Replica 02

"Many civilians have filed complaints! We must stop Fang Zhiyi!"

"Minister! What should we do?" someone asked.

The gray-haired Minister Zhang stared at the screen, where Fang Zhiyi’s face was smeared with blood, and swallowed hard. "Stay calm. Don’t forget Fang Zhiyi is a strategist. He must have a reason for doing this."

"The U.S. has called to protest! They say Fang Zhiyi attacked innocent American civilians—they’re furious!"

"Are they stupid? Those are just NPCs! I don’t believe they’d show mercy to NPCs from our country!"

Fang Zhiyi carried a shovel in one hand and dragged a burlap sack with the other, leaving a long trail of blood behind him.

He arrived at his destination. According to the original plot, he was supposed to be guided by the townsfolk to this imposing-looking house, meet the troubled homeowner whose worries stemmed from his young son, solve the riddle presented to him, deduce the truth, and prevent disaster when the crisis arrived.

But that was the original protagonist’s path. Fang Zhiyi had no interest in wasting brain cells in this dump.

He rang the doorbell. After a moment, a pale-faced man opened the door and glanced at him. "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

Since no townsfolk had introduced him, the butler had to inquire—standard procedure.

Fang Zhiyi grinned. "I’m here to smash your skull in."

The man froze, his gaze trailing down to the massive burlap sack Fang Zhiyi was dragging—and the human heads spilling out, far too many to fit inside.

"Good God, you—!"

Before he could finish, Fang Zhiyi slammed the shovel into his head.

"I’m not God. Stop yelling." He kicked aside the butler’s corpse and swaggered inside.

Since this was the first global PvE dungeon, nearly every player worldwide was watching. Fang Zhiyi’s sudden massacre left them stunned.

"My God! Fang Zhiyi is this kind of person?"

"See? Dragon Country’s peaceful image was all a lie! A lie!"

"He killed so many NPCs… God help us."

"He must be a demon!"

"See? The supernatural just changed the game rules, and this so-called 'peacekeeper' showed his true colors."

The supernatural livestream remained eerily calm.

Fang Zhiyi whistled cheerfully as he bashed two more servants to death before barging into the kitchen and grabbing a cleaver.

The homeowner didn’t even get to finish his first line of dialogue before dropping dead.

Fang Zhiyi didn’t even bother searching all the rooms. He clearly remembered the doll in the corner was a key item, so he kicked it, watching it fly across the room before praising himself.

The painting on the wall hid a crucial clue—Fang Zhiyi casually slashed it open with his knife.

His next move shocked the world again. Even Dragon Country’s analysis team couldn’t stay seated and used their limited reminder opportunity.

"Fang Zhiyi, what are you doing? Stop this—you can’t clear the dungeon like this!"

Fang Zhiyi ignored them, still whistling as he went about his business.

In the supernatural livestream, comments began flooding in.

"......"

"......"

"???????"

"This human..."

Kicking open the door to the third-floor nursery, Fang Zhiyi hoisted his shovel, grinning wildly. Inside, a curly-haired boy clutched a doll identical to the one he’d just kicked, staring at him in terror.

Fang Zhiyi wiped his face, smearing the already blood-covered visage into something even more horrifying.

"Tch… just a kid." Fang Zhiyi sighed. "I’ll let you go this time. Next time we meet, we’ll settle things—life or death."

The livestream erupted.

"At least Fang Zhiyi has some humanity left."

"I’m gonna have nightmares tonight! This is terrifying! Someone get me a 6'1" college guy to comfort me!"

"Wait, you—"

"Don’t believe him! That’s a dude!"

"But where’s the danger in this dungeon?"

"Maybe the Americans were going easy, but Fang Zhiyi just snapped?"

"We Americans are the peaceful ones! Fang Zhiyi doesn’t deserve the title 'Peacekeeper'!"

Hanks was stunned. Fang Zhiyi had completely abandoned his usual persona, transforming from a detective into a butcher. His heart pounded in his throat, but as Fang Zhiyi turned to leave, a sliver of hope remained—as long as the seed was intact, there was still a chance.

Then, in the next second, Fang Zhiyi suddenly spun around. "Ha! We meet again!"

"......"

"......"

"Dragon Country folks, explain this to me—is this right?"

"Technically, by definition, it’s not wrong…"

"That’s not the point! Fang Zhiyi’s really going after a kid now?"

In the supernatural livestream, countless exclamation marks flooded the screen—expressing the viewers’ shock.

"My homeland has an old saying." Fang Zhiyi wiped his blade. "'The wise submit to circumstances—' Wait, no, wrong line. 'If you don’t uproot the weeds, they’ll grow back when the spring wind blows.'"

The boy pressed himself against the wall, tiny body trembling uncontrollably.

Just as Fang Zhiyi closed in, the boy suddenly lowered his head, his shaking intensifying.

Fang Zhiyi watched with amusement—then struck without hesitation. Only a fool would wait for a transformation!

The boy’s mouth stretched unnaturally wide as a pitch-black hand shot out from within, grabbing Fang Zhiyi’s knife.

Little Hei shook his head in pity. This thing clearly hadn’t seen Fang Zhiyi in action before, or it wouldn’t have dared.

Sure enough, the moment the black hand seized the blade, Fang Zhiyi seized the hand and yanked hard.

The demon hiding inside the child was baffled. Being forcibly awakened was one thing, but who was this guy outside? He actually dared to grab it? And this strength—instinct screamed that leaving its host was a bad idea, but the man outside seemed hellbent on dragging it out. The demon panicked. It was always the one forcing its way out to attack others—since when did humans try to pull it out? There had to be a trap outside!

The livestream fell silent again.

After a long pause:

"Those cunning Dragon Country folks secretly trained this monster!"

"Shut up, you short bastard!"

"Fang Zhiyi can physically interact with the supernatural? Did the Americans nerf this dungeon?"

"Honestly, my first shock was Fang Zhiyi killing people. Second shock was him not sparing a kid. Third… he’s trying to drag the supernatural out?"

"But it looks like the supernatural doesn’t want to come out."

"Was Fang Zhiyi always this brutal?"