Stolen Lifeline, Extreme Squad

The room was filled with roving nighttime eerie.

They wandered every corner, much like NPCs in a game that only walk in a single direction.

Ji Yan and Liu Yitong emerged from the guest room corridor. Several eerie creatures approached, sniffing them intently.

Finally, after catching the scent of the privilege badge, they dispersed dejectedly, as if a delicious meal had suddenly been labeled "do not eat."

After several nights of operating in the dark, Ji Yan had grown accustomed to it.

Liu Yitong, however, was thoroughly frightened.

It was her first time seeing the apartment after midnight.

Looking at the room full of eerie creatures, the color drained from the girl's pretty face.

"Don't panic. If you don't approach them, they won't touch you."

Compared to Liu Yitong, the apartment at night felt more like Ji Yan's domain.

When she first arrived at the Crimson Apartment, this girl had helped him understand the rules quite a bit. So, Ji Yan felt compelled to give her a few more pointers about nighttime operations and the few minefields to avoid.

Liu Yitong nodded and then asked, "Are you coming with me to the capture squad assembly?"

"No, you guys go ahead with your plan."

"I'm going to the 8th Floor."

Ji Yan declined. Setting aside whether he wanted to go, Long Yuan might even be in the squad.

That guy was practically his mortal enemy now. He didn't want to get entangled with him and waste time.

After Liu Yitong left, Ji Yan didn't linger. He quickly went up to the 8th floor.

As soon as he stepped out of the corridor, he saw a bald eerie creature running towards him in a panic, begging for mercy.

The next second, a small pair of hands grabbed its shoulders and easily tore it in half.

Thick blood splattered on the corner of the wall...

The small figure that had torn the bald eerie creature apart was none other than Xi Xi!

After tearing her mother apart on the rooftop, the girl seemed to have developed a taste for it. She was now wearing an oversized, floor-length white nightgown, with blood all over one side of her body.

In the dim light, paired with her expressionless, pale little face, she looked incredibly creepy!

She stared at Ji Yan and asked, "Brother, are you up here to find Sister again?"

Ji Yan held up his flashlight and forced a dry laugh. "Yeah, Sister Xu invited me over tonight."

Upon hearing this, Xi Xi moved aside and pointed to the door. "Sister is waiting for you."

The corridor was littered with dismembered corpses.

The level of gore was akin to a slaughterhouse.

Ji Yan's mouth twitched.

Good heavens, after sacrificing her parents to heaven, this girl had become so ferocious that she seemed to have no opponents in the apartment!

He couldn't help but ask, "Xi Xi, is she just tearing them apart for fun?"

Xi Xi wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and then patted her fluffy hair. "Sister Xu was in a bad mood."

"She said the things in the corridor were too noisy and asked me to come out and clean them up."

As she spoke, she squatted down and began examining the torn corpses, ensuring they were all dead...

Seeing Xi Xi so obedient to Xu Xin, Ji Yan seriously suspected that woman had some kind of brainwashing tool for children.

He walked into Room 801. Miss Xu was still lying on the recliner.

In the moonlight, her silhouette was hazy.

Miss Xu held a book, flipping through its pages. "It's been lively tonight. I heard a lot of footsteps downstairs."

Ji Yan replied, "That thief has targeted almost all the residents. The Landlord even posted an announcement."

"Many residents are planning to wait for the thief to show up tonight."

Miss Xu smiled and asked, "With all this commotion, do you think the thief would still dare to show up?"

"If their brain wasn't kicked by a donkey, they probably wouldn't."

"Quite the opposite. It will definitely show up tonight."

Ji Yan looked confused.

Miss Xu didn't explain further. She closed the book and said, "I won't be going with you to catch the thief tonight."

"You follow those people. If you follow them, the thief will definitely show up."

"On the table is a gift I have for you."

"Remember, catching a thief isn't about numbers or brute force; it's about using your brain."

Ji Yan looked at the table. There was only a big-headed doll there.

It looked messy, with many lines and crude workmanship.

Ji Yan held it in his hand and heard the game prompt.

"Congratulations to the player for obtaining the [Screaming Doll], [Rare] quality."

"Description: A doll that has witnessed blood and slaughter. When danger appears, it can scream to alert and hinder to a certain extent."

Ji Yan tried to put it into his tool bar, but the doll crawled onto his shoulder on its own. Both of them flashed with eerie light, looking quite creepy.

Ji Yan really didn't expect to get an Eerie Item reward from Miss Xu. Although its function sounded ordinary, it was still a Rare quality.

"Do you have plans tonight?"

Ji Yan asked back.

"I'm worried that the thief will come again tonight."

"So, I've asked Xi Xi to wait at the door. As soon as those resident rats get close, she'll tear them apart."

Ji Yan nodded, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Miss Xu continued to remind him, "This thief needs to be caught as soon as possible."

"If this drags on, it will steal more and more things. At this rate, this apartment will collapse soon and cease to exist!"

Ji Yan's expression changed, "That serious?"

"Haven't you noticed that the thief either steals rent or directly digs out the flesh and blood of the natives?"

Miss Xu tilted her head, her eyes revealing a cold glint, "The thief's goal is to destroy this apartment!"

Hearing this, Ji Yan's expression couldn't help but become solemn.

Liu Yitong had once said that missions that seriously threatened the safety of the entire dungeon could be defined as main quests.

He had been wondering why a thief stealing things would be defined as the highest-level S-rank side quest.

Now he understood.

This thief was stealing the very lifeline of the Crimson Apartment!

Once the Crimson Apartment collapsed, all the eerie residents would be annihilated.

They, the players, would also fall into even more terrifying dungeons...

After leaving Room 801, Ji Yan inexplicably felt immense pressure.

He rushed downstairs. When he reached the fifth floor, he suddenly noticed a lot of commotion in the corridor.

When he went over to look, he found several players surrounding and killing two resident eerie beings.

The blond man leading the team wore sunglasses, had a cigarette in his mouth, and held a black handgun in his hand.

Without a word, he shot the heads of the two eerie beings.

The other party was full of killing intent. Upon seeing Ji Yan, he raised his gun, tilted his head, and left with several players.

Slaughtering eerie beings?

This was Ji Yan's first time seeing such a brutal player in a dungeon.

The nighttime eerie beings were extremely violent, yet this team treated them as prey to hunt!

Ji Yan turned around and happened to run into Liu Yitong.

The other party was surprised, "Didn't you go to the 8th floor?"

Ji Yan: "Just came down."

"Is it that lively downstairs now?"

Liu Yitong nodded, "Many players are participating in the main quest now."

"To catch the thief, several teams with different ideas have branched off."

"You saw that team just now. The blond man leading them is ranked second only to Long Yuan in the apartment's rankings. He's very brutal, and they got some information about the thief."

"I heard that the thief eerie being has no hair."

"Then, they started killing."

"They believe that by killing all the resident eerie beings in the apartment who have no hair, the thief will definitely be gone."

After listening, Ji Yan couldn't help but laugh, "What brilliant minds."

"That blondie looks like a genius. After all, what normal person wears sunglasses at night?"