As expected—

Neither Jiang Ye nor Lin Ling was mistaken.

When Xiao Pang heard Jiang Ye say he wanted to participate in exploring the Abyss Restricted Zone, the expression on his face, which had originally been cheerful like an old man watching a show, noticeably stiffened.

When Lin Ling tossed the topic to him, she was almost certain deep down—

Xiao Pang most likely did not want Jiang Ye to go to the Abyss Restricted Zone.

Actually, Lin Ling also wanted to use this opportunity to test him.

In the case that Xiao Pang didn’t want Jiang Ye to go to the Abyss Restricted Zone, would he still stand on Jiang Ye’s side and agree with him?

Based on Xiao Pang’s response, she could roughly deduce whether the earlier words Xiao Pang spoke on Jiang Ye’s behalf were just idle remarks made while watching the fun, or if he genuinely wanted to support Jiang Ye.

Of course, Jiang Ye himself had a similar thought to Lin Ling’s.

He also wanted to take this chance to test Xiao Pang’s attitude toward him.

Under the gaze of both of them, Xiao Pang’s slightly stiff expression quickly faded.

He seemed to ponder seriously for a moment, then carefully scrutinized Jiang Ye again.

Afterward, he furrowed his brows, looking somewhat disdainful, and said to Jiang Ye:

“You… want to explore the Abyss Restricted Zone? Is your clone worthless enough to just give away?”

This mockery was very direct.

Jiang Ye, however, was completely unfazed, as if he had no worries at all.

He openly admitted, “Clones really aren’t worth much; giving them away is no big deal.”

“…”

Xiao Pang was momentarily speechless at that reply.

After all, Jiang Ye didn’t care about the clones’ lives, so rejecting his participation in the Abyss Restricted Zone exploration by saying “you’re just giving away cannon fodder” seemed unreasonable.

Xiao Pang pondered further, and his peripheral vision caught Yu Mo in the Square Mirror. His eyes suddenly flickered.

It was as if he had just thought of something; his whole eyes brightened, and he directly proposed to Jiang Ye:

“If the clones you’re sending to explore the Abyss Restricted Zone are truly just going to be given away…”

“Then why not let them be given away in a more valuable way.”

As he spoke, Xiao Pang tapped the surface of the Square Mirror where Yu Mo was, then smiled at Jiang Ye:

“If you’re willing to accept ‘mutation,’ then even if the clone is weak, it might still become a help.”

Jiang Ye was a little surprised and glanced at the Square Mirror with Yu Mo inside.

“Boss, the ‘mutation’ you mentioned means letting the clones I’m prepared to give away turn into those ‘steam people’?”

Xiao Pang shook his head, but not to deny his statement. Instead, he explained:

“What you call ‘steam people’ is just one stage in the mutation process.”

“After a successful mutation, they become mutated beings covered in blood patterns, like Xu Gou and Tao Sheng.”

“The advantage of such mutated beings is that they’re not afraid of ‘steam’; in fact, with the boost from the ‘steam,’ their strength skyrockets!”

At this point, Xiao Pang paused, then added:

“Fine, I’ll just say it directly—”

“The ‘steam’ you mentioned is generally called radiation by us old players.”

When it came to this point, Jiang Ye basically confirmed:

“Then, according to your old players’ terminology, can I understand it like this—”

“The Abyss Restricted Zone is essentially a radiation field.”

“Mutated beings like Xu Gou and Tao Sheng can ignore radiation and even become stronger under it…”

“Therefore, they’re naturally more suitable for exploring the Abyss Restricted Zone.”

“That’s also why the apartment boss forbids such mutated beings from entering the Novice Apartment.”

“The two of you bosses used your methods to help these two mutated beings ‘smuggle’ into the Novice Apartment, preparing to explore the Abyss Restricted Zone together with them…”

As Jiang Ye analyzed this, Xiao Pang nodded frequently without reservation.

This showed that Jiang Ye’s statements were basically correct.

But…

Jiang Ye quickly shifted his tone: “If mutated beings are really so awesome, not only ignoring radiation but also becoming stronger under it…”

“Then why don’t you all just become mutated beings?”

“From this perspective… these mutated beings must have huge drawbacks, right?”

Xiao Pang still nodded openly and explained directly:

“Of course there are drawbacks. Otherwise, if it was all benefits, wouldn’t the whole apartment be full of mutated beings?”

“The first drawback is—”

“Ordinary players can’t access this mutation method.”

“If I’m not mistaken, even the apartment boss of the apartment faction doesn’t know how this mutation is achieved.”

“In other words, among all the players in the Doomsday Apartment, those who have mastered this mutation method are extremely few.”

“As far as I know, there are only two—”

“One is the leader of the Heavenly Net Organization, a mysterious VIP player.”

“The other is this shadow phantom boss I left here to watch the show.”

Xiao Pang raised his hand and pointed at the giant shadow phantom hand standing behind Tao Sheng.

Then he glanced at Lin Ling and asked:

“The Defenders’ Alliance is probably only at the exploration stage regarding radiation, and no one has mastered this mutation method yet, right?”

“Including your arrangement this time for Defenders players to search for the Ghost Valley Soul Shepherd Formation’s formation plate in the radiation soil, is also an attempt to use those experimental subjects to research the mutation method.”

Obviously, Xiao Pang was correct, and Lin Ling nodded in agreement.

This revelation surprised Jiang Ye a bit.

Only the leader of the Heavenly Net Organization and that shadow phantom suspected to be Tao Sheng’s father had mastered the mutation method…

He had previously thought the shadow phantom was weak.

But now, learning that the shadow phantom possessed a method even top bosses coveted and was still alive and well…

This meant the shadow phantom likely had some special protective trump card.

So powerful that other top bosses couldn’t get the mutation method from him.

Or perhaps the uniqueness of the mutation method made it impossible for other bosses to master it?

In any case, this shadow phantom with special permission status was not to be underestimated.

And the leader of the Heavenly Net Organization… seemed quite mysterious too.

Why would that guy possess such a mutation method?

Jiang Ye pondered this while Xiao Pang continued:

“The second drawback, naturally, is the death rate during the mutation process.”

“Radiation is far scarier than Glyph Pattern Ability.”

“So the death rate during mutation is much, much higher than the death rate for players awakening Glyph Pattern Ability.”

“Even now, whether the guy in the mutation stage inside this Square Mirror is alive or dead is still unknown.”

“But this death rate probably doesn’t matter to you.”

“After all, you said clones can be given away casually, so giving away a few more shouldn’t be a problem :)”

“…” That was indeed true.

So according to Xiao Pang, Jiang Ye could ignore these first two drawbacks.

Because the shadow phantom possessed the mutation method;

And Jiang Ye himself was not afraid of the death rate during mutation.

Then…

“The third drawback is the key reason why top bosses in the entire Doomsday Apartment wouldn’t choose mutation.”

“That is…”

“Mutated beings will die at the next zero o’clock, just like being infected with Lightburn.”

“Of course, this zero o’clock refers to the zero o’clock in the Doomsday Apartment.”

“In other words, mutated beings can’t live past the ninth day.”

This…

Upon hearing this news, Jiang Ye was shocked again.

This radiation effect was surprisingly similar to the Lightburn effect…

So…

Jiang Ye immediately asked Xiao Pang a question:

“This radiation won’t cause all clones to mutate once one clone is infected like Lightburn, right??”

Xiao Pang shook his head: “You can rest assured about that.”

“The mutation only infects a single individual.”

“If you don’t believe me, we can mutate one of Salvation’s mecha clones for you to see?”

“…”

Xiao Pang’s casual tone was very similar to when the Nomadic Merchant had said—

If you don’t believe me, I’ll bring the apartment boss to kill you…

Damn it…

Jiang Ye suddenly felt a bit sorry for the apartment boss and Salvation.

These top bosses seemed not to care much about them at all…

Is the apartment faction really like this…

Of course, feeling sorry aside, it would naturally be better to experiment with Salvation’s mecha clone.

After all, Jiang Ye couldn’t fully trust Xiao Pang’s words directly.

Besides Xiao Pang’s casual mention of using Salvation’s mecha clone for experiments, Jiang Ye had another unexpected thought—

According to Xiao Pang…

The mutated Tao Sheng wouldn’t be able to survive past zero o’clock either?

If the shadow phantom really was Tao Sheng’s father…

Could he accept that his son would definitely die at zero o’clock on the ninth day?

No!

Jiang Ye suddenly thought of something else—

This shadow phantom originally wanted to help Tao Sheng get the special permission status of Eternal Witch Gui!

So, could it be…

Just as he was thinking this, Xiao Pang seemed to read his mind and suddenly said:

“That’s right.”

“Players with special permission status aren’t affected by the third drawback of mutation.”

“In other words, they won’t die at the next zero o’clock.”

“However, players with special permission status cannot undergo mutation.”

“That means if Eternal Witch Gui is here, the shadow phantom can’t use mutation on her.”

“But if someone is already mutated and then obtains special permission status through some means, then mutation and special permission status can coexist.”

In other words, if you get special permission status first, you can’t mutate.

But if you mutate first and then gain special permission status, it’s valid.

This was just as Jiang Ye guessed earlier—

The shadow phantom wanted to help Tao Sheng get special permission status to save him from dying at zero o’clock.

So he went after Guiwen.

That meant if Jiang Ye really arranged for his clones to mutate, he could also protect the mutated clones from dying at zero o’clock by helping them get special permission status.

In that case, mutation wasn’t unacceptable.

Jiang Ye began to somewhat accept the idea of mutation inwardly.

However, he showed no sign of this and instead continued to ask:

“Is there a fourth drawback?”

Xiao Pang smiled and nodded: “Of course.”

“The fourth drawback is what you wondered about—”

“This guy wearing your mimic mask, why hasn’t his mimic mask on his face been destroyed by radiation?”

“Because mutation is uncontrollable, during the mutation process, the player themselves and the items they use will mutate unpredictably.”

“And this unpredictable mutation range includes—talents, skills, Glyph Pattern Ability, blessings or curses they carry, and the items they wear, etc…”

So that’s why.

The mimic mask on Yu Mo’s face was mutated under radiation.

Jiang Ye almost thought his mimic mask was just special.

And if he thought like this…

Jiang Ye suddenly asked again: “If a player naturally carries Lightburn, would the Lightburn mutate?”

When asked this, Xiao Pang laughed: “Maybe it would.”

“At least Salvation’s mecha clone would be very willing to accept mutation because of being infected by Lightburn.”

Oh, that made sense.

Jiang Ye had thought Xiao Pang was talking about capturing Salvation to do experiments.

Turns out, Salvation was already infected with Lightburn and wouldn’t refuse experiments himself.

As he nodded, Xiao Pang continued:

“The fifth drawback is the last and probably the one you find hardest to accept.”

At this point, Xiao Pang’s eyes smiled meaningfully as they swept over Lin Ling and the shadow phantom.

Following his gaze, Jiang Ye noticed the surprise on Lin Ling’s face.

He vaguely guessed that Lin Ling already knew the first four drawbacks.

But the fifth drawback was unknown to her.

“So, what is the fifth drawback?”

Xiao Pang smiled without answering and instead looked at the shadow phantom: “Let this boss reveal the final surprise :)”

At this moment, the shadow phantom didn’t display the entire giant humanoid figure like when facing Guiwen before.

Only a vertically standing palm remained.

The palm was silent for a moment, and maybe due to Xiao Pang’s strength, it quickly spoke calmly:

“If I die, all players mutated by me will die simultaneously.”

“If the leader of the Heavenly Net Organization dies, then all Heavenly Net mutated beings mutated by him will also die simultaneously.”

Oh my goodness!

Damn, this is not mutation; it’s like a parasitic wasp.

When the mother wasp dies, the offspring die simultaneously.

In other words, if the leader of the Heavenly Net Organization dies, all players under the Heavenly Net Organization will be wiped out!

And if Jiang Ye accepts the shadow phantom’s mutation, his life and death will be synchronized with the shadow phantom…

Honestly, although Jiang Ye could give away clones casually, this situation where his life and death are controlled by someone else was something he especially disliked.

But soon he asked, “What about mutated beings with special permission status? Will they also die simultaneously?”

The shadow phantom was silent for a moment, then coldly said:

“At least among those under me, there are no mutated beings with special permission status.”

“Besides, I haven’t died yet.”

In other words, he didn’t know.

Sigh.

Jiang Ye sighed, feeling somewhat indecisive.

He looked at Xiao Pang again and brazenly asked, “By the way, do you know exactly how many special permission statuses there are?”

Xiao Pang was really generous with information. He raised his brow and casually said, “Not many, probably no more than twenty.”

“So, how about it? Can you accept these five drawbacks and try mutation on your clones?”

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and weighed his words:

“Alright—”

“Let’s wait and see the mutation results of the player in the Square Mirror with my face.”

“And also observe the mutation situation of Salvation’s mecha clone.”

“After the mutation results of these two experimental subjects come out, I’ll make my decision.”

“Then, the win-win deal between Sister Lin and me will be finalized.”

“As for Sister Zhou’s side, she can apologize to me, and then go to the Court of Disorder.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep