| WRIAWW | What Are You All Doing Here? | 109
As a special envoy personally appointed by high-ranking military officials, Qin Ye could be considered a veteran of the Infinite Space. In this unknown crevice between dimensions, he has stood guard through countless missions, leading survivors in their quest to find the path home.
Perhaps because the Infinite Space resides within a spatial rift, a space carved out by the main system, the flow of time here differs from the outside world. Years pass without leaving a mark on one's appearance.
If they were no mandatory requirement to enter dungeons to complete missions, this place could almost be considered a utopia capable of significantly extending human lifespans.
Over the years, Qin Ye has carried out missions of all scales here, organized both solo and team operations, tasted great victories, and endured various hardships, accumulating a wealth of experience in both success and failure.
As 2nd rank, Qin Ye understands that his decisions hold decisive weight for the other survivors. Thus, before issuing any orders, he always seeks other people's opinion to avoid falling into dictatorship.
This operation, too, was formulated after considering the opinion of the majority.
Although the idea originated from him, Qin Ye had at least ninety percent certainty that the plan will go through.
No matter how cunning and deceitful Zong Le might be, his personal abilities was lacking.
Against the combined might of S-level elites, he could hardly stir up any significant trouble.
The only uncertainty lay in the fear that he might be living with that psychiatric department's boss.
And yet, misfortune struck precisely as feared.
Initially, Qin Ye hadn't paid much attention to Ankang Community, he dismissed it as just another B-level mission. But upon stepping into the community, he broke out in a cold sweat.
The gatekeeper was a high-level weird ranked third among the survivors rankings of the weirds they have encountered so far.
Within the community, six overlapping domains had been deployed, three of which belonged to S-level weirds, with another suspected to be the Judge from a recently conquered ?-level mission... This extravagant lineup could easily qualify as the final mission of an S-level mission under the main system's stringent evaluation criteria.
Thud, thud, thud...
As Qin Ye ran swiftly through the building's floors, he couldn't help but replay the events in his mind.
No matter how he analyzed it, he couldn't fathom how these weirds had managed to lay their trap so flawlessly in advance.
That's right, a trap.
Before entering, everyone had chalked it up to bad luck to stumbling straight into the enemy's base camp.
But once inside, the weird domain deliberately scattered them, while psychological and mental manipulations layered atop weird domains rendered all prior markings useless...
A set of combined skills came down smoothly and complemented each other. The most outrageous thing was that the weirds actually cooperated with one another, covering each other's tacitly, and even their domains linking together.
"Hold up, is this even the same dungeon we're used to?"
"Exactly! Aren't weirds supposed to only have hostile relationships with each other? Cooperation should be impossible! So what the hell are we dealing with here?"
"Is it just plain bad luck??? But this defies all logic!"
The sheer absurdity of the situation forced Qin Ye to wonder:
Could it be, as one survivor had speculated, that among them lurked an weird skilled in prophecy or divination?
"Could a weird like this really exist? After all, our Infinite Space only has 3rd so far."
"The Black Witch is still trapped in the nightmare of prophetic backlash. Such precise prophecies must come at a high cost."
Amidst the discussion between his right-hand men from the core army, Qin Ye gazed through the window, and past the overlapping landscape trees that seemed to reflect countless shadows, and looked at the buildings not far away.
An hour and fifty minutes had passed since entering the ultimate dungeon, with less than ten minutes remaining before they are sent back to the infinite space.
They'd been trapped in Building 3 this entire time, not only did they fail to capture Zong Le, but they can't even reached Building 4.
This can't go on, Qin Ye thought.
These final minutes represented both a dead end and an opportunity. They had to burn their bridges and muster the courage to go all out.
"No matter what it takes, we must enter Room 302 of Building 4."
All survivors who entered Ankang Community had been scattered across different buildings. But according to his observation, while the first three buildings contained trapped survivors, Building 4 remained completely empty.
Qin Ye was determined to investigate Room 302, not just because he hadn't given up on capturing Zong Le, but because he sensed something unusual in the weird's arrangements.
Where there's abnormality, there's deception. Building 4 must contain something they weren't meant to see. If they could uncover its secrets, they might gain unexpected rewards.
"Here's the plan. When we enter the next empty room, help me hold back the weird guarding it."
The left and right arms of the core army were all veterans who had followed Qin Ye for many years. They were shocked when they heard these words and immediately understood what their guild master meant: "But, guild master, isn't this too risky? Besides, that item is a consumable item. Once used, it will never be used again. Using it against an insignificant B-level NPC seems excessive."
"It's worth it."
Qin Ye cut them off decisively and issued orders: "When opportunity arises, we must seize it."
"Moreover, we've gained nothing from this mission and encountered such a predicament. We must burn our boats."
Once the decisions were made, Qin Ye acted without hesitation.
The team prepared silently.
In a flash, Qin Ye thrust his combat knife diagonally, seemingly targeting the swirling shadows inside, but actually shifting his footing to redirect the blade's trajectory.
"Now!"
The two core members erupted into action, their bodies radiating faint white light as they simultaneously activated their ability, and briefly isolating themselves from the weird's domain.
Moving with perfect coordination, they positioned themselves in front and behind Liu Rouya, blocking her from attacking, and cut her wriggling black hair.
Seizing this moment, Qin Ye snapped his bracelet and shot forward like an arrow, crashing through the window.
The scattered beads hung strangely suspended midair, stretching that single second into eternity.
Following the precalculated trajectories, he precisely landed on a phoenix tree branch outside, using it as a springboard. With one final push, his fingers caught the clothesline dangling from Building 4's balcony, and flipped himself up.
Under normal circumstances, this series of movements would be nothing for the universally acknowledged strongest soldier in the Infinite Space.
But the moment Qin Ye grabbed the clothesline for leverage, his expression changed as he sensed something wrong.
He could hear the sounds of other survivors from the other three buildings while only Building 4 remained shrouded in darkness, and utterly silent without a single light.
Qin Ye speculated that the weirds had concentrated all their forces in the other three buildings to protect whatever was in Building 4. Thus, he believed that venturing into Building 4, though risky, had a high chance of success.
Yet, what he never expected was that Building 4 wasn’t unguarded.
On the contrary, the strongest weird of them all was here.
The moment Qin Ye stepped into Building 4’s vicinity, every hair on his body stood on end.
All his abilities enhanced by the main system were stripped away, leaving his legs as heavy as lead. Every movement became sluggish and laborious. Even the simplest climbing action now required exhausting his full strength.
This sensation was all too familiar, he had experienced it not long ago.
Among all the weird domains observed by survivors so far, only the judge of the Central Court possessed this domain.
"I didn't expect it to be guarded, so they were hiding their trump card..."
His mind raced, but his body moved on muscle memory. With a sharp tactical roll, he dispersed the momentum before springing up like a leopard, dashing fast towards the floors.
There was no turning back now. Since he has made this move, he has to go through the mountains of swords and the sea of fire to the end.
Fortunately, his military-honed physique still gave him an edge even without his abilities. In terms of raw physical strength alone, he surpassed other survivors. Not to mention the shattered, invaluable bracelet artifact still buying him precious time.
Qin Ye no longer hesitated, and as soon as he went out, his figure flashed, and he sprinted madly up the stairs.
'201... 202... 301, 302!'
His gaze locked onto the target door like a hawk’s. He bent his elbow and rammed it forward—
THUD
A heavy, muffled impact echoed through the hallway.
"Fuck!"
Glaring at his bruised elbow and the half-caved-in steel door, Qin Ye couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
Having been in the Infinite Space for so long, he’d forgotten the strength of an ordinary person and forgotten the feeling of being weak. Only when sharp pain shot through his arm did he realized that it was impossible for an ordinary person to open a stainless steel door with bare hands without external tools.
Without wasting time, he turned and smashed the hallway window, reaching for the air conditioner unit outside. Using a roundabout approach, he searched for any possible way into 302.
By sheer luck, because of tonight’s gathering, Zong Le had left a window slightly ajar for ventilation before leaving.
To Qin Ye, that half-open window was the first stroke of luck after a relentless streak of misfortune in this mission.
Clutching his possibly fractured arm, he adjusted his posture with difficulty and crawled forward. Just when he reached close enough, he pushed off with his legs, using momentum to hurl himself inside.
BANG—
After a series of operations, Qin Ye was drenched in cold sweat and sweating all over.
Knowing that time was running out, he still lay on his back on the cold floor, gasping for breath with his chest heaving violently.
Qin Ye's series of actions had caused quite a commotion. However, compared to the screams, exclamations, and curses coming from the other buildings, it was nothing alarming. But if someone had been inside the room, they definitely wouldn't have missed it.
This indicated that at the time of his entry, Room 302 was empty.
He spent a lot of effort, but in the end, Zong Le was not at home.
Such an absurd turn of events made him let out a bitter chuckle.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. The most crucial thing was how to gather more information before the countdown ended.
Thinking this, Qin Ye immediately scrambled to his feet and began rummaging through the apartment.
Although it risked exposure, with Ankang Community devoid of light sources and his night vision ineffective, he had no choice but to turn on his flashlight and grope around in the dark.
For the residence of an adult male living alone, Room 302 was surprisingly neat.
While Ankang Community's buildings were all relocation housing from years ago, evident from their aged corners and furnishings, this level of cleanliness was unusual. It was like a five-star hotel suite, unless it was professionally cleaned daily, maintaining such condition was impossible.
Qin Ye opened a closet to find neatly pressed white shirts and black pants, another closet revealed stacks of brand-new dog food packages.
Dog food? Did Zong Le own a dog?
As soon as this thought came to his mind, he heard loud barking from outside the door.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The deep, resonant barks clearly came from a large, fierce dog.
Qin Ye's heart sank. He quickly grabbed a nearby clothes pole, staying alert while continuing to search for clues.
But the barking didn't stop, it grew louder, echoing sharply through the silent hallway.
"Damn it!"
The abnormal noise seemed to have attracted some of the weirds wandering in other buildings or downstairs. Although Qin Ye had lost his enhanced abilities in this weird domain, he could feel an icy chill creeping up his spine, it was the instinctive human reaction when facing weirds.
He sped up frantically, ignoring the pain in his hands as he combed through the apartment.
Cabinets in the corners, kitchen cabinets, the central wardrobe, anything that might hold information was indiscriminately stuffed into his spatial storage.
The oppressive chill grew heavier.
The shadows of the trees outside the window were distorted and deformed under the red moonlight, as if there were countless weird hands slapping the glass. There was a rustling sound in the corridor. Qin Ye could almost see that the bloody string began to seep in from the crack of the door, and the black hair coiling around his previous footprints.
Even non-medium survivors could sense the weird's fury.
Hurry! Faster!
Under such intense weird aura, human limbs would often stiffen and go numb.
Qin Ye's fingers trembled violently, and he was barely able to grip the items he was collecting.
At the last moment, his flailing hands accidentally triggered a hidden compartment in the bookshelf. Several letters, yellowed postcards, and what appeared to be a photograph tumbled out. With no time to examine them, he swept everything into storage.
"You despicable thief...!"
A piercing shriek tore through the entire building, rattling the windows with its intensity.
Liu Rouya waved her long hair in fury, and lashing around the room like a venomous snake.
In that split second, countless strands of hair suddenly coiled around Qin Ye's feet.
A terrifying force yanked him violently to the ground, his unenhanced body slamming hard against the floor.
Qin Ye even heard the sickening crack of his ribs breaking.
Just as Liu Rouya was about to unleash her wrath, a flash of white light flashed past. By the time she regained her senses, the cocoon woven from her hair abruptly collapsed, only to unfurl, revealing nothing inside.
"......"
The other weirds quickly arrived on the scene.
At the time of the incident, they had been in other buildings. If it weren't for Lai Cai's warning, they wouldn't have even realized an outsider had infiltrated this building.
Looking at the wreckage in the room, genuine fear flickered across each weird's face. The butler, in particular, looked as though the sky had fallen when he saw the meticulously maintained room reduced to chaos, and fainted on the spot.
"It's over... This... This is the boss's room..." The weird corpse's voice trembled with despair.
They couldn't even imagine the terrifying reaction their boss would have upon returning to find his home in such a state.
Normally, they didn't dare set foot inside Room 302, not even to report. They stood at the door, careful not to let so much as a speck of dust sully their boss's private space.
"You useless trash!" The butcher suddenly erupted, grabbing Lai Cai by the throat and lifting him off the ground. "How the hell did you let them slip past you? Even this damn dog was more alert than all of you!"
"How are we going to hide this from the boss... Now the culprits have escaped. What the hell are we going to do?"
"Don't blame us! You were the ones who rushed off like country bumpkins the moment outsiders showed up. If you hadn't left the fourth building unguarded, none of this would've happened!"
"Oh, so it's my fault now? Who could've guessed those outsiders were after this?!"
"Then whose fault is it?!"
As the bickering escalated, fingers were pointed, and tensions flared, until they were on the verge of coming to blows.
"I suggest we save the infighting for later."
Number Five's cold voice cut through the chaos. "The boss has been gone for a while now. He could return at any moment. If he comes back to find his room still like this, then we're truly finished."
His words carried undeniable weight, dousing the heated atmosphere like a bucket of ice water.
They all knew the stakes, surviving under the Devil King's rule meant understanding priorities. Without another word, they fell into a silent, coordinated team.
"Quit standing around! Everyone, come and help!"
Xiao Fu shoved smelling salts under the butler's nose, he was the only one who knew the exact layout of the boss's room and dragged him to his feet.
Had the survivors still been present, the sight would have left them utterly stunned.
Weirds of different ranks, who usually bared their fangs at one another, now worked in harmony, some were restoring furniture, others were scrubbing away traces of the struggle, and others quickly moved the intact glass windows in their homes to replace the broken glass windows.
Their unity surpassed even that of the survivors.
You must understand, even when survivors participate in an operation approved by a unanimous vote, there will always be those who, upon assessing the risks, betray the entire guild midway and withdraw.
This not only severely impacts morale but also indirectly causes the entire mission to spiral out of control.
Witnessing the usually violent weirds working in unison, the Chief Judge felt an immense sense of relief.
Hovering in the air, she reassured them, "There's no need to worry. I personally witnessed the outsider's crimes and collected the evidence, the Central Court has revoked the recently issued city pass. They will no longer have the authority to act freely or enter Ankang Community for a second time."
As the Chief Judge, she only held the power of judgment, not law enforcement.
The law enforcement was the domain of the Holy Flame. That's why, even though she had activated her domain throughout the entire operation, the Chief Judge could only watch coldly, unable to personally carry out punishment.
However, with the evidence now solid, the situation was entirely different.
Revoking the city pass was just the first step. From now on, all actions by the survivors in the ultimate dungeon would be labeled as "stowaway," and Qin Ye was about to earn a spot on the Central Court's most-wanted list, unless he gave back the stolen items and compensated accordingly.
While the weirds were frantically scrambling to fix in the room.
On the other side, all the survivors looked like as if they were struck by lightning.
Because they suddenly received a server-wide announcement:
[The Central Court of Guiyi City has issued a statement: According to Article 23 of Guiyi City's laws, outsiders who seriously violate city regulations shall have their city pass revoked and be subject to deportation.]
[The Central Court has reclaimed the 'Guiyi City Pass.']
[Survivors have lost the privilege to freely roam Guiyi City, including exploring without restrictions during missions and one hour of free exploration per day. Furthermore, future missions may trigger "stowaway" events.]
["Stowaway" event: NPCs will extort random amounts of money if they identify outsiders. Refusal to pay will trigger a random hostile effects and increase hostility value]
One can imagine the uproar caused by this sudden system notification.
"Wait, if I recall correctly, we just obtained the Guiyi City pass yesterday?!"
"Yeah, it hasn't even been that long. How could the Central Court that issued the pass just take it back?"
"Seriously, are they messing with us?"
Back at the Imaginary Fortress teleportation array, Qin Ye immediately realized something was terribly wrong the moment he returned.
There's no such thing as an airtight secret. They had managed to control the situation and prevent news from spreading before the operation, but once it was over, they were powerless.
Moreover, this operation provided plenty for gossip, from the initial miscalculations to the formidable lineup of the weirds in Ankang Community, and now this bombshell about the pass being taken back.
He could only imagine how the rumors would spread.
"An Tao, prepare for crisis public relations," Qin Ye said wearily, rubbing his temples.
As much as he wanted to examine the clues he had found in Zong Le's house, he had to deal with the crisis in front of him first.
......
Meanwhile, the weirds were bustling about in the tiny room.
Fortunately, most of the things Qin Ye took were not important items, like Lai Cai's dog toys, the half-finished cooking experiment Zong Le had abandoned in the oven, and some recently purchased office supplies...
These things could be temporarily replaced with items borrowed from other residents in the community.
At least there are some unimportant things that can be covered up with the help of the butler.
After a thorough inspection, everyone felt there weren't any major issues. Even the dent on the door caused by Qin Ye's collision had been perfectly repaired by the Butcher, leaving no trace behind.
Just as they were nervously checking for anything they missed, a puzzled voice was heard from the door.
"What are you all doing here?"
The weirds: !!!
When did the boss arrive at the door? There wasn't the slightest warning!
They all stiffly turned their heads to see a dark-haired young man standing at the entrance, holding a plastic bag filled with alcohol and beverages.
This was the first time Zong Le saw his room so lively. He even took two steps back to check the doorplate number, and confirming it was indeed 302.
Blinking, his gaze swept between the room full of weirds and the unusually tidy room before suddenly understanding.
"Did you guys move the party here?"
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