Chapter 98: Chapter 98

The way he said that made Jiang Ye feel a little embarrassed.

To show it, he even politely said,

Wu Ying hesitated, wondering if he should reply with a “You’re welcome,” but before he could,

Jiang Ye got straight to the point: “You’re offering another free kill this time—probably to talk to me about that Global Kill-on-Sight Order, right?”

Wu Ying raised an eyebrow—on a face identical to Jiang Ye’s. “Bingo~”

“Since you’re being direct, I’ll skip the small talk too—”

Even as Wu Ying brought up “that guy,” his attempt at a casual tone still sounded a bit forced.

He paused, as if to calm himself, then continued:

“All Dark-type beings are willing to do whatever it takes—just to see him dead!”

“And the sooner he dies, the better!”

That much was undeniable.

Wu Ying let out a breath and went on:

“But actually killing that guy isn’t easy.”

“First off, Dark-type beings don’t even have the courage to face him, let alone strike the killing blow.”

“Second, when it comes to non-Dark-types…”

“You’ve probably felt it too—”

“Our Doomsday Apartment has always been dominated by Dark-types.”

“Non-Dark-types rarely have top-tier strength.”

“And that Light-type Ability user—he’s also mastered the Light-type survival skill Light and Shadow Escape!”

“With that alone, those small fry non-Darks would have a hard time killing him!”

Jiang Ye nodded. “So what’s your point?”

Wu Ying smiled calmly.

His tone now was nothing like the arrogant attitude he had during their first and second matches.

Now he was downright polite and friendly. “So—”

“On behalf of the Duoe Organization, I’d like to propose a collaboration.”

“Of course, the deal doesn’t require you to risk your life and go head-to-head with Light-type.”

“Because if I’m not mistaken, you’re a Dark-type being too, right?”

At that, Wu Ying narrowed his eyes.

He was recalling their third match—

He had offered a free kill again, expecting Jiang Ye to use that weird method to finish him.

But instead, Jiang Ye used a Glyph Pattern Ability!

Yet when Wu Ying copied him using Phantasm Parasitism, he couldn’t replicate that glyph ability at all!

It was like that ability came out of nowhere—totally unnatural.

No matter the reason, one thing was clear: Jiang Ye was definitely a Dark-type being.

And Jiang Ye didn’t bother correcting the misunderstanding.

“You must’ve heard the apartment announcement—the 0000 Apartment will open at the next midnight.”

“Your 20-win streak reward must’ve given you a Bodhi Enlightenment Fruit, right?”

Jiang Ye nodded again.

Wu Ying smiled. “Inside Apartment 0000, there’s something called the Zhuang Zhou Dreaming Butterfly...”

He hadn’t even finished the sentence before Jiang Ye interrupted:

“It boosts the chance of awakening a talent from the Bodhi Enlightenment Fruit.”

Wu Ying raised an eyebrow. “Since you already know, I’ll skip the long explanation.”

“To get that Zhuang Zhou Dreaming Butterfly, you’ll definitely be heading to Apartment 0000.”

“But if you can lure that Light-type user to 0000 Apartment too…”

“Then every critical win you need—your opponent will be me!”

“I’ll keep throwing the match, make sure you cruise to a 100-win streak.”

He knew that a 100-win streak wasn’t all that tempting to someone like Jiang Ye, who could probably pull it off solo.

So he added more bait:

“If you manage to get the Light-type to 0000 Apartment, then you might even get a chance to land the kill yourself.”

“If everything plays out right, you could grab the Kill-on-Sight reward.”

“And let me tell you, even an old veteran like me gets green with envy just thinking about it.”

After hearing all that, Jiang Ye had a good idea what this guy was really up to.

The whole “collab” thing? Total smokescreen.

He was just here to leak intel on purpose.

A 100-win streak was something Jiang Ye could earn on his own.

Nowhere near as tempting as the Kill-on-Sight reward.

And according to Wu Ying, luring the Light-type to 0000 Apartment could open up a chance to kill him and claim that reward…

Now that was the real temptation!

Too bad Wu Ying didn’t know—

Jiang Ye and that Light-type user… were the same person!

If he wanted that reward, he wouldn’t even have to lift a finger.

Still, outwardly, he let some excitement show at the mention of that juicy Kill-on-Sight reward.

And he took the opportunity to ask:

“Does 0000 Apartment have something special that weakens Light-types?”

Wu Ying knew the real trick behind 0000 Apartment—it allowed veteran players to show up early!

Among these newbies, the non-Dark-types really couldn’t handle the Light and Shadow Escape skill.

But the non-Darks among the old players? Tons of tricks up their sleeves!

Take Spatial users, for example—intercepting a Light Escape wasn’t out of the question.

Of course, Wu Ying couldn’t let Jiang Ye know that.

Especially since the real reason 0000 Apartment was opening early… was because of Jiang Ye.

If he sensed danger and didn’t go for the Dreaming Butterfly, the whole plan would collapse. The most update n0vels are published on novel⸺fire.net

So when Jiang Ye asked, Wu Ying gave the answer he had prepped in advance:

“There’s a zone inside 0000 Apartment—called the Abyssal Zone.”

“In there, the darkness is so deep, light can’t touch it.”

“Dark-type powers are significantly boosted.”

“While Light-type skills take a serious hit.”

“Especially that Light and Shadow Escape—it practically becomes unusable!”

“If you can drive Light-type into the Abyssal Zone, your chances of killing him go way up, don’t they?”

According to that logic, even a Dark-type might have a shot at killing a Light-type in that zone!

Of course, Dark-types still had to risk getting scorched by Light Scorch.

But with the Kill-on-Sight reward being that insanely lucrative,

Plenty of Dark-types would be willing to take that gamble.

At this point, Jiang Ye couldn’t help but wonder—

Would Yang Wenchao know about it?

The thought crossed his mind, and he turned to Wu Ying with a serious expression:

“Do game players know about the Abyssal Zone?”

Wu Ying nodded. “Of course.”

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow. “Then that Light-type isn’t stupid. Why would he walk straight into danger?”

Wu Ying chuckled calmly. “That’s your problem to solve.”

“But I can give you another bit of insider info—”

“Our Duoe Organization has a standing deal with the Apartment Bosses.”

“Every season, we select one player from each Beginner Apartment to be crowned ‘Rookie King’.”

“And at the end of the newbie phase, the Rookie King gets a global announcement.”

“You’ve heard those system announcements, right? Like when someone levels up to Level 1 or 2?”

“But those are small-time—limited to one apartment. Maybe 80 people hear them. The reward? A cr*ppy Black Iron Treasure Chest.”

“But a Rookie King global announcement? Totally different ballgame!”

“And the reward that comes with it? Way beyond any Black Iron junk.”

Then Wu Ying gave him the full rundown:

“You heard the Kill-on-Sight announcement, right? The Apartment Bosses—there are 26 of them in total.”

“They correspond to 26 Extreme Zones.”

“Each Extreme Zone manages 10,000 Big Districts.”

“Your district’s code is A0985.”

“And the A-Zone Apartment Boss? The strongest of all 26.”

“But that doesn’t mean the Rookie King always comes from A-Zone.”

“All 26 zones have a chance.”

“But this time, because of the Light-type’s emergence and the Kill-on-Sight Order…”

“The Rookie King has basically been decided—”

“Whoever takes down the Light-type will become this season’s Rookie King!”

“And most likely… the strongest Rookie King of all time!”

“With a title and reward like that, who could resist?”

That kind of title and glory—Jiang Ye wasn’t sure he could resist.

What shook him more was this realization—

Out of all 26 Apartment Bosses…

The one he had to kill was exactly the strongest of them all. The A-Zone Boss.

You’ve got to be kidding, right?!

And going by the earlier mission prompt...

He’d already been noticed by the Apartment Boss!

Jiang Ye seriously suspected—

That time his Main Body got trapped in the Illusion might’ve been the Boss’s doing!

And in this kind of situation, he still wanted to fight for Rookie King? What a joke!

Seriously, has any Rookie King in history ever killed an Apartment Boss?

He was starting to suspect the White-Clad Woman had totally screwed him over!

Maybe… he should just ditch it?

But… could he really?

The Apartment Boss was already watching him.

If he ditched the mission now, would that boss just suddenly forget about him?

As he mulled it over, Jiang Ye felt helpless—regret wouldn’t do him any good now.

The only silver lining: while the Light-type was still stirring things up, those powerhouses probably wouldn’t mess with the Beginner Apartments so easily.

Jiang Ye steadied his thoughts and looked back at Wu Ying.

By now, he’d figured it out—

All this “cooperation” and “dealing” Wu Ying was talking about…

Was really just painting a picture, dangling rewards in front of him.

The Kill-on-Sight reward…

The Rookie King title and glory…

All of it hinged on him killing the Light-type.

And the best way to do that was to lure him into the Abyssal Zone.

But the issue wasn’t just whether he would kill the Light-type.

If he didn’t, and someone else did, then they would get the Rookie King title.

That had to be what Wu Ying was really angling for.

Once Jiang Ye sorted it all out, his expression didn’t change much. He just looked steadily at Wu Ying and asked:

“Other than all that, this so-called collaboration—got any real, tangible benefits for me?”

Wu Ying smiled. “Just a verbal agreement. You’re not bound by anything. It’s all up to you—”

“If you lure the Light-type into the Abyssal Zone, you might get the Kill-on-Sight reward.”

“Even if you don’t, you’ll still get our help throwing matches to ensure your 100-win streak.”

“If you choose to do nothing, that’s fine too.”

“We’ll treat the collaboration as nonexistent, and these 30 wins—consider them a free gift.”

Jiang Ye’s face didn’t change. “Alright, if it’s a gift, then you surrender this round yourself.”

Wu Ying had no way of telling whether Jiang Ye would actually go through with dragging the Light-type into the Abyssal Zone.

But seeing that he didn’t want to talk anymore, he obediently hit “Surrender.”

And just like that, Jiang Ye got his 30-win streak—effortlessly.

The reward, as always, was three floating cards.

And he’d already promised to give the 30-win reward to Wan Xin.

So he picked one at random and left the Duel Machine.

Meanwhile, the chat in the Apartment 9999 group was still buzzing, everyone still talking about the Kill-on-Sight Order.

Naturally, the ever-chatty Wan Xin was in the middle of it.

Jiang Ye directly @ed him: 【Got the 30-win reward. Where do I hand it over? @Wan Xin】

Wan Xin was overjoyed when he saw it and quickly replied: 【I’ll come to you!】

Elsewhere, the much-discussed Light-type Replica had already crossed into Apartment 6996.

Using Light and Shadow Escape, he slipped right into Room 9669.

This was exactly the place described in Wan Xin’s strategy guide—【Void Mirror Palace】!

According to the guide, the Void Mirror Palace was composed of countless hexagonal prism chambers, forming a giant honeycomb structure.

Each hexagonal space had six mirrored walls.

Three to four of those walls were passable.

Touch one with your finger and you’d be taken to the next chamber.

That meant each hexagon had three to four possible exits.

But only one path could truly lead you through the Void Mirror Palace.

And that correct path changed in real-time.

Every trip through the Palace was a blind search—no patterns, just trial and error.

Wan Xin’s guide did offer some navigation tricks for the Mirror Palace.

Still, even with those tips, it typically took about a full day to get through.

But Jiang Ye had a hunch when he used Light and Shadow Escape—

And once he reached the Mirror Palace, it turned out he was right!

With Light and Shadow Escape, he could move through the Void Mirror Palace completely unhindered!

Even if a mirror wall was supposed to be impassable, he could simply phase through.

What he didn’t know was whether this kind of “cheat” traversal would still grant him Enlightenment boosts.

Not that he dwelled on it.

In fact, once Replica No. 6 arrived, he didn’t explore seriously.

He used Light and Shadow Escape to zip through a few chambers, then sat down near the Palace’s center.

He had no choice—he was exhausted.

All that wild activity had drained Replica No. 6.

Sure, his stats were powerful, which is why he lasted this long.

Now that the Main Body was safe and the Mirror Palace was quiet, he decided to rest and recover.

Meanwhile, after crossing into several Apartments, Replica No. 6 got an idea—

He already had plenty of Survival Points.

And with the Main Body now maxed out on Silver-Tier Attribute Fruit, he could support many more Replicas.

Which meant he could afford to make a whole bunch.

Sure, without luck boosts, the quality might be hit-or-miss.

But Replica No. 6 thought—

He could deploy Replicas in Apartments he frequently visited, using them as anchor points.

Then, when crossing Apartments, he could use Mirror Replicas and Phantom Replicas, combined with the Main Body’s Replica Swap skill.

That would save a ton of Survival Points!

Plus, Wan Xin’s guide was almost in hand.

It outlined upgrade routes for various playstyles—he needed Replicas to start executing those too.

But there was a catch—

Jiang Ye wanted this next batch of Replicas to all be Blackened Replicas.

And Blackened Replicas came with new identities.

They’d appear in the Apartment 1010 member list with totally new names.

If just one or two popped up, his classmates might think they were powerful Cross-Apartment players.

But if a bunch of them showed up at once…

Even those newbie classmates would start getting suspicious.

So he needed a workaround for mass-creating Blackened Replicas.

Maybe he should have the Main Body cross into an Apartment with no players at all?

Or find a special space where no member list showed up at all?

As Replica No. 6 rested, he kept planning his mass production and deployment strategy.

Suddenly, his whole body jolted—he instinctively used Light and Shadow Escape and even cast Holy Light Judgement without thinking.

But before he could escape far, he heard a voice—

It echoed from all directions in the Void Mirror Palace, surrounding him in stereo.

“Don’t be nervous. Take a moment to feel it… we are the same kind.”