Chapter 171: Chapter 171

This symbol, in religion, originally represented death.

It was a cruel instrument of execution for criminals.

Even Jesus was once crucified on the cross.

Later on, though, the cross came to symbolize faith and redemption.

In Western literature, those who were guilty would usually repent before a cross, hoping their soul could be saved.

The more sinful ones would carry a cross into exile.

Sisyphus, naturally, was among the gravely sinful.

He once kidnapped Death.

Endless reincarnation—that was the punishment he deserved…

But in the Greek myth, Sisyphus didn’t carry a cross—he pushed a boulder.

When Jiang Ye snapped back from his daze, he frowned slightly without realizing it.

What shocked and puzzled him most was—

That passage the Trader had just quoted… Jiang Ye had heard it before.

Yeah, it wasn’t the Trader’s original quote.

But Jiang Ye couldn’t remember where he’d seen it.

Maybe some short video? Maybe some piece of literature?

It just didn’t hit the same back then…

But now, in this moment, those words felt particularly striking.

Jiang Ye mulled over the term again, and looked back at the Apartment Trader.

The value of the Reincarnation Key was beyond question.

After all, if the Doomsday Apartment really did get destroyed, then forget something like the Replica Reflection Mirror, maybe everything would go down with it.

But the Reincarnation Key might be able to take its owner into the next round of the Doomsday Apartment.

Even if it was only a possibility, the meaning of the Reincarnation Key already surpassed all other items.

So, from that perspective, a game-breaking item obviously shouldn’t be traded.

Let alone— Chapters fırst released on novel~fire~net

This Apartment Trader wasn’t just unafraid of Light; he also had such broken space abilities…

Jiang Ye was even starting to suspect now.

If the Apartment Trader really disguised himself as Jiang Ye…

Would the system actually register him as one of his Replicas?

Was it possible that even his trump card, the X-tier Ability Infinite Replication, wouldn’t apply to the Trader?

And someone that overpowered…

If they also got the Reincarnation Key…

Then just how strong would this Trader become?

At that level, could Jiang Ye ever hope to kill him later on?

Jiang Ye’s mindset right now was still that of an ordinary person.

Like telling a regular person:

“If the birth rate keeps falling, humanity is going to go extinct.”

The average person would just be speechless: Human extinction? Okay… what’s that got to do with me?

Jiang Ye now had a similar mindset.

The destruction of the Doomsday Apartment—it sounded serious.

But it was like “human extinction,” a massive issue.

From Jiang Ye’s perspective, it just felt way too distant.

In contrast, the benefits of the Replica Reflection Mirror were right here, right now—he could use it immediately!

And for someone like him who had Infinite Replication, the Reflection Mirror was practically tailor-made for him—a personal exclusive weapon!

Just thinking about it filled Jiang Ye’s mind with one thought: I want it.

So truth be told, deep down, he was still leaning toward choosing the Replica Reflection Mirror.

Still, Jiang Ye didn’t make a decision immediately, and instead looked back at the Trader, raising a new question:

“I can sense that you’re incredibly strong… really, really strong…”

“Stronger than Apartment Bosses, and beyond anything I imagined.”

“But that just makes me even more confused—”

“With your abilities, you should be able to kill the 4444 Administrator, right?”

The Trader wasn’t surprised by this question.

He knew what Jiang Ye was getting at, so he chuckled and replied:

“Of course, I absolutely have the power to one-shot the 4444 Administrator.”

His tone suddenly turned a bit strange:

“I could kill him right now, this second, anytime I want.”

As he spoke, he reached his hand toward the air again.

Jiang Ye’s pupils instantly widened!

More precisely, all of Jiang Ye’s Replicas had their pupils blown wide open at that moment, trembling like they might burst!

And the most shocked among them was, of course, the Replica holding the 4444 Administrator role!

A streak of pure black, invisible and formless, suddenly swept across the rooftop of Apartment 9999…

A rift tore open again in the pitch-black night sky!

And this time, the 4444 Administrator Replica—was yanked right out from that spatial rift by the Trader!

Exactly like when he casually dragged out 9999 earlier—same scene, same move!

Yes! That’s right! The Trader, with no warning, just dragged the 4444 Administrator over!

And that 4444… was Jiang Ye’s own Replica!

What shocked Jiang Ye wasn’t just that the Trader could grab his Replica so easily.

What really blew his mind was—

That 4444 Administrator Replica had been hiding in Death-State within the Secret Graveyard!

Even under those conditions, the Trader still managed to drag him out effortlessly!

Also, there's a rule in the Administrator privileges: an Administrator can’t leave their designated apartment’s territory—otherwise, they’ll be erased!

Grabbing 9999 earlier was fine because they were in Apartment 9999.

But now, the Trader had directly pulled 4444 into 9999?!

And 4444 wasn’t erased!

Jiang Ye immediately realized—

The space he was currently in… was not the rooftop of Apartment 9999 anymore!

It seemed like the Trader had opened up a new, temporary space!

And this space… seemed to have the same properties as the Administrator PK Arena created during Apartment Fusion!

So now, the Replica who had become the 9999 Administrator and the 4444 Administrator Replica could actually exist in the same space at the same time!

Grabbing a Death-State 4444 Administrator from the Secret Graveyard with bare hands…

Creating a space with properties similar to an Administrator PK Arena out of thin air…

The Apartment Trader’s abilities once again shattered Jiang Ye’s understanding!

And as the Trader dragged 4444 out from the void…

That black robe, showing no signs of life, seemed to glance briefly in Jiang Ye’s direction.

Then, with the same casual tone, he said lightly:

“Yeah, right now, if I want to kill this thing, I can.”

The 4444 Administrator Replica stayed silent on the surface but was cursing inside: Who the h*ll do you think you are?! How’s that even polite?!

The Trader didn’t seem to care and continued:

“But killing him is pointless.”

“Because even if I kill him, I can’t pick up the Reincarnation Key that drops.”

“You’ve probably experienced it too, right? In the PK Arena, when you killed the original 4444, you couldn’t pick up that cross either, could you?”

The Trader spoke like he’d seen it happen firsthand.

“It was only when you gained the 4444 Administrator status that the cross chose you and merged into you.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ye finally understood what the Trader was trying to say.

“Just killing the 4444 Administrator is useless, you still won’t get the Reincarnation Key.”

“Only by becoming the 4444 Administrator can the Key choose you.”

“And according to what the White-Clad Woman told me—each player can only have one privilege identity.”

“So since you already have the Trader identity, you can’t also have an Administrator identity…”

“Which means through normal means, you still can’t obtain the Reincarnation Key—even if you kill 4444.”

“But the Reincarnation Key can be actively handed over to you by the 4444 Administrator?”

The Trader nodded: “That’s how I see it, though I haven’t tested it yet.”

Jiang Ye was just about to ask why the Trader believed that.

What Yang Wenchao and the others went through in that game, with the Reincarnation Key, must’ve involved a transfer.

Later, when Yang Wenchao casually glitched into the Secret Graveyard, the 4444 Administrator at that time didn’t even know.

That Administrator must have already become a puppet.

And the Reincarnation Key by then must have been transferred to someone else.

This Trader seemed to know everything.

And when he mentioned that Jiang Ye couldn’t pick up the Reincarnation Key in the PK Arena, he hadn’t said it to the 4444 Administrator.

He had said it directly to Jiang Ye.

The Trader even knew that the 4444 Administrator was Jiang Ye’s Replica!

So he probably knew about the Light Replica too.

Which means all the information Yang Wenchao and the other game players had—the Trader obviously knew it too.

So based on the events from the game, it was totally reasonable for him to believe that the 4444 Administrator could transfer the Reincarnation Key.

At the same time, now that things had developed to this point, Jiang Ye clearly realized—

This deal… it didn’t seem like he had any choice!

Replica Reflection Mirror or Reincarnation Key?

It seemed like that was never up to him to decide!

This terrifying Trader could casually grab even the 4444 Administrator and crush him by hand…

Yet Jiang Ye had just been seriously weighing which one to pick between the Reflection Mirror and the Reincarnation Key…

Jiang Ye wasn’t called “Wei Junjie” for nothing.

He instantly figured it out—

Just being allowed to have the Replica Reflection Mirror already meant the Trader was doing him a huge favor.

Thinking that, he had no more hesitation.

Still, the Trader did seem pretty easy to talk to.

So Jiang Ye tentatively asked:

“Even though you call this a trade, the method of transferring the Reincarnation Key is still something we have to figure out together?”

The Trader nodded, sounding rather agreeable: “Yeah, that’s what I mean.”

Jiang Ye exhaled slowly: “I’m willing to accept the trade and help you research how to transfer the Reincarnation Key.”

“But I’d like to make two small requests.”

The Trader still looked easygoing: “Go ahead.”

Jiang Ye: “First, I’d like to postpone the transfer and research until tomorrow. Preferably around 12 noon. How about that?”

The Trader didn’t hesitate much and asked, “And the second?”

“The second,” Jiang Ye said using the 4444 Administrator Replica, “I’d like you to use your space ability to help my Gluttonous Body devour the Entropy Scythe.”

He had originally thought about whether he could trick the Trader into disguising as him so he could test out the Trader’s ability.

But now, that was clearly unrealistic.

So if the Entropy Scythe was going to be devoured, he’d have to directly ask the Trader to do it himself.

Unexpectedly, the Trader was super generous, instantly replying:

And with that, he waved his hand—darkness spread through the void again.