Moonfall Town, South.

Entrance to the Level 8-10 Dungeon, Scarlet Zone.

Ye Chen stood quietly.

Having just reached Level 8, he was already fully equipped with the complete Level 8 Black Iron Equipment, the Moon Demon set.

Compared to the nearby players preparing for the dungeon, wearing tattered whiteboard gear, or even missing equipment, he stood out like a crane among chickens!

Meanwhile, Lin Youwei stood beside Ye Chen, looking somewhat anxious.

She was clearly worried about the revenge plan they had with Lu Ming, wondering if it would succeed.

Ye Chen glanced at Lin Youwei, whose face was flushed, and gave a knowing smile.

Feigning ignorance, he reassured Lin Youwei, "Don't worry, Youwei. With me here, that loser won't dare harm you."

Lin Youwei nodded, not daring to speak.

Before long, a young Trickster with simple, somewhat shabby equipment arrived.

This young Trickster was Lu Ming!

Lu Ming noticed the group of Level 30 bodyguards still around, so he didn't act rashly.

He walked straight up to Ye Chen and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

As soon as he finished speaking.

Swish!

Without a word, Ye Chen suddenly drew his dagger, pressing the sharp blade against Lu Ming's neck!

His eyes gleamed sharply as he coldly ordered Lu Ming, "Show me your account panel and attribute panel!"

This sudden turn of events shocked Lin Youwei.

She thought, "It's over! Ye Chen suspects Brother Nether!"

"If Ye Chen sees that Brother Nether's attributes are strong, he'll know Brother Nether was pretending to be weak!"

"What should we do!"

Just as Lin Youwei thought their plan with Lu Ming was about to be exposed.

Lu Ming calmly complied with Ye Chen's demand, opening his account and attribute panels.

Ye Chen looked and saw the account panel showed a one-star aptitude, with the sole talent being [Cooldown Reduction], which reduced all skill cooldowns by 10%!

Looking at the attribute panel, a Level 10 Trickster·Dawn, apart from the slightly higher level, all attributes were quite average!

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Overall, a complete weakling!

Ye Chen was momentarily stunned, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

He thought to himself, "This guy looks just like the Trickster in that TikTok video who could summon Undead Warriors and wore a mask, but they're not the same person... Was I overthinking?"

Regaining his composure, Ye Chen sheathed his dagger, patted Lu Ming on the shoulder, and laughed, "My mistake, brother, I got the wrong person!"

Lu Ming smiled, "Can we enter the dungeon now? You promised to help me clear the epic difficulty."

Ye Chen put away his dagger, "Of course!"

Though unsure of what just happened, Lin Youwei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, not far away, Tianxuan·Shadow and Tianxuan·Eternal, mixed in with the crowd, were utterly confused.

"What's going on? This shouldn't be happening!"

Tianxuan·Shadow crossed his arms, full of suspicion, "Based on my observations today, wasn't this guy's plan to pretend to be weak with that female mage, trick the Chen Emperor into taking him into the dungeon, and then kill him unnoticed?"

"How did just changing his equipment dispel the Chen Emperor's suspicions? Is his account really only one-star?"

Tianxuan·Eternal pondered, "Impossible, with his strength, his account's aptitude can't be less than five stars."

"Then where did it go wrong?" Tianxuan·Shadow was increasingly baffled, "And why did he change his ID, does he have two accounts?"

Tianxuan·Eternal wasn't too concerned, "Forget about that for now, the priority is figuring out how to recruit him into Tianxuan."

As Tianxuan·Eternal was worrying about this.

A pair of fair hands suddenly rested on the shoulders of both Tianxuan·Shadow and Tianxuan·Eternal, "I have an idea!"

"Whoa!" Tianxuan·Shadow, focused intently, jumped three meters high like a startled mantis.

Looking closely, it was Qing Yan!

"Geez! Miss Yan, you scared me to death, my heart's pounding!" Tianxuan·Shadow couldn't help but pat his chest, looking aggrieved.

Tianxuan·Eternal turned to glance at Qing Yan, frowning slightly, "What are you doing here?"

Qing Yan stood behind Tianxuan·Eternal, her slender hands massaging his shoulders, her gaze fixed on Lu Ming in the distance, smiling, "Brother, want me to help bring Nether into Tianxuan?"

"Don't joke around." Tianxuan·Eternal dismissed it casually, "If you can really do that, I'll add two hundred to your allowance this month."

"Alright, you said it!"

As she spoke, Qing Yan seemed prepared, pulling a set of whiteboard equipment from her backpack, replacing the Black Iron Equipment she wore.

Then, she headed straight for the dungeon entrance, the two behind her unable to stop her!

Meanwhile, Ye Chen had already formed a team.

Besides himself, an 8th-level Assassin, there was the 9th-level Mage Lin Youwei, and the 10th-level Trickster Lu Ming.

The team also included a Priestess named Luo and a Knight named Sunset.

Both were Level 10 Second Transition, fully equipped with the Black Iron Equipment, the Moon Demon set, visibly possessing Transcendent strength!

Ye Chen introduced them to Lu Ming and Lin Youwei, "These two are top-tier experts with three-star account aptitudes, specially found by my brother-in-law from Beijing! Including myself, a two-star expert, even if your aptitudes are lacking, clearing the epic difficulty is no problem!"

Brother-in-law?

Ha,

How affectionate!

In his past life, Lu Ming dated Ye Ling'er for three years, giving his all to their family, yet Ye Chen never once called him brother-in-law, always addressing him by name.

He had only been dead a few days, and Ye Chen was already calling someone else brother-in-law so naturally?

Recalling the scene of Lu Ming pestering Lin Youwei earlier, a hint of killing intent flashed in Ye Chen's eyes, "You dare to touch my woman, Ye Chen? Once we're in the dungeon, I'll make you pay!"

As the five prepared to enter the dungeon.

Suddenly, someone ran up from behind, grabbing Lu Ming, "How dare you, we paid together, and you're sneaking off to the Scarlet Zone dungeon without me!"

Lu Ming looked at the unexpected Qing Yan, frowning.

Ye Chen asked, "And who might you be?"

Qing Yan crossed her arms, speaking boldly, "I'm a good friend of Dawn's. We both paid Lin Youwei's brother to take us through this dungeon!"

Hearing this, Lu Ming was momentarily stunned.

Great!

Someone even better at acting than me!

"I don't care, you have to take me with you!" Qing Yan's tantrum seemed genuine.

Ye Chen sized up Qing Yan.

Noticing her level was already 10, and though her equipment was whiteboard, it was complete, suggesting decent strength.

"If Youwei is a burden, replacing her with someone stronger might even allow us to attempt the legendary difficulty, increasing dungeon rewards! After clearing, I'll kill both of them!"

With this thought, Ye Chen said to Lin Youwei, "Youwei, how about I find another team for you? I'll first help solve your brother's issue and take them through the dungeon."

Lin Youwei, unsure of what to do, nodded, "Okay."

Thus, Ye Chen kicked Lin Youwei out of the team and added Qing Yan.

Worried about exposure, Lu Ming said nothing.

Soon after, the five officially entered the Scarlet Zone dungeon.

Not far away, witnessing this, Tianxuan·Shadow was shocked, "Damn! Your sister went in! Isn't this like a lamb entering a tiger's den?"

As Qing Yan's brother, Tianxuan·Eternal was less worried, "With Nether there, it should be fine."

On the other side.

Swish!

Passing through the light curtain, Lu Ming, Ye Chen, Qing Yan, Luo, and Sunset appeared in an old district.

Dilapidated, crumbling buildings;

Animal and human corpse remnants scattered everywhere;

Blood-stained ground, crimson sky;

Everywhere exuded an apocalyptic aura of death!

At this moment, the system's prompt descended from above—

[Ding~ Welcome to the Scarlet Zone dungeon, current difficulty is Normal. Players must find the forbidden item within sixty minutes, failure to obtain it in time will result in a failed challenge with no rewards!]

[Ding~ Challenge officially begins!]

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