No matter how well connected Chu Rong was, he could not hold on to his position as Guild Leader unless he could win people over.
He had to have some strengths, such as lying and acting.
From the start, his assigned role had been a human vessel of nutrient solution for the rose vines. Even if Shen Ru and the others had not reached the sixth floor in time, his life would never have been in danger.
And it was precisely his excessively rapid recovery that had aroused Shen Ru's suspicions.
Judging by what they knew now, Chu Rong must have struck a deal with Zhao Cheng. Even if he had not spoken to them, Zhao Cheng would have found some way to bring the four of them here.
In that case...
"Zhao Cheng was the boy beside you, wasn't he? You used an item to disguise him? Do you all know each other's identities?"
As Shen Ru asked this, Chu Rong's expression had already begun to crack, turning grotesque and ferocious. He stared at Shen Ru venomously.
"I'm only working with Zhao Cheng. What anyone else does is none of my business. But you're different. The one you just killed wasn't an NPC. He was a living, breathing person!"
Chu Rong's malicious words echoed through the room, as though every syllable sought to shatter the young man's facade.
Shen Ru remained expressionless, looking coldly at the worthless trash before him.
He had squeezed every last scrap of information out of Chu Rong. Nothing remained.
"It makes no difference to me. Neither he nor you."
Those were the last words Chu Rong heard in this world.
The wretched man's final glimpse was of the delighted smile on the young man's face as his own blood blossomed.
The instant Shen Ru struck, Wei Lanxing pulled Wen Meng two steps back. She disliked the smell of blood, so she was a thoroughgoing pacifist in instance games.
But the young man before her was different. He was this game's true target audience.
He ignored the restraints of law and morality, rampaging through instance games however he pleased.
He was not playing. He was savoring it.
Perhaps she now understood why Shen Ru had shot straight from the newcomer instance to the top of B rank.
Honestly, before meeting the young man, she had shared the other guild leaders' opinion: Mo Yu had been bewitched by Shen Ru's beautiful face and temporarily lost his mind.
Now it seemed they were the ones who had lost their minds.
From Chu Rong's words, they learned that none of the twelve knew the others' identity cards. The only two who could verify each other's identities were both dead.
So from now on, Shen Ru really was Zhao Cheng, free to move between the first and sixth floors.
The information they had also explained why the rose vines covered the entire building. Floor after floor, room after room of laboratories had fed humans to them, allowing the vines to grow wildly.
They now knew how it had begun. All they needed was to discover what happened afterward, and they could pass the screening.
Besides, the system had given them only three hours. With such a tight time limit, there could not possibly be a huge amount of information to uncover.
In other words, although the area they had to explore was large, the information was straightforward. Their next task was to reach the top floor.
Although Shen Ru's actions had made Wen Meng's hair stand on end, she felt that he held no ill will toward her or Wei Lanxing for the moment, so she asked softly:
"What do we do next?"
"Wait."
The man's deep voice echoed through the blood-scented room, inviting all sorts of speculation.
"For what?"
Wei Lanxing had little restraint when it came to Mo Yu. The moment he spoke, her fangirl persona switched on.
Mo Yu glanced at the loudspeakers in the corners of the laboratories. "For the fish to take the bait."
The opposing side would find some way to gather first and discuss their strategy.
And those twelve players must know that the four of them were interns, so they would deliberately screen people out.
"Bzzzt..."
Suddenly, the crackle of the loudspeakers erupted through the silent space.
"Access has been granted. All Senior Researchers and above, please come to the top floor for a meeting."
The fish had taken the bait.
Only Shen Ru and Mo Yu were in the elevator. Wei Lanxing and Wen Meng had not come up.
At present, the other side knew of only two deaths. If all four of them went upstairs rashly, the discrepancy in numbers would arouse suspicion.
Wei Lanxing understood this perfectly, so she volunteered to search the first three floors for clues and regroup once the two men had finished.
Her words also hinted at forming a temporary alliance.
Wen Meng had also given them two Disguise Item Cards. After all, Chu Rong and his partner had been the first people every player saw entering the building. Even if the numbers matched, their absence would still expose them.
So Mo Yu had tacitly accepted a temporary alliance between the four of them.
"Mo Yu."
The young man's voice was clear, his gaze fixed squarely on the man.
"What is it?"
"You brought me here to do your killing for you, didn't you?"
Shen Ru's tone was steady, without any inflection. He sounded as casual as if they were discussing what to eat that day.
The man smiled. Although his appearance was now completely different, his dangerous, captivating air remained intensely oppressive.
"What makes you say that?"
"I'm not a member of your guild right now, so whoever I kill, no one can pin the blame on the Dark Night Guild. Besides, you like me quite a lot, don't you?"
Despite Shen Ru's casual tone, every muscle in his body was tense and alert where the man could not see.
Mo Yu was using him only because he was currently the best choice, not necessarily the only one.
The man chuckled softly. "Then have you guessed who I want you to kill?"
Mo Yu's voice was deep and gentle, like the low melody of an elegant cello.
The young man answered with a smile, "Perhaps the person who gathered everyone here."
Ding.
The elevator doors opened with the chime.
The top floor's layout was much like the first floor's. It had none of the densely packed laboratories of the other floors, nor any of those oppressive, horrifying cries and screams.
An enormous piece of experimental equipment stood in the center of the hall, beeping incessantly.
A complicated tangle of interconnected wires all led into a transparent glass vessel.
It was slightly different from what they had seen on the sixth floor. The liquid inside the vessel was thick and scarlet, with a faint human shape submerged within it, already soaked to a semitransparent state.
But intricate rose vines tangled over it, their vivid blossoms dazzlingly bright and brimming with life.
The overpowering stench of rotting flesh, coupled with the visual shock of that expanse of scarlet, sent a shudder of horror through anyone who saw it.
And someone stood before the enormous glass vessel.
His eyes were shrewd and full of calculation, as though he stood above the crowd, assessing the worth of the ants below.
Guan Wenyue, the Guild Leader of the Blue Chronicle Guild.
Shen Ru suddenly understood why Mo Yu had said he would not refuse his proposal.
Because from the moment he first laid eyes on this man, Guan Wenyue was already dead in his mind.
Before you continue