Chapter 22: Marching into the Blood-Stained Forbidden Zone!

Page 1 of 3

South of Moonfall Town.
Entrance to the Level 8-10 dungeon, the Crimson Forbidden Zone.
Ye Chen stood there quietly.
Having just reached Level 8, he was now fully equipped with the Level 8 Iron-grade Moon Demon Set.
Compared to the ordinary players nearby who were also preparing for the dungeon, dressed in ragged white-tier gear or lacking complete sets altogether, he stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens.
At the same time, Lin Youwei stood beside Ye Chen, looking somewhat nervous.
Clearly, she was worried about whether their planned joint retaliation with Lu Ming would succeed.
Ye Chen glanced at Lin Youwei, whose face was flushed, and offered a faint smile that suggested he saw through everything.
Feigning ignorance, he reassured her, "Don't be nervous, Youwei. With me here, that piece of trash won't dare to hurt you."
Lin Youwei nodded, not daring to speak.
Before long, a young Array Trickster arrived, dressed in simple, somewhat shabby gear.
This young Array Trickster was none other than Lu Ming!
Lu Ming noticed at a glance that the group of Level 30 bodyguards was still standing watch nearby, so he decided not to act rashly for the moment.
He walked straight up to Ye Chen and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting!"
No sooner had the words left his lips than—
*Swish!*
Without a word, Ye Chen suddenly drew his blade, pressing the sharp dagger directly against Lu Ming’s throat!
His eyes gleamed with a sharp light as he coldly commanded, "Show me your account panel and attribute panel!"
This sudden turn of events left Lin Youwei, standing to the side, horrified.
She thought to herself, "It's over! Ye Chen suspects Brother Netherworld!"
"Brother Netherworld intentionally acted weak in front of Ye Chen before. If Ye Chen sees that his attributes are actually very strong, he'll know that Brother Netherworld was deceiving him!"
"What do I do now!"
Just as Lin Youwei feared their plan with Lu Ming was about to be exposed, Lu Ming calmly opened his account and attribute panels as requested.
Ye Chen took a look and found that the account panel showed a one-star aptitude and a unique talent, [Cooldown Reduction], which reduced the cooldown of all skills by 10%!
Looking at the attribute panel, he saw a Level 10 Array Trickster named "Dawn." Aside from a slightly higher level, his attributes were entirely unremarkable!
Overall, he was a complete weakling.
Ye Chen paused, a flicker of obvious disappointment crossing his eyes.
He thought to himself, "This guy looks just like the masked Array Trickster I saw in that TikTok video who could summon undead warriors. They aren't the same person after all... Could I have been overthinking it?"
Regaining his composure, Ye Chen lowered the dagger, patted Lu Ming on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "My mistake, brother. I mistook you for someone else!"
Lu Ming smiled. "So, can we enter the dungeon now? You promised to carry me through the Epic difficulty."

Page 2 of 3

Ye Chen put away his dagger. "Of course!"
Though she didn't know exactly what had happened, Lin Youwei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, not far away, Tianxuan Shadow and Tianxuan Eternity, who were mingling with the passersby, were both utterly confused.
"What’s going on? This shouldn't be happening!"
Tianxuan Shadow crossed his arms, his face full of suspicion. "Based on my tracking and observations all day, wasn't his goal to act weak in front of Emperor Chen by collaborating with that female Mage, get Emperor Chen to take him into the dungeon, and then finish him off secretly inside?"
"How did a simple change of gear dispel Emperor Chen's suspicion? Could his account aptitude really be one-star??"
Tianxuan Eternity said thoughtfully, "Impossible. For him to possess that level of strength, his account aptitude could never be lower than five-star."
"Then where did it go wrong?" Tianxuan Shadow became increasingly baffled. "And what about him changing his ID? Does he have two accounts?"
Tianxuan Eternity didn't dwell on it as much. "Never mind that for now. The priority is to figure out a way to recruit him into Tianxuan."
Just as Tianxuan Eternity was fretting over this, a pair of fair, small hands suddenly reached from behind and rested on the shoulders of both Tianxuan Shadow and Tianxuan Eternity. "I have a way!"
"Holy crap!" The highly focused Tianxuan Shadow jumped three meters high like a mantis in fright.
Looking closely, he realized it was Qing Yan!
"Geez! Miss Yan, do you know you can scare people to death? You scared the living daylights out of me!" Tianxuan Shadow couldn't help but pat his chest, looking at her with a resentful expression.
Tianxuan Eternity turned his head to look at Qing Yan, his brows slightly furrowed. "What are you doing here?"
Qing Yan stood behind Tianxuan Eternity, her slender hands kneading his shoulders as she gazed at Lu Ming not far ahead. She gave a playful smile. "Brother, do you want me to help you pull Netherworld into our Tianxuan?"
"Don't mess around." Tianxuan Eternity dismissed her, saying casually, "If you really have the ability to do that, I'll add another two hundred to your monthly allowance."
"Deal! You said it!"
As she spoke, Qing Yan, who seemed prepared, took a set of white-tier gear from her bag and replaced her Iron-grade equipment.
Then, she walked straight toward the dungeon entrance, leaving the two men unable to stop her!
Meanwhile, Ye Chen had already created the party.
In addition to himself, a Level 8 Assassin; the Level 9 Mage, Lin Youwei; and the Level 10 Array Trickster, Lu Ming; there were two others: a female Priest named Luo and a male Knight named Sunset.
Both were Level 10 with second-stage promotion strength and were decked out in full Iron-grade Moon Demon sets, their extraordinary power clearly visible.
Ye Chen introduced them to Lu Ming and Lin Youwei: "These two are top-tier experts with three-star aptitude accounts that my brother-in-law specifically found for me in the capital! Including myself, who is also a two-star aptitude expert, there's no problem clearing the Epic difficulty, even if you two have weaker aptitudes!"
Brother-in-law?
Heh.
How affectionate.
In his previous life, Lu Ming had dated Ye Ling'er for three years and had been completely devoted to their family, yet he had never heard Ye Chen call him brother-in-law; he had always addressed him by his full name.
He had only been dead for a few days, and Ye Chen was already calling someone else brother-in-law so naturally?
Ye Chen, recalling the scene of Lu Ming pestering Lin Youwei earlier that morning, felt a flash of killing intent in his eyes: "With your pathetic self, you dare to touch my woman? Once we’re inside the dungeon, I’ll make you pay the price!"

Page 3 of 3

Just as the five were about to enter the dungeon, someone suddenly ran up from behind and grabbed Lu Ming: "Oh, so this is how it is! We paid the money together, yet you secretly came to run the Crimson Forbidden Zone dungeon without calling me!"
Lu Ming frowned as he looked at the sudden arrival of Qing Yan.
At this moment, Ye Chen asked, "And who are you?"
Qing Yan crossed her arms, looking self-righteous. "I'm a good friend of Dawn. We both paid money to Lin Youwei's brother to have him take us through this dungeon!"
Hearing this, Lu Ming was stunned for a moment.
Fine!
Someone even better at acting than him had arrived!
"I don't care, you have to take me with you!" Qing Yan's ability to throw a tantrum didn't look like an act at all.
Ye Chen sized Qing Yan up.
He noticed she was Level 10, and although her gear was white-tier, it was complete, so her strength should be decent.
"Youwei is just a dead weight inside. If I swap her for this more capable one, maybe we could attempt the Legendary difficulty and increase the dungeon rewards! After we clear it, I'll just kill them both!"
Thinking this, Ye Chen said to Lin Youwei, "Youwei, why don't I find another party to take you? Let me resolve your brother's matter first and run these two through the dungeon."
Lin Youwei didn't know what to do, so she just nodded. "Alright."
Thus, Ye Chen kicked Lin Youwei out of the party and pulled Qing Yan in.
Worried about exposing himself, Lu Ming said nothing.
Following that, the group of five officially stepped into the [Crimson Forbidden Zone] dungeon.
Not far away, seeing this, Tianxuan Shadow was horrified. "Damn it! Why did your sister go in? Isn't that like a lamb entering a tiger's den?"
Tianxuan Eternity, as Qing Yan's older brother, was not as worried. "With Netherworld there, it should be fine."
On the other side.
*Whoosh!*
Passing through the light curtain, Lu Ming, Ye Chen, Qing Yan, Luo, and Sunset appeared in an old city district.
Dilapidated, crumbling buildings;
Animal and human remains scattered everywhere;
Blood-stained ground and a crimson sky;
Everywhere displayed an apocalyptic aura of death!
At this moment, a system notification descended from above—
[Ding~ Welcome to the Crimson Forbidden Zone dungeon. The current dungeon difficulty is Normal. Please find the Forbidden Item within sixty minutes. Failure to obtain the item within the time limit will result in a failed challenge, and no rewards will be granted!]
[Ding~ The challenge has officially begun!]