Chapter 262: Chapter 262

Currently, the Doomsday Apartment is approaching the end of "Day Eight."

Based on Jiang Ye's previous speculation—

Whether in the Doomsday Apartment or the Novice Apartment, each "day" becomes progressively shorter than the last.

So, the combined duration of Day Nine and Day Ten might not even equal that of Day One.

With Jiang Ye infected by Lightburn, his chances of surviving through Days Nine and Ten are actually quite high.

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As he was thinking this, Zhou Yuling continued her tempting offer as expected:

"The Defenders' Alliance has developed to this point with mature research in all aspects."

"The black ribbon merely alleviates the pain."

"But the radiation-like effects of Lightburn on players persist indefinitely."

"After joining the Defenders' Alliance, the alliance will naturally help mitigate those effects and prolong your life."

Jiang Ye thought to himself: Oh, how kind of you!

Outwardly, he appeared persuaded.

He declared directly: "Alright, since the Defenders' Alliance doesn't mind having me, I have no reason not to join."

"To demonstrate my loyalty to the Defenders' Alliance, I can agree to this small matter of borrowing some blood."

Zhou Yuling immediately smiled, thinking to herself that this kid seemed difficult but was actually quite cooperative.

However, Jiang Ye added:

"But regarding borrowing blood, I have two conditions."

Zhou Yuling nodded: "Go ahead."

She hadn't planned to take it for free anyway—appropriate benefits would naturally be provided.

Jiang Ye smiled: "First condition—"

"Although I've agreed to join the Defenders' Alliance, I haven't officially joined yet."

"Mainly because Huang Bo hasn't been killed, the bounty reward hasn't reached me."

"And what I promised you—assisting you in clearing the Court of Disorder—hasn't been completed either..."

"Just killing Huang Bo alone gave me this Lightburn..."

"This shows how unpredictable things are—who knows what might happen in the future?"

"So for safety's sake, borrowing blood must happen after I officially join the Defenders' Alliance."

"That is, after this Novice Apartment cycle ends."

"Otherwise, if I lend you my blood and you kill me immediately afterward, wouldn't I be at a huge loss?"

"..." Zhou Yuling was speechless, thinking if she could kill him, she'd just take the blood directly.

Although Jiang Ye made this request, she felt—what difference was there between this and an empty promise?

But what she didn't expect was something even more outrageous to come!

Jiang Ye made a peace sign: "Second condition—"

"You just mentioned that when your alliance researchers study my blood, I can have a clone observe, right?"

"If a clone can observe, then I hope my clone can lead the research on my blood, with the researchers assisting me."

"After all, the person I trust most is myself."

"Who knows what shady things those researchers might try behind my back?"

"..." Zhou Yuling's eye twitched slightly.

She had to retract her earlier assessment of Jiang Ye.

This kid "cooperative"??

Cooperative my ass! He's truly difficult!

Zhou Yuling even muttered helplessly: "Researchers assisting you, huh..."

"Why don't you just ask the alliance leader to be your foot-washing maid??"

Jiang Ye thought: That sounds fantastic!

He'd washed his own feet his entire life.

As a young model student, he'd never experienced the luxury of someone else washing his feet :)

Jiang Ye genuinely felt—

By the time he "joined" the Defenders' Alliance, the situation might have evolved into: I'm not here to break up this family, but to become its head :)

Thinking this, he felt the second condition might not be so important after all.

When the time came, he wouldn't need Zhou Yuling's permission—he could arrange things himself.

With this in mind, he feigned concession awkwardly: "The second condition is indeed a bit excessive..."

"Let's set it aside for now and discuss it when I join the Defenders' Alliance."

"Once I join, I'll be completely loyal, and everything can be negotiated."

Seeing him yield voluntarily and even reaffirm his loyalty to the alliance, Zhou Yuling's mood improved considerably.

As she was about to say more, Jiang Ye pocketed the small experimental vial and said nonchalantly:

"Let's set aside the blood-borrowing matter and focus on the immediate priority—to assist you in entering the Court of Disorder, we still need to secure the bounty reward first."

"According to intel from my clone in Apartment 9669, Huang Bo seems to have entered a secret realm within the ruins of the Void Mirror Palace..."

"You probably know about wild secret realms in the Novice Apartment—easy to enter, hard to leave."

"Most importantly, if I go in, who knows how long I'll be stuck..."

"If clearing the Court of Disorder is urgent for you, how about lending me 100,000 Survival Points first? We'll tackle the Court of Disorder first, then kill Huang Bo for the bounty reward later, and I'll repay the 100,000 then."

"If clearing the Court of Disorder isn't urgent, then I'll... go explore the secret realm?"

The situation with the Light clone entering the Reincarnation Mirror Palace was indeed troublesome.

So Jiang Ye genuinely wanted to send another clone for backup.

Going now would be perfectly reasonable.

However, what he didn't know was—

With him sending ten puppet clones into the exclusive instance...

His main body inside was frantic!

For the main body, there was one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.

The good news was that the external clone wouldn't just go to the Court of Disorder—it might bring 100,000 clones along!

Although he'd signed an agreement with Zhou Yuling to cooperate in the Court of Disorder,

The agreement stipulated that cooperation couldn't threaten Jiang Ye's own safety.

And wasn't the main body the most crucial aspect of "Jiang Ye's own safety"?

When the time came, prioritizing the main body's interests would justify disregarding Zhou Yuling's orders without violating the agreement.

But the bad news that frustrated and anxious the main body was—

This external clone had too much on its plate.

Exploring secret realms, killing administrators, venturing into the Abyssal Depths, trading with the Nomadic Merchant...

If the clone really decided to wait until killing the Light clone and securing the bounty reward before entering the Court of Disorder,

Time would become extremely tight!

Because, according to the main body's intel—

The latest he could be retried in the Court of Disorder was noon at 12:00.

The optimal time for ancient executions—high noon!

If the clone didn't enter the Court of Disorder by 12:00...

The main body might directly "meet its hour" and perish on the spot!

The problem was, no matter how anxious the main body was, it couldn't convey this crucial message to the external clone.

It could only hope that luck would prevail, and the clone would coincidentally enter the Court of Disorder before 12:00...

With nothing else to do, the main body could only calm its mind and focus on studying the [Observer] ability.

The external clone knew nothing of the main body's situation.

It had no concept of the Court of Disorder's timing.

It still believed entering the Court of Disorder was purely to help Zhou Yuling.

So the timing depended entirely on Zhou Yuling.

Zhou Yuling naturally wanted to enter the Court of Disorder as early as possible.

Having Jiang Ye chase Huang Bo into a secret realm risked unnecessary complications.

If he got trapped inside, it could waste considerable time.

But asking her to front 90,000 Survival Points...

Unable to decide, Zhou Yuling reported to Lin Ling for her decision while abruptly changing the subject:

"Do you know Qu Xing?"

The topic shift was jarring.

Jiang Ye was surprised but not entirely shocked.

After all, Qu Xing's name had spread across several apartments by now.

And the entire administrator group chat was buzzing with discussions about this name.

The reason was simple—

In just twenty minutes, Qu Xing had triggered over a dozen announcements!

Averaging one administrator kill announcement every two minutes!

The dozen-plus administrators he killed all revived afterward!

Then he moved to another apartment and continued killing!

His insane actions and overwhelming strength made him seem like a god of slaughter!

The entire administrator group was in panic!

As Jiang Ye had anticipated—

Regarding the killed-then-revived administrators, the others naturally concocted a plausible explanation:

2305: [Too brazen! This Qu Xing is too brazen!]

1990: [He's not killing administrators to take their positions—he's issuing a challenge!]

8746: [Exactly! Killing administrators without claiming their status... This behavior is clearly a provocation! As if taunting us—mere administrators are but ants I can crush barehanded!]

3678: [If he really replaced an administrator, he'd be confined to that apartment by administrator privileges. But he didn't! He's forsaking administrator status to kill them one apartment after another... What else could this be but a challenge?]

2333: [This counts as a challenge? From what I've heard, the administrators he killed were all low-numbered trash?]

6789: [What? Hey, big shot upstairs, get real! Maybe those dozen administrators are trash in your eyes, but tell me—during your novice period, could you solo kill an administrator?]

7827: [Exactly! And he didn't just solo kill administrators—he solo killed over a dozen in just twenty minutes!]

7827: [That's less than two minutes per kill! And that doesn't include time spent traveling between apartments!]

7827: [Meaning Qu Xing basically one-shots administrators!]

7827: [With that kind of power, did you have even one-tenth of it during your novice period? @2333]

7823: [Actually, beyond strength, Qu Xing's methods are even more bizarre. Normally, dead administrators stay dead—that's how authority transfers work. But Qu Xing seems to show off by making them revive after death!]

4869: [This is truly strange, as if he's blatantly telling us—he kills administrators not for their authority, but just because he can!]

1983: [Such an absurd player—could he be another Light-type?]

1009: [Not Light-type! I'm one of those Qu Xing killed and revived, and I confirm he didn't use Light abilities!]

2025: [I also confirm—not Light-type! Honestly, his methods resemble the talent "Ultimate One-for-One!" When I died, I thought he'd gone mad. But after reviving, I realized he hadn't died—he was running amok like that previous Light-type...]

The revived administrators 1009 and 2025, who died to Qu Xing, were naturally Jiang Ye's clones too.

To avoid suspicion, these [Transformed Clones] proactively shared their death experiences from an administrator's perspective.

This led to more speculation:

4869: [An "Ultimate One-for-One" where neither dies? So maybe Qu Xing isn't exceptionally strong—his talent just creates the illusion of one-shotting administrators?]

4869: [What I mean is, like how some can fake death, his talent might fake-kill opponents, making them revive after 3 seconds?]

2333: [Honestly, if Qu Xing really has such a talent... that's downright comical. The talent is useless since it lacks real lethality. But it's great for intimidation—even the strongest would be "one-shot"...]

This "one-shot" was sarcastic.

After all, a "one-shot" with built-in revival was purely comedic—like a joke.

With administrator 2333's analysis, the others calmed down considerably!

If true, this meant...

Qu Xing's intention wasn't to challenge.

But to exploit his unique talent to show off and scare people!

Damn, and it actually worked!