Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82 Rat’s Desperate Signal

Chapter 82 Rat’s Desperate Signal

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Riley tapped the flat of her axe against his cheek. “Nightfall, huh?” she said, her voice low. “What’s your business here? Start talking–and if I catch you in one lie…”

Neeko let out a low, threatening growl beside her, and the man–Rat–immediately broke into frantic pleas.

“Yes! Yes, Nightfall! I’m with them!”

Trembling from pain and panic, Rat spilled everything. “I’m a scout, call sign Rat. After the zone shift, our guild leader used a Guild Assembly Card and a Targeted Refresh Token to pull us all together… just to, you know… hunt for supplies.”

“Hunt from who?” Riley pressed, though she already had a good idea.

“From… from the high rollers on the leaderboards.” Rat glanced fearfully at Riley’s gear. “Lady, with kit like yours… you’re top hundred, right? Yeah. We’re going after people like you.”

Riley’s eyes narrowed.

Just as she’d suspected.

Her gaze fell on Rat’s crimson shoulder armor.

“Your whole crew wears this,” she noted. “Some kind of uniform?”

She nudged the edge of the pauldron with the tip of her axe.

At the mention of the armor, a complicated look washed over Rat’s face–fear, definitely, but underneath it, a flicker of fanatical pride.

“This is the Crimson Oath Pauldron,” he muttered. “The guild leader gives it to everyone who joins.”

“What’s it do?”

“Plus one to all stats.” Rat swallowed hard. “And the leader says if we prove ourselves and move up in rank, the pauldron grows with us. The vice leader’s gives plus three to everything.”

Plus one to all stats? And it can level up?

Riley felt a chill run through her.

Those were insane bonuses. Sure, her Unlucky Fool title gave her plus five across the board, but that came from a unique hidden achievement–and carried one hell of a downside.

But Nightfall was handing out scalable gear like this to everyone?

No wonder that bald guy and the others were so loyal to their so–called leader. In the early stages of this nightmare, an across–the–board stat boost was a game–changer.

TUE

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Chapter 82 Rat’s Desperate Signal

“Take it off. Let me see it,” Riley ordered.

Rat paled and shook his head wildly. “I can’t! I swear–it won’t come off!”

“Don’t feel like cooperating?” Riley increased the pressure with her boot

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“No, it’s not that! Listen!” Rat was on the verge of sobbing. “It’s got a modifier called Binding Curse! Once it’s on, it’s like it grafts onto your skin. You can’t remove it unless you die. And… and if you betray the guild. the leader can trigger it remotely.”

Riley went still.

Binding Curse? Remote detonation?

So that was it.

She’d been wondering how, in this lawless, dog–eat–dog world, some mysterious leader could command such obedience.

Turns out it wasn’t just about rewards. It was about control–warped, absolute control.

Give with one hand, shackle with the other.

Their guild leader was a real piece of work.

“What’s your leader’s name? What does he look like? What can he do?” Riley kept the questions coming.

Rat’s eyes darted around nervously. “I… I don’t know his name. Or his face. He always wears a mask, or stays in the shadows. But he’s powerful–seriously powerful. He’s the chosen one… a prophet meant to rule this entire field.”

When he said “prophet“, his ordinarily shifty face twisted into a sickly, zealous glow, as if he’d forgotten he was still pinned beneath her boot.

“Everything we have comes from him! He can see fragments of the future, he pulls rare item cards out of nowhere, and he can-”

“Whack!”

Riley struck him across the mouth with the back of her axe, cutting off his fervent ramble.

A couple of teeth flew out, blood spraying.

“Save the cult talk,” Riley said coldly. “Give me something useful. You expect me to believe a bunch of low- level grunts wearing these pauldrons can take down top–tier players?”

Anyone who’d climbed the leaderboards had tricks up their sleeve–real capability.

“So what’s your actual play?” Riley locked eyes with him. “Don’t tell me you’re just planning to swarm them.”

TUE

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