Chapter 76 - 71: Nobody Sleeps

Chapter 76: Chapter 71: Nobody Sleeps

Below the death announcement was another thread with a massive number of replies.

[Black Domain Walker is hunting Players — everyone watch out!]

——from ’I Want to Quit the Game’

Do NOT trust Black Domain Walker. He’s hunting Players. I barely made it out alive.

Five of us believed what Black Domain Walker told us. We agreed to meet up tonight to hunt Blood Clan invaders together and rack up points — but Black Domain Walker never showed. Instead, five Blood Clan invaders who had survived the previous two rounds were waiting for us, two of them with Extraordinary Abilities.

The moment we ran into them, three of us were dead. Only me and an anonymous Player got out, and even that anonymous Player ended up dying in the end.

Black Domain Walker is absolute scum!

Everyone be careful — do NOT let anyone find out you’re a Player!

[Pulling an All-Nighter]: What the fuck??? Aren’t we on the same side? Why would he kill Players??

[Psych Ward VIP]: Last round during the Slaughter event he killed over ten thousand Blood Clan civilians and a ton of Clones. You think someone like that is sane?

[Guan City Native]: I got a DM from him too. He didn’t say much, but he actually seemed pretty genuine. I almost gave him my contact info — thank god my mom called me to help with chores and I totally forgot about it. Looking back now, the thought gives me chills. Bless you, Mom, for saving my sorry ass!!

[Xian Yu Won’t Slack]: He defected to the Blood Clan. Mao Xuewang was killed by him and a Blood Clan member working together. I will gut that bastard myself!

[Rising Wind]: @Xian Yu Won’t Slack, what happened exactly? Give us the details.

[Bad Signal]: It’s complicated. We’re still looking into it.

[Naming is Too Troublesome]: Black Domain Walker’s ability is hacker-type — he can infiltrate any electronic device. Around him, you have zero privacy. I strongly recommend that from this point on, no one post any personal information on the forum, and no one meets up in person. Protecting your Player Identity is more important than anything else.

[Small Town Tales]: Players killing Players? Does the system just allow that?

[Guan City Native]: Did you all forget the announcement from last round? Want to Kill Someone Today was killed by a Player. This game was never about sticking together and taking down monsters — it never has been.

Yin Zhen didn’t bother reading the rest of the replies. She closed the thread. Below it was a wanted post put up by Nan Jiamu, complete with a portrait of Quentin, urging anyone who spotted him to report it on the forum immediately.

Quentin’s mission required seven Player corpses for a ritual sacrifice. He already had five. That sent a jolt of urgency through Yin Zhen.

"I need to move faster."

Yin Zhen closed the forum and checked her Assimilation Degree. Absorbing the blood had sent it spiking rapidly, but it hadn’t yet hit 50%. She picked up the last vial of Quentin’s blood and initiated resonance with his Extraordinary Ability.

[Resonance successful — you have obtained C-level Molecular Sharpness]

Yin Zhen blinked. "So this guy had two Extraordinary Abilities... whatever. I just got it a little later than planned."

She removed the Character Card and let her Assimilation Degree slowly settle back down, then began reviewing the abilities she’d newly acquired.

[Character Card: SHL-717]

[Skills]: Intermediate Firearms, Basic Fighting, Basic Driving, Basic Flesh and Blood Ascetic Method

[Transcendent]:

S-Class Blood Source Resonance (8/10): A-level Shadow Manipulation, A-level Blood Silk, B-level Spiritual Beacon, B-level Structural Repair, C-level Molecular Sharpness, C-level Transformation, C-level Blood Mimicry, D-level Super Sensing.

’Mind Beacon’ was Cole’s walkie-talkie ability. It could place a beacon on up to ten people to relay messages, and its range scaled with the user’s spiritual power.

If the target erected a Spiritual Barrier, or if the user’s own spiritual power ran dry, transmission would fail. It was also highly susceptible to interference from outside spiritual power, which could cause messages to cut out entirely.

’Structural Repair’ functioned as a healing ability, but interestingly, it could also repair objects — powered by the Strength of blood. Prolonged use would leave the user increasingly blood-hungry, but as long as fresh blood was continuously supplied, it could be kept running indefinitely.

When repairing objects, it only worked on damaged items where the overall structure and components were still present. Missing critical parts couldn’t be conjured from thin air, and anything completely destroyed beyond salvage couldn’t be restored.

C-level Molecular Sharpness was solid too — it could make bladed weapons keener, but the catch was that the weapon had to remain in contact with a part of the user’s body to stay sharpened. Once it left contact, the sharpening would gradually fade.

Yin Zhen zeroed in on the words ’gradually fade.’ That meant if she threw the weapon fast enough, the sharpening effect would still be active on impact.

Last was ’Blood Mimicry’ — of everything she’d gained, this was the one that intrigued her the most.

[C-level Blood Mimicry]: By coming into contact with a target’s fresh blood (from a living subject, or a subject deceased for no more than 3 hours, with a preservation window of no more than 24 hours), you can mimic and transform into the target’s appearance.

After mimicry, you will acquire the target’s basic physical characteristics — appearance, voice, and so on — indistinguishable visually or by instruments. However, you cannot access the target’s memories, Skills, or Extraordinary Abilities.

Initial mimicry consumes 50ml of fresh blood and lasts one hour. Each additional hour requires a top-up of 10ml of the target’s fresh blood. Maximum mimicry duration is 12 hours.

"Combined with my Blood Source Resonance, this ability lets me turn into anyone I want."

If the situation with Lucy went sideways, she could use this to go on the run and slip through the Guard Team’s manhunt.

Yin Zhen took out ’a piece of paper’ and studied it for a moment before tucking it away again.

She needed rest. She hadn’t slept last night, had been running nonstop all day, and had just made a trip out to the abandoned industrial district on top of it all. The exhaustion was setting in hard.

In this state, she was in no shape to deal with Quentin and Black Domain Walker — especially not with other Blood Clan members backing them up, and Black Domain Walker still lurking somewhere in the shadows.

"Let someone else lose sleep over it."

Yin Zhen pulled up the forum and fired off a private message to Bai Qiang without hesitation.

[Blossoming Prosperity]: About the blood totem that Blood Clan member left in the other warehouse in the industrial district — I’ve done some research on these things in the Red Corpse World. If I’m reading it right, he needs 7 corpses for a ritual sacrifice to accomplish something.

[Blossoming Prosperity]: Going to sleep now. Ping me when you find him.

With that sent, Yin Zhen went to bed. As she always did before sleeping, she tried to quiet her mind and listen for the echo of blood — until she gradually drifted off.

...

Bai Qiang’s place.

Bai Qiang had just finished her skincare routine, put on her sleep mask, and settled into bed — when she shot bolt upright.

"You went to sleep? Just like that? How are you even capable of sleeping?!"

Any hope of rest was completely gone now. What Blossoming Prosperity had said slotted perfectly into the last missing piece of the puzzle she’d been turning over in her mind.

Why that Blood Clan member had wasted time during his escape just to take the female Player’s corpse with him.

And if Black Domain Walker was going to side with the Blood Clan, fine — but why was he also hunting Players?

Bai Qiang had her suspicions, but without solid evidence, she hadn’t been willing to commit to any conclusions.

"You won’t let me sleep? Fine then... I won’t let anyone else sleep either!"

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence]: One more piece of intel for you — something that concerns the very survival of Ancient Abyss.

[Winter Night Fire]: Do you think I’m made of money and completely stupid?!

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence]: This one’s free! I genuinely have nothing to do with Black Domain Walker — trust me! (Sincere)