“Hey, you…”
The male student watched helplessly as Zhu Yan walked toward the pipe entrance, a hint of astonishment spreading across his face.
This can’t be right, can it?
When that Porcelain Doll was here, it would just toss people into another room after killing them.
That room should be where those horrific creatures carry out the next step of cutting or cleaning.
This room they were in was already dangerous enough—what about the other room…
The male student couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you can do this?”
That Porcelain Doll was just too terrifying.
Earlier, a player with a level-four ability had thrown a skill at it, but not only did it have no effect, he also lost his life for nothing.
They, the players, were like rookies who had stumbled into an advanced dungeon in a game.
In the face of absolute power, all attempts to resist or clear the instance had become meaningless.
If this room was already this horrifying, wouldn’t the next room be even worse?
“You’re only level two, Zhu Zeyu. Calm down. Don’t just go throw away your life!”
The male student shouted anxiously, watching helplessly as Zhu Zeyu bent down and slipped through those rubber curtain strips.
Around him, the whispers surged back like a tide, crashing against his eardrums in waves.
Some of the people locked deeper inside hadn’t heard what had just happened; others were hopeful, while a few were even more desperate.
“Going to the front room… he probably won’t make it…”
Only level two? If he had an item, he might stand a chance.
A girl pressed her face against the cage bars.
Zhu Zeyu had completely disappeared behind the curtain.
She stared in terror at the still-swaying strips; not long after, a dull, muffled thud came from the other side of the curtain—it sounded like a knife cutting through bones and tendons, slamming down onto a chopping board.
The male student next to her opened his mouth, thick fear spreading across his face.
“He… couldn’t he already be…”
…
“What’s going on?!”
The horrifying creature grumpily yanked the knife out of the conveyor belt.
That last swing had been strong; the blade, wet with hot blood, sliced through the misty form of Zhu Yan and sank deep into the belt.
“Why isn’t Miss Xingzi’s workshop sending any meat chunks after all this time?”
Zhu Yan paused for a moment.
These horrifying creatures weren’t very high-level—they couldn’t even see through his level-six ability [Disguise].
The real problem was that they were noisy.
That level-13 military saber was more than enough to handle them, and furthermore…
Zhu Yan sensed the situation in the other room.
The head chef’s workspace, from where he was now, was three “workshops” away.
He could easily use his puppet to go on a killing spree.
Zhu Yan climbed up along the blade, slowly reforming in a corner of the workshop, silently and safely.
“Miss Xingzi probably hasn’t come back yet,” another horrifying creature muttered, turning to face their “leader.”
“Boss, should we go check on her?”
The creature in the bright yellow uniform twitched slightly, thinking deeply.
“Check on her?”
Its neck smoothly twisted in a half-circle, locking exactly onto the corner where Zhu Yan was hiding.
“We could… but what is that thing over there?”
The thick fog had already taken shape, like a dense cloud.
Hidden within that cloud was Zhu Yan’s puppet.
Originally, the ability [Mist] had its limits, so he could only borrow his puppet’s abilities.
But Zhu Yan’s transformed [Mist] itself possessed abilities.
So even if the puppet he was using was just a hollow shell, he could still use [Disguise], [Complaint], and [Abuse]—things like that.
“How did that get in here?” the “leader” creature shrieked.
“I remember in our workshop—”
Clank.
A porcelain leg stepped out of the thick mist, and then the mist rapidly condensed, pouring in a surge into the body of the “Porcelain Doll.”
“What do you remember?” Zhu Yan grinned, wearing “Xingzi’s” face, and asked playfully.
The horrifying creature froze immediately.
Behind its mask, Zhu Yan couldn’t see its face, but he knew it was hesitating.
“Miss Xingzi? What’s going on here?”
“How could you suddenly appear here? I…”
Zhu Yan cut off its curiosity.
The cold gleam of the blade slashed through the air, and then the mask, along with the creature’s head, clattered to the floor with a loud thud.
In an eerie silence, the still-standing uniform began to shrivel at a visible speed.
“Miss Xingzi!” a voice shrieked.
But unfortunately, “Miss Xingzi”—Zhu Yan—had no intention of wasting words with them.
The cold gleam streaked through like a falling meteor, effortlessly slicing through the neck bones of those horrifying creatures.
The blade, modified by Qingting, was incredibly sharp—Zhu Yan barely felt any resistance.
Mask after mask hit the ground with clattering sounds, one after another. It took several seconds before some of the creatures snapped out of their shock.
“Xingzi has gone insane! No, this might not be Xingzi at all!”
“Get out! Sound the alarm! Alarm!”
The saber sliced off one hand reaching for the alarm button, then the head attached to that arm.
Five minutes later.
Zhu Yan stood silently in the center of the room, carefully examining the floor littered with shriveled uniforms and helmets.
Not bad… These strange creatures seem to be made of air or something.
The echoes of helmets hitting the ground still seemed to ring in his ears, but now, this place was truly quiet.
Only the creaking sound of the conveyor belt carrying the remaining meat chunks to the next room remained.
To be safe, Zhu Yan collected the pile of damaged uniforms and helmets.
These things might be worth something, or they could be junk.
Either way, he might as well take them.
He stowed away the “Zhu Zeyu” puppet, turned back into the form of [Mist], and flowed toward the next room.
…
Next door.
The cage was quiet, broken only by the occasional, barely restrained low sobs.
“Did you all hear that?” After a long while, a player spoke up uncertainly.
“I heard screams next door, but the soundproofing here is too good—I couldn’t make it out clearly.”
“Does anyone have a hearing-based ability?”
“There was one, but they’re dead,” another voice whispered desperately. “I didn’t catch it either.”
Earlier, just as they had been sinking into despair, they vaguely heard screams from next door, along with some clattering sounds of metal falling.
The sounds weren’t distinct, but they were noticeable.
To the players, it sounded like someone screaming in terror, and then, one after another, things being knocked over.
They tried their hardest to figure out what had happened, but within five minutes, the other side fell silent again, completely soundless.
“Don’t overthink it,” someone in the middle of the cage advised.
This was the player who had been continuously using skills on the cage.
His eyes were blood-red from exhaustion, and he had to strain just to keep them open.
“Given all that commotion, that player is definitely finished. He might have seemed like a big shot to us, but in reality, his level can’t be higher than those horrifying creatures.”
“We’d better keep relying on ourselves.”
If we can get out of this cage, we'll contact Yang Zhanbai and Shen Zichen right away to see if there's any way to escape as quickly as possible.

to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”

his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…

uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.

m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!