widened for a moment. Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared at Maria, not believing what she had just heard.

“Leveling up potions?” Su Jiyai repeated slowly, her voice full of disbelief.

Maria nodded seriously.

“Yes. Before the Collapse, maybe some of the scientists already knew that something terrible was coming. So, they started preparing in secret.

Their first goal was to make superpower awakening potions. But something strange happened.

While trying that… they accidentally created potions that could level up someone’s powers instead.”

Su Jiyai frowned. Her arms folded across her chest as she tilted her head, her expression turning thoughtful. Something about that didn’t sit right.

After a short pause, she looked straight at Maria.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Su Jiyai said. “How can they make leveling up potions before even creating superpower awakening potions? Isn’t awakening the first step?”

Maria let out a soft chuckle, but it wasn’t a happy one. It was the kind that held a bitter truth.

“And that’s exactly the problem,” she said.

“For some strange reason, no matter how hard the scientists tried, they couldn’t make a real awakening potion. It was like… something was blocking them.

A wall in their mind. Every time they tried to finish the formula, their thoughts would stop, or the formula would just… fall apart. As if someone was controlling them.”

Su Jiyai’s face stayed still, but her heart skipped a beat. That sounded way too strange to be just a coincidence.

Maria continued,

“I was there. I felt it too. I was trapped in that lab for years. But I couldn’t leave, no matter how much I wanted to. None of us could. That mental wall kept us stuck—like prisoners in our own heads.”

She took a deep breath. “But then, one week ago… the barrier disappeared. Just like that. Gone.”

Su Jiyai’s hand stopped tapping the desk.

One week ago.

That was the exact same time she had destroyed the Seven Devils… the group that had been secretly controlling various parts of the apocalypse world.

Their deaths had shaken things up… but could it really be connected?

‘Did killing the Seven Devils free those scientists?’

Su Jiyai didn’t say a word. Her face stayed calm, but her thoughts were racing. She would need to look into this herself.

There was no way she could ignore something like this.

Without showing any of what she was thinking, Su Jiyai finally stood up.

“I’ll check your data,” she said coolly.

Maria stood up quickly, her black coat swaying slightly.

She gave a deep, respectful bow.

“Thank you, Boss Su,” Maria said seriously.

“If you save my sister… I’ll work only for Hope Base. I’ll give you every formula, every note, every breakthrough we’ve ever made. I swear on my life…. I’ll help make discoveries that will shake the world.”

Su Jiyai gave her a short nod, but didn’t say anything else.

Maria turned and left the room quietly, the door sliding shut behind her.

Once she was gone, Su Jiyai finally allowed her expression to change.

She suddenly thought of the pawns… she had finished all the devils, but not their pawns. She needs to finish them too…

If she can, then… maybe the apocalypse in China will be over.

“Ah… I shouldn’t overthink. I should first cultivate.” With that, Su Jiyai informed Yuan Xin and asked him to send the Mu family to the conference room after one and a half hours.

Soon she sat in the living room and absorbed the crystals for half an hour, before practicing martial arts for 30 minutes.

Then she sat in the lotus position and started to cultivate.

When the cultivation was done, Su Jiyai opened her eyes.

The room felt lighter now. She walked up to the monitor room.

The big screen in front of her showed several areas around the Hope Base, and her fingers tapped the armrest of her chair as she waited.

A few minutes passed.

Then the system beeped. A visitor had arrived at the main gate.

“Mu family’s head has arrived,” a voice from the speaker said.

“Let him in,” Su Jiyai said.

The doors opened, and a tall man walked into the room with two guards behind him. His hair was slicked back, and he wore a neat grey suit with silver patterns on the edges. His name was Mu Rongjie—the current head of the Mu family, one of the oldest business families still alive in the apocalypse.

He looked calm, almost friendly, as he stepped closer to the main screen.

“I heard from Xin,” Mu Rongjie said, glancing at the speaker, “that Boss Su wanted to speak with me. What’s the matter?”

Su Jiyai smiled lightly, but her eyes stayed sharp.

“Yes. I’ve heard the Mu family is trying to exploit a system loophole to your benefit.”

Mu Rongjie chuckled softly.

“That’s just business, Boss Su. Isn’t making money all about finding the right loopholes?”

Su Jiyai’s smile faded.

“I don’t care what kind of business you call it. I’m telling you right now… pull your hired people back. Stop the operation. Or I’ll throw your whole family out of Hope Base. I don’t welcome leeches.”

There was a pause.

Mu Rongjie didn’t get angry. Instead, he folded his hands behind his back and spoke in a calm, almost patient tone.

“Boss Su, I understand your sense of justice. But you’re making a huge mistake. You’re losing money, and that’s going to be a problem.

You see, your residential area is protected better than anywhere else. You have electricity all day and night. You’ve even placed an invisible air barrier that protects everyone from deadly heat and cold.”

He turned to the speaker again.

“Do you know how rare that is, Boss Su? And food… your market sells rice and meat for next to nothing.

Other bases are starving while you’re feeding your people like it’s still the old world.”

Su Jiyai stayed quiet.

Mu Rongjie went on,

“If you keep doing this, your supplies will run out. And one day, you’ll sit in this very chair and cry because you’ll have nothing left.

You should be raising prices, creating demand, and making a profit slowly. Build an empire, not a charity.”

He leaned forward a little.

“But right now… you’re giving gold away like pebbles.”

For a moment, silence filled the room.

Then Su Jiyai chuckled.

It wasn’t a kind laugh.

“I don’t remember asking for advice, Mu Rongjie,” she said coolly. “And it’s not your place to tell me how to run Hope Base.”

Her voice turned sharp.

“You said I’d have nothing left?”

She stood up slowly, her eyes glowing faintly.

“The only people who’ll be crying are the ones I throw out.”

“Hope Base isn’t a marketplace for greedy merchants. It’s a home for survivors. My goal is not gold. It’s survival. I don’t care about becoming rich while others suffer.”