That Protagonist Halo effect…

It was honestly too tempting!

If it were someone else, it wouldn’t matter. Tempted or not, they couldn’t do anything about it.

But Jiang Ye was tempted—because he had a way to turn Chen Cang’s Player Panel into his own!

How could he not start scheming against Chen Cang?

Besides that, if he had an item with deduction abilities, he wouldn’t have to act so cautiously all the time.

Like just now—getting the Defender’s Replica…

To be honest, the process of eliminating the Defender seemed smooth on the surface.

But only Jiang Ye knew the anxiety and self-doubt buried deep inside.

He was terrified that one wrong step would not only cost him a bunch of Replicas, but also expose all his secrets.

So he had to summon a lot of courage to even send Qu Xing to sneak attack from the shadows.

Being able to pull it off so smoothly was pure luck!

Even though his endlessly spawning Replica Abilities did play a big role in the fight…

Jiang Ye knew very well—his victory wasn’t because he was strong.

It was because—the Defender was weak!

Not in strength.

But his weaknesses were obvious, his mental toughness poor.

He didn’t handle things calmly, but let his emotions mess with his state of mind!

From start to finish, the Defender not only underestimated Jiang Ye,

but although he seemed to have the upper hand, he was actually led by the nose the whole time.

Throughout the battle—

When the Light-type used a Glyph Pattern Ability, he was shocked.

Then Jiang Ye traded one-for-one with him—he revived but felt pained and even more shocked.

After entering the Reincarnation Graveyard, he was completely confused, emotions fluctuating wildly…

The whole time, everything he encountered—he actually had the means to handle.

Even that one-for-one trade—he could revive from it!

Purely in terms of power, he was definitely above Jiang Ye!

Even the Glyph Pattern Ability Qu Xing risked his life to use barely controlled him for a few seconds.

Yet Jiang Ye, who was clearly weaker, won effortlessly!

The key was—

The Defender’s emotions were entirely under Jiang Ye’s control.

Because of that emotional turbulence, he completely overlooked a seemingly trivial detail.

And that detail—

Was that the Defender’s appearance had turned into Jiang Ye’s!

This key detail, buried beneath layers of shock, was totally ignored by the Defender.

Even at the moment of his death, he still looked like Jiang Ye.

Because of that, it triggered the Replica Substitution’s built-in resurrection effect…

And this resurrection effect was superior to all other revival methods.

That was the real reason Jiang Ye won!

Especially after he checked the precious items the Defender had—

Jiang Ye realized even more how unbelievably lucky he was in that fight.

That guy had all kinds of resurrection methods—

They were practically endless!

Among them, the highest-level one even came with a Spatial Transfer revival.

Unlike the Giant Man-Eating Flower, which revived at the same spot…

This one would bring him back to the Doomsday Apartment!

If the Replica Resurrection priority hadn’t triggered first—

If the Defender hadn’t kept Jiang Ye’s appearance…

Then, if the Defender really did revive back at the Doomsday Apartment, Jiang Ye would’ve been screwed!

Everything that happened afterward would’ve spun out of control!

Ignorance breeds courage.

The more Jiang Ye understood, the more chills ran down his spine.

He even started to wonder—

Had he gotten reckless because Chen Cang triggered him too hard?

Or had he gotten a little too arrogant with his slight increase in strength?

Otherwise, how could he have made such an impulsive move back then?!

Looking back now…

Getting that Defender’s Replica was all down to luck. Pure fluke!

Sure, luck counts as strength too.

But he couldn’t rely on luck to get Replicas forever.

So, making calculated moves ahead of time was absolutely necessary.

But his ability to gather intel was pitifully limited.

Jiang Ye really wished he had an item—

That could scan an opponent and instantly give him something like:

[Victory Chance: 20%]

[Replica Conversion Chance: 80%]

Clean, clear, intuitive data!

With something like that, he’d never need to take reckless risks trying to turn people into his Replicas!

In fact, with such information, he might even “scoop up bargains” when powerful Replicas slip through the cracks.

Like the Defender’s Replica he just got—

If he summed it up, it would be:

[Victory Chance: 0%]

[Replica Conversion Chance: 99%]

Undefeatable, yet convertible into a Replica!

Now that was a real steal!

Jiang Ye couldn’t help but fantasize—

Maybe someday, even the Apartment Trader’s data would read:

[Victory Chance: 0%]

[Replica Conversion Chance: 90%]

At that point…

Even if he couldn’t beat them, he could still grab the Replica!

Of course, these were just Jiang Ye’s fantasies.

Such a convenient item…

He looked at Lin Ling, still holding onto a sliver of hope.

Though more than anything, he was expecting her to hit him with another mocking line like:

“How about I give you a longevity elixir and let you ascend to godhood?”

But to his surprise—

When he mentioned the Soul Searching method before, Lin Ling looked at him like “are you dreaming?”

But now, this request—which he thought was even more over-the-top—

Lin Ling actually blinked, rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment, then said:

“If it were anyone else asking for that kind of item, I’d say it’d be tricky.”

“But for the 4444 Administrator, I happen to have just the thing.”

With a wave of her hand, she pulled out three—what looked like—white jade sticks covered in bizarre runes?

Jiang Ye didn’t recognize them and was about to ask.

But Lin Ling explained on her own: “These are three Human Bone Divination Sticks from the Corpse Whisper Bone Divination Set.”

“In the Administrator’s Reincarnation Graveyard, there should be twelve tombstones.”

“One of them is the Silent Tombstone, which can be used together with the Bone Divination Sticks.”

“The three sticks represent: [Yes], [No], and [Cost].”

“The Administrator can ask the Silent Tombstone a true-or-false question.”

“The Silent Tombstone will determine the difficulty of the question, then return a price on the [Cost] stick.”

“Once the price is paid, it’ll give the answer via the [Yes] or [No] stick.”

Lin Ling’s explanation was fairly easy to understand.

Jiang Ye, listening to it, couldn’t help but feel shocked.

There were twelve tombstones in the Reincarnation Graveyard?

He hadn’t seen a single one!

All he saw in the Tombstone Zone was that cross-shaped tombstone that he couldn’t even look straight at—

let alone approach.

This matter of the twelve tombstones was definitely worth looking into.

As for the Corpse Whisper Bone Divination Sticks…

If it’s about true-or-false questions,

Just imagine—

“If I hand over the Reincarnation Key to the Apartment Trader, can I still monopolize the Reincarnation Graveyard?”

“What are the odds of turning Lin Ling into a Replica—can they exceed 90%?”

“If I try to convert Chen Cang into a Replica, will the Protagonist Halo ensure I meet a bad end?”

With the right angle, even true-or-false questions might yield valuable intel.

The only thing was—

First, Jiang Ye hadn’t seen the Silent Tombstone.

Second, he had no idea what sort of “costs” these true-or-false questions might demand.

And he didn’t know if the Bone Divination Sticks could be used right away.

Still, not wanting to raise suspicion, he didn’t ask too directly.

After a moment’s thought, he tentatively asked Lin Ling:

“Boss, you said before the 4444 Administrator would never let you into the Reincarnation Graveyard…”

“So how do you know there are twelve tombstones in there? You even seem to know them really well?”

Unfortunately, Lin Ling gave him a lazy sideways glance and replied coldly:

“Quit your sneaky probing. That’s none of your business.”

Jiang Ye wasn’t surprised. He just tried again, sincerely:

“Actually, I get along quite well with the 4444 Administrator. I’ve even had the chance to enter the Reincarnation Graveyard.”

“But based on my observations of both the Graveyard and the Administrator…”

“I didn’t see any twelve tombstones, and the Administrator—maybe because he’s newly appointed—seems completely unfamiliar with the Graveyard. Like he’s still figuring things out…”

He did his best to sound like a neutral observer, sharing updates on the Administrator’s situation.

Lin Ling listened thoughtfully.

Then suddenly snorted and said with a cold smile:

“Looks like the original 4444 Administrator wasn’t too stupid after all.”

“Must’ve made ‘arrangements’ before the Administrator PK Battle.”

The original 4444 Administrator’s… final arrangements??

Jiang Ye’s heart skipped a beat!

He knew it! That old 4444 Administrator was hiding something!

He dropped dead on the PK Arena without dropping anything.

And once Jiang Ye entered the Reincarnation Graveyard,

he could feel something was off—

The Raven Egg he’d been obsessively searching for was nowhere to be found;

There wasn’t a single trace of the original 4444 Administrator having lived there!

So it really had been cleaned up in advance by the original 4444!

At the same time, Jiang Ye couldn’t help but feel alarmed—

Since the original 4444 had arranged his “final affairs” in advance…

Was it possible… he still planned to resurrect in the Reincarnation Graveyard?

Could that even happen?

No, wait—

That guy’s fear of Light back then had been completely genuine.

There was no way he could’ve foreseen being Purified by Light on the PK Arena.

He had the Death-State, making him nearly invincible against another Administrator.

So…

Logically, he shouldn’t have had to arrange any “final affairs” ahead of time.

Thinking about it now, Jiang Ye suddenly realized—

Maybe he misunderstood the whole thing.

The original 4444 Administrator’s preparations in the Reincarnation Graveyard might not have been to guard against him.

According to Wu Ying’s memories afterward—

The destruction of Apartment 4444 happened ahead of schedule,

even the Apartment Boss found it extremely troublesome and didn’t know how to handle it.

But what happened in the end?

One Apartment Fusion, and that supposedly tricky issue was easily resolved!

Did the Apartment Boss not know he could use VIP players to carry out a fusion for 4444?

Probably not the case.

More likely—

VIP players with the ability to perform a fusion on Apartment 4444…

even the Apartment Boss might not have been able to get them to act!

But the 4444 Administrator did!

At the time, it seemed like a casual announcement.

But behind it, who knew how many ties existed between the 4444 Administrator and that VIP player.

So now Jiang Ye believed—

The original 4444 Administrator’s preemptive moves in the Reincarnation Graveyard…

might not have been about wrapping up his affairs.

It could have been part of a deal with that VIP player—Mo Chayuan.

Maybe the price of convincing Mo Chayuan was agreeing to let him into the Reincarnation Graveyard.

And so he had to hide certain secrets inside the Reincarnation Graveyard in advance?

Jiang Ye’s mind was spinning in all directions.

But on the surface, he showed nothing, and simply followed Lin Ling’s line of thinking:

“You’re absolutely right, Boss. I also feel like this new 4444 Administrator seems to have no idea how to handle the Reincarnation Graveyard…”

“In that case, maybe the bribe for the third coffin can be tailored to that? You provide a few options, and I’ll choose one?”

Lin Ling gave him a sideways glance and sneered, “Hmph. You do have a bit of wit.”

If not for that little episode about him not meeting a good end,

Lin Ling had originally planned to tailor her bribe offers based on her own assessment of the 4444 Administrator.

But Jiang Ye’s suggestion just now clearly forced her to lay out all the options she had prepared—for him to choose from.

Even if he made the final choice,

he was still using Lin Ling’s knowledge of the Administrator’s identity.

Wasn’t that just being cunning?

Still, Lin Ling’s priority was getting Zhou Qiming as soon as possible.

So she didn’t argue with him. She waved her hand, and a row of items appeared for him to choose from.

At the same time, she asked, “So for the second coffin, are you sticking with the Corpse Whisper Bone Divination Sticks?”

Jiang Ye countered, “You got anything better for deduction?”

Lin Ling didn’t answer. She just summoned a shadow puppet and wrote a line inside the second coffin:

“Three human bone divination sticks from the Corpse Whisper Bone Divination Set.”

Then her eyes fell back on Jiang Ye, who was browsing the items, and she added:

“Besides these tangible items, there’s also an information-based option—”

“I could provide the 4444 Administrator with contact info for VIP player Mo Chayuan.”

“……”

That did sound like a legitimate offer.

But Jiang Ye thought to himself—what would I even do with Mo Chayuan’s contact info?

Invite that big shot to the Reincarnation Graveyard for tea?

Have him compete with the Apartment Trader over the Reincarnation Key?

Those kinds of top-tier players were way out of his league. Jiang Ye wasn’t about to make contact with them this early.

Facing a powerful player while still weak—it was just too suffocating!

Better to find ways to improve his own strength first.

So naturally, his focus stayed on the items Lin Ling had revealed.

The first thing he saw was an item also possessed by the Defender’s Replica.

It looked like nothing more than a square white jade box.

But inside the large outer box was a smaller square box nested within.

The outer box was engraved with elegant patterns.

The inner one was covered in strange glyphs.

Seeing that his Eye of True Sight no longer showed up on his Player Panel,

Lin Ling explained on her own:

“This thing’s called the Witchbone Life Casket.”

“You store a sliver of your soul in the outer box, and carry the inner box with you.”

“If you die unexpectedly, the inner box dies in your place, and you revive at the location of the outer box.”

“Items like this, which let you revive elsewhere, are far more valuable than those that revive you on the spot.”

“After all, reviving at the original location makes it easy to get corpse-camped and killed again.”

“Plus, the Witchbone Life Casket has high resurrection priority and is very convenient to use.”

People like Lin Jing and Ouyang would probably drool over something like this.

But Jiang Ye wasn’t impressed.

First, he already had Replica Substitution.

Second, the loot he got from the Defender’s Replica included a Witchbone Life Casket already.

So this item didn’t appeal to him at all.

Jiang Ye had already moved past the phase of blindly prioritizing survival.

What he wanted now—was power.

True, overwhelming power.

Or at least, methods to help him gain power…

So he shook his head and said, “The 4444 Administrator has Death-State. I don’t think he really cares about revival items.”

Lin Ling raised her brow. “And how long does he think that Death-State is going to last?”

True, after handing the Reincarnation Key to the Apartment Trader, it seemed the Death-State no longer worked.

Still, Jiang Ye wasn’t interested in revival items.

His gaze shifted to a flawless piece of white jade.

Lin Ling didn’t mind and kept explaining:

“This is the Carefree Dao Stone.”

“The Administrator can’t leave the Apartment due to rule restrictions, right?”

“With this, those rules no longer apply. He can travel across Apartments at will.”

Jiang Ye blinked. Whoa, so that’s what it did.

And, turns out, this was another item the Defender’s Replica had.

It seemed that the Defender and Lin Ling, though both veteran players, were able to ignore the rules and leave Apartment 0000 early using this Carefree Dao Stone.

But Jiang Ye had already gotten one from the Defender’s Replica,

so there was really no need to take another one.

Just as he was shaking his head and about to look at the next item,

Lin Ling added, “This item can also be used by regular players.”

“With it, cross-apartment movement no longer consumes Survival Points.”

“And more than that…”

Her voice suddenly turned a little meaningful:

“If you pair this Carefree Dao Stone with a grain of Light Burn…”

“Then even regular players can replicate the effects of Light and Shadow Escape.”

“Of course, Light Burn still poses a threat to Dark-type Players.”

“So this method of use is limited to non-Dark-type players.”

The moment she said that, everyone present was shocked!

For example, Wang Lingling, who had long suffered from Light Burn, immediately thought—

She had Light Burn in her body!

Could she transfer the one tormenting her into that Carefree Dao Stone?

Of course, that was impossible.

If it were that easy to remove Light Burn, Dark-type Players wouldn’t be so terrified of light.

It was just that Wang Lingling lacked knowledge and didn’t know any better.

Meanwhile, Ouyang, who had previously eavesdropped on Lin Ling’s conversation with the Apartment Boss alongside Jiang Ye,

couldn’t help but wonder—

An item that required Light Burn to activate…

Was this crazy woman actually connected to some Light-type organization?

He’d already had a lot of suspicions while eavesdropping.

But his intel was so limited, he couldn’t make sense of everything.

Jiang Ye, on the other hand, was quite certain—

The Defenders’ Alliance was indeed connected to a Light-type organization!

Previously, he only knew that the Defenders provided rare materials that could mask Light-type aura.

But he didn’t know what the Light-type organization offered in return.

Now he knew—

Light-type Players could provide Light Burn to the Defenders!

And Light Burn could actually be paired with items for new effects!

Now he was wondering—

Aside from the Carefree Dao Stone, were there other items that could be used with Light Burn?

What about that black ribbon Lin Ling used to wrap around Wang Lingling’s feet—

what kind of item was that?

Was she really so kind-hearted to let Wang Lingling go?

Or would that item tied to Wang Lingling’s feet later offer Lin Ling something in return?

Jiang Ye pondered all this, but still had no interest in the Carefree Dao Stone.

Then, he looked at the next item.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t just one item—it was a stack.

Six masks, piled together.

Lin Ling began explaining them one by one:

“These six masks aren’t a set, and each has a completely different effect.”

“This one, Mourning Mask of the Dead, lets you randomly absorb part of a player’s memory after killing them.”

Huh? That’s a solid effect!

Even if it’s only partial and random—

Previously, Lin Ling had only given him five fragments of the Stone of This Life (Incomplete).

But this Mourning Mask of the Dead had no usage limit!

In the future, when Jiang Ye has his Replicas kill one another, revive, and kill again,

he could use this item to acquire parts of their memory each time.

Thinking that to himself, he remained expressionless.

Lin Ling continued her explanation:

“This one is the Plague Doctor Mask. It grants immunity to disease, poison, and some curse effects.”

“For example, some Dark-type Abilities come with curse effects that seal Glyph Pattern Abilities.”

“As long as the curse level isn’t too high, this mask can grant immunity.”

“Of course, it can’t block Light Burn.”

“Even though Dark-type Players all see Light Burn as a curse, it’s not technically a curse.”

This mask’s effect…

Jiang Ye immediately thought of something and asked:

“I saw one of Chen Cang’s skills earlier called Shadow Curse.”

“One of its curse effects can seal a player’s Glyph Pattern Abilities and S-tier or lower talents…”

“So would this Plague Doctor Mask be able to block that curse?”

Lin Ling raised a brow. “It can.”

Hiss—

That made this mask quite valuable too!

Sure, Defender Players could directly extract Glyph Pattern Abilities from others.

But curse effects that seal abilities weren’t limited to just that.

In the Doomsday Apartment, veteran players had developed all sorts of curses.

Like Wu Ying’s Phantasm Parasitism,

which failed to advance due to some unknown curse.

If he’d had a mask like this back then, maybe he wouldn’t have spiraled so badly.

While Jiang Ye thought this, Lin Ling moved on to the next mask:

“This one is Soul-Stealing Demon Mask. It has two effects.”

“First, if you make eye contact for three seconds, you can mentally control a player.”

“Second, if you maintain eye contact for ten seconds, you can temporarily steal a random ability.”

“Of course, the actual effect depends on both players’ Energy attributes.”

“If the gap is too large, it likely won’t work.”

That wasn’t much of a problem.

Qu Xing’s Shadow Puppet could cultivate extremely high attributes.

The most interesting part to Jiang Ye—

was how this item’s effects resembled Qu Xing’s Glyph Pattern Ability.

Right now, Qu Xing’s ability was only Tier 1.

But maybe once it leveled up, it too could temporarily steal other players’ powers.

And if an item could have an effect on par with a Glyph Pattern Ability…

Then maybe Jiang Ye’s earlier theory was correct—

That Glyph Pattern Abilities were, in essence, also a kind of item.

Moreover…

He’d already gotten the Tooth Crow Feather from the Defender’s Replica,

which could extract Glyph Pattern Abilities.

Jiang Ye now suspected the entire Defenders’ Alliance had a method

to extract players’ Glyph Pattern Abilities and refine them into items!

If all Glyph Pattern Abilities could be replaced by items…

then wouldn’t all those players who risked their lives to awaken them be nothing but jokes?

Jiang Ye silently pondered this, keeping his expression blank.

Then Lin Ling continued:

“The last three masks are Enforcer’s Mask, Faceless Mask, and Deceiver’s Mask.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep