Chapter 49: Don't worry about how I live; make your demands first!

At the toll station stage, a massive gap emerged between the approaches taken by Zhang Yangqing and Mitarai Saburo.

One could say they were at two extremes.

When the red-clothed toll worker knocked on the car door, Mitarai Saburo opened it.

The red-clothed toll worker would not harm a "Chosen One." He pulled out a syringe and stated his requirement.

With one [Citizen] on board, 50 milliliters of blood must be surrendered to pass through the toll station. The blood cannot belong to a Citizen.

This was the toll station's requirement, which seemed to differ from the gas station.

Mitarai Saburo pondered for a moment.

The only non-citizens on the bus were himself and the driver; the little assistant could also be considered a citizen.

He couldn't exactly draw the driver's blood, so he had no choice but to use his own.

Counting carefully, there were nine citizens on board, meaning the required blood volume was 450 milliliters.

400 milliliters is basically the maximum amount a normal person can donate, which falls within an acceptable range. Any more would cause physical damage.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Mitarai Saburo.

While waiting, he had observed citizens being forced off other vehicles.

In other words, if he drew 50 milliliters less, could he force a citizen to get off the bus?

Was the Weird World letting him observe this to remind him of this point?

Mitarai Saburo's strategy for clearing the stage was to minimize danger, so his choices had always been correct.

A so-called detective isn't a job where one trades their life; figuring out how to survive is the true path.

Therefore, he felt he could kick off the dangerous citizens from the bus.

This tactic was known as "killing with a borrowed knife," and it could also mitigate the dangers of the journey.

There were eight passengers on the bus anyway, and it wasn't stated that everyone had to be brought back; losing one or two was normal.

In his view, difficulty was equal to the number of people. The fewer the people, the lower the difficulty. Fewer people meant less to eat, fewer ingredients needed, and they could leave once they were finished.

Then, an imperceptible smile played at the corners of his mouth; he even knew how to exploit a "bug."

This method could be described as quite unscrupulous, but to clear the stage, he had no choice.

He asked the red-clothed toll worker to wait a moment, then walked over to the passenger in the hairy vest.

Mitarai Saburo sought a tip from the vest passenger and asked him to state his requirements.

The vest passenger gave him 1,000 yuan, with the requirement that they would go to a special place later, and he enjoyed eating high-quality ingredients.

In other words, the bus would have to deviate from its normal route.

Rule 10 had mentioned this, and it was a relatively dangerous option.

*But since the money is already in hand, why should I take that risk?*

*Besides, that 400-yuan guy is already difficult enough; won't your 1,000-yuan request be fatal?*

He remembered that when they boarded, this guy had only offered him 500, but he hadn't dared to ask for it.

Mitarai Saburo only wanted to live; he didn't want to take risks.

He also guessed that completing more tasks would yield more rewards, which might help with his progress and the post-clearance settlement, but it didn't seem necessary.

Thus, having secured the money, Mitarai Saburo turned around and sold out the vest passenger, as well as the hooded passenger who looked highly aggressive.

He only drew 350 milliliters of blood, and the vest passenger and the hooded passenger were dragged out by the red-clothed toll worker.

Although those two cursed him for being despicable and shameless, Mitarai Saburo didn't care. This was the Weird World; why should he care about that?

To perfectly earn 1,000 yuan without facing danger—he felt perhaps only he could have come up with such a plan.

If this judgment were graded out of 100, he would give himself 101!

That extra point was to ensure he wouldn't become arrogant!

He even thought to himself: *If that transcendent from Dragon Country were thinking from this perspective, he might even force more people off. I'm actually quite merciful.*

After all, he didn't know who else was participating; he was simply using this way of shifting blame to comfort himself.

If Zhang Yangqing knew what they were thinking, he would surely wonder: *Can you people take responsibility for your own unscrupulous deeds instead of constantly pushing them onto me? I do act quite ruthlessly, but I'm not blaming anyone else.*

This time, Zhang Yangqing's actions were truly different. After several citizens were killed, a blood-stained red-clothed worker appeared, along with four white-clothed workers.

After Zhang Yangqing got off the bus to intervene, the white-clothed workers ceased the massacre of the citizens.

The terrified citizens all ran toward Zhang Yangqing's bus, begging him to take them in. Even if they couldn't take them, they begged him to take their children.

"Do you have tickets? Only those with tickets can board."

In this Weird Tale instance, Zhang Yangqing was playing the role of a tour guide, so he naturally had to follow the rules of a guide.

Rule 1 stated: When passengers board, please check tickets; please confirm whether passengers are carrying small animals, as the driver is very afraid of small animals.

As long as they had tickets and no small animals, they could all go up.

This tour bus had 45 seats, but with fewer than 10 people sitting, it was very empty.

Moreover, there were fewer than 30 people here, so it could certainly accommodate them.

Hearing that someone was taking them in, many of them were moved to tears. Having survived the blade's edge, who wouldn't be grateful to Zhang Yangqing? If they didn't eat soon, they would starve to death.

"Yes, yes, we all have tickets!"

"Thank you for letting us on, you are truly a good person!"

Many passengers produced their tickets. This was normal, as most people who could afford to take a bus were people with tickets.

In fact, several passengers from the three detained buses even came to seek refuge with Zhang Yangqing, but many on those buses chose to wait and see. They knew the rules of the toll station; it would be a miracle if that many people could pass through.

Many Dragon Country viewers felt worried for Zhang Yangqing upon seeing his actions.

Because Zhang Yangqing's ticket checking was quite slow, while on the other side, Mitarai Saburo had already finished his blood draw and set off.

[Master Zhang is still too kind-hearted. This stage isn't something you can pass just with money.]

[Maybe he doesn't know they need to draw blood. When the red-clothed worker comes over, Master Zhang will try to drive them away.]

[At least he gave them a little more time to live; that's not bad.]

[I'm guessing Master Zhang will definitely use a big move, just demolish the toll station and break through.]

[If you're talking about anyone else, I'd say you're talking nonsense. But if you're talking about Master Zhang, I think it's possible.]

[I think it's impossible. Since everything here is a Hidden Weirdness, the toll station shares the same attributes as a Hidden Weirdness—it's the type that can be repaired. Furthermore, only the Hidden Weirdness knows how to open the toll station. If Master Zhang fails to break through directly and offends the Hidden Weirdness, he might get stuck here forever.]

Zhang Yangqing had no idea how these viewers were discussing him. *Do I look like the kind of person who only uses violence?*

*Besides, I don't even know what they want. They haven't even made a demand yet.*

Normally, Zhang Yangqing was not the type to just unleash moves without cause. He needed the opposition to present a problem before he could formulate a countermeasure.

Because clearing a Weird World requires meeting certain conditions; acting recklessly could lead to unimaginable consequences. For example, if he blew up the bus, he might fail to trigger the settlement conditions. Zhang Yangqing might have the skill to stay alive, but he could end up trapped here for a lifetime.

Just as the white-clothed workers were preparing to act against Zhang Yangqing, the sole red-clothed worker waved his hand to stop them.

Since he was already red-clothed and had seen the guide, his own rules had been triggered, so he had to fulfill his duties first.

In terms of priority here, Red outweighed White.

The radio intelligence had stated that only the Red-clothed ones were the true staff.

He was also curious how this fellow intended to get so many people through.

Zhang Yangqing's expression seemed to say: *Don't worry about how I get through; state your requirements first.*