Chapter 1

Clang!

Hei Shengzi (Black Holy Son) stood his ground, his feet unmoving, but his upper body twisted 180 degrees.

With the snake-shaped dagger in his hand, he blocked the katana of Yu Yi Xin Zhong.

Whoosh—

Black flames surged beneath Hei Shengzi’s feet, his cloak fluttered despite the lack of wind. He tilted his head, squinted, and said in a raspy voice, "Why?"

"..."

Yu Yi Xin Zhong maintained his demonized state, ignoring the tense atmosphere of his "companions" and the astonished Plague Doctor.

He said coldly, "The Mu Yin Zhi Gui (Hidden Eye Ghost) who died on the third night also saw Kido Yukari in his dream.

He was your subordinate, loyal to you.

Although he left a written record, no one can guarantee that he didn't discover something himself and leave some kind of clue on the paper, meant only for you.

Moreover, when the Old Woman in Red attacked 13mArk on the fifth night, she climbed up from the stairwell, proving that she should have been on a floor between 14 and 9 before that.

You and Bai Haozheng are the most likely culprits."

Hei Shengzi nodded calmly. "Then why not him?"

Yu Yi Xin Zhong silently increased the force of the sword pressing down, and coldly said, "The Old Woman in Red can fuse with the souls she devours, while the Mu Yin Zhi Gui are loyal to you.

Besides, just now I saw an invisible thread connecting you to her."

"An invisible thread..."

Hei Shengzi lowered his head and chuckled. The sound of bones deforming, *crack crack*, came from his body beneath his robe. "As expected, players and their skills are unpredictable.

It's so annoying..."

A powerful malice erupted from Hei Shengzi’s body, sweeping through the labyrinthine corridor.

The black flames under his feet rose like a wildfire, growing with the wind.

Bai Haozheng, Mule, and the others no longer hesitated, each using their own abilities to bombard Hei Shengzi.

The Old Woman in Red stomped heavily on the ground, and the snow-like crystalized *sha qi* (evil energy) surrounding her swept toward Li Ang.

While she herself, under the cover of the snowflakes, turned her lower body into black smoke and slashed at Li Ang and Wanli Fengdao with a naginata.

Wanli Fengdao looked nervous and took a spare longsword from his backpack.

Wanli Fengdao didn't have the overzealous idea of ‘the sword is my life, and I die when the sword breaks.’

This [Jiu Qiang Sword] was one of his collectibles, and its quality was not low.

However, in terms of balance, length, shape, special effects, etc.,

it was not as comfortable to use as the Zhan Long Sword,

and the strength he could display would probably be discounted.

"Hoh, coming straight at me? Instead of running away, you're taking the initiative to approach me?"

Li Ang shook his head and smiled, raising his arm and pointing his index finger at the Old Woman in Red. "Your next line is, 'Ugh!'"

How strange!

The Old Woman in Red’s face was contorted, and she raised the naginata high in her hand.

Admittedly, Li Ang’s aura was stronger than hers, but if he was so careless, he would be cut in two by my blade...

"Ugh, ugh!"

The Old Woman in Red seemed to have developed PTSD, suddenly vomiting uncontrollably, spewing clear, warm water from her nose and mouth.

Like a goldfish.

This sudden change made her hand tremble.

She thought that she had been hit by some hidden trick of the opponent.

The water she vomited would turn into a strong poison or a deadly acid in the next moment.

Clang!

The naginata heavily slashed into the corridor floor in front of Li Ang, the aftershock of the blow lifting the carpet, forming wave-like ripples.

So fast.

The Old Woman in Red's heart sank. Just now, she had clearly used the naginata’s special effect,

causing a visual displacement in her next attack.

If the opponent predicted, blocked, or dodged based on the trajectory of the blade he saw,

he would make a mistake and be easily hit.

But Li Ang in front of her seemed completely unaffected by the naginata’s special effect.

He made a judgment in advance, halfway through the Old Woman in Red's use of the skill, and took half a step back diagonally at a terrifying speed, easily avoiding the attack.

He even had time to wave his arm at Wanli Fengdao beside him – Little Knife had originally wanted to use the Jiu Qiang Sword to block, but was inexplicably flung away by Li Ang’s wave.

Slash again!

The Old Woman in Red stepped forward, her legs rooted to the ground like tree roots, raising her arms high above her head, and swinging the naginata, creating a strong wind in the corridor.

The blade, flashing with a cold light, swept forward, wrapped in black ice crystals.

Kaffee, Dan Fei, and Bob were ranked in the mid-range among players in the real world.

And 13mArk and Ω were even more powerful with both background and strength.

The Old Woman in Red devoured and fused with them, although the devouring was not complete.

It didn't allow her to have the stats of five players in one go (her spiritual power and physical strength were only equivalent to the sum of three players).

Nor did she get all the equipment and props from the five players (after a player dies, the equipment they are wearing will drop, but the items in their backpack will disappear).

But this was enough for her to grow to a level she could never have imagined before.

Judging from the fragmented memories of 13mArk,

with her current strength, she was probably only a little weaker than the Ant King that 13mArk served.

Even if she returned to the real world, she could easily rank in the top 100 of the individual combat power list, or even higher.

Skill [Cat's Grace], increases agility and improves body flexibility, from Kaffee.

Skill [Nether Armor], gives the operator's armor a nether effect, with a certain probability of deflecting external attacks, from Dan Fei.

Equipment [Bedrock Skeleton], replaces the original skeleton with rocks, making the bones thicker and more resilient, less prone to damage, and able to withstand greater muscle strength. From Bob.

Equipment [Mechanical Ulna Radius], replaces the ulna and radius with mechanical parts. When the special effect is activated, it can swing a heavy punch like a rocket. From 13mArk.

Like Liu Wudai,

The Old Woman in Red's body also flashed with multicolored brilliance that could only be seen in spiritual vision.

She had no intention of concealing the colors emitted by the extraordinary items, and only one thing was on her mind.

Kill the opponent.

The naginata surrounded by black ice crystals slashed down,

Li Ang stepped on the ground, his body like a spring, and retreated quickly, easily avoiding the attack.

Little Knife also learned to be smart, using the Jiu Qiang Sword to slash a sword qi (sword energy) from a distance, while also tapping his toes and jumping back.

Missed again...

The Old Woman in Red narrowed her eyes and activated the enhanced vision skill from Ω.

Only then did she see that there were a large number of translucent threads faintly suspended in the corridor ahead.

Spider silk?

No, that's mercury.

Fragments of 13mArk's memory rushed into her brain. The Old Woman in Red instantly recalled that this should be an equipment called [Cyber Martial Arts • Thousand Spider Web • Chip].

When used, it can drive networked machines such as nanobots to invade physical servers and obtain data information.

At the same time, you can also only use the physical effects of nanobots to arrange networked machines into the desired shape.

For example, order [Mercury Blood Amber] to actively refine and form a dense web of silk threads permeating the space.

Once touched, the silk threads will break on their own,

Sending a warning to the user that someone has intruded.

The Old Woman in Red originally thought that this equipment, which had no offensive ability, would be taken back by the system with 13mArk's death.

She didn't expect that it would appear in Li Risheng's hands.

Could it be...

The Old Woman in Red's thoughts turned rapidly.

According to Hei Shengzi's description, Li Risheng showed the information on the scraps of paper left by 13mArk to other players during the day.

Others thought that 13mArk only had time to leave the scraps of paper.

But in reality, 13mArk may have left a few miniature equipment, and Li Risheng chose to hide this.

Since then, Li Risheng began to guard against the existence of the traitor and try to detect who was the traitor...

From Li Risheng's perspective, if the Old Woman in Red could not only devour players but also absorb all of their memories,

Then the person who knew that he had hidden 13mArk's equipment and was guarding against it,

Is the traitor colluding with the Old Woman in Red.

And if the traitor really existed, but didn't guard against it,

It could prove that the Old Woman in Red could not devour memories,

Or, could not completely devour memories.

The Old Woman in Red instantly understood all of this.

She was amazed by Li Risheng's thorough consideration, as well as 13mArk's composure and calmness.

Fortunately, she chose to attack the isolated 13mArk back then.

If she had left the latter until now, then 13mArk would definitely become a huge threat...

The Old Woman in Red was thinking about all kinds of things in her mind, but her movements were not slow at all.

The ragged red clothes on her body moved without wind, and dark ice crystals shot out from under her feet.

All the mercury threads used for detection in the corridor ahead were cut off.

At the same time, a mechanical prosthetic limb extended from her chest, blocking Wanli Fengdao, who was silently stabbing with his sword.

Clang!

It was unknown what material 13mArk’s mechanical prosthetic limb was made of, but it was able to rely solely on its palm,

To block Wanli Fengdao’s Jiu Qiang Sword.

And at the cost of having half of his palm cut to pieces, he firmly grasped the Jiu Qiang Sword, preventing Wanli Fengdao from drawing his sword out.

Came at the right time!

The Old Woman in Red grinned hideously.

The clothes and skin on her back folded open, revealing four pairs of hexagonal nozzles, like the vector thrusters of real-world jet fighters.

Those futuristic hexagonal nozzles, first lit up with an orange-red light on the outer ring,

Then, a blue flame suddenly erupted from the inner ring,

Propelling her to accelerate suddenly.

Under the effect of the Mu Yin Zhi Gui (Hidden Eye Ghost) skill, her body, which had become tall and sturdy,

Folded her arms forward,

Trying to hug Wanli Fengdao.

Seeing that he was about to be strangled by the hug, Wanli Fengdao’s expression was calm.

He flipped his palm, and sword qi (sword energy) burst out from both sides of the blade of the Jiu Qiang Sword, cutting off the mechanical prosthetic limb’s palm, breaking free from the restraint.

At the same time, he bowed his body, and instead of retreating, he advanced,

Charging into the Old Woman in Red's embrace,

Holding the Jiu Qiang Sword upside down, with the hilt facing up, the tip facing down, and the blade raised forward.

Let's see if you strangle me first, or I cut you open first!

Wanli Fengdao's clothes and skin already had a large number of cuts and scratches in the rapidly spinning black ice crystals.

But his heart was still beating very slowly, steadily, and calmly.

Admittedly, the opponent's energy level far exceeded his own.

But life-and-death fights are not decided by energy levels.

Human strength is limited.

A strongman who has honed his body to the limit cannot compare with an excavator in terms of strength.

A Qi cultivator who has cultivated his soul to the limit probably cannot surpass a nuclear power plant in terms of energy in an environment where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce.

The key is how to use the only power you have.

If you put this power in the most fatal position...

Sword Qi Rises to the Heavens!

Pale sword qi (sword energy) suddenly swept upwards with the blade, cutting through the hem of the opponent's red clothes and cutting through the opponent's waist and abdomen.

But, the Old Woman in Red's embrace did not stop.

Her abdomen was pierced by the Jiu Qiang Sword, and a large amount of *sha qi* (evil energy) and dark blue blood gushed out of the wound.

Through the torn opening in her clothes, it could be vaguely seen that under the red clothes, there were no conventional human organs,

But a large number of blurred, swollen, rotten flesh.

"How many times do I have to emphasize,"

The Old Woman in Red's face was hideous, and she roared, tightening her arms around Wanli Fengdao, "I'm no longer human!"

Her arms suddenly exerted force, and even giant pillars made of pure steel would be twisted and deformed under this hug.

Tear—

A slight sound of air being torn apart rang in her ears.

The Old Woman in Red only felt a pain in her chest, and realized that her embrace was empty.

Her chest, had been torn open.

She subconsciously looked down, the Wanli Fengdao who should have been in her arms had disappeared, and a huge gap had inexplicably appeared in her chest.

Through the gap in the swollen rotten flesh, she could see the scene on the other side of the corridor,

As well as Wanli Fengdao, covered in blood, holding two long swords, maintaining a stabbing sword posture.

Thoughts slowly surged into her brain, and the Old Woman in Red realized,

At that moment, Wanli Fengdao used his sword to tear open her chest,

Turning his body into sword qi (sword energy), piercing through her body and coming out on the other side of the corridor,

At the same time, he also took away the Zhan Long Sword hanging on her waist, returning it to its original owner.

Buzz buzz buzz—

The Old Woman in Red's rotten flesh was corroding Wanli Fengdao's hair, face, and skin.

On the fifth night,

Ω, who lived in room 0108, received a note. He first experienced a deadly battle, his physical strength was exhausted, and his spiritual power was depleted. He was then ambushed by the Old Woman in Red and suffered severe injuries immediately.

But he still had the strength to fight back, causing a lot of damage to the Old Woman in Red, almost killing her.

The Old Woman in Red became this rotten and twisted appearance because of Ω - she changed from a semi-solid state to flesh and blood, and the flesh and blood on her body had a strong corrosive effect, corroding nerves.

Constantly making the Old Woman in Red suffer from the pain of ten thousand ants gnawing at her body.

At this moment, the skin on Wanli Fengdao's face and body was constantly peeling off.

He endured the severe pain, closed his eyes,

He didn't take out a bottle of healing potion and drink it, but continued to maintain the stabbing sword posture with both hands, and shouted: "She's trapped by my sword qi (sword energy), attack!"