Chapter 288: Chapter 288

“Indeed.” Zhou Yuling muttered along, “It’s really strange that the Void Mirror Puppet possesses memories.”

“Moreover, its memories are actually those of the Void Mirror Palace…”

“No, rather than memories, it’s more like images.”

“It’s as if those mirrors are the eyes of the Void Mirror Palace itself.”

Zhou Yuling analyzed while pondering.

She seemed intent on figuring out what exactly the Void Mirror Puppet’s memories meant.

At this moment, Jiang Ye didn’t hold back and said, “You seem to know quite a lot. Lin Ling must have told you many things, right?”

Zhou Yuling was silent for a moment, then explained, “She showed me some of the scenes presented by the Life Stone.”

“And when the Void Mirror Palace existed as a maze, players exploring it all passed through that central area…”

“But now, with the Void Mirror Palace having become the Mirror Palace Secret Realm, I believe that the central area of this secret realm must hold something special.”

Jiang Ye was about to remind her when Zhou Yuling spoke on her own:

“However, such a special place can’t be rashly entered.”

Jiang Ye felt quite ashamed hearing that.

Like him, Chen Cang, and Guan He, they had all been trapped because they entered recklessly.

In the end, it was just youth and inexperience.

And Zhou Yuling, as a veteran player, must have run the Secret Realm Tower countless times.

She should be far more experienced than him in deciphering secret realms.

Jiang Ye directly suggested, “You still have some followers in that White Tower, right? Want to try recruiting some from there? Or you probably have other connections you can call on to help crack this.”

Zhou Yuling was speechless. She thought, the Light faction is in this secret realm. Who among her followers or connections would dare come?

It could indeed be useful to cooperate with the Light players.

Those guys basically treated the Void Mirror Palace as their base during the Novice Apartment reincarnation period.

The Void Mirror Puppet’s memories also showed various Light players moving through the Void Mirror Palace.

Unfortunately, the more important gatherings of Light players were all held in the center of the Mirror Palace.

And the footage of that location was not recorded by the Life Stone.

Light players must have far better knowledge of the Void Mirror Palace than others.

Zhou Yuling thought about seeking cooperation with the Light faction but didn’t say it directly to Jiang Ye. Instead, she simply summarized:

“I’ll take charge of this secret realm matter. You should focus on capturing Qu Xing.”

Jiang Ye was actually trying to nudge Zhou Yuling toward finding the Light faction to cooperate with.

Because he remembered that previously, when He Xingyue was trading with the Light clone Huang Bo’s fake mask…

The place where she took Huang Bo to complete the deal was the central area of the Void Mirror Palace.

Though the Void Mirror Palace had become a ruin and everywhere looked the same,

The central area was still very obvious—

Because when in the center, players’ names would not appear in 9669 Apartment nor 6996 Apartment.

There, players seemed to disappear, no longer affiliated with any apartment.

At the time of the trade with He Xingyue, Jiang Ye hadn’t thought much about it.

But now recalling it, he realized—

Despite both places being ruins, He Xingyue specifically used the Light and Shadow Escape to bring Huang Bo to the center to complete the deal…

From this, it seemed Light players might know some information about the central area of the Void Mirror Palace.

If Zhou Yuling cooperated with the Light players, progress should accelerate.

However, since Jiang Ye himself wasn’t a Light clone, it was awkward to say directly, so he only gave Zhou Yuling a hint.

He hoped Zhou Yuling would take his suggestion and seek cooperation with the Light faction.

After all, the Defenders’ Alliance and the Light faction should be able to collaborate.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and didn’t say more about the secret realm. Instead, regarding the “capture Qu Xing alive” matter, he asked Zhou Yuling:

“If I want to seek help from Administrator 0000, how do I find him? Is there any token that can help me gain his trust?”

Saying this, Jiang Ye himself didn’t believe it.

Gaining “trust” from 0000 was basically impossible.

But if there was some token, it might avoid some trouble.

Zhou Yuling thought for a moment, then said frankly: “Didn’t I already give you that black immobilization talisman?”

“If you show that talisman to Administrator 0000, he’ll naturally know you’re from Lin Ling.”

“As for how to find 0000, don’t you have a clone who became Administrator 9999? Just say something in the administrator group chat and you’ll find him.”

Zhou Yuling spoke lightly, but Jiang Ye felt a strange sensation inside.

He suppressed it for now and asked again, “That black immobilization talisman is quite precious, huh? It can actually serve as a token…”

“By the way, if I used that talisman on Administrator 0000, could I immobilize him?”

“…” Zhou Yuling twitched at the corner of her mouth and warned wordlessly, “You’d better not try.”

“Administrator 0000 should know the drawbacks of that top-grade immobilization talisman. You’re not necessarily able to immobilize him.”

“Besides, that talisman is meant to be used on Qu Xing.”

“You don’t know how to remove its effect, which means you can’t reuse it. So don’t even think about provoking Administrator 0000.”

Jiang Ye thought, how is this provoking?

This is revenge, okay!

He had disliked Administrator 0000 for a long time!

Especially before, when that guy sent corpse puppets to interrogate and even attacked his 4444 Apartment!

That had crossed Jiang Ye’s bottom line!

That guy was almost the top of Jiang Ye’s kill list!

But Zhou Yuling’s words made sense.

Jiang Ye wasn’t planning to take too much risk dealing with 0000.

After confirming he wouldn’t use the talisman on Administrator 0000, he “hung up.”

Putting away the voice transmission bead, he went back to savoring that strange feeling he had just experienced.

Now, that sensation turned into a clear, bad premonition.

He didn’t know if this bad feeling came from his lost original body or from some other clone.

Jiang Ye suddenly felt a tightening tension.

He recalled what the White-Robed Woman had said before—

One person can only have one permission identity.

His number two clone occupied the Administrator 9999 identity.

At first, that wasn’t a big deal.

Because that didn’t mean he could have multiple permission identities.

But not long ago, when he summoned the Nomadic Merchant, he also gave himself a dispensable Newcomer King identity…

Meaning that, at the same time, the same person held two identities.

And this phenomenon might already be known by the apartment boss, who was both the Newcomer King and the top superior of administrators.

Knowing that the “Jiang Ye” identity occupied both Newcomer King and Administrator…

What would the apartment boss think?

That apartment boss was already targeting him.

After the Nomadic Merchant trade, something also happened to Salvation…

Though Jiang Ye didn’t have a high-level perspective and didn’t know what the big shots were doing,

There was an inexplicable tension like a brewing storm.

And this storm was no longer aimed at Huang Bo…

Whether this premonition was a delusion or destiny’s subtle guidance,

Jiang Ye indeed felt urgency.

For both his lost original body and unknown dangers.

He had to speed up his growth and prepare more trump cards and backup plans!

Thinking this, Jiang Ye number one, carrying the top-grade immobilization talisman, headed to 0000 Apartment.

In 9999 Apartment, Jiang Ye number two, following Zhou Yuling’s advice, sent a message in the administrator group chat:

9999: [Lin Ling told me to find you, boss, can you give me the coordinates @0000]

After sending the message, Jiang Ye felt another odd sensation.

This time the oddness came from the words “Lin Ling” and “0000.” Google seaʀᴄh Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

The name “Lin Ling” really sounded like “00.”

Was this a coincidence?

What exactly was the relationship between her and Administrator 0000?

While pondering this, 0000 didn’t immediately reply.

Instead, several other messages popped up in the group chat—

4869: [Me? The 9999 boss wants to find 0000 boss? What’s it about? Can you share some info with us little brothers?]

7387: [Isn’t it wrong? Administrators can’t leave their own apartments, right?]

2333: [What’s the problem with not leaving? Can’t 9999 use corpse puppet-like tools to find 0000 boss?]

2333: [Besides, don’t forget, this 9999 is no longer the old 9999! That position is held by Jiang Ye! And Jiang Ye should be able to send clones to 0000 Apartment!]

8723: [True, blame this group chat for only showing identity, not names, so I still instinctively respect 9999!]

2333: [Honestly, I heard some special permission identities completely “de-name,” like the Nomadic Merchant—only an identity, no name!]

4869: [That means administrator identities are indeed much higher than Newcomer King. We are numerous, but the group chat and leaderboards only show ID numbers. Unlike Newcomer King, who still shows names.]

2333: [To be frank, Newcomer King doesn’t count as a real permission identity. What permissions do they even have? Essentially, Newcomer King is closer to an ordinary player!]

Speaking of Newcomer King, the administrators showed obvious disdain.

It wasn’t just because these administrators were arrogant.

But because the only permission Newcomer King had was against administrators.

Newcomer King could challenge administrators.

Also, Newcomer King could cooperate with ordinary players to form teams wearing the Madman Mask to kill administrators.

Ordinary players teaming to kill administrators still couldn’t directly gain administrator identity.

They needed to go through trials and tests.

But Newcomer King didn’t need that.

The effect of Newcomer King teams killing administrators was like single kills—able to directly replace the administrator.

So these administrators naturally hated Newcomer King.

But Jiang Ye thought the “2333” explanation made sense.

Because during the eighth-day major reshuffle involving almost all permission identities, Newcomer King was excluded.

And according to the memories of Administrator 4444 from the previous reincarnation obtained from Zhou Qiming,

There was no place for Newcomer King in the second phase of Doomsday Apartment.

That was understandable.

After all, the second phase was a game.

Newcomer Kings in the game were prepared for players.

Permission identities entering the game could only be NPCs.

While thinking this, 0000, whom he had @mentioned, finally replied:

0000: [Give me the coordinates. I’ll come find you @9999]

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then replied: [Can I hitch a ride with you, boss, to go check out the Return Soul Abyss?]

0000 responded quickly: [Hitch my ride? Have you ever nailed a Soul Locking Nail?]

Jiang Ye shamelessly replied: [Isn’t it because I don’t have any Soul Locking Nails that I want to hitch your ride? :) ]

0000: [??? You’re looking for me but want me to give you a Soul Locking Nail?]

9999: [But I’m finding you to help capture Qu Xing alive! Besides, Soul Locking Nails are one-time use. At worst, I use it and pay you back.]

0000 seemed speechless for a moment.

Very quickly, he @mentioned all members: [Soul Locking Nails about to be sold at low price. Other administrators, do not participate or bear the consequences @all members]

Jiang Ye’s eyes darkened as he read this message.

In the past, no one would dare defy 0000’s authority.

But recently, the corpse puppets sent by 0000 had clearly discovered that—

Administrators who had been instant-killed by Qu Xing had obvious problems!

Now, 0000 posting this message with his authority…

On one hand, it allowed the Soul Locking Nails to be sold cheaply to Jiang Ye.

On the other, it tested those rebellious administrators.

If any rebel administrator took action…

It meant they no longer cared about 0000’s face at all.

Then maybe those administrators were working with Jiang Ye and thus held back.

The “possession” problem had really caught Lin Ling’s attention!

Jiang Ye’s claim to Zhou Yuling that only three people could be possessed probably hadn’t convinced Lin Ling.

With her insight, she was likely suspecting—

Qu Xing and the administrators he had killed… were all “possessed” by Administrator 4444!

Even Jiang Ye was probably under suspicion!

As expected, he had to get stronger quickly!

Of course, Jiang Ye’s administrator clones naturally did not defy 0000 to buy the Soul Locking Nails.

Other administrators wouldn’t dare defy 0000 either.

So the Soul Locking Nail listed in the trading zone was finally bought by 9999 for 100 game currency.

The Soul Locking Nail was stored in a black square box.

Guarding 9999, Jiang Ye number two immediately put it into the Clone Shared Space.

Then he looked up and saw the miserable Lin Ling appearing again in 9999 Apartment.

This woman showed no emotion on her face and spoke directly:

“Come with me to check the hidden housing?”

She phrased it as a question.

But Jiang Ye knew she wasn’t the type to ask for opinions.

So he didn’t resist and walked out from the front desk.

Lin Ling then looked at the empty workstation and said:

“We have to leave something here to complete administrator business, right?”

With that, she waved her hand, and a wooden puppet sat down at the 9999 administrator’s workstation.

She looked at Jiang Ye again and said, “Give it a substitute work badge. It can help you with the job.”