Chapter 279: Chapter 279

"Respected madam, you wouldn't want your daughter to die completely, would you? :)"

Jiang Ye let out a strange laugh.

Lin Ling's face was full of question marks.

"Hahaha... cough... I was just lightening the mood, haha..."

Jiang Ye Clone No.1 cheerfully approached while storing the [Clone Replica Mirror] into the Clone Shared Space:

"Actually, I also wanted to ask about that so-called Nine-Day Major Reshuffle. What exactly is it?"

"From what Salvation said, he seemed willing to offend even the Nomadic Merchant because of this Major Reshuffle?"

But he still wanted to ask Lin Ling.

First, to gather more information.

Second, to test Lin Ling's attitude.

If she deliberately lied or concealed information...

Then this woman had ulterior motives, and helping her revive the Jade Flask would require careful reconsideration.

But if the information she provided was truthful and reliable...

It would mean she was sincere in her dealings with Administrator 4444.

This sincerity wasn't about gifts or concessions.

It was about genuine intent.

Whether Lin Ling picked up on Jiang Ye's intentional probing was unclear, but after brief contemplation, she spoke frankly:

"The [Major Reshuffle] event starts from the eighth day."

"Before the eighth day, the Doomsday Apartment's zero o'clock could also trigger random events—[Midnight Ring]."

"But those caught in [Midnight Ring] were all ordinary players. And [Midnight Ring] had an extremely high mortality rate."

"In many instances, almost no one survived."

"But those who did survive [Midnight Ring] usually gained something, significantly boosting their strength."

"As the Doomsday Apartment developed, numerous permission identities were uncovered, and permission players came to dominate the entire Doomsday Apartment."

"To put it bluntly—over 80% of the resources and power in the Doomsday Apartment are controlled by permission players!"

"Moreover, permission players aren't dragged into [Midnight Ring]."

"So compared to ordinary players, those permission players holding real power live quite comfortably. Basically, they face no life-threatening dangers and don't have to worry about others usurping their permission identities..."

"But at zero o'clock on the eighth day, something unexpected happened."

"All permission players were dragged into the [Major Reshuffle] event!"

"The so-called [Major Reshuffle] is essentially an upgraded version of [Midnight Ring]."

"At least half of the permission players died during the eighth day's [Major Reshuffle]."

"Meaning half of the permission identities became vacant again."

"The term 'reshuffle' itself makes it clear—the entire event exists to reshuffle the solidified hierarchy."

"After the eighth day's [Major Reshuffle], the Doomsday Apartment's situation indeed underwent changes."

"However, those changes quickly stabilized. By the end of the eighth day, the situation had returned to the same stability as at the end of the seventh day."

"As for the ninth day's [Major Reshuffle], it only exists in the predictions of permission players."

"But there's no doubt this prediction is highly likely to be accurate."

"Meaning, at zero o'clock on the ninth day, all permission identities will once again be dragged into [Major Reshuffle], facing a catastrophe exclusive to permission players."

After saying this, Lin Ling pondered briefly before solemnly adding:

"I know you're trying to gather information about the eighth day's [Major Reshuffle] through me."

"But just like how every instance of [Midnight Ring] differs, the eighth and ninth days' [Major Reshuffle] will naturally differ too."

"So the eighth day's situation isn't very referential."

"But since you asked, I'll briefly share what I know about the eighth day's [Major Reshuffle]—"

"The eighth day's [Major Reshuffle] didn't drag all permission players into the same scenario."

"Instead, it seemed to divide all permission identities into four categories, each facing different scenarios."

"The first category was related to the [Novice Apartment]—people like apartment bosses, apartment administrators, and apartment newcomer kings..."

"From my investigations, these people were dragged into an apartment scenario for a survival game."

"In the end, over a dozen apartment bosses died, while newcomer kings and administrators were nearly wiped out..."

"The second category was [VIP Players], the strong players on the Doomsday Apartment's three major leaderboards."

"Again, from my investigations, these players were dragged into a snowy mountain environment during [Major Reshuffle]."

"Through mountain exploration, this group had the highest survival rate. And among the surviving VIP players, many likely obtained opportunities."

"The gap between VIP players who gained opportunities and ordinary VIP players has probably become insurmountable."

"The third category was [Professional Players]."

"[Professional Players] is a term coined among permission players, referring to those like Mask Master, Guiwen Master, Physical Master, etc."

"These masters have achieved extreme accomplishments in their respective specialties and gained certain permissions, hence being called professional players."

"These professional players were dragged into a haunted house environment. Their survival game resembled scripted murder mysteries."

"The mortality rate for professional players in the haunted house was around 30%."

"And those who survived the haunted house basically all experienced evolution in their permission identities."

Hearing this, Jiang Ye couldn't help but ponder.

His earlier speculation was correct!

Permission identities can evolve!

Just like how the [Administrator 4444] identity can evolve into [Reincarnator]...

Or how he speculated the [Guiwen Master] identity could evolve into [Guiwen Grandmaster]...

While the [Major Reshuffle] event has over 50% mortality,

it actually hides opportunities for permission identity evolution!

Additionally, from Lin Ling's words, Jiang Ye vaguely inferred—

Lin Ling's permission identity likely belongs to the [Professional Players] category.

Because when describing the other two categories, she said "from my investigations."

Meaning her own permission identity wasn't in those categories.

Only when describing the [Professional Players] category's experience in [Major Reshuffle] did she omit "from my investigations."

So clearly, she must have experienced the haunted house survival in the [Professional Players] category.

And her permission identity is most likely [Rune Master], or even... [Rune Grandmaster]!

If she's a [Rune Grandmaster], that would make her stronger than [Mask Master]!

She's probably a [Rune Grandmaster]!

Because Jiang Ye speculated that the [Mask Master] seemingly couldn't leave [Mask Master's Shop].

Later, Jiang Ye also speculated that the mysterious Gui-raiser who helped Wu Ying remove tattoos and Zhang Minghan purify bones was likely the [Guiwen Master].

But this [Guiwen Master] wasn't confined to [Guiwen Master's Shop] either.

So perhaps— Orıginal content can be found at novel⸺fire.net

When a [Master] identity evolves into [Grandmaster], they can leave those master shops and move about elsewhere.

Just like how [Guiwen Grandmaster] and [Rune Grandmaster] can appear in the Doomsday Apartment, while [Mask Master] is trapped in [Mask Master's Shop].

This pattern also seems to apply to Jiang Ye's [Administrator 4444] identity.

When his [Administrator 4444] identity fused with the Silent Tombstone to evolve into [Reincarnator], he could also leave Apartment 4444.

In other words, permission identity evolution can remove certain restrictions on the identity.

From this perspective...

This Lin Ling is probably truly a [Rune Grandmaster]-level permission identity!

No wonder her talismans are so overpowered, absolutely crushing ordinary players!

Jiang Ye felt a chill.

Lin Ling continued: "The fourth category was something I only learned about later."

"Most permission players probably think [Major Reshuffle] only has those three scenarios."

"But in reality, there's a fourth."

"I tentatively call this fourth category—[Special Players]."

"Special players possess special permission identities. Their most distinctive feature is—they possess special states!"

"For example, Administrator 4444 possesses the unique Death State."

"Other special permission identities also have special states similar to 'Death State'."

"Oh," Lin Ling suddenly looked at Administrator 4444, "after losing the [Reincarnation Key], do you still have your Death State?"

Administrator 4444 shook his head: "No."

Lin Ling frowned after some thought: "Then during the ninth day's [Major Reshuffle], you'll likely be grouped in the first category with other administrators and apartment bosses..."

"This is extremely disadvantageous for you!"

"After all, apartment bosses are practically dimensional superiors to apartment administrators!"

"And since you've offended apartment bosses and lost your life-saving 'Death State,' you'll probably..."

Probably be able to turn all apartment bosses into allies?

That's what Jiang Ye thought, but naturally didn't say aloud.

He couldn't help asking: "During the eighth day's Major Reshuffle, did the Administrator 4444 with special state get grouped with the Novice Apartment's first category or the Special Players category?"

Lin Ling rolled her eyes: "How would I know? I'm not a special permission identity."

"It's already impressive that I learned there's a fourth category of special permission identities in [Major Reshuffle]."

"As for what those special permission identity players experienced in [Major Reshuffle], I have no idea."

She didn't know, but Jiang Ye did.

Because according to [Eternal Witch Gui]'s memories...

[Eternal Witch Gui] experienced the fourth category's [Major Reshuffle].

At the time, [Eternal Witch Gui] struggled to survive in a misty environment.

Most bizarrely, [Eternal Witch Gui]'s cremains were also dragged into [Major Reshuffle].

She nearly died in that mist too.

Later, she took her cremains to a gloomy graveyard, buried them, and hid deep in a swamp.

An extremely toxic swamp.

[Eternal Witch Gui] survived there without a physical body, existing as a soul.

She muddled through that [Major Reshuffle] in this state.

Neither dying nor gaining any opportunities.

If the ninth day's [Major Reshuffle] follows the eighth day's pattern of categorizing permission players...

Then Jiang Ye's administrator clones would naturally be grouped in the first category with apartment bosses.

While [Observer] and [Eternal Witch Gui]—these two special permission identity clones—would be grouped in the fourth category with other special identity players.

As for the [Administrator 4444] identity, he could choose either the first category to play with apartment bosses or the fourth category with special players...

For the [VIP Players] and [Professional Players] categories, Jiang Ye currently lacks corresponding identities.

If things go smoothly, he hopes to acquire the [Mask Master] identity soon.

That way, he'd have a [Professional Players] category clone and could implement his plan to make Jiang Ye-style mimic masks mainstream.

Coincidentally, according to the agreement with Mask Master, it's time for Zhang Minghan to return to Mask Master's Shop to collect masks...

After leaving the shop last time, Zhang Minghan went to the Abyssal Depths and quickly reunited with the White-Robed Woman impersonating Zhou Yuling.

He then blended into her team, exploring the Abyssal Depths, fighting monsters, and advancing toward the Abyss Restricted Zone.

He didn't inject the [Blood Poison Corpse Water] given by the White-Robed Woman, instead using other poisons to make his skin appear as if he had.

It's unclear whether the White-Robed Woman noticed.

But given the unique nature of the Abyssal Depths, he had to act cautiously to avoid accidentally bleeding.

Fortunately, traveling with the group, these veteran Defenders encountered no major issues.

Even when Gui creatures created illusions or attacked with bizarre methods,

this group of players had exceptional talents who resolved situations instantly.

Zhang Minghan's clone didn't even need to intervene.

However, as they approached the Abyss Restricted Zone, a troubling situation emerged—

Players began mysteriously disappearing!

After three players vanished, the White-Robed Woman impersonating Zhou Yuling raised her hand and announced as team leader:

"Everyone stop moving! Stay exactly where you are—no more footsteps!"

Other Defenders, now wary after three teammates' disappearances, complied immediately.

At the front, several black snakes emerged from the White-Robed Woman's head, slithering along the ground briefly.

Then she solemnly declared:

"We've likely reached the outermost edge of the Abyss Restricted Zone."