Chapter 145: Chapter 145

Zhang Jintian's reaction was even stiffer than that puppet's.

He took a deep breath, speaking at lightning speed, as if afraid he'd change his mind the next second:

"Confirm the exchange!"

But the moment he said that, the puppet replied with a businesslike tone:

"Then—please hand over your Survival Stone to me."

Zhang Jintian was instantly stunned: "To you? Not to the Administrator?"

Hidden in stealth, Jiang Ye was also stunned.

Wasn't it agreed that during a Survival Stone exchange, the Administrator would appear to receive it in person?

Why was the puppet collecting it now?

Was the Administrator scared of him??

The mighty Administrator, who had the guts to pick a fight with him before, wouldn't be such a coward, right?

Jiang Ye almost wanted to reveal himself just to mock him.

But the real problem now was—

Once a Survival Stone exchange was confirmed, it couldn't be undone.

Jiang Ye’s original plan was—

When the Administrator showed up to collect the Survival Stone, he’d kill him and cancel the exchange, right?

But now the Administrator wasn’t showing up…

Would he expose himself just to kill a puppet?

Just as he was thinking that, Jiang Ye suddenly froze, a dark gleam flashing in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jintian, facing the puppet, was tense all over, clearly caught in a dilemma.

The puppet's eerie black eyes locked onto him.

Its tone, still businesslike, grew even more severe:

"Confirmed. Please hand over—"

A loud explosion cut off the puppet’s stiff voice.

It shattered the puppet’s body entirely!

A giant axe seemed to appear out of nowhere and smashed down hard on the puppet’s head, smashing it to pieces!

And the one gripping the axe—

Zhang Jintian stared wide-eyed and couldn't help blurting out, "H-holy sht?!"

"That puppet represents the Administrator!"

"And you're just going to attack it directly? Aren’t you afraid the Administrator will come after you?"

But Jiang Ye looked proud and fearless.

He casually swung the heavy axe up onto his shoulder.

He looked like he didn’t care at all, even giving a cold snort:

"Afraid? Hah, I wish the Administrator would come after me!"

As he spoke, he effortlessly carried the axe and shouted into the air:

"You hear that, Administrator? I chopped up your stand-in puppet! You too scared to come out and settle the score with me?"

"A mighty Administrator, afraid of a mere player like me?"

"Besides, your stand-in’s destroyed. You’ve got to come out and handle business in person now, right?"

"There's still a confirmed Survival Stone here that hasn’t been processed! What, you don’t want it anymore?"

His attitude was beyond arrogant!

Zhang Jintian was completely dumbfounded!

Dude? Is this—this how a player is supposed to talk to an Administrator?!

Taunting the Administrator! Even provoking him by saying he’s too scared?!

Zhang Jintian only now realized—

This Jiang Ye, who said he’d help draw out the Administrator and undo the exchange…

Was he trying to kill the Administrator?!

The moment that thought hit him, Zhang Jintian was even more shocked!

The real Jiang Ye, still hidden in the dark, was also pretty stunned.

He’d sensed someone impersonating him.

And there were two of them at the same time.

One was his old friend Wu Ying.

That guy had used Phantasm Parasitism to impersonate Jiang Ye after Zhou Qiming died and hadn’t dropped the disguise since.

The other one was this newly appeared guy.

At first, when Jiang Ye noticed someone impersonating him, he was just a little surprised—mostly amused.

But then he saw this fake version of himself boldly taunting the Apartment Administrator…

Now he was just confused.

Who the hll was this guy?

Why use his identity to provoke the Administrator?

Was it to impersonate him more perfectly?

Or to put hate on him and get him targeted by the Administrator?

Jiang Ye couldn’t figure it out—something felt off.

Then the fake Jiang Ye, still holding the giant axe, suddenly waved his hand.

Another loud "Boom" followed.

That giant axe slammed down hard on the reception desk!

Fake Jiang Ye’s presence grew even more overbearing, his taunts going full blast:

"Seriously? Seriously? The big bad Apartment Administrator is just gonna hide like a turtle?"

"Or do you think that hiding means I can’t find you?!"

As he spoke, fake Jiang Ye’s aura grew sharper and more aggressive.

It felt like he had the power to destroy everything—

Like he could wipe out the entire Apartment 1010 with just a snap of his fingers!

Zhang Jintian was completely stunned, but he still had enough sense to try to get the hll out of there!

But just as he turned to retreat, he was hit with a surge of killing intent, like a venomous snake locking onto him!

In that instant, Zhang Jintian went stiff, every nerve taut!

The real Jiang Ye, still hidden, noticed—

Not far behind him was a vague black shadow.

The slender silhouette…

Was it… Wang Lingling?

Jiang Ye wasn’t sure, but he had no intention of helping Zhang Jintian out.

Luckily, Zhang Jintian did have some life-saving tricks.

He jerked his shoulders hard, and dozens of tiny silver needles shot from his back, piercing the air and flying straight toward the slender figure!

Those weren’t ordinary needles.

The figure quickly dodged into the light, revealing her face.

And that face… was indeed Wang Lingling!

Her whole vibe was very different from her time at school.

She now had a cold, commanding aura—decisive and distant.

Her sharp gaze was far more resolute than that of an ordinary student or player.

She threw out both hands, releasing two fierce black whirlwinds that shot at Zhang Jintian’s face.

At the same time, between her pale fingers appeared two long blood-red needles.

She held them like knitting needles and made weaving motions.

The two needles spun in her hands like blooming flowers.

And with each movement, crimson energy threads shot out like a spiderweb, covering Zhang Jintian!

At the same time, two red energy lines quickly wrapped around Zhang Jintian’s ankles!

In an instant, Zhang Jintian was in a death trap!

One wrong move, and he'd be dead the next second!

Zhang Jintian’s face turned deathly pale in terror.

At this life-or-death moment, he couldn’t even tell if he regretted taking that gamble with Jiang Ye.

The real Jiang Ye could’ve easily saved him.

He could even have instantly killed Wang Lingling if he wanted.

He hadn’t figured out what was going on yet, so he decided to keep watching.

Just as Zhang Jintian reached the peak of his despair…

Fake Jiang Ye made his move!

And as he struck, he kept taunting:

"So you ignore my messages, and now you try to mess with my people right in front of me…"

"Guess you really don’t know your place—don’t even take me seriously!"

The real Jiang Ye watched as the fake Jiang Ye used his face and his voice to say this over-the-top, edgy sht, and felt deeply embarrassed (/ω＼)

He had to admit—being the one doing the posturing and watching someone else do it were two totally different experiences.

Seriously, was Light this ridiculous when he got cocky too?

Jiang Ye was barely holding it together.

Still, this show was getting pretty good—

The fake Jiang Ye struck out at Wang Lingling, casually slicing through the red energy lines with the elegance of plucking leaves and tossing flowers, then swung the giant axe at her back.

Actually, his focus was more on saving Zhang Jintian, so his attack speed wasn’t that fast.

With Wang Lingling’s strength, she should’ve been able to dodge easily if she abandoned her attack on Zhang Jintian.

But weirdly—she didn’t dodge!

That axe slammed into her back, brutally.

A horrifying hole instantly appeared in her slim back!

It even went clean through!

The entire giant axe had sliced through from her back to her chest, piercing her completely!

Such a terrifying effect...

Even if she didn’t die, she should’ve been seriously injured!

Wang Lingling showed no signs of being injured at all!

When she turned her head, there wasn’t the slightest trace of blood loss on her face.

On the contrary, the corners of her lips curled into a strange smile.

She seemed about to say something.

But fake Jiang Ye interrupted her arrogantly:

“What the hll are you smiling at?!”

“You didn’t actually think I fell for it, did you?”

“You thought attacking you would trigger the Erasure effect? Then take a look at this!”

As he spoke, fake Jiang Ye pointed at his own face.

At some point, he had put on a… Madman Mask!

Hidden in the shadows, the real Jiang Ye was once again stunned!

At this rate, it meant…

This Wang Lingling wasn’t the real Wang Lingling at all!

She was actually the Apartment Administrator in disguise, trying to lure fake Jiang Ye into attacking!

Just like when he disguised as Ding Deng before, trying to lure the real Jiang Ye into striking!

And this fake Jiang Ye had figured out the Administrator’s intent and disguise in such a short time?!

This fake Jiang Ye had a Madman Mask too?!

Who the hll was this guy??

Honestly, Jiang Ye’s first instinct at this point should’ve been to go for the kill.

After all, it was now basically confirmed—

This so-called Wang Lingling was actually the Administrator in disguise.

Now that the Administrator had appeared, Jiang Ye should’ve revealed himself and taken him out.

But fake Jiang Ye’s strange behavior threw off his whole plan and train of thought.

Plus, he really hadn’t expected that this fake Jiang Ye actually had the power to instantly kill the Administrator!

So in just that brief moment of hesitation…

He watched, eyes wide open—

The fake Jiang Ye, wearing the Madman Mask, arrogantly taunted and then suddenly flashed toward the fake Wang Lingling.

His speed was insane.

As he charged, he raised one hand.

In his palm, a terrifying blood-red lotus burst into bloom!

In the blink of an eye, the lotus landed on the fake Lingling, instantly turning into hellfire and burning her to ashes!

Before Jiang Ye could even react…

The Administrator… was dead??

Jiang Ye was momentarily in disbelief.

But what followed was even more outrageous—

Every player in Apartment 1010 heard a system prompt in their heads:

【Emergency Announcement from the Beginner Apartment:】

【The Administrator of this Apartment has been killed by player Jiang Ye!】 Googlᴇ search NovєlFіre.net

【The Administrator’s role and privileges have been automatically transferred to Jiang Ye!】

Just this simple announcement…

Stunned every single player in Apartment 1010!

Jiang Ye… killed the Administrator?!

Could it be that the Administrator’s power was just weak, and killing them is some kind of hidden mechanic?!

So… does that mean if someone kills Jiang Ye now, they can become the new Administrator too?

The players of 1010 had such narrow perspectives.

Their first reaction to the announcement was to doubt the Administrator’s strength.

Luckily, not everyone was that short-sighted.

A message popped up in the group chat from Yang Xiaoman:

【Administrator strength is incredibly high! Far beyond that of any player!】

【Not only that, they even have the authority to erase players!】

【As long as a player initiates an attack, the Administrator can use their privilege to erase them!】

【For a player to kill an Administrator, they must wear a Madman Mask to resist the Erasure effect.】

【And the Madman Mask can only be obtained after achieving one hundred consecutive wins in the Duel Room…】

Just those few lines—

Left all the players dumbfounded again!

Jiang Ye had completed a hundred-win streak in the Duel Room?!

And his strength far surpassed the Administrator’s?!

Even these frogs at the bottom of the well finally realized—

Jiang Ye, who had killed the Administrator, wasn’t just invincible in a single apartment!

Among the tens of thousands of apartments, he was probably one of the absolute top players!

Like that time Lu Fang, Lu Shen’s younger brother, came to 1010—

Everyone looked up to him in awe.

But compared to Jiang Ye now, he probably really was just a younger brother!

Xiao Likun suddenly typed in the group:

【So if Jiang Ye now has Administrator privileges…】

【Does that mean, if any of us attack him, he also has the power to erase us?】

No one answered the question.

But at that moment, every player in Apartment 1010 was overwhelmed with mixed emotions—full of disbelief and intense shock!

At the same time, they couldn’t help but wonder—

What was Wang Lingling thinking now, after ignoring Jiang Ye’s messages before?

Jiang Ye didn’t know what Wang Lingling was feeling.

But right now, his own feelings were pretty complicated.

To be honest, he was indeed powerful, and he did have the ability to kill an Administrator.

He hadn’t killed the Administrator!

Yet somehow, the credit fell on him!

This fake Jiang Ye didn’t just steal the kill.

His disguise was so convincing that even the system announcement used the name “Jiang Ye”!

For a moment, a storm of thoughts raced through Jiang Ye’s mind.

And the fake Jiang Ye who had killed the Administrator calmly reached into the burning hellfire and pulled out a charred black ring.

After putting it on, he took out a piece of metal and casually tossed it to Zhang Jintian.

His tone was relaxed and lazy, but still full of swagger:

“The surprise I promised you—this is it. Administrator privileges.”

“I won’t be staying in Apartment 1010 for long, so I’ll leave the management stuff to you.”

And with that, fake Jiang Ye’s figure vanished on the spot.

Leaving behind a bewildered Zhang Jintian holding the metal piece…

And the real Jiang Ye, still hidden in the shadows, equally dumbfounded.