Chapter 213: Shen Yu’s Favorability — A Joint Proposal

The giant rat man brought its enormous foot down.

BOOM!

Anyone beneath it would have been crushed into meat instantly.

*Creak. Creak.*

The irritating sound of its teeth grinding continued to echo through the enormous bedroom.

Mo Shen and Wen Lan exchanged a glance.

"So?"

Mo Shen frowned.

"Should we wake it up?"

"Shen Yu was able to get something from it. We should be able to do the same, right?"

With that, Mo Shen eagerly moved toward the bedsheet hanging beneath the bed.

Wen Lan immediately stopped him.

"He’s him. You’re you."

"What Shen Yu can obtain doesn’t mean you can."

"But you still have one Time Leap left, don’t you?"

She glanced at the giant rat man.

"To be safe, use it now. If you see the future beforehand, at least we won’t walk blindly into danger."

Wen Lan looked around the enormous bedroom.

There was no door.

No window.

Nothing that resembled an exit.

The strange room gave her an increasingly ominous feeling.

"Damn it."

Mo Shen glared at her.

"I asked you two questions, and now you’re acting like the captain."

He snorted.

"Should I use my ability just because you told me to?"

Despite his irritation, his rational side eventually won.

Facing the enormous rat man, he didn’t dare to be careless.

"Time Leap."

**Hum!**

Ripples spread through the surrounding space.

Mo Shen’s pupils flickered as images of the future appeared in his mind.

---

The giant rat man slowly opened its eyes.

"You... are...?"

Its voice was painfully slow.

Mo Shen swallowed nervously.

"We’re sales representatives from Evolution Food Company."

"We’re here to sell you food."

The rat man’s black, bead-like eyes blinked.

Its expression remained strangely relaxed.

"You... are... who...?"

Its movements were just as slow as its speech.

The enormous creature slowly sat up on the bed.

"We’re from the Wolf Team."

"We work under Lin Yao."

"Lin Yao..."

The moment those words were spoken, the rat man’s expression changed.

Its narrow eyes suddenly sharpened.

Then—

BOOM!

Its enormous palm came crashing down.

Mo Shen’s expression changed instantly.

Before he could react, the giant hand slammed into him and the others.

The scene ended.

---

The future vision disappeared.

Mo Shen was covered in cold sweat.

He didn’t dare to skip the time immediately.

Instead, he stood there, breathing heavily.

Wen Lan looked at him.

"What did you see?"

Mo Shen’s expression darkened.

"I don’t need you teaching me how to act."

"Fine."

Wen Lan shrugged.

"Then, Captain Mo Shen, go ahead and take down that rat."

Mo Shen pressed his lips together.

He didn’t climb onto the bed or approach the creature.

Instead, he raised his voice.

"Sir!"

"Evolution Food Company, at your service!"

"Would you like some beef or horse tendon?"

The grinding sound immediately stopped.

*Creak...*

The rat man’s entire body stiffened.

Its black eyes opened.

Slowly, it turned toward the source of the voice.

"You... you... are..."

Its voice was even slower than in the future vision.

One enormous finger slowly lifted and pointed toward Mo Shen.

It took almost a minute.

"I... am... a... sales... representative... from Evolution Food Company."

"Ah..."

The rat man tilted its enormous head.

"Then... then... whose... person... are... you...?"

Mo Shen’s expression tightened.

Here it comes.

It was exactly the same question he had seen in the future.

When he had answered Lin Yao before, the rat man had immediately attacked.

That meant Lin Yao must have some kind of conflict with this creature.

So Mo Shen quickly changed his answer.

"We’re Lin Wan’s people."

"Lin Wan..."

The rat man’s expression softened.

"Ah..."

"Good... good..."

"I... am... familiar... with... her."

"I... am... with... her..."

A smile slowly appeared on its enormous face.

Mo Shen’s heart immediately relaxed.

As expected.

I was right.

Shen Yu and the others must have survived because of Lin Wan.

A smug smile appeared on his face.

Whatever Shen Yu has, I can get too.

But just as Mo Shen thought everything had worked—

The rat man’s smile slowly disappeared.

Its expression turned cold.

"Lin... Wan..."

"Could... not... have... brought... someone... like... you..."

"You... lied... to... me..."

Mo Shen froze.

"What...?"

BOOM!

A gigantic shadow covered the room.

Although the rat man’s movements were normally unbearably slow—

Its attack was unbelievably fast.

Its enormous palm descended like a collapsing mountain.

Mo Shen’s face still wore a faint smile.

Then—

BOOM!

His entire body was crushed beneath the giant hand.

Blood exploded into mist.

---

"How...?"

Wen Lan’s face turned pale.

Blood sprayed across the floor.

When the giant palm slowly lifted, there was nothing left beneath it except a piece of shriveled human skin stuck to its palm.

Mo Shen was dead.

A terrifying silence filled the room.

Wen Lan’s body trembled.

"No..."

"No, no, no..."

She crawled backward.

The giant rat man slowly turned its head toward her.

Its voice was sluggish.

"You... too..."

"You... are... Lin... Wan’s... people..."

"I..."

Wen Lan couldn’t speak.

She wasn’t stupid.

Mo Shen had clearly seen the future.

He had changed his answer because he believed saying Lin Yao’s name would lead to death.

Yet even after changing the name, he had still been killed.

Wen Lan’s mind raced.

What should I say?

If I say the wrong thing, I’ll die too.

The rat man’s enormous hand slowly lifted.

It pointed toward her.

"Say..."

"Say..."

Its hand moved so slowly that Wen Lan had enough time to stare at Mo Shen’s corpse for several minutes.

Maybe... there is still a chance.

Her breathing quickened.

Then her gaze fell on the ability icon floating before her.

[S-Rank Talent: Corpse Puppet Manipulator]

[You can control any participant who dies inside the dungeon.]

[Once they become corpses, they will unconditionally obey your commands.]

[You may use their abilities without limitation until the corpse is destroyed by ability side effects.]

[Current corpses controlled: 1]

[Available corpse slots: 2]

Wen Lan’s eyes flashed.

Corpse Puppet Manipulator.

The moment she activated the talent—

**Puff! Puff!**

The corpse of Long Lingxue suddenly twisted.

Its body swelled unnaturally.

Its neck jerked upright.

Then—

Mo Shen’s shriveled corpse moved as well.

His hollow eyes opened.

His chest began to rise and fall.

Wen Lan’s expression sharpened.

"Time Leap."

**Buzz!**

Under her command, Mo Shen’s corpse activated his ability.

His chest thumped violently.

A black hole appeared where his heart had been.

Then—

A vision appeared before Wen Lan’s eyes.

---

"Say..."

The rat man’s enormous palm was already suspended above her head.

Wen Lan remained completely calm.

Her gaze shifted toward Long Lingxue’s corpse.

"Run."

The corpse immediately sprinted toward the space beneath the bed.

The rat man’s expression changed.

"You... didn’t... die..."

BOOM!

The rat man suddenly rose from the bed.

Its movement was terrifyingly fast.

It kicked toward Long Lingxue’s corpse.

**Buzz!**

Wen Lan activated Time Leap again.

The future changed.

The rat man, which had been standing beside the bed, suddenly appeared in front of it.

It kicked toward the space beneath the bed.

Then—

Time skipped again.

The moment the rat man bent down was erased.

Wen Lan and Mo Shen’s corpse appeared near the elevator.

Long Lingxue’s corpse was still beneath the bed.

The rat man slowly bent down.

Then—

BOOM!

Its enormous palm slammed into Long Lingxue’s corpse.

The corpse exploded.

Pieces of shriveled skin scattered across the floor.

Ding dong!

At the same time, the elevator doors opened.

Wen Lan grabbed Mo Shen’s corpse and rushed inside.

She pressed the sixth-floor button.

The elevator began ascending.

Wen Lan finally released a long breath.

---

The barrage of comments exploded.

> "What kind of corpse handler is this?"

> "Wen Lan is actually the strongest one!"

> "So she gets stronger every time a teammate dies?"

> "Her talent has an insane ceiling, but she needs corpses first."

> "The Fei-Hao Team is practically finished."

> "Just run!"

As the comments continued pouring across the livestream, Wen Lan activated Time Leap once more.

Buzz!

The elevator’s floor indicators flashed.

Third floor.

Fourth floor.

Then—

The elevator suddenly appeared on the sixth floor.

The attacks from the third- and fourth-floor pigmen had been completely skipped.

The doors slowly opened.

Wen Lan stepped into the familiar fenced grassland.

She immediately noticed something strange.

All four members of the Jochi Team were still there.

No one was missing.

Wen Lan’s eyes narrowed.

Something isn’t right.

She quickly pushed the thought aside and walked toward Shen Yu.

"Vice Captain."

"We searched the entire fenced area."

"There are no sheep."

Ning Xu suddenly touched his head.

"Damn."

"Why do I have cow horns?"

He tried to pull them down.

The moment he touched them, pain shot through his head.

"Ah!"

He grimaced.

Shen Yu remained silent.

This was probably the polluted world’s version of the sixth floor.

From the perspective of the animals, their dormitory was actually a fenced pasture.

Then...

If Yang Hua had transformed into a sheep—

Would she have been eaten?

They had already developed the traits of cows and horses.

If they completely transformed into livestock, would they also be slaughtered and eaten?

"This company..."

Chu Chang’an’s expression became ugly.

"It eats people."

The realization finally struck him.

Shen Yu didn’t answer.

His gaze remained fixed on the fenced grassland.

He already had a plan.

For the next few days, no matter what missions appeared, he would deliberately push himself toward the brink of death.

Then, at the moment before death—

He would activate Perfect Timeline.

He could return to the moment when Yang Hua was still alive.

After that, he wouldn’t have to fear missing missions.

He wouldn’t have to fear hidden killing rules.

And he wouldn’t have to accept Yang Hua’s death.

"Shen Yu..."

Yanning walked toward him.

"Are you all right?"

She had expected Shen Yu to immediately seek revenge.

But he hadn’t.

She was about to say something more when—

A clear voice came from outside the fenced area.

"Shen Yu."

Everyone turned.

Wen Lan was walking toward them.

Beside her was Mo Shen.

Or rather—

What looked like Mo Shen.

His clothes were stained with blood.

His face was pale.

He walked silently.

Yanning’s expression immediately darkened.

"What are you doing here?"

Chu Chang’an and Ning Xu stepped forward, instinctively blocking the way.

But Wen Lan raised both hands.

"Don’t get excited."

"I’m here to propose cooperation."

Everyone froze.

Wen Lan removed her baseball cap.

Two mutated horse ears appeared through her hair.

Her hair had already begun turning into brown horse fur.

Even her mouth had transformed slightly, resembling a horse’s muzzle.

Her appearance was strange and mismatched.

Yet her expression remained calm.

She looked directly at Shen Yu.

"With your intelligence, you should have already guessed what this company is trying to do."

"Do you really think you can lead your entire team out alone?"

Yanning narrowed her eyes.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Wen Lan smiled.

"I’m saying we exchange information."

"You tell me what you’ve discovered."

"I’ll tell you what I’ve discovered."

"Then we’ll work together and survive until we uncover the truth behind Evolution Food Company."

She stepped closer.

Her horse tail swayed behind her.

She looked completely unafraid of the Jochi Team.

Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.

"How can I trust you?"

"Your team hasn’t exactly given us a reason to trust you."

Wen Lan laughed softly.

"Then I’ll give you something as a sign of sincerity."

She glanced at the figure standing behind her.

"All of my teammates are dead."

"I’m the only one left."

She pointed toward Mo Shen.

"Don’t you think something about him is strange?"

"With his personality, would he really have remained silent this entire time?"

Wen Lan smiled.

"So..."

"Tell me."

"Do you think he’s still alive?"