Seeing that message from 4444, Jiang Ye was completely shocked!

Good lord...

After the major reshuffle, here comes another Administrator 4444!

The key point is, Jiang Ye hadn't sensed the presence of any clone in this world!

Which means, this Administrator 4444 is not a clone!

So how did he become Administrator 4444?

Logically, only after an administrator dies will they drop the administrator permission iron piece.

Then the player who obtains the permission iron piece will replace the previous administrator and become the new administrator.

But now...

Could it be that after the Day 9 major reshuffle, Administrator 4444 died??

That doesn't seem right, does it?

Before that "time travel" incident, Jiang Ye, using Qu Xing's clone, had already harvested quite a batch of administrator clones.

Did those administrator clones... all die??

No! That's not it!

Or perhaps these administrators obtained the permission iron pieces through other methods?

Oh right!

The apartment boss!

Maybe these administrators were reappointed by the apartment boss?

However, a reappointed Administrator 4444 should have lost his original uniqueness.

At the very least, he definitely wouldn't have the [Reincarnation Key].

But...

Even without the [Reincarnation Key], this Administrator 4444 actually knows about the prison watch...

It seems he's no simple character either.

After 4869 replied, that Administrator 4444 didn't send any more messages.

Just as Jiang Ye was thinking about how to use this Administrator 4869 identity to gather more information...

The familiar announcement prompt suddenly rang out in his current Apartment 4869!

[Novice Apartment Emergency Announcement:]

[VIP Player Mo Chayuan is currently merging this apartment with Novice Apartment 4444!]

[The two novice apartments will complete fusion within 10 minutes!]

[Apartment fusion rules are as follows:]

[1. The apartment chat group and apartment level rankings will undergo standard fusion directly.]

[2. Apartment administrators will undergo optimized selection fusion.]

[Within 10 minutes, an administrator PK battle will commence.]

[If an administrator emerges victorious within 10 minutes, that administrator will be promoted to administrator of the fused apartment.]

[If no administrator emerges victorious within 10 minutes, Administrator 4444 will be directly appointed as administrator of the fused apartment.]

[3. Due to the special nature of Apartment 4444, the fused apartment and its administrator will be directly named using the 4444 designation.]

[4. When apartment rooms fuse...]

Jiang Ye didn't need to listen to the rest of the announcement.

This is...

This familiar formula, this familiar flavor!

Good lord!

This 4444... is really ruthless!

Just finished questioning this unlucky 4869, and the next second comes an apartment fusion!

Jiang Ye hadn't even reacted yet when he found himself appearing on the administrator PK platform.

And appearing opposite him was a black-clad middle-aged man who looked mature, calm, and somewhat rigidly old-fashioned.

His image of being dressed entirely in black, paired with those old-fashioned facial features...

Made him feel very much like the kind of black-clad butler guarding a vampire castle.

And this butler gentleman's personality was equally straightforward and decisive.

He had absolutely no intention of wasting any words on a dead man, directly sending a detached black hand to grab at Jiang Ye's neck.

As for Jiang Ye...

He directly chose to—

Return the physical body of 4869.

Thus, the young man who had just deliberately provoked Li Ku experienced a moment of dizziness, followed by utter confusion and terror!

"What the hell?? What..." is going on??

Unfortunately, the words "is going on" were swallowed back into his throat.

Almost instantly, this unlucky Administrator 4869 had his entire throat corroded by the black hand released by 4444...

Immediately after, his entire body was transformed into black energy, absorbed into that black hand...

And this black hand, having done its dirty work, returned directly to Administrator 4444's hand.

He was dressed in a full black suit, with black leather gloves on his hands.

Making that hand itself look like a black hand.

Witnessing this spectacle, Jiang Ye was inwardly shocked by—

This guy's [Hidden Hand] technique...

It's exactly the same as Li Si's technique!

So...

Is there some connection between this guy and Li Si?

Li Si's [Hidden Hand] should have been obtained from Chen Ji at the abandoned mental hospital.

And this guy's [Hidden Hand] should also have been obtained from a monster-raising master similar to Chen Ji...

Maybe he even got it directly from Chen Ji?

After all, Chen Ji has appeared in both worlds!

Jiang Ye had long speculated that the abandoned mental hospital of the prison era and the Defenders' Alliance of the apartment era were inextricably linked!

And just as he was shocked by 4444's method and speculating about his origins...

This Administrator 4444 was also shocked because—

Wasn't the PK over?

He one-shot killed 4869!

But why... hasn't the PK platform proceeded to settlement??

Could it be that this 4869 harbors some secret, or still has a trick up his sleeve??

This Administrator 4444's cautious gaze swiftly scanned the entire PK platform.

The next second, his consciousness briefly went blank.

When he regained his senses, he found himself back in Apartment 4444.

This...

What happened?!

He hadn't been drinking! How did his consciousness blank out?!

Administrator 4444, mentally on guard, immediately fixed his gaze on Ji Zixuan, who had just experienced the shock of losing consciousness and was now stunned again by the "apartment fusion" announcement.

Ji Zixuan hadn't even figured out what was happening.

He saw the Administrator 4869 who had been in front of him disappear.

In the blink of an eye, an unfamiliar middle-aged man appeared before him.

Still confused, this middle-aged man directly gave him a cold sidelong glance and asked in a deep voice:

"Did you just see a player with a strange watch on his hand run out of the apartment's main entrance?"

Ji Zixuan: I didn't see anything! I don't even know how I got from the 49th floor to this lobby on the first floor!

But this middle-aged man's gaze was too frightening. Trembling, he could only rely on his intuition to give an answer the other party might expect:

"Yes, I saw him, wearing a watch, he ran out..."

Hearing this, Jiang Ye was puzzled: When the hell did you see that?

Administrator 4444 simply assumed his aura was too intimidating, scaring this mere novice player.

He confirmed again: "Did you see what that person looked like? Were there any notable memorable features about him?"

Ji Zixuan thought: I didn't see anything at all!

However, out of fear, he continued lying: "H-he was too fast, I-I didn't see clearly..."

4444 frowned: "Didn't see clearly, but could see the watch?"

Ji Zixuan's face turned pale: "You mentioned a watch, so I felt like maybe there was a watch... Actually, I'm not sure..."

Seeing this reaction, 4444 just found it ridiculous.

However, apartment administrators couldn't directly attack players.

So, he just gave him a cold glance and also walked towards the direction of the apartment's main entrance.

Outside the apartment's main entrance lay the deep, thick mist.

This Administrator 4444 did not personally step into the mist.

However, his [Hidden Hand] once again detached from his hand and charged into the mist.

In that very instant, Jiang Ye's first reaction was to seize Ji Zixuan's body again, then used the chat channel to send a message to Li Ku:

[@Li Ku, buddy, watch out for yourself. Administrators can't attack players, but if a player attacks an administrator, the administrator gains the permission to erase that player!]

Although Li Ku is in the [Death State] protected by the [Reincarnation Key]...

His identity is not that of an administrator.

Whether the administrator's erasure effect would work on him, Jiang Ye wasn't sure.

Since there's a risk, it's better to give a reminder.

However, as soon as this message was sent, this Administrator 4444, who was standing right next to him, suddenly turned his gaze towards him.

In that instant, Jiang Ye had no doubt—if not for the administrator permission restrictions, this person would probably have already attacked him.

The attack didn't land on him, but this Administrator 4444 still stared at him with a sinister gaze: "You and that Li Ku... are you together?"

From these words, Jiang Ye inferred that this Administrator 4444 seemed completely unfamiliar with the name "Li Ku."

So his target is the prison watch?

This guy... could he be carrying a [Time-Limited Instant Kill], planning to seize Li Ku's prison watch?

Speaking of which, in this apartment environment without mist, what would happen if Li Ku lost his prison watch?

Perhaps... he could just take off the prison watch?

Just as Jiang Ye was thinking this.

Several strange tentacles suddenly appeared around him, encircling him.

This Administrator 4444's sharp, cold gaze once again fell on him like a blade.

His voice was also icy: "Don't think that just because of permission restrictions, administrators have no way to deal with players."

"I have a hundred, a thousand ways to kill you!"

Oh ho?

Jiang Ye thought: Really? I don't believe it!

Do you think the "eternal" in [Eternal Witch Gui] is a joke?

The key point is, to be honest, Jiang Ye himself isn't even sure where his own cremains are now...

But since they weren't instantly destroyed by the anomaly in the Abyss Restricted Zone...

Then most likely, they also "time traveled" to another era.

Meaning, even Jiang Ye himself doesn't know how to "commit suicide."

Yet this big brother, who didn't even notice his body seizure, is pointing at his nose saying—

He has a hundred, a thousand ways to kill him...

Hmm...

This made Jiang Ye feel that this big brother had a bit of a "Ye Liangchen" vibe.

And during this brief moment of speechless silence.

This big brother probably thought he was scared.

He directly commanded coldly: "If you don't want to die, tell that Li Ku—"

"As long as he obediently returns to the apartment, I naturally won't erase him."

"Otherwise, within 10 minutes, no, before the two apartments officially fuse, if he hasn't returned..."

"You and he will both die horribly!"

The apartment fusion indeed has a 10-minute fusion period.

Reminded by him, Jiang Ye became somewhat curious—

I wonder what the apartment fusion looks like when viewed from outside the novice apartment?

And...

To be honest, he had never seen the appearance of an apartment from within the mist either.

He had ridden the Mist Train into the mist.

But there, he hadn't seen any novice apartments.

He had seen the ruins of one novice apartment, though.

Mulling this over, he thought about it and actually cooperated with this Administrator 4444, sending another message to Li Ku:

[@Li Ku, currently this apartment administrator says that as long as you obediently return to the apartment, he won't kill you; otherwise... you and I will both die horribly.]

He basically relayed 4444's words verbatim.

Li Ku would have his own considerations.

Roughly less than 3 minutes later, Jiang Ye saw, from the direction of the apartment's main entrance, first the [Hidden Hand] belonging to Administrator 4444 retracting from the mist.

Immediately after, a black shadow also directly passed through the apartment's main entrance from outside, flashing into the lobby's front desk area.

It was unmistakably... Li Ku in his Death State.

He was both bold and loyal enough.

Perhaps he believed Jiang Ye's words—even if an administrator could erase him, they would need to trigger the condition;

Or perhaps he believed the administrator's promise not to erase him.

He actually came back.

However...

The administrator who said he "wouldn't erase him" directly slapped a [Time-Limited Instant Kill] card onto him!

Sure enough, this guy, aiming for the prison watch, really did have a [Time-Limited Instant Kill]!

Moreover, using [Time-Limited Instant Kill] against a player didn't seem to violate the administrator's permission rules!

Yet...

Unexpectedly—

That [Time-Limited Instant Kill] card, hitting Death State Li Ku, had absolutely no effect!

It felt as if...

It couldn't be targeted!

Right!

The "instant kill" of Time-Limited Instant Kill is undoubtedly a lethal effect!

And Li Ku in his Death State is already "dead," so naturally he can't be killed again!

Therefore, this [Time-Limited Instant Kill]... is ineffective against the Death State!

Jiang Ye strongly suspects...

Perhaps only Light can break the "Death State"!

So can it be understood that...

The effect Light has on dark-type players is not "death"?

It's not a lethal effect, so the Death State cannot be immune to it?

Li Ku also felt a jolt, only relaxing after discovering the card was ineffective on him.

He had also seen Sun People use [Time-Limited Instant Kill] to transform Moon People players into Sun and Moon People.

So at this moment, he directly saw through this administrator's purpose:

"You're after my watch?"

At this point, Administrator 4444's mindset had undergone a massive shift.

A situation he thought was a sure thing...

Turned out completely unexpected!

How could someone be immune to the effects of [Time-Limited Instant Kill]?!

This... Could it be he's not even afraid of erasure?!

This...

How is that possible?!

On 4444's rigid, cold face, obvious stiffness appeared.

But soon, he stabilized his emotions and said in a deep voice:

"Your watch is a top-tier item that helps you traverse the mist."

"But you might not understand its drawbacks."

Li Ku thought, compared to the prison watch, what I understand even less is actually this current "hidden space"...

He always considered this "hidden space" a temporary instance.

Then this "administrator" was like a mini-boss within the instance.

But currently, it seems this mini-boss poses no threat to him.

So, he cooperatively nodded, even actively raising his wrist to show the watch, asking curiously: "Drawbacks? You mean... the countdown timer on it?"