This light-irradiated Ice Crystal Tear Drop showed no difference in usage compared to the original version.

It was only when the ice sculpture melted that the difference became apparent—

Judging by this punk’s agonizing screams, there was no doubt he was indeed infected with Lightburn!

Which meant…

After being infected by light-element skills, the Ice Crystal Tear Drop automatically carried the Lightburn effect!

No other items possessed such heaven-defying effects.

Even though the Carefree Dao Stone produced by the Defenders’ Alliance could indeed be affected by light-element skills, no mere item could cause someone to become infected with Lightburn.

Of course…

The Ice Crystal Tear Drop appeared to be an item.

But in essence, it should be a living organism.

The Luminox Larva, and its reproduced offspring larvae…

This thing was quite similar to Jiang Ye’s situation!

Wasn’t that unique Luminox Larva essentially the “original Jiang Ye”?

And weren’t the continuously reproduced offspring larvae exactly like countless “Jiang Ye clones”?

So, from a “biological” perspective, these Ice Crystal Offspring Larvae might be the only organisms capable of “transmitting” Lightburn, right?

The only question was…

If that Ice Crystal Tear Drop that infected the punk with Lightburn was used on others, could it continue to infect them with Lightburn?

In other words, was this “transmission” effect one-time only? Or permanently effective?

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then crouched down beside the punk.

He patted the screaming head that had separated from the body, sighing with exaggerated pity: “Tsk tsk, how pitiful…”

“But it’s alright. As the saying goes, isn’t it delightful when friends come from afar?”

“You esteemed bosses have traveled such long distances across regions to visit, and as the top boss of our A District, I naturally can’t just ignore you :)”

Only by using Zhou Qiming’s face could he say such shameless words with a clear conscience.

Beside him, Lin Jing’s face twitched slightly, but he didn’t dare refute anything.

Meanwhile, the “friends from afar” each wore subtle expressions.

Including the White Coat who had first cut off one of the punk’s hands—he now dropped the bloody, thawed hand and silently retreated behind Feng Cheng.

However, Jiang Ye was being quite “kind.”

He directly took out a piece of dirty-looking black cloth and pressed it against the punk’s head.

With just that touch, the previously screaming punk instantly quieted down.

Though he stopped screaming, his eyes looked hollow, as if he had become completely stupid.

Jiang Ye remembered that previously, any body part wrapped with the black ribbon would become completely stiff.

That’s why he had wrapped it around his less-used left hand back then.

And Wang Lingling had wrapped it around her feet.

As for the punk with the black cloth pressed against his forehead…

It seemed his entire head had been sealed.

Realizing this, Jiang Ye transferred the black cloth to the severed hand.

Only then did the punk finally regain consciousness.

His crimson eyes immediately glared at Jiang Ye.

But soon, those defiant eyes flashed with trembling fear.

The next second, the punk’s severed body parts quickly gathered together, reforming into a complete human shape.

He stiffly and tremblingly left behind the words “I admit defeat,” then flashed back to stand behind Feng Cheng.

At this moment, Jiang Ye finally vaguely sensed where the trap lay in the black ribbon Lin Ling had voluntarily offered him.

Because right now, he could clearly sense that black cloth attached to the punk’s hand!

So, players who had used black ribbons in the past were probably having their coordinates and movements tracked by the Defenders’ Alliance!

Secondly…

With a thought from Jiang Ye.

The black cloth in the punk’s hand instantly returned to his own hand.

And the punk immediately erupted into heart-wrenching screams of despair again…

Jiang Ye smiled slightly and returned the black cloth to him.

This little maneuver wasn’t meant to deliberately torture the punk.

Rather, he had confirmed…

This black cloth might look like just a dirty piece of fabric.

But in essence, it was equivalent to a fused version of numerous Cryptobiosis offspring larvae!

And they were still under his control!

Which meant that the black ribbon Lin Ling had given him was also being controlled by someone else behind the scenes!

Whoever was behind it could recall the black ribbon with just a thought!

So, this was the second trap of the black ribbon!

Because this thing was practically like drugs!

Once you got hooked, you couldn’t get away from it!

The pain of Lightburn was something even Jiang Ye couldn’t endure.

Even when he clearly suspected the black ribbon had traps, he still accepted and used it.

If he was like this, others must be the same.

Then…

If someone could take away his black ribbon at any time and use it as leverage…

He’d probably be willing to do anything!

So, while the Defenders’ Alliance manufactured black ribbons under the guise of directly giving them to Lightburn-infected individuals.

In reality, they were using these things to firmly control those infected with Lightburn!

Once you personally experienced the black ribbon’s suppression effect on Lightburn, who could refuse it?

So calling this thing comparable to drugs wasn’t an exaggeration at all!

And the Defenders’ Alliance was the sole drug supplier!

With these black ribbons, imagine how many people they could manipulate to do their bidding?

And those dark-type creatures infected with Lightburn who had no choice but to work for the Defenders’ Alliance…

How they got infected with Lightburn went without saying!

In that moment, Jiang Ye pieced together about seventy to eighty percent of the Defenders’ Alliance’s shady industry chain.

No wonder back then, even with a bounty hunting order in place, Lin Ling had completely refrained from taking action against the light-element Huang Bo.

She had also shown considerable respect toward other light-element players.

After all, the light element and Lightburn were crucial links in their Defenders’ Alliance industry chain!

And that Apartment Boss Q who transmitted the Luminox Larva to him…

He must have had an identity closely connected to the Defenders’ Alliance!

But by passing the Luminox Larva to Jiang Ye, wasn’t he essentially destroying a highly profitable industry chain for the Defenders’ Alliance?

That guy said he handed over the Luminox Larva to target Salvation.

But now it seemed he absolutely had other private motives!

And…

Thinking more carefully—

He had always suspected some connection between Lin Ling and the apartment boss.

He had even speculated that there might be Defenders’ Alliance moles within the apartment boss’s faction.

Previously, he thought Apartment Boss Q was a mole hiding secrets.

But now, Jiang Ye couldn’t help but suspect—

Didn’t Salvation also have Lightburn infection?

Then he must also be using black ribbons to block the Lightburn pain!

So could it be…

This pivotal leader of the entire apartment faction had already, due to Lightburn pain, become a mole working for the Defenders’ Alliance?

Jiang Ye’s mind buzzed with gossip, speculating about the intricate relationships among those upper-level bosses.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his agreement to use a clone to take Lin Ling to the red-lit elevator to find the “Safe Exit” might have actually fallen right into Lin Ling’s scheme!

What if what he thought was a game between the apartment faction and Defenders’ Alliance…

Actually involved both factions targeting him?

Damn!

However, the transfer of the Luminox Larva must have disrupted many of the Defenders’ Alliance’s plans!

Those bosses they controlled with black ribbons were probably about to rebel now!

!!!

Wait!

There was another problem!

In the Abyss Restricted Zone, that old woman had immediately found out that the Luminox Larva had come to Jiang Ye.

She had directly asked Jiang Ye for the Ice Crystal Offspring Larvae.

Jiang Ye hadn’t thought much of it at the time…

But now!

He realized that Apartment Boss Q would never help him keep the Luminox Larva matter secret!

Which meant…

This news would soon spread!

Then Defenders’ Alliance members would come looking…

Apartment faction bosses would come looking…

And most likely, all sorts of bosses infected with Lightburn who treated black ribbons like drugs to forcibly suppress Lightburn pain would also come looking…

Holy shit!

Jiang Ye suddenly shuddered all over!

No wonder! Even though he knew he’d suffered huge losses in the Permission Iron Piece transaction, why had Boss Q been so obedient in trading with him!

Damn it! That guy wasn’t obedient at all!

Passing the Luminox Larva to Jiang Ye was the biggest trap of all!

Jiang Ye hardly dared imagine what kind of storm he would face now that he possessed the Luminox Larva!

And he actually thought he had time to leisurely conduct experiments?!

In that moment, countless thoughts flashed through Jiang Ye’s mind.

The clone conducting experiments in the 4444 Apartment instantly became alert.

Meanwhile, the Zhou Qiming clone currently in public naturally showed no abnormalities.

As he tossed the self-made dirty black cloth back to the punk…

He secretly threw the ice crystal that had just infected the punk toward Feng Cheng’s direction.

These two actions were concealed within one motion.

Feng Cheng, who was inwardly shocked and suspicious, had no time to react before turning into an ice sculpture.

But Jiang Ye had no intention of deliberately making things difficult for him, instantly removing the freezing effect.

The restored Feng Cheng merely looked somewhat displeased but didn’t scream.

His slightly sharp gaze turned toward Jiang Ye, as if wanting an explanation, though he didn’t actually speak.

Jiang Ye cheerfully gave him an explanation:

“Don’t worry, I’ve just been obsessed with various experiments lately.”

“That was just testing—”

Here he deliberately paused, smiling even more meaningfully:

“Whether my item that can infect people with Lightburn is one-time use or permanently effective :)”

“Now it seems it’s just one-time use after all…”

When saying this last part, Jiang Ye wore a regretful expression.

But the four people opposite him wore complex and grave expressions.

Generally speaking, if it were truly a one-time use item, no one would be willing to use it for experiments…

Unless they had many more of those items!

These people were all intelligent enough to realize that Zhou Qiming probably had more than one of those items that infected Liu Re with Lightburn!

Feng Cheng took a deep breath, about to speak.

But Jiang Ye added: “Oh, by the way, the premise for reaching this conclusion is that you have to be a dark-type creature?”

“So Brother Feng, since you can represent D District in cross-district operations, you should have Glyph Pattern Ability, right?”

Feng Cheng’s attitude now showed obvious caution beyond the superficial politeness from before.

He nodded slightly, not intending to hide anything: “Naturally, I do.”

Not only him, but all these cross-district players had it!

There was no choice—talent improvement speed and early combat power simply couldn’t compare to Glyph Pattern Ability.

One could say their status as “big shots” relied entirely on Glyph Pattern Ability.

And by admitting this, they were essentially completely at Jiang Ye’s mercy!

Jiang Ye smiled inwardly, then politely said: “I have another type of item here that can extract others’ Glyph Pattern Ability…”

“If you gentlemen feel your Glyph Pattern Ability isn’t good, I can help you…”

Before he could finish, Feng Cheng’s mouth twitched slightly as he directly interrupted: “No, that won’t be necessary…”

“Classmate Zhou truly lives up to being A District’s top boss. We already know how to negotiate now.”

A dark glint flashed in the punk’s eyes, but he didn’t dare cause any more trouble.

Jiang Ye couldn’t be bothered with negotiations, so he again signaled Lin Jing with his eyes and said: “Hurry up.”

Lin Jing nodded, then directly flashed over to the opposite camp.

Jiang Ye had Wu Wang set up a sound-blocking barrier before asking him:

“Have you heard any strange sounds?”

If previously Wu Wang had to obey Jiang Ye because of the Guiwen possession…

Now, after witnessing Jiang Ye’s displays of power, he didn’t dare have any other thoughts.

After some thought, Wu Wang directly asked: “What kind of sound is Second Brother referring to?”

Previously calling him Second Brother had been forced.

But now the address rolled surprisingly smoothly off his tongue.

Jiang Ye didn’t find it particularly pleasing to hear, but he didn’t correct it either.

After thinking, he stated directly: “I seem to have heard a voice telling me to save her…”

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the chess grid space, adding: “The voice seemed to sound directly in my mind, and it only works within this chess grid space…”

“Do you have any insights?”

As a Reincarnation Ghost, Wu Wang was naturally experienced. His first reaction was: “Could it be illusion technique?”

Jiang Ye didn’t answer, but remembering why Salvation had become infected with Lightburn before, he confirmed with Wu Wang:

“That Salvation responsible for managing the battle rooms—does he have powerful illusion technique abilities?”

Wu Wang nodded: “If it’s Salvation, he definitely does…”

With this, Jiang Ye became somewhat suspicious—

Was what he heard really Wang Lingling’s voice?

Could it be illusion technique from Salvation, who also suffered from Lightburn pain and also wanted to obtain black ribbons?

Maybe he was waiting for Jiang Ye to use black ribbons to save Wang Lingling, then Salvation would immediately snatch them away?

As he was thinking this, he noticed Wu Wang beside him suddenly turn cold, his gaze fixed on the soundproof barrier he had set up.

The soundproof barrier was colorless and formless, capable of blocking sound to ensure conversations couldn’t be heard by outsiders.

However, that originally colorless and formless barrier area now showed faint eerie blackness!

In an instant, the entire barrier turned black!

This was an additional vision-blocking barrier laid over the soundproof barrier!

Within this space where their conversation was blocked from both sound and vision, glowing insects quickly flickered like fireflies.

These insects eventually condensed into a luminous screen.

And on the screen, Jiang Ye saw a familiar figure…

Not Salvation.

But someone he had encountered during his three consecutive wins before… Xing Xiu.

Of course, during the battle back then Jiang Ye didn’t know his name was Xing Xiu.

Later, with Wu Ying’s memories, he could match the person with the face.

Xing Xiu still wore the black robes of Duoe Organization members during battles.

However, this time his attitude toward Jiang Ye was worlds apart from when he had battled Jiang Ye before!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep