Chapter 118: Chapter 118

Kill-on-Sight Reward... yours?

Jiang Ye thought to himself—

I didn’t even cash in the reward myself, so how could I let you have it!

With his strength, handling this situation was actually very simple—

Just fuse the Blackened Replica and Replica No. 3, pop a few ultimates, done.

The 【Holy Light Judgement】 he’d just cast hadn’t added even one Survival Point.

Which meant all the players here were non-Dark-type.

And according to Doomsday Apartment mechanics, non-Dark-types were generally not that strong.

If this were an average Light-type player, they might’ve really fallen into the trap.

A Light-type who could use Dark-type abilities—even Eerie abilities!

If that info ever got out, it would drive nearly every Dark-type being into utter despair!

However, at the moment, Jiang Ye wasn’t confident he could insta-wipe all players in Room 6996 before the secret leaked.

So after weighing the pros and cons, he didn’t go for a fused-replica counterattack.

Instead, he chose a more secure option—

And just like that, in nearly an instant—

Replica No. 6 (Light-type) and Replica No. 7 (the “trash” one) switched places!

The Light-type Replica instantly returned to the center of the Void Mirror Palace, that independent zone which belonged neither to Apartment 6996 nor 9669.

After all his bloody rampages, Jiang Ye had come to terms with his Replicas.

He used to rush to the rooftop to rescue Replica No. 1 when the White-Clad Woman trapped him.

Now he understood clearly—

Some trash Replicas were expendable.

More than that, they had to be sacrificed.

Because the number of Replicas his Main Body could manage was limited.

Back when his stats were weak, even just three Replicas had been a strain.

Only after consuming a full batch of Silver-Tier Attribute Fruits and massively boosting his stats could he maintain more.

So that idea of “doubling Replicas daily” was purely theoretical.

In reality, he had to factor in the Main Body’s attributes.

Which meant trash Replicas that drained his resources weren’t worth keeping.

With that thought in mind, the Light-type Replica pulled out the 【Dice of Fate】 that Cheng Qun had pawned off.

If he could roll a 【Crown】 symbol and boost his Luck stat…

He might be able to generate a few powerful Replicas.

And now, his Replicas shared the Main Body’s skills.

Not just practical ones like 【Replica Fusion】,

But also the life-saving skill 【Replica Substitution】—every Replica had inherited it.

Which meant, barring accidents...

If any Replica suddenly died, the weakest trash Replica would take the hit thanks to 【Replica Substitution】.

The only concern now—

Was the 【Skull】 symbol on the Dice of Fate—the one that meant instant death—

Was that death level covered by 【Replica Substitution】?

As he pondered, the Light-type casually generated three more Replicas.

With that, his Replica count finally hit double digits: 10 total!

And as expected, the three newly created ones were average across the board.

One had a D-tier Stamina Boost, one had a C-tier Wood Element Affinity.

The best of the bunch had a C-tier Spatial Element Affinity.

But sadly, no skills...

Wait! That’s not a downside!

If it were an ordinary player, lacking an initial skill would make early development extremely difficult.

But Jiang Ye was no ordinary player now!

Each of his Replicas came with a powerful army of others to back them up!

No Spatial skill with a C-tier Affinity? Easy—just dump skill scrolls on him!

Thanks to the nature of 【Replica Fusion】,

Any skill one Replica had was effectively usable by all!

If he could roll up something like Blink or Spatial Blade with that Spatial Affinity… Check latest chapters at novèlfire.net

It would boost the entire Replica network!

And thanks to Replica No. 2’s Quick Battle win yielding 12.8 billion, he had more money than he knew what to do with!

So—10 Silver-Tier Skill Scrolls, plus a whopping 100 Silver-Tier Attribute Fruits, all went into the Replica Shared Space!

The Spatial Replica didn’t rush to use the skill scrolls.

Instead, the Light-type Replica carefully tossed the 【Dice of Fate】 into the air.

But the moment he did, he suddenly got nervous.

Not because he was scared of dying.

But because Replica No. 7—now in Room 6996 of Apartment 9669—had just picked up new information.

Based on his current strength across all Replicas…

If 【Replica Substitution】 activated, the one to die in his place would surely be Replica No. 7, Zhang Hao.

But right now, Zhang Hao...

After the Replica Swap, he was now standing in the pitch-black Room 6996, exactly where the Light-type had stood.

A complete trash at Level 0, in a chaos-filled environment surrounded by powerhouses—he should’ve been killed instantly.

But what surprised Jiang Ye was—

In the dark Room 6996, his vision was severely limited—he could hardly see anyone.

Yet the players guarding the room seemed to have come prepared.

They had items that allowed them to see in the dark.

And so, the moment they saw him, they shouted—

“Wait a sec? Why does Huang Bo suddenly look different?”

“No! That’s not Huang Bo!”

“Check the apartment member list and ranking board—Huang Bo’s no longer in our apartment!”

“He escaped? But how?! The Dark Spirit Barrier isn’t as insane as the Abyssal Zone, but nearly all Spatial abilities are disabled! How the hell did he get out?!”

After all the shouting—

Room 6996 finally began to calm down.

Replica No. 7, meanwhile, stood in pitch black, feeling countless piercing gazes lock onto him.

In this eerie silence, a cool voice finally spoke from the darkness:

“Zhang Hao, Level 0, D-tier Earth Element Affinity.”

“No skills, no Survival Points—he’s a complete trash.”

As that voice faded, Room 6996 finally lit up.

And under the identity of “Zhang Hao,” Jiang Ye finally got a clear view of the room.

There were 8 people besides him.

A middle-aged man and woman, looking like a couple.

Four young people—three men and one woman.

One bald guy, presumably wearing a Disguise Mask.

And a very young boy who looked like he was still in middle school.

What shocked Jiang Ye was—

Among the eight people, three were familiar faces!

Among the group of three young men and one woman—

One of the guys was clearly “Sha Bo,” one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Apartment 9999!

That name was way too unique—Jiang Ye had remembered it well.

That girl was clearly the Red Handkerchief Woman who’d previously fought Yang Wenchao and later even challenged Lin Jing!

Only now, she looked like a regular female college student, with no sign of any red handkerchief on her body.

But what shocked Jiang Ye the most—

Among the three young men, one of them...

Was actually someone he knew: Lu Shen!!

That’s right! The same Lu Shen who awakened a C-tier ability and learned a C-tier skill among their classmates!

The one who’d joked in the group chat during the early days about “peeing three meters against the wind”!

The same Lu Shen who was a big shot at school, nicknamed “Lu God” by their classmates!

Jiang Ye never would've thought—

He’d see Lu Shen here, in Room 6996 of Apartment 9669, in the very team trying to surround and kill the Light-type!

Honestly, after Xing Man died, he hadn’t paid much attention to what was going on in Apartment 1010.

He’d focused most of his energy on Apartment 9999 and the Duel Rooms.

After all, judging by how his classmates were doing, no one other than Yang Wenchao could really stir things up.

And even if someone did manage to stir something up...

It should’ve been Wang Lingling, the one with the S-tier Dark-type ability!

Dark-type abilities were inherently stronger than non-Dark ones.

If Wang Lingling had grown stronger, she definitely wouldn’t be weak.

But her biggest issue was that everyone in her environment was a familiar face.

And she seemed to have never made up her mind to grow stronger through killing.

With someone like Wang Lingling around, even if her classmates wanted to do something crazy, they wouldn’t dare.

That’s why Jiang Ye had concluded—

In the whole of Apartment 1010, aside from Yang Wenchao, none of his classmates could make big waves.

But who would've thought...

He’d see Lu Shen in a completely different apartment?!

The real kicker—how did he even cross apartments?

And how did he end up mixing with a group of top players?

Just going by his C-tier ability, there’s no way!

Did Lu Shen also master Glyph Pattern Abilities?

No... that can’t be right!

If he had, he’d have become a Dark-type being.

And earlier, Jiang Ye had used 【Holy Light Judgement】 in Room 6996!

If Lu Shen had really turned into a Dark-type being with Glyph abilities, he would’ve been killed by that Light-type skill on the spot!

Plus, Dark-type beings shouldn’t be willing to corner a Light-type in the first place!

But wait—Jiang Ye suddenly had another realization—

That Red Handkerchief Woman who had fought Lin Jing earlier...

Wasn’t she also a Dark-type being?

During her fight with Lin Jing, she had indeed displayed strange and eerie techniques.

And according to her own words—

She’d survived 【The Ring】 instance—how could she not be a Dark-type being?!

Even the Blackened Replica had once speculated that the Red Handkerchief Woman was likely possessed by a powerful Reincarnated Eerie!

In Jiang Ye’s mind, there was at least a 99% chance she was a Dark-type being!

But now she was here too?!

The latest intel from Replica No. 7 had Jiang Ye reeling internally, filled with suspicion.

Still, under the watchful eyes of so many, Replica No. 7 didn’t dare show anything.

He just pressed himself tightly against a black curtain, wearing a terrified expression—

Like a small fry in fear and despair before a bunch of big shots.

Naturally, the powerful players noticed nothing unusual.

That middle-aged couple was the first to question him:

“What’s going on with you? Wasn’t Huang Bo just standing here? Why’d he suddenly turn into you?”

Jiang Ye had been ready to sacrifice Replica No. 7.

But now, he wanted more intel.

So “Zhang Hao” showed a panicked, frightened look and stammered:

“I-I don’t know! I have no idea!”

“I just—ran into that Huang Bo earlier...”

“I thought I was done for, but he didn’t kill me. He did something to me...”

“I-I don’t know what it was... and then I just suddenly appeared here...”

The implication of his words was obvious.

The middle-aged couple quickly followed his lead and speculated:

“Huang Bo must’ve used some kind of item to set an anchor on you in advance, so he could switch places in a crisis.”

“And this switch... actually bypassed the Dark Spirit Barrier’s ban on spatial teleportation!”

They spoke with authority—it was clear they were powerful.

But Jiang Ye had a new question on his mind.

Back in Apartment 9999, he’d noticed—

Almost all strong players in Doomsday Apartment seemed young.

People who liked games were usually younger.

Middle schoolers, high schoolers, some kids who dropped out...

Beyond that, it was mostly college students who had more free time.

The average middle-aged demographic rarely touched these youth-targeted games.

So in the Newbie Apartments, the players who rose quickly were almost always young.

Yet now, here were a pair of very strong middle-aged players...

As Jiang Ye pondered this—

Sha Bo, from Apartment 9999, picked up where the couple left off and said grimly:

“If that’s true, then this is seriously bad news!”

“That guy can turn into light—that’s already trouble. Now he can switch places with someone else? Even bypassing spatial locks?”

“Under these conditions, even sealing off the apartment might not be enough to contain him!”

But the couple looked calm. One of them analyzed further:

“That kind of broken item must be single-use. He can’t be swapping endlessly.”

Sha Bo let out a sigh of relief—

Only to hear the couple add in a serious tone:

“But he might also have a one-time resurrection item. Looks like the Kill-on-Sight reward isn’t going to be easy to claim after all.”

All eight of them looked grim.

Then, the boy who looked like a junior high student suddenly piped up:

“That Light-type kid’s being hunted the moment he shows up—

So where’s he getting all these busted one-time-use items?”

“Could he have some kind of powerful backer?”

“The way all those Dark-type veterans are going after him... is there more to this?”

“Like, what if there are some old Light-type players out there—who are backing Huang Bo now?”

Jiang Ye couldn’t help but admire the kid’s imagination.

The rest of the group didn’t immediately respond.

But Lu Shen suddenly turned to look at him and casually said:

“To be honest, more than Huang Bo using some broken item to swap with this Zhang Hao...”

“I actually suspect—this Zhang Hao is Huang Bo.”

“He must’ve used some ridiculous Disguise item to mask his identity.”