"Aren't you afraid they'll run off with the stuff?"

Old Zhang stood beside Lin Ye, watching the drivers who were leaving with the trade items with some worry.

"I don't like owing people things, because I really don't like others owing me things."

Lin Ye would directly eliminate the possibility of that happening.

"Here's what you wanted."

Old Zhang handed Lin Ye a crystal storing a spiritual imprint.

"Good. What do you want as payment?"

Lin Ye imported the spiritual imprint into the duplicate of the spiritual parasite creature and began examining the information inside.

"You saved my child, this is nothing."

To Old Zhang, this was just an errand-running task, completely unable to repay Lin Ye's debt.

"Are you sure? If you don't get any treatment, with your current physical condition, you might only live another ten years at most. By then your child will have no one to care for him."

Lin Ye saw some interesting information.

"I'm a Seventh-tier spiritual energy user... is it because of these spiritual energy materials?"

Old Zhang didn't think Lin Ye had any reason to lie to him.

"Do you know why some portals don't care about your attitude? Because to them, you are expendable. Every so often, the remaining drivers here get cleared out, then new drivers enter this Ruins world, and the cycle repeats."

When clearing those enemies earlier, Lin Ye had obtained some information from enemies who entered the parasitism network.

"…So those who left here died? No, wait, a Veteran Driver told me about this place, and we can leave at any time to return to our own Plane."

Old Zhang looked at Lin Ye with some confusion.

"Someone has to lure you here. You really can leave, but have you heard about these spiritual energy materials? Especially the information that long-term exposure to this material causes bodily collapse."

This was similar to how the internet erases sensitive information: just permanently ban the accounts that reveal it.

Only here, the ban method was much more thorough.

"…What should I do?"

Old Zhang asked nervously in a low voice.

"I can help treat your body. Once you go out, as long as you don't blab, they probably won't kill you...probably."

Lin Ye didn't know how the owners here would handle drivers about to be discarded. Maybe they would simply ignore them, maybe...

"…If I want to tell others about this, will you stop me?"

Old Zhang hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Why would I stop you? It's none of my business, and once the trades finish, I'll tell them about it anyway. After all, they helped me complete the work. That's my payment to them."

Lin Ye casually dealt with Old Zhang's internal condition. Unlike that boy, these drivers were themselves powerful spiritual energy users who merely transported spiritual energy materials and didn't suffer those deep-level effects. For these not-too-serious symptoms, he could handle them using the parasitism network combined with the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment's power.

"…Thank you."

These drivers were acquaintances of Old Zhang; many had helped him collect information related to Collapse Bombs. Though that information couldn't save his child, he couldn't fail to repay the favor.

"This is a normal payment. You don't need to thank me."

While communicating with the drivers, Lin Ye didn't slow his materials collection. Using the upgraded production line, he manufactured several batches of Number One Substance with higher purity.

Soon the other drivers completed their trades as well. Anyone who had survived here until now wasn't stupid; even with tempting profit, no one stole Lin Ye's trade items.

At most they took a cut during the transaction.

Lin Ye didn't mind that behavior. He only needed Plane research materials; as long as it wasn't too excessive, he wouldn't pursue it.

Quickly, Lin Ye finished trading with the drivers, including the woman who had previously eaten an Explosion Red Frog.

After receiving information on spiritual energy materials, the drivers chose to have their bodies repaired as payment for this trade.

Some drivers were relieved they had resisted temptation; otherwise they would have returned to await death.

But they didn't know that if they had decided to keep Lin Ye's trade goods, they simply couldn't have left here alive.

Having dealt with the drivers' issues, Lin Ye began studying those research materials. Number One Substance was decent, but at best it was a fairly effective attack method. After all, Number One Substance was merely an intermediate product. He wanted to use these research materials to create something closer to the essence.

"Sir, we're ready to leave this Plane."

Old Zhang came over and said respectfully.

"Goodbye."

Lin Ye waved casually. Time was limited; he had many things to handle.

"Goodbye."

The drivers exchanged farewells and prepared to depart.

"Why can't I go back?!"

"Same here, the teleport items aren't working."

"No way..."

"Could it be—"

...

Shouts erupted among the drivers. The area had been locked down; they couldn't leave using teleport items.

"Not letting a single person go, that's a bit extreme."

Lin Ye continued studying the research materials. If the owners here wanted him to stay, he might as well hang around for a while.

He just hoped they wouldn't regret it.

"The portals! All the portals activated! Many spiritual energy users are coming out!"

"They came to kill us, to prevent the information from getting out..."

"We're done for, there's no way to escape!"

"What are you scared of? We'll fight them to the end! Before I die I'll take as many with me as possible!"

"Don't panic, we might not all die! Running is pointless; we can hold them off here!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

...

The drivers drove their trucks close to Lin Ye. The trucks contained all their belongings and served as their small bases.

"Sir, what should we do?"

Old Zhang and the Veteran Driver ran to Lin Ye's side, extremely anxious.

"No need to worry. This is my territory. No matter how many come, it's meaningless."

Lin Ye had been continuously expanding the parasitism network. Because maintaining the parasitism network in the abandoned area consumed resources, he could only lay the network in safe zones.

Thus, across the whole area, all safe paths were covered by the parasitism network. The spiritual energy users that stepped out of the portals immediately entered Lin Ye's base.

"Your territory?"

Old Zhang didn't understand what Lin Ye meant.

"Yes, so don't worry. You can find a place to rest for a bit. I'll deal with those spiritual energy materials."

Lin Ye continued studying the research materials. He already had some new ideas.