Jiang Ye thought to himself: You ask your questions, but I know absolutely nothing anyway!

However...

Perhaps he could also use this Guan Ce's questions to Li Ku's answers to obtain some information.

Therefore, Jiang Ye naturally did not object.

And Li Ku had previously played a mutual question-and-answer game with Ji Zixuan at the door of Room 2218.

During that process, he discovered—

His real chance to judge whether Ji Zixuan was a real person or not did not lie in Ji Zixuan's answers to his questions.

It lay in Ji Zixuan's questions.

When people answer questions, they more or less develop a defensive mindset.

Because asking questions is like offense, and answering is like defense.

In contrast, people don't have those defenses when asking questions.

So, during Li Ku and Ji Zixuan's mutual questioning and answering, Li Ku paid more attention to Ji Zixuan's questions, not his answers.

So now, the questions Guan Ce wanted to ask were, in themselves, a form of information leakage for Li Ku.

And this kind of information would be more authentic.

Therefore, Li Ku did not object either, silently nodding his head.

Having received his attitude, Guan Ce's first question was:

"You... did you previously live in the mist world?"

Li Ku nodded directly: "Yes."

The entire Land of Exile is within the mist.

His answer wasn't a lie.

However, the three people on Guan Ce's side all had drastic changes in their expressions upon hearing this.

Players living in the mist...

So this world of the Doomsday Apartment is indeed divided into two parts?

They, the apartment players, can only live in the apartments and cannot set foot in the mist...

Another batch of mist players live in the mist...

But how did this person come to the apartment??

The three tattooed guys were shocked and suspicious. Li Hongbin couldn't hold back and directly asked:

"Then how do you survive in the mist? Is it because of a special physique? A special Data Panel? Or is there some protective item?"

"And what exactly is the mist world like?"

This series of questions came out. Guan Ce didn't interrupt him.

Clearly, he was also very curious about that unknown mist world.

Through their questions and shocked expressions, Li Ku actually learned a piece of information:

"You apartment players cannot enter the mist?"

Gong Cheng, the one with the black dragon tattoo, stated bluntly: "Of course! The mist corrodes players!"

"Moreover, we apartment players instinctively feel fear towards the mist. This instinct makes us simply dare not approach the mist."

Li Ku asked again: "What about the monsters? Can monsters not enter the mist either?"

"This..." Gong Cheng and Li Hongbin weren't too sure.

It was Guan Ce who said: "Ordinary monsters probably can't even leave the apartment they are in."

"As for powerful monsters like the Reincarnation Ghost, they can leave the apartment, but whether they can enter the mist... we don't know either."

After speaking, he couldn't help but complain: "We agreed it was our turn to ask you, how come you're asking questions back again?"

Li Ku fell silent for a moment, thought briefly, and then proceeded to answer Li Hongbin's previous questions one by one:

"Our ability to survive in the mist should originate from the Prison watch."

"It is equivalent to a special item that allows us to survive in the mist."

"But it displays a countdown timer. When this time is exhausted, we will be erased by the watch."

"Other than that..."

Li Ku paused before continuing: "Outside the mist, there is a Qiankun Land without mist."

"The players there possess the privilege to directly use the Prison watch to erase us."

Hearing this, the three tattooed guys felt as if a door to a new world had instantly opened before them!

They originally thought this game was confined to the apartments...

Now it was finally confirmed—within the mist, there is a whole world of its own!

And even outside the mist, there is another world!

Truly, there are skies beyond skies!

Their apartment should be equivalent to a novice village?

The later upgrade goal should be to go into the mist, and even beyond the mist...

The three instantly felt they had finally seen the truth of this world.

At first, Jiang Ye was the same as them, directly imagining a world map in his mind.

But soon, he reconsidered...

Wait, that's not right!

Didn't Li Ku say this place is a dungeon?

So...

The real map should be that this is a dungeon within the mist world?

And what Li Ku described is the situation outside the dungeon?

Jiang Ye speculated in his heart.

Guan Ce suddenly had a look of realization:

"So your interest in the [Madman Mask] is because you want to use the Madman Mask to deal with the players in the Qiankun Land who can erase you?"

A glint of light turned in Li Ku's scarred eyes. He quickly sensed the deeper meaning in Guan Ce's words and also spoke frankly:

"From what you're saying, it seems you are interested in the Prison watch?"

Guan Ce fell silent for a moment, instinctively denying: "That kind of item that puts you at others' mercy, where you could be erased at any time..."

Halfway through his sentence, Li Ku directly reminded him: "The apartment administrators you revere went through great trouble to borrow my watch."

"Even the entire apartment fusion was aimed at getting my watch."

These two light, casual sentences directly blocked Guan Ce's words.

After a moment of silence, he simply admitted openly: "Alright, I am indeed interested in the watch you mentioned."

"I believe it's not just me. Those seniors from the Doomsday Apartment are probably even more interested."

"So now the question is—can you mass-produce watches?"

Mass-producing watches...

In Li Ku's concept, it was actually possible.

The method was simple, just like how Sun People players can enter the mist.

They rely on wearing watches transformed from Sun and Moon People.

Therefore, Sun and Moon People watches are also watches.

If Sun People players can wear them, then players in this dungeon can definitely wear them too.

However, Li Ku's real problem was...

How was he supposed to go back?

This dungeon doesn't have watches.

If he could freely travel between the inside and outside of the dungeon...

Then the trade of Prison watches for the Madman Mask might really be achievable.

Moreover, Li Ku's goal was originally to annihilate the Sun People players.

By then, after occupying the Qiankun Land, they, the Moon People players, might no longer need watches from then on.

Then, a considerable portion of the watches could perhaps be brought into this dungeon to exchange for items beneficial to the development of the Moon People players...

After some pondering in his heart, Li Ku quickly identified the most critical problem—

How to clear this dungeon.

Of course, he wouldn't directly ask Guan Ce about this problem.

After some consideration, he said to Guan Ce: "I can indeed mass-produce watches, but..."

He glanced at Guan Ce before continuing slowly:

"You should also have doubts—"

"As a mist player, why would I appear in the apartment?"

The three tattooed guys all nodded, clearly very curious.

Li Ku's mind quickly spun, and he made up a half-true, half-false story: "In the Qiankun Land outside the mist, there exists a World Tree ruins."

"It was during my exploration of the World Tree ruins that I accidentally entered an elevator space."

"During the initial exploration, the elevator space was still normal."

"But when I reached the 49th floor of the elevator, I discovered a hidden space behind the elevator."

"I exited the elevator from that hidden space and arrived at the 49th floor of Apartment 4869."

"Later, I also tried to return to the red-lit elevator..."

"But the result was, I seem unable to go back."

These words were actually mostly true.

As for the Blood Pool space, the monster resurgence, and the process of him obtaining the "Death State"...

These parts counted as personal privacy and naturally didn't need to be disclosed.

The three tattooed guys believed most of this story: "So that means..."

"To get watches, you need to find a way back. But now, you don't know how to get back..."

These words were more like Guan Ce talking to himself, thinking about something as he spoke.

Li Ku took the opportunity to hint: "I wonder if there is any information about the World Tree in your apartments?"

"Don't you also have game players? Experienced game players, have they heard about the World Tree in the so-called games?"

"World Tree?" Guan Ce pondered the word, frowning and shaking his head, "It seems neither in games nor in the apartments have I heard of any World Tree..."

The black dragon-tattooed Gong Cheng beside him suddenly seemed to remember something and blurted out: "World Tree... if it's some particularly huge tree, I think I saw it on a forum."

Guan Ce was surprised: "Tell us."

Gong Cheng looked a bit simple-minded, scratching his head: "I, I play too many games, I'm not sure if it was this game's forum..."

"I just remember someone saying that in some dungeon or secret realm, they discovered a towering giant tree with human-shaped leaves growing on it."

"It should be the game 'Doomsday Apartment,' because this game's secret realms are too random. If someone discovers something in a secret realm, others might find it hard to follow in and check, so that post didn't generate much heat..."

Actually, even without his additional sentence, Li Ku was almost certain—it was a 'Doomsday Apartment' forum post!

Because... human-shaped leaves, isn't that the 「Formless Leaf」 from Exile City?!

Although Sun People players all call that tree the World Tree and its ruins the World Tree ruins.

But the players in Exile City call it the Formless Tree.

So Li Ku directly declared: "Right! That's the giant tree with human-shaped leaves! It has another name, called... the Formless Tree!"

"Have you heard this name anywhere?"

This time, all three tattooed guys shook their heads.

Including Gong Cheng, who said helplessly: "It's already good that I can remember that post. Other details, I really can't be sure."

Guan Ce, however, offered another suggestion: "Perhaps we could ask the Nomadic Merchant?"

Li Ku immediately pressed: "Who is the Nomadic Merchant?"

Guan Ce's expression became slightly more cautious. He looked around before seriously introducing: "The Nomadic Merchant is a wandering merchant who appears randomly in apartment corridors."

"You probably don't have a Survival Jade Token, right? Then if you wander around the various corridors of the apartment, you might encounter the Nomadic Merchant."

Hearing this, Li Ku reacted: "Is the Nomadic Merchant's appearance a black shadow?"

Guan Ce nodded: "So you've already seen the Nomadic Merchant?"

Li Ku shook his head.

He hadn't seen it; Guiwen had also told him about it.

It's just that he wandered the corridors for a long time and didn't encounter any black shadow.

Could it be because he isn't an apartment player? The Nomadic Merchant doesn't entertain him?

Li Ku thought briefly before asking again: "Besides luckily bumping into the Nomadic Merchant, are there any other more definite ways to meet the Nomadic Merchant with 100% certainty?"

Guan Ce thought for a moment, his eyes suddenly flickering, and he said frankly: "If you can become the Newcomer King, or become an administrator, then you might obtain the privilege to 「Summon the Nomadic Merchant」."

He said this sincerely.

But both Jiang Ye and Li Ku could see that when Guan Ce said this, Li Hongbin and Gong Cheng's expressions were somewhat subtle.

Li Ku wasn't stupid. After a moment of silence, he sneered: "Summoning the Nomadic Merchant... comes with no cost?"

"This..." Guan Ce's expression changed slightly, but soon, he glanced at Jiang Ye, who was wearing the administrator's mimic mask, before saying meaningfully, "It's said there is a cost, but in practice, it seems there isn't."

"It's said that previous Newcomer Kings, and various apartment administrators and apartment bosses, have never dared to summon the Nomadic Merchant."

"However, during the last Novice Apartment on the Eighth Day, that Jiang Ye who became the Newcomer King early summoned the Nomadic Merchant."

"And then... it seems there was no cost."

After saying this, Guan Ce looked at Jiang Ye and asked: "Speaking of which, are you also from the mist world? Are you really that Jiang Ye from the Eighth Day?"

Jiang Ye didn't really want to answer.

But considering this guy had already answered so many questions for him and Li Ku.

So he replied expressionlessly: "I have amnesia. The information about Jiang Ye from the Eighth Day is all from the group chat."

Upon hearing this answer, the expressions of the three tattooed guys all became subtle.

Especially Li Hongbin, who looked completely unconvinced.

Li Ku also spoke up for him: "He really does have amnesia, and his amnesia might be related to the infant's crying and laughter in the sky right now."

"Do you have any clues about this infant's crying and laughter?"

Guan Ce shook his head: "We are, after all, just Ordinary Players. These anomalies related to the apartment are probably only known by the apartment boss, apartment administrators..."

Although Jiang Ye had amnesia, through the chat group and this exchange, he had roughly grasped some information.

Hearing Guan Ce's words now, he became even more suspicious—

The infant's crying and laughter that caused Guiwen to lose control and his own amnesia was very likely created by privileged personnel like the apartment administrators or the apartment boss!

And the purpose... was likely specifically targeting Guiwen?

Guiwen still has a room in this apartment...

According to Li Ku's revelation, it seems that shortly after Guiwen returned to his Room 2218 and they separated, the apartment experienced this anomaly of monsters losing control!

It's hard not to think this is a conspiracy specifically targeting Guiwen!

Maybe...

Jiang Ye suddenly asked: "Is that Nomadic Merchant also part of the apartment management?"

Guan Ce nodded: "Probably."

Then...

The Nomadic Merchant is also a suspect!

Administrators, boss, Nomadic Merchant...

Jiang Ye suddenly wondered if he had offended too many people?

After some thought, Li Ku asked Guan Ce again: "How does one become that Newcomer King?"

Guan Ce's expression was subtle, but he still answered truthfully: "As long as you bind the Rookie King Authority Iron Piece, you automatically become the Newcomer King."

He paused before continuing to explain:

"However, the Newcomer King is equivalent to a live target. Other players can kill the Newcomer King and drop the Rookie King Authority Iron Piece."

Li Ku wasn't worried; after all, he had the Death State.

"So, who currently has the Rookie King Authority Iron Piece?"