Chapter 184: Chapter 184
Ouyang stared at the messaging orb, looking like he was badly constipated.
The few other Zhou Qiming followers nearby all had twitching expressions at the corners of their mouths.
Especially the one who’d argued with Jiang Ye multiple times in the Duel Space earlier—he simply rolled his eyes in utter speechlessness.
None of them believed it.
It was already ridiculous enough for Jiang Ye to claim he solo-killed an Administrator.
But to boast that he solo-killed the 9999 Administrator?!
That was beyond over-the-top—it was like he’d inflated his bragging to the point of explosion!
The 9999 Administrator—what kind of being was that?!
And some newbie player dares to say he soloed the 9999 Administrator…
Truly, ignorance is fearlessness.
So clueless, he didn’t even know how to properly make up a lie!
Still, despite what they were thinking, Ouyang and the others didn’t openly mock him.
On the contrary, Ouyang even played along nicely and deliberately flattered him:
“Soloed the 9999 Administrator? Then congrats to you.”
Jiang Ye wasn’t dumb. Just by tone, he could tell—
Ouyang didn’t believe a word of it and was just humoring him.
Jiang Ye let out a low chuckle through the messaging orb, his voice carrying a faint, meaningful undertone.
At the same time, the 4444 Administrator’s Replica had a rather amused expression.
With a raised brow, he handed the orb back to Ouyang and casually said:
“Since you’re on such good terms with the 9999 Administrator, why not teleport back to Apartment 9999 and ask him yourself to send you to Apartment 0000?”
That line made Ouyang and the others’ expressions darken slightly.
Sure, they could go back to 9999 and ask that Administrator to send them.
But doing that would cost them extra Survival Points—
And frankly, it wasn’t worth the trouble.
But then the 4444 Administrator added:
“Who knows, maybe the 9999 Administrator has some other instructions for you.”
Ouyang was just starting to frown when Jiang Ye’s voice came again through the messaging orb, light and amused:
“Exactly. There’s something I’d like to ask you guys.”
At this point, the messaging orb had landed back in Ouyang’s hands.
He frowned even more.
Because if Jiang Ye really had been talking complete nonsense just now,
then going back to 9999 would mean exposing his bluff on the spot.
But now, with Jiang Ye and the 4444 Administrator in such sync, like some coordinated act—
It was starting to feel off.
Like… if they went back to 9999, they wouldn’t be exposing Jiang Ye at all,
but rather confirming that he actually became the new 9999 Administrator…
But the 9999 Administrator, though!
Jiang Ye… how could that possibly be?!
Even though his gut still screamed “no way,”
Ouyang really started to waver.
He exchanged a look with Lin Jing,
and saw the serious weight in Lin Jing’s eyes.
In the end, Lin Jing took a deep breath and said gravely:
“Then let’s go back to 9999 and check it out. Who knows, maybe we can recruit a few more people too.”
And so he and Ouyang turned and left.
The rest of Zhou Qiming’s followers thought for a bit, then followed suit and left the 4444 Administrator’s side.
After all, you can’t win against someone way stronger than you.
They were just regular players—without a Madman Mask, they weren’t stupid enough to start trouble with an Administrator.
And seeing the whole group dismissed by the Administrator,
Zhang Jintian, who’d barely had a presence this whole time, cautiously asked the 4444 Administrator:
“Um, Administrator sir… does that mean Jiang… Jiang Ye actually became the 9999 Administrator?”
Ouyang and the others were better informed, so they were sure Jiang Ye was full of crap.
But Zhang Jintian thought—
Jiang Ye was amazing!
He’d already one-shotted the 1010 Administrator (though somehow that guy came back…)
And later, he became the Rookie King!
Even if Zhang didn’t really know what the Rookie King meant...
It still sounded super awesome!
So someone that incredible becoming the 9999 Administrator?
Yeah, sounded totally legit to him!
Zhang’s worldview was too limited—he didn’t realize just how powerful 9999 was.
So he didn’t really question Jiang Ye.
But the 4444 Administrator didn’t answer.
After thinking for a moment, he simply ordered:
“From now on, if anyone else comes asking to go to Apartment 0000, just call me directly.”
Zhang Jintian had finally latched onto a powerful figure, so of course he obediently agreed.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ye’s Administrator Replica once again vanished. The rıghtful source is novel(ꜰ)ire.net
In the Secret Graveyard, Jiang Ye, Yang Wenchao, and Wan Xin were digging faster than ever.
Especially Yang Wenchao—
his movements had become incredibly practiced.
So much so that, aside from his face staying blank and dumb-looking,
his motions had lost much of their mechanical stiffness.
From behind, he looked almost like a living person.
And just as the three mechanical “people” were digging fiercely into another grave mound—
Jiang Ye was the first to notice something odd about it.
His brow twitched slightly, but his expression stayed neutral.
He simply kept pace with Yang Wenchao’s movements, digging rapidly.
This time, the three had barely dug a few times when—
Boom! The grave mound suddenly collapsed!
And with the collapse, a wave of rot and stench spread out from beneath!
It smelled… like corpse rot?
Jiang Ye instinctively felt nauseated by the stench.
But right in front of him, he saw Yang Wenchao and Wan Xin in Mecha Undead Mode—
both of their eyes lit up like they’d just found treasure.
Something was clearly drawing them in.
Yang Wenchao became even more aggressive.
Even as the grave caved in under him, he didn’t stop digging for a second.
Very soon, he pulled out a blood-red stone from the collapsed grave mound!
At first glance, it looked like a vivid pigeon-blood ruby.
But it was obvious the stench came from this bright red stone.
Jiang Ye wasn’t in Mecha Undead Mode—he was still alive.
So smelling that reek made him want to gag.
But to pure Undead like Yang Wenchao and Wan Xin,
this was like discovering a rare gem!
In fact, from Wan Xin’s dumb, vacant expression,
you could actually see a glint of desire—
like he wanted to fight Yang Wenchao for the red stone.
And Yang Wenchao clutched that red stone tightly.
His eyes, previously dull and lifeless in Mecha Mode, now lit up strangely.
He was clearly in a stance that said—no one was taking that stone from him.
The way these two acted—how did they look anything like mindless Mecha Undead?
Wan Xin was still alright—he stayed dull and robotic the whole time.
Everything he was doing now was way too much like someone with awareness and intelligence!
Could a deeply ingrained "last wish" from before death really cause a Mecha Undead to act so independently?
Jiang Ye was astonished.
Just as he was thinking, he saw Mecha-version Yang Wenchao grip the red stone,
rushing toward a previously unearthed coffin.
He pressed the red stone to his chest as he prepared to leap inside.
But the moment he jumped—
Bam! He caught a solid kick to the back.
Yep, Jiang Ye kicked him.
And while doing it, he cursed in his head: Screw you, dmn it!*
Even so, he kept his face blank and dumb like a proper undead.
Then, still playing the role, he grabbed the red stone from Yang Wenchao and stuffed it into his own pocket.
That move seemed to totally dumbfound the Mecha-version of Yang Wenchao.
He froze there for a long moment, not reacting at all.
Mecha Wan Xin didn’t seem to get it either.
Apparently, the "last wish" Wan Xin had left his Mecha Undead self was simply: mimic Yang Wenchao.
So he jumped into the coffin as well, cramming himself right in next to Yang Wenchao...
Like they were trying to live and die in the same bed and grave...
Mecha Yang Wenchao seemed absolutely speechless at this,
and immediately jumped back out of the coffin.
That jump—he looked exactly like a zombie.
He froze in place again for a moment, then suddenly turned around and resumed digging other grave mounds.
It seemed… he didn’t dare try to take the red stone back from Jiang Ye.
And Mecha Wan Xin, his faithful little shadow, immediately leapt out of the coffin too,
and trotted off behind Yang Wenchao...
Jiang Ye kept up the undead act on the outside,
but on the inside, he was quietly observing the red stone.
He was just about to fuse in the Eye of True Sight to examine it—
His Light-type Replica in Apartment 9669 got kicked—hard!
It felt like someone was imitating the exact same kick he just gave Yang Wenchao!
Except this one was even nastier!
The Light Replica was launched straight into the air!
Ever since the clock hit midnight and Apartment 0000 opened,
Light had been on high alert—
Worried that someone like the Apartment Trader, an unfathomable existence, might suddenly appear and wipe him out.
He was already prepared for this new veteran player drop-in to be overwhelmingly strong—far beyond his expectations.
He had even mentally rehearsed scenarios where his Light Replica got surrounded or assassinated.
But he never imagined it would happen this fast!
How long had it been since 0:00?!
And he’d clearly hidden his aura!
So how the hell did someone find him this quickly?!
And more importantly—was it even a veteran player who found him?!
The kicked-flying Light Replica was a chaotic mess of thoughts, every nerve on high alert!
Almost reflexively, he activated Light and Shadow Escape—
At the same time, he prepared Replica Swap, ready to fully vanish at any second!
He only just managed to enter Light and Shadow Escape,
when the space around him seemed to collapse inward toward him!
Even though Light and Shadow Escape removed all physical contact—
he could feel the crushing pressure.
In an instant, the space around him completely collapsed.
And he—still in Light and Shadow Escape form—
was compressed and trapped inside a transparent glass bottle?!
His Light-Shadow form had apparently been shrunk down by spatial compression.
From that miniaturized perspective, he wasn’t even sure if it was a glass bottle.
But there was no time to think.
He immediately tried to activate the previously interrupted Replica Swap!
It completely failed!
Replica Swap… didn’t work!
It was like he’d been completely sealed inside that bottle!
Not only could Light and Shadow Escape not get him out—
Even Replica Swap couldn’t break free!
What kind of broken, overpowered method was this?!
Could it be the Apartment Trader, come to capture him?!