Jiang... Jiang Ye?!

This time, Lin Jing finally got his wish to see a ripple of shock and astonishment flicker in Yang Wenchao's restrained and reserved eyes.

If even he was like this, the other three didn't need mentioning!

In comparison, the one who appeared relatively calm was actually Liu Re.

After all, Liu Re had only heard of Jiang Ye but had essentially never come into contact with him.

So, he had no tangible sense of this person.

On the contrary, mentioning "Zhou Qiming" was what left a deep impression on him, causing a conditioned reflex of pain.

From the perspective of the five of them—

Jiang Ye did not appear during the black ice domain journey.

Instead, it was the formidable Zhou Qiming who made other cross-region seniors, and even Lin Jing, seem to pale in comparison.

So now, wasn't Lin Jing implying that...

Liu Re was the first to react, swallowing his pride again to actively ask Lin Jing:

"So, the 'Zhou Qiming' these five newbies we've taken over saw was impersonated by Jiang Ye?"

"Or is it... that the 'Zhou Qiming' we contacted back in the black ice domain was already Jiang Ye in disguise?"

"But Jiang Ye... how did he do it?? Could even such an overpowered item like the Prison watch fail to see through his disguise?"

Lin Jing didn't answer any of these questions.

His gaze fell on Yang Wenchao, Wan Xin, and Wang Lingling, and he raised an eyebrow, saying, "Speaking of which, you've had more contact with Jiang Ye, so what do you think?"

Wang Lingling and Yang Wenchao had calmer personalities;their first reaction to a problem was to think things through calmly.

Wan Xin, however, answered almost without thinking:

"Based on the information you revealed, He Yuliang gained the SSS-grade talent [Luck] after traveling through time, and that Du Yuheng also has an SSS-grade talent [Mind Reading]..."

"And then Zhou Qi... oh no, Jiang Ye, Jiang Ye seems to also have an SSS-grade talent!"

"So, could it be his SSS-grade talent that allowed him to successfully impersonate Zhou Qiming?"

"After all, from your description, Jiang Ye's SSS-grade talent should be incredibly overpowered, even capable of causing an explosion in the entire auditorium in He Yuliang's past life..."

"So, such a ridiculously overpowered SSS-grade talent directly fooling the Prison watch's identity verification... seems, plausible, right?"

Wan Xin's theory did have some merit.

After all, none of them had seen an SSS-grade talent before.

So, it was possible that SSS-grade talents in this era were powerful beyond their comprehension.

Liu Re was the first to agree with Wan Xin's speculation.

But what he was more concerned about wasn't how Jiang Ye became Zhou Qiming.

It was... SSS-grade talents!

In this era, how had SSS-grade talents become so common??

He Yuliang, Du Yuheng, and Jiang Ye...

Among just these five newbies' clutch-worthy seniors, there were actually 3 SSS-grade talents!

So, was this era the legendary "Golden Age"?!

SSS-grade talents walking around everywhere, SS-grade talents as common as dogs?!

If that was the case, did he also have a chance to obtain an SSS-grade talent in this era's context! 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Thinking this, Liu Re's eyes suddenly lit up.

He added to Wan Xin's theory:

"Speaking of which, wasn't it previously speculated that Jiang Ye's clone talent was likely SSS-grade?"

"So, it's also very possible that what allowed him to become Zhou Qiming wasn't some other SSS-grade talent he obtained in this era, but the SSS-grade clone talent he originally possessed?"

"If that's really the case, then this Jiang Ye was already impersonating Zhou Qiming before the time travel!"

"Even more... don't forget, his clone talent can create clones! Maybe some clones have also impersonated others!"

"Oh right, that Cheng Lin you mentioned earlier, the one Zhou Qiming called to the black ice domain, maybe he was also impersonated by Jiang Ye?"

"So essentially, it was one of Jiang Ye's clones calling over another... no, a whole group of clones!"

"Holy shit?? Why does this sound more and more wrong the more I say it??!"

Initially, Liu Re was genuinely just attributing it to talent.

But as he spoke, he suddenly felt that Jiang Ye's SSS-grade clone talent was way too overpowered!

If he truly also had the ability to impersonate anyone at will...

Then couldn't his clone army directly form a team, or even a country...

Like one of those—

To outsiders, it looks like a country.

But in reality, everyone in the entire country is the same person?

What the hell??

No, no! That's too exaggerated!

Liu Re quickly stopped such an absurd concept and quickly changed his tune:

"His clones should still have a quantity limit."

"For example, maybe only 1 clone at level 1, 10 clones at level 5, 100 clones at level 10..."

"100 is actually already quite a lot. Luckily, the Novice Apartment restricts levels, otherwise, if he kept leveling up, his growth speed would only be faster!"

Sighing like this, Liu Re continued his analysis: "Even if we assume Jiang Ye can make 100 clones, then the twenty-plus players Zhou Qiming called to the black ice domain to monitor the cross-region seniors could indeed all be his clones."

"Those clones might have also traveled through time with different identities!"

Because he had little contact with Jiang Ye, Liu Re ironically became the most objective person to evaluate him.

While he was talking confidently, the other four who had contact with Jiang Ye remained quite silent.

Apart from Wan Xin's initial guess that Jiang Ye possessed an SSS-grade talent.

All the subsequent speculation and evaluation about Jiang Ye came from Liu Re's mouth.

Liu Re gradually sensed the awkward atmosphere and looked at the four with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong? If you have any thoughts, you can speak up too?"

Wan Xin actually didn't have much to say, just a simple admiration that a senior was indeed a senior.

And out of social etiquette, it was best not to presumptuously discuss a senior behind his back.

In Yang Wenchao's heart, various thoughts were churning, hard to calm.

Because if Jiang Ye's clone talent truly gave him the means to perfectly impersonate others...

Then, among the people he had contacted, or even directly killed, could some have been impersonated by Jiang Ye?

Even...

A more horrifying thought suddenly occurred to Yang Wenchao—

Since Jiang Ye could impersonate "Zhou Qiming" and befriend these five newbie youths.

Then, among these five newbie youths now occupied by new souls...

Who could say that not one of them was impersonated by Jiang Ye?

And if someone here was impersonated by Jiang Ye...

Then Yang Wenchao's top suspects were—Lin Jing and Wang Lingling!

Wang Lingling and Jiang Ye were old classmates, initially active in the same apartment.

So back then, Jiang Ye had plenty of opportunities to kill Wang Lingling and then impersonate her.

However, Wang Lingling was infected with Lightburn...

And the terror of Lightburn lies in the fact that even if just one clone is infected, the other clones will also be hard-pressed to escape.

Yet, the Jiang Ye Yang Wenchao saw didn't seem to show signs of Lightburn infection.

But Jiang Ye was just too bizarre.

And he did possess means to suppress Lightburn.

So perhaps his other clones were also infected with Lightburn, but he secretly suppressed it.

However, this possibility was still relatively low.

Yang Wenchao privately didn't believe all of Jiang Ye's clones were infected with Lightburn.

As for Lin Jing...

He also had considerable contact with Jiang Ye.

Maybe at some point, he was killed and impersonated by Jiang Ye?

Just like "Zhou Qiming".

Thinking this, Yang Wenchao's slightly suspicious gaze fell on Lin Jing.

And this gaze happened to meet Lin Jing's.

For a moment, their eyes locked, and both saw that flicker of suspicion in the other's eyes.

Sure enough, while Yang Wenchao suspected Lin Jing, Lin Jing also suspected him.

However, after a moment of silence, Lin Jing stated bluntly: "I guess none of us here is likely impersonated by Jiang Ye."

"Even more, if that mysterious senior sealed in the Burial Ground's tombstone area didn't lie to me..."

"Then we time travelers will intervene in this era like pure newbie players."

"That is to say, everything we possessed in the later era will not be brought to this 'past' era."

"So, Jiang Ye's former clone talent, even if it was truly SSS-grade, or even SSSS-grade, probably doesn't exist in this era either."

This news stunned the other four again.

Liu Re was the first to react: "So my earlier speculation was all wrong? Jiang Ye being able to impersonate Zhou Qiming wasn't because of an SSS-grade clone talent?"

Yet Lin Jing shook his head again: "On the contrary. I believe he could impersonate Zhou Qiming precisely because of his clone talent."

"His clone talent might truly be a bit more overpowered than SSS-grade."

"You all know this too—Jiang Ye's clones are like real, existing players, possessing all player functions."

"So I suspect that the characteristic of each of his clones having player functions even surpasses all the rules of the Doomsday Apartment!"

"In other words, assuming he created a clone named 'Zhou Qiming'..."

"Then this clone, even after traveling through time and losing its talent, would still be Zhou Qiming!"

What Lin Jing said wasn't hard to understand.

But the problem was—

"That's not right, is it??"

"Jiang Ye's clones... are generated through his clone talent, right?"

"Then since traveling through time will format us, making even our former talents unobtainable..."

"If the talent doesn't even exist anymore, how could clones generated based on that talent continue to exist?"

"Maybe you should rethink this;is your logic reversed?"

This challenge was raised by Wang Lingling.

She believed her own logic was more rigorous.

Clones generated based on a talent...

How could they exist independently when the talent itself had disappeared?

However, Lin Jing gave her a deep look and then said gravely: "I admit your logic is more reasonable."

"But you must know, there are always exceptions in this world that defy ordinary logic, seemingly existing just to overturn common people's perceptions."

"I just said it too—"

"I suspect Jiang Ye's clones might surpass the talent itself, even surpassing certain rules of the Doomsday Apartment!"

"So his clones, even without the clone talent, can also travel through time and become individual, independent players in this era!"

This part, Lin Jing said with forceful conviction.

As if he had long suspected something was off about Jiang Ye's clone talent.

Yang Wenchao, Wan Xin, and Wang Lingling remained somewhat silent.

Liu Re, however, was quite shocked by Lin Jing's statement.

He was about to ask more when Lin Jing shot him a cold glance and stated bluntly: "Enough. No matter how much we speculate about Jiang Ye's situation, it's meaningless."

"We just need to pray his clones really number only 100 or fewer."

"Also, it's always good to be more vigilant when encountering other time travelers later."

"I've basically shared all the information about these five newbies in exhaustive detail."

"So now..." Lin Jing's gaze fell directly on Yang Wenchao, "why don't you tell us—"

"How did you appear in the Giant Pot? And what instructions did that mysterious existence from the tombstone area give you?"

As he said this, Lin Jing glanced at Wan Xin.

He did know that Yang Wenchao and Wan Xin previously had a dual-soul fusion.

But from his observation, Wan Xin seemed completely unaware of the information Yang Wenchao possessed?

Sure enough, Wan Xin felt his scalp tingle under Lin Jing's stare and waved his hands repeatedly: "I... don't ask me! I know nothing!"

Lin Jing couldn't be bothered with him anymore and withdrew his gaze to look at Yang Wenchao again.

Yang Wenchao seemed to have finally organized his thoughts. Instead of answering directly, he asked Lin Jing a counter-question:

"Your contact with that Burial Ground senior was all conducted inside resurrection coffins, right? So when playing games, you deliberately buried quite a few accounts in the Burial Ground?"

Lin Jing nodded: "Yes."

So Yang Wenchao continued: "Then my general experience contacting the mysterious senior should be similar to yours."

"However, I don't know if it was because Jiang Ye screwed me over with the Bad Luck Bracelet or because I was influenced by this god of misfortune, but my meetings with that senior were quite unsuccessful."

The "god of misfortune" he referred to was naturally Wan Xin, who later shared his body.

Lin Jing raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.

Yang Wenchao continued: "Several times when I appeared in a resurrection coffin, I was dug up before the mysterious senior could arrive..."

"Until finally, when I heard the mysterious senior's voice in a resurrection coffin, he was worried I'd be dug up again, so he adopted a command mode of speaking concisely with me."

"That is, the information I possess is probably far less than yours."

"Including the task I'm responsible for, probably due to my unlucky constitution, is far less important than yours."

"For example, I didn't receive the Array Disk you obtained."

"As for how I appeared in the Giant Pot..."

Actually, Yang Wenchao wasn't very willing to answer this question.

But Lin Jing's gaze was firm.

Clearly, he wanted an answer and would accurately judge whether he was lying.

So, after a moment's hesitation, Yang Wenchao still sighed and said: "This matter starts with my first death..."