Of course, this vibration wasn’t particularly obvious.

Yet it was clearly visible to the naked eye—

The previously dug pits by the Defenders players began developing cracks along with the tremors.

The ground containing this radiation soil began resembling shattered glass.

Those pits looked exactly like bullet holes.

And the cracks spreading from the pits resembled the radial fractures of glass struck by bullets.

The White-Robed Woman watched this transformation with a serious expression.

Suddenly, her gaze locked onto one particular pit where the cracks were most pronounced.

Moments later, as expected, a hunched figure shot up into the sky from that very pit.

This figure was none other than the mysterious old woman who had been guarding Yuan Qiu earlier!

She hovered mid-air, her right palm supporting a double-layered formation disk restrained by iron wires.

The completely black double-layered formation disk had a circular upper layer and square lower layer. Even bound by iron wires, it vibrated noticeably, emitting a buzzing sound.

It seemed as if this artifact possessed self-awareness, constantly attempting to escape the mysterious old woman’s control.

However, those iron wires were clearly no ordinary objects.

No matter how fiercely the formation disk struggled, it couldn’t break free from the wire restraints.

The old woman holding the formation disk could obviously feel its resistance.

Yet she remained composed and unmoved.

When her wrinkled left palm pressed firmly against the wire-bound formation disk—

The entire double-layered formation disk emitted an even more pronounced buzzing sound.

And the trembling sensation across the radiation soil intensified significantly.

Amidst these vibrations, the hovering old woman gathered her energy and spoke in a deep, resonant voice:

“The Ghost Valley Soul Shepherd Formation disk has been found! All Defenders still exploring underground, you may begin emerging now!”

Following this announcement, Defenders players indeed began climbing out from the pits one after another.

However, their condition upon emergence couldn’t compare to the mysterious old woman who had soared directly into the sky.

These Defenders presented various states of disarray.

Not only did they struggle painfully to climb out of the pits—

Their clothing and exposed skin showed varying degrees of decay and ulceration.

The most severely affected Defender had undergone terrifying facial deformations.

Making him appear more grotesque and horrifying than an evil goblin.

As these players gradually emerged from the pits and stood up—

Their postures visibly hunched to different extents.

As if their entire skeletal structure, particularly their spines, had undergone severe mutation.

Some had elongated fingers and toes, others couldn’t straighten their arms…

Some even had missing flesh, resembling living skeletons!

This spectacular display of mass mutation made Jiang Ye, hiding within Xiao Bai’s hair, feel increasingly alarmed.

The players emerging from the soil also displayed mixed expressions and complex emotions.

The player mutated into a “skeleton man” seemed to lose emotional control completely, emitting hissing roars from his throat.

After making these sounds, even the skeleton man himself appeared shocked, descending further into emotional turmoil.

He seemed to want to protest something.

But no matter how he shouted, only hissing sounds emerged.

This condition suggested vocal cord damage, completely losing language function…

Yet even without forming coherent protests—

The emotion in his hisses was intense enough.

This breakdown and rampage emotional state quickly spread to other mutated players present.

Suddenly, the radiation soil area filled with emotional outbursts—chaotic and noisy, as if a riot might erupt any moment!

“What the hell?! This? Is this fucking me?!”

“Wait! Actually—all of us underground explorers have turned into fucking monsters!”

“Such drastic changes! The losses are terrifying!!”

“Damn! Will I have to live in this half-human half-ghost state forever?!”

“‘Forever’? ‘Live’? Hah! You’re quite optimistic! Looking like this, who knows how long we’ll last!”

“Fuck! I must have been cursed when joining the Defenders’ Alliance! Defenders? More like lab rats!”

For a moment, collective anger surged.

The situation suggested these mutated players might unite at any moment to resist the Defenders’ Alliance’s tyranny…

However, likely due to the power disparity, despite their complaints and curses, no actual rebellion emerged.

The little old woman hovering mid-air remained completely calm facing these emotional outbursts.

She didn’t speak, simply turning her gaze toward the White-Robed Woman.

The White-Robed Woman steadied herself, transforming her black hair into black snakes.

The menacing black snakes swayed behind her, adding to her imposing presence.

In this posture, she spoke with steady composure:

“Everyone, please calm down.”

“Whether you’ve experienced it personally or heard stories, I can tell you clearly—”

“In this Doomsday Apartment, the ‘physical bodies’ we players use are merely containers.”

“If you truly cannot accept these abnormal appearances…”

“Like the old woman demonstrated earlier, you can simply wear 【mimic masks】 to maintain normal human appearances.”

“Furthermore, when you return to the Defenders’ Alliance, you can request other methods to modify your physical bodies.”

“Actually, physical body modification isn’t uncommon throughout the Doomsday Apartment.”

“The most famous example would be Salvation’s mecha form, right?”

“How powerful Salvation became after physical modification—I probably don’t need to elaborate?”

“Such modifications even allowed Salvation to possess numerous mecha clones!”

“So your current emotional state is truly unnecessary!”

“Rather than focusing on changeable appearances…”

“Why not carefully examine what other changes have occurred besides physical mutations?”

“For example, have your attribute panels, talents, skills, or other aspects undergone mutations?”

With just these few words, she actually managed to suppress the riotous atmosphere.

Many severely mutated Defenders players immediately used mimic masks, restoring at least outwardly normal appearances.

However, some still retained mutation characteristics even after using 【mimic masks】.

Watching this secretly, Jiang Ye felt growing alarm.

He wondered—

Those mutation characteristics that 【mimic masks】 couldn’t conceal…

Probably indicated changes to the players’ physical body 「containers」 that exceeded their original container grades?

While numerous Defenders players examined their mutations—

On the giant chessboard nearby.

The three-legged giant cauldron rotated with fiery light for a while…

The dazzlingly bright flames flowed through all patterns covering the cauldron’s surface.

Finally, the flames gradually extinguished, and the giant cauldron stopped rotating.

The chubby guy remained calm, raising his arms to make the lid fly open.

In that instant, a giant creature emerged from the giant cauldron…

The still-conscious observing Jiang Ye felt sudden shock seeing this giant creature!

Because this giant creature…

Was practically a perfect replica of the giant shadow phantom!

This…

Before he could express amazement—

The giant creature charged directly toward the mutating Jiang Ye who was bleeding profusely!

This enormous shadow creature was countless times larger than the mutating Jiang Ye.

Yet upon contacting the mutating Jiang Ye…

The entire giant creature seemed to be absorbed by him!

This state resembled previous mist-like creatures invading Jiang Ye.

However, those numerous mist creature invasions seemed like drops in the bucket—absorbed without causing noticeable effects.

This time.

The invasion by this fused giant monster emerging from the 【Chaotic Crucible】 clearly produced chemical effects on the mutating Jiang Ye.

The visible result was—

The already blood-soaked mutating Jiang Ye seemed to have blood seeping back into his physical body.

After absorbing all the blood, his entire body didn’t develop blood patterns like Xu Gou and Yu Mo.

Instead, it seeped with eerie black energy!

This black energy emission immediately reminded Jiang Ye of Xiao Hei!

So this mist monster invasion-induced mutation indeed resembled Xiao Hei’s previous mutation.

Of course, the overall effect differed significantly from Xiao Hei’s.

It felt like this mutating Jiang Ye had undergone more profound “darkening.”

While seeping black energy, Jiang Ye sensed—

The previously unconscious mutant clone gradually regained fragmentary awareness.

However, the awareness remained scattered and faint—he couldn’t feel his physical body at all.

In this state, he seemed still hovering at the edge of death, at risk of completely dying at any moment.

Moreover, this death premonition seemed beyond even 【Clone Sacrifice】’s redemption.

While Jiang Ye used other clones to carefully sense the mutant clone’s changes—

The hunched little old man also observed the mutant clone for a long time before remarking to the chubby guy:

“If we don’t act now, he’ll probably really die.”

The chubby guy didn’t respond, simply recalling the 【Chaotic Crucible】 before waving toward the shadow phantom in the air.

The shadow phantom, presumably stripped of its “Glyph Pattern Ability” by the Guiwen Grandmaster, seemed to receive an invisible slap.

His entire enormous shadowy form went flying toward the mutating Jiang Ye.

Until crashing heavily into him.

Since the previous fused giant monster had directly “invaded” Jiang Ye’s body, completely disappearing—

The observing Jiang Ye assumed this slapped-away shadow phantom would also be “absorbed” by his mutant clone.

However, reality differed.

The giant shadowy form completely enveloped the mutating Jiang Ye’s body.

The overall effect resembled a fried egg—giant shadow phantom as egg white, mutating Jiang Ye as yolk…

As this “fried egg” state formed—

Jiang Ye clearly sensed—

The mutant clone’s chaotic scattered awareness became increasingly clear.

Soon, visibly, the black energy surrounding him seemed to fear the shadow body, all retreating into the mutating Jiang Ye’s physical body.

Within moments, the entire mutating Jiang Ye completed “darkening” completely.

No longer “darkened” with emitting black energy;

Rather, the entire mutating Jiang Ye turned pure black version!

From head to toe, from eyes to nails…

The entire person was completely black!

This bizarre state naturally reminded Jiang Ye of someone—

Nomadic Merchant Daddy!

His current pure black featureless state…

Was practically a cloned version of the pure black Nomadic Merchant!

Of course, this cloning effect wasn’t 100% identical.

The Nomadic Merchant lacked facial features entirely.

His entire being seemed shrouded in shadow.

But this pure black mutant Jiang Ye retained facial features.

However, the now-conscious mutant Jiang Ye clearly felt—

Although having features, he couldn’t control them at all.

Simply put, he couldn’t blink, couldn’t open his mouth…

Even his entire physical body felt like a statue, completely immobile.

Huh? Wait!

One part could move!

His… left hand!

Why was this?

The mutant Jiang Ye didn’t immediately understand.

But moments later, Jiang Ye suddenly realized—

His entire left hand had been exchanged with the Nomadic Merchant!

After the exchange, despite various investigations, he hadn’t discovered anything special about this left hand.

Now, during this mutation…

The left hand’s special characteristics finally manifested.

While the mutant Jiang Ye tested moving his only functional left hand amidst overall stiffness—

Nearby, the chubby guy and little old man both widened their eyes in surprise.

Particularly the little old man, whose usually placid voice now carried faint astonishment:

“This kid? How can his left hand still move? Could the mutation be incomplete?”

The chubby guy seemed equally surprised but shook his head: “Impossible, this complete black mutation effect…”

“Wait!”

He suddenly looked toward Jiang Ye’s observing clone, asking bluntly:

“Your left hand… what happened to it?”

Without waiting for Jiang Ye’s response, he grabbed Jiang Ye’s left hand for close examination.

Jiang Ye didn’t answer, realizing from the chubby guy’s reaction—

Events within the Nomadic Merchant’s special space…

Seemed undetectable by other powerful beings.

Even experts like the chubby guy and Guiwen Master apparently couldn’t detect his left hand’s exchange with the Nomadic Merchant.

Since they couldn’t tell, Jiang Ye naturally wouldn’t explain.

He feigned ignorance: “I don’t know.”

“Honestly, I don’t even understand what’s happening with my mutant clone now…”

“He looks pretty much dead, doesn’t he?”

“But the left hand can move… so, he’s not dead?”

“Could you two experts briefly explain what’s happening with my mutant clone?”

The chubby guy examined his left hand, frowning thoughtfully without answering.

Meanwhile, the little old man glanced at him sideways.

After moments of silence, he spoke in an eerie and weathered voice:

“It’s not particularly complicated. You can simply understand—”

“This mutant clone’s physical body has reached a state your soul cannot control.”

“So he appears like a statue beyond your control.”

“As for why this physical body’s left hand can move…”

“You’ll probably need to find that answer yourself.”

Hearing this explanation, Jiang Ye basically confirmed his recent thoughts about 「containers」 having different grades.

Considering this, he directly asked:

“So players’ physical bodies are graded? How exactly are they classified? Is it related to death levels?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep