Almost the moment Huang Qi died, the apartment chat group exploded with discussion!

【Holy sh**! Huang Qi disappeared from the ranking board too!】

【No way?! We just suggested that Bro Chao should take out Huang Qi, and he really did?!】

【Of course! Do you even know who Bro Chao is? With just a flick of his hand, no matter how strong the cross-apartment big shots are, they’ll fall instantly!】

【F***! Bro Chao is awesome! Bro Chao is godly! Bro Chao, from now on, you are my god, and I am your dog!】

Xiao Likun: 【I have to admit, Bro Chao is truly strong! Even a cross-apartment powerhouse was no match for him at all!】

Wang Qiang: 【Exactly! Remember, Liu Shun and Ke Zhengfei couldn’t even fight back against a cross-apartment big shot—they got one-shot instantly! But Bro Chao killed one just as fast!】

【So, in our apartment, Yang Wenchao is undoubtedly the strongest, right?】

【I bet he’s not just the strongest here—he’s probably one of the top powerhouses in all beginner apartments!】

【No doubt! Having Bro Chao in our apartment is a huge blessing!】

The entire chat was filled with praise for Yang Wenchao.

As for the classmates who disliked him and feared he might start killing indiscriminately…

They didn’t even dare to speak in the face of his absolute power!

Meanwhile, in the depths of the 3rd-floor corridor, Wang Lingling’s Mutual Aid Group quietly discussed:

“Yang Wenchao just left the team not long ago, and now Huang Qi is dead…”

“That was way too fast, wasn’t it?”

“Did Yang Wenchao really kill Huang Qi?”

“If not him, then who? Huang Qi could instantly kill Ke Zhengfei, a cross-apartment big shot! There’s no way some random nobody took him out, right?”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

Lu Shen nodded slightly and quickly analyzed, “Based on how fast Yang Wenchao killed Huang Qi… I’m guessing he was hiding his true strength when he was teaming up with us to farm monsters.”

Wang Lingling nodded as well. “His talent and comprehension might be even better than mine.”

“Plus, he started on the 20th floor. The privileges he enjoys allow him to grow even faster than me.”

Gao Chang frowned slightly and quickly suggested, “How about we start making money ASAP so we can rent an apartment on the 20th floor too?”

Then, lowering his voice, he added, “Honestly, I really don’t feel safe with Yang Wenchao dominating our apartment…”

“After all, he’s already killed four of our classmates!”

“If he keeps going… none of us can stop him!”

Lu Shen glanced around cautiously, then lowered his voice as well. “Brother Chang is right. Yang Wenchao is strong, sure, but he’s also like a ticking time bomb…”

Seeing that they all shared concerns about Yang Wenchao, Wang Lingling followed up:

“Right now, the only thing that can keep Yang Wenchao in check is our Mutual Aid Group.”

“But to be honest, even if we all teamed up, we might not be a match for him.”

“So, I have an idea—”

“We should pool all our resources together to support one of us in moving to the 20th floor.”

As soon as she said this, Lu Shen, Gao Chang, and the other top members of the group exchanged glances.

They immediately understood what she meant.

She was suggesting that they train a powerful fighter to counter Yang Wenchao…

But in reality, she was clearly implying that the group should support her!

What the f***?! Was she kidding?!

Even though Gao Chang and Lu Shen were part of the group, they had their own ambitions.

Especially since they were men—

Deep down, they weren’t too keen on having Wang Lingling as the group leader.

Sure enough, despite her obvious hint, none of the male members responded.

Only Xu Yuewan, another girl, followed up:

“I think it’s a good idea. The Mutual Aid Group could take out loans, cover everyone’s rent, and use the extra funds to help Sister Ling get a place on the 20th floor first.”

“Also, there’s Jiang Ye… he…”

Xu Yuewan hesitated, as if she didn’t want to say anything too cold-hearted given their classmate ties.

Lu Shen, however, picked up on her thoughts and said, “Speaking of the 20th floor, there’s also that mysterious bald guy. I wonder how strong he is. Maybe we can recruit him into the Mutual Aid Group?”

Seeing the attitudes of Lu Shen and Gao Chang, Wang Lingling immediately realized that these guys didn’t respect her leadership.

She felt helpless, but she also dropped the topic of training a powerful fighter.

She could only hate that she wasn’t strong enough.

If she had absolute strength like Yang Wenchao, then the entire Mutual Aid Group would follow her orders without question!

At that point, Gao Chang and Lu Shen wouldn’t dare to act like this!

In the end, it all came down to strength…

While the Mutual Aid Group was caught up in their scheming…

Yang Wenchao had just stepped out of the Red Light Elevator, staring at the chat group in confusion.

Wait, what?

He hadn’t even found Huang Qi yet—

And the guy was already dead??

Who the hell did it?!

There was no way some random weakling had just stumbled upon him and killed him, right?

Were cross-apartment experts really this pathetic?!

He had been counting on getting rich by killing Huang Qi!

And now someone else had stolen his kill!

Wait—!

Considering the average skill level of players in this beginner apartment…

No one else should have been able to kill Huang Qi except him.

So…

Did that guy seriously get himself killed by a random monster in the hallway?!

Are cross-apartment players really this f***ing stupid?!

Yang Wenchao couldn’t wrap his head around it, and an inexplicable sense of unease crept into his heart.

As for the misunderstanding in the chat group…

Since he usually acted cold and aloof, he didn’t bother correcting them.

Meanwhile, the real killer, Jiang Ye—

Was currently looting Huang Qi’s dropped items.

He picked up the spatial watch, jade pendant, bracelet, knife, and various other gear.

Then, shoving everything—including the Replica Reflection Mirror—into Huang Qi’s own spatial watch,

He dashed back toward Room 2025 like a thief!

With combat power over 200, Jiang Ye’s speed was insanely fast!

It wasn’t until he rushed back to Room 2025, slammed the door shut, and locked it that he finally let his excitement burst out—

Jackpot!

This counter-kill on Huang Qi was a massive windfall!

No wonder there’s an old saying—

"Killing and arson get you a gold belt…"

Killing the rich was seriously profitable as f***!

The Survival Points and Replica Reflection Mirror alone were already top-tier resources—exactly what he needed most to increase his replicas!

Not to mention all the equipment and items!

Jiang Ye immediately summoned Little Bing and used Detection to appraise them one by one.

【Heart-Guard Jade】

【Stamina +4】

【Generates an automatic shield when attacked (Physical Defense +50, Magic Defense +50)】

—

【Ghost Ring Blade】

【Stamina +4】

【Can be thrown within 10 meters and will return to the hand; has a chance to cause stun on hit.】

—

【Lucky Bracelet】

【Energy +1】

【Slightly boosts Luck. Duration: 38 minutes (Rechargeable)】

Holy sh**!

Another Luck-boosting item!

And even better than the Lucky Lantern—this bracelet was reusable!

Jiang Ye didn’t even bother figuring out how to recharge it. He just put it on immediately.

Then, he transferred the 1 Survival Point he gained from killing Huang Qi to his main body.

And with that 1 Survival Point, he instantly created a new replica!

【Ding! Congratulations, you have generated a new replica!】

But this time, as soon as the new replica was formed—

Jiang Ye’s main body collapsed onto the floor!

A dull pain throbbed in his brain, and his entire body felt completely drained of strength!

At that moment, he instantly realized—

His main body was too weak!

With three replicas, he had already hit his limit!

If he wanted to create more, he had to increase his main body's attributes first!

Hurriedly, he commanded one of his replicas to carry his exhausted body to the bed, before forcing himself to check the stats of his third replica.

And what he saw—

Was another huge surprise!

【Jiang Ye】

【Level: 0】

【Stamina: 5.8】

【Energy: 7.2】

【Combat Power: 58】

【Survival Points: 0】

【Ability: Ice Element Affinity (S)】

【Skills: Frozen Domain (S), Frost Mist Invasion (A), Extreme Cold Blade (B)】

An S-tier talent replica with three starting skills!

And among those, Frozen Domain was an S-tier domain skill!

Not only that, but Frost Mist Invasion and Extreme Cold Blade were both excellent offensive skills!

Especially Frost Mist Invasion—an A-tier skill that bypassed defenses and infiltrated the lungs through breathing!

Even though it was an Ice-element skill, it worked like a biochemical weapon, making it nearly impossible to guard against!

At this moment, among Jiang Ye’s three replicas—

Replica No. 3 was clearly the strongest!

Of course, Replica No. 2 also had great potential, but it still needed time to develop.

But now wasn’t the time to celebrate.

Replica No. 1 and Replica No. 2 both had important tasks!

Replica No. 1 had to rush back to his cleaning job within 10 minutes.

Replica No. 2 needed to use the Privilege Card before veteran players arrived at the Duel Zone.

Jiang Ye didn’t even have time to check the rest of Huang Qi’s spatial watch.

Instead, his attention shifted to the Replica Reflection Mirror again.

He wanted to test something—

Could this Replica Reflection Mirror still be exploited for glitches?

Since each replica could only fuse once in a short period—

Would a mirror replica always count as a new replica?

Could he keep using mirror replicas to bypass the cooldown for Replica Fusion?

Or even…

Could he fuse a mirror replica, then use it to create another mirror replica?!

Jiang Ye tried it—and failed.

After a quick study, he realized—

The Replica Reflection Mirror had a hard limit:

Only one mirror replica could exist at a time.

Even if he fused the mirror replica into another replica,

It still counted as an active mirror replica, meaning no new one could be created.

So, to reuse the mirror, he had to get rid of the existing mirror replica first.

In short—

Even using Replica Fusion, the mirror replica could only be fused once—

No way to exploit multiple fusions.

However!

The cooldown for Replica Fusion could be bypassed using the mirror replica!

Because each newly created mirror replica was considered a brand-new replica—

So he could immediately fuse it without waiting for cooldown!

Meaning…

Jiang Ye essentially had an infinite supply of cooldown-free mirror replicas to fuse into his other replicas!

The value of his Replica Fusion skill had just skyrocketed!

At that moment—

His Replica No. 1, now free from fusion, headed back out to continue the cleaning job at Room 2064.

Now that he had a solid power base, he was even more eager to check out the top floor of the apartment.

Meanwhile, the existing mirror replica was deleted.

Then, using Replica No. 3 and the Replica Reflection Mirror, he created a fresh mirror replica—

One that could be fused again!

At the same time—

In the Duel Room, his Replica No. 2 hurriedly used the Privilege Card before the veteran players arrived!

【Ding! You have a Privilege Card. Would you like to use it?】

【Yes / No?】

【Yes!】

【Please select your opponent from the available matchups!】

With this prompt, a long list appeared before Jiang Ye, displaying the seat numbers of all opponents who met the matchmaking criteria.

Yes—only seat numbers, with no other information.

However, Jiang Ye had already used the spectating function to scout out the "big spenders" and their seat numbers.

So now, all he had to do was filter through the list.

And as he did—

He unexpectedly discovered that Zhao Yudie’s seat—No. 151—was on his matchup list!

He quickly cross-referenced it with the other "big spender" seat numbers.

Without hesitation, Jiang Ye made his choice:

【Target seat No. 151 selected!】

【Ding! Privilege Card successfully used! Match complete!】

With this notification—

Jiang Ye found himself once again in the familiar duel arena space.

But this time…

Unlike before—

The spectator seats around the arena were already filling up with an audience!

And even more surprisingly…

The one who had scammed him before—Xu Jingyao—was sitting among them!

The moment she saw him—her eyes widened in shock!

She immediately sent a frantic message to Li Nian:

【Sister Nian! Sister Nian!! That bald guy we scammed before—he actually got matched against Zhao Yudie!!】

【Based on the spectators’ estimated combat power for Zhao Yudie…】

【That means this despicable bald guy has a combat power of over 50!!】

【凸(艹皿艹)!!! A combat power over 50, and he still had the audacity to scam two weak girls like us?! What a shameless bastard!!!】