Weak in affinity talent? Female ghosts are eager to give hints.

"Fuck you! Fuck you!"

Is it really pitch black inside?

"Fuck squid—"

Behind Gate 1.

From the moment Bill walked in, he was surrounded by darkness. His corridor was pitch black, and the hanging LCD screens never lit up...

I tried shouting into the long corridor inside, but there was no echo.

Bill could only muster his courage and hop forward while cursing.

"Sizzle—"

"Sizzle sizzle—"

Suddenly!

As I passed the hanging LCD screen, a beam of light appeared on it, and a fleeting image of a woman in a kimono with a terrified expression flashed by!

"A generous gift of crab!"

"What does that mean?! What does it mean at all?!"

"I just got here and you put a cherry blossom woman in my outfit? You think I'm a woman?! Or do you think I'm going to get a sex change?!"

Bill's face grew increasingly furious as he watched the scene on the screen!

He's not stupid.

Earlier in the waiting hall, looking at the images of An Lan and the other two, he thought of a possibility: those photos might be memories of An Lan and the others from the future!

But what about my own future?

The photo shows a woman with cherry blossoms?

What's wrong?

Was I traumatized afterward?

Did plastic surgery, gender reassignment, or cutting-edge technology turn him into that?

Isn't this ridiculous?

His mother opened the door for him—it's outrageous!

"Fuck you! Fuck you!!!"

The curses gradually echoed in the darkness. Just as Bill crashed into the end of the corridor with a "thud"... a huge black sphere appeared overhead and enveloped Bill!

"Gurgle—"

The black sphere, filled with liquid, was about the size of a beanbag chair and two meters tall. Soft and malleable like a pinball, it slammed into Bill's face and then suddenly sank, sucking him into its interior!

"Gurgle—"

It felt like he was inside a slime's body. A colorless, odorless, viscous liquid emanated from within the sphere. Bill kept blowing bubbles and cursing under his breath, his one leg kicking and thrashing in the liquid, but he couldn't jump out of the sphere no matter what he did...

"Well!"

"Well--"

until!

He suffocated completely inside the sphere.

In the darkness... in the unfathomable darkness, Bill stared wide-eyed, never imagining that he would die so pathetically.

The [Copy] talent obtained through [plunder] is completely meaningless at this point!

Having only one leg is a weakness among weaknesses.

"I...I..."

"Gurgle—"

Just as he breathed his last, his azure eyes began to turn pitch black! He slowly absorbed the liquid inside the sphere. Bill's face gradually went blank, then the sphere exploded with a "boom," leaving him standing on one leg in the darkness, letting out a strange laugh...

"Hehehe—"

"You hopeless idiot..."

"Then let me help you steal their 'future'!"

"Thump—"

"Thump—"

"Thump—"

With each step and leap, Bill's face slowly went from contorted to calm, and finally returned to arrogance.

"Creak—"

He returned to Gate 1, and the door opened by itself inexplicably. No transfer card fell from the sky, and he simply hopped out the door and appeared in Anlan and Mekalin's sight!

"Um?"

"You came out first?"

An Lan was somewhat surprised.

Based on the analysis of the "Future" battle, Bill's "Future" should be quite powerful, right?

How could he have come out before Menloka?

"What? A Chinese kid? You look down on me? You think... I can't see through the loopholes in this level?"

Bill glared at An Lan with disdain. An Lan shrugged, not thinking much of it. The three of them stood in a row and continued to wait for Menloka at Gate 2.

but...

At the same time!

From the United Nations' broadcast perspective, a sudden announcement rang out on the live stream from the United States: "[Bill, a participant in the United States instance, has initiated a special faction quest!]"

Mission: Future Raiders

[The Predator of the Future: A person with no future who attempts to seize the future of others to achieve his own. From now on, Bill will receive varying degrees of reward for every person he kills!]

[Kill one person to complete this dungeon. Bill can then choose to return to his original world immediately!]

[Bill recovered from his injuries after killing two people and gained an S-rank dungeon skill!]

[Bill recovered from his injuries after killing everyone, and his physical attributes were enhanced, granting him an SS-rank dungeon skill!]

Boom!!!

The end of those words was like a thunderbolt, and the American comments section in the live stream exploded!

[Free America, Gunfights Every Day: Wardfa? What the heck? Does this mean Bill went from being a contestant to a "troublemaker"? You can win as long as you harm others?]

[The stern farmer: No wonder the screen went black! I guess I made a dark choice!]

[Long live Amerik: Does Bill have no future? No wonder I said there was no image of him on display! So what is he now? Possessed by his own hopeless self?]

【...】

Confused and exaggerated comments kept floating around...

Interestingly, the bullet comments in the United States seem to be deliberately hidden now, no longer appearing in the public eye.

The live stream chat was filled with comments in other languages, with people discussing the topic in small groups.

[Huh? Why is the screen in the US still black?]

[Hey! Bill's here too! Why is the screen black?]

[Could it be that Bill has turned to the dark side? He's not the same Bill anymore? That's why we don't have his perspective anymore?]

【...】

The chat was filled with speculative comments, and both An Lan and her two companions at the scene, as well as the hundreds of millions of viewers in the live stream, were all staring intently at the direction of Gate 2...

......

Inside Gate 2!

"snort--"

"Are you going to rely on someone else for the rest of your life?!"

"Sizzle—"

A burst of steam exploded beside his ear, and Menloka's cheek skin twitched and burned. Almost instinctively, he covered his face with his arms, and then a cloud of blood mist rushed towards him, and the thin figure appeared in an instant!

With a thunderous punch, Menloka's arms were dented, and he was sent flying more than ten meters away from the "Golden Palace"!

but!

Before he could fly far, another cloud of blood mist exploded!

"Get stronger!"

"Get stronger!!!"

"You still have a long way to go!"

"BOOM!!!"

This time it was his back. Blood mist surged and appeared, and the monster, radiating heat, grabbed Menloka by the back of the head!

"Sizzle—"

Under the terrifyingly high temperature, Menloka's hair, along with his scalp, fell off rapidly. After the smell of blood and burning flesh filled the air, Menloka clenched his teeth!

"Holy crap!!!"

"You monster!!!"

With a "boom," he punched the monster in the face, not to be outdone.

"Hehehe—"

A fist-sized dent quickly appeared on the strange man's face, but he neither dodged nor avoided it. His body surged with even greater blood mist, tearing away the flesh and blood from Menloka's burning fist, revealing layers of white bone beneath...

"Ah!!! You monster!!!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The fist pounded into the monster's head, causing it to droop. The monster merely grinned grotesquely, and a cloud of blood completely enveloped Menloka: "Soon...soon...almost there..."

"You! If you keep relying on others... what will become of you..."

The strange man's voice inexplicably became gentler, but the blood mist hadn't diminished at all!

The sizzling smoke continued, and Menloka's back was burned through, exposing his waist bone...

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

"..."

Menloka's eyes gradually became vacant...

......

At the same time.

Outside Gate 2, An Lan frowned, then suddenly looked at Bill: "Hey! Try activating [Golden Hero]! See if you can get Menloka out directly!"

"If this drags on any longer, I reckon he won't be able to hold on!"

"Um?"

"You Chinese kid! Are you ordering me around?!"

Bill frowned in annoyance, while An Lan shrugged dismissively, staring at him: "Don't you want one more person to live? According to your logic, one more person means one more henchman for protection, right?"

"Let's get started! Stop talking nonsense!"

An undeniable urging voice came, and even Mikalin stared straight at Bill.

Bill's eyes gleamed.

Should we save them?

He didn't actually want to save them!

Can...

If I don't save them, An Lan will definitely suspect my identity!

Given Bill's previous personality and profit-driven mindset, he would definitely have saved Menloka to prepare for future crises. After all, with [Plunder] available, Menloka was just a testing ground!

How could Bill not want to make a mistake?

If we don't save them now... Bill, given his position, won't be able to sit still!

"Damn it..."

"For the sake of a better future... let's save him this once..."

"[Gold]...[Hero]!!!"

Despite shouting "Golden Hero," Bill had no golden aura flashing around him. The moment he pounded on Door 2, the door actually... creaked open?!

"Why?"

"He passed?"

"It seems... I don't need to take action!"

Bill said sullenly, casually pushing open the door.

An Lan and Mei Kalin didn't suspect anything and looked inside.

"Sizzle—"

"Sizzle..."

Inside the inner room, the "blood mist monster's" form slowly dissipated, then inexplicably began to fill up again. In the darkness, Menloka watched in astonishment as the monster slowly transformed into himself...

"Menloka...becomes stronger...through his own efforts!"

This was a sentence from the future to himself. Menloka stared blankly as "himself" disappeared, and a transfer card appeared in front of him.

He was still a little dazed when he heard urging voices behind him.

"Hello!"

"Hey big guy, hurry up!"

"It took you so long to figure out the 'future'? You can't do that either!"

Bill's shouts continued. Menloka turned around, pointing at himself in astonishment: "I took care of [the future]? Me?! No, it wasn't me! He just opened the door... and..."

"Let's go!"

"So slow and indecisive!"

Before Menloka could finish speaking, Bill interrupted him again.

Seeing that the three people outside the door were looking at him, Menloka scratched the back of his head, which was healing, and slowly walked out of [Door 2].

"This time... everyone was unharmed?"

"If things can stay this way, maybe seven stations... won't be such a problem..."

The four walked side by side on the way back. Bill spoke casually, and a hint of relief and comfort inevitably flickered in the eyes of the others.

Yes!

If we can keep going like this, maybe we can actually get through the remaining stops?

The train is about to depart...

[Next stop, a fictional station!]

Estimated travel time: 2 hours!

The station loudspeaker sounded, and the four of them returned to the carriage. Looking out the window at the receding scenery, their expressions softened for once, and they each began to rest...

......

At the same time.

[Peppa Pig: Holy crap? Is this a bonus level? If I can pass all of them, seeing future memories is actually pretty good, right? Didn't you guys fantasize about seeing what you'd be like when you were kids?]

[Yuncheng Bruce: Absolutely! When I was little, I thought I'd be awesome, but now I realize I was overthinking it! If I could see myself eating instant noodles in the future, I'd probably wake up and study even harder!]

[Luzhou Eaves Ancestor: Upstairs, you're overthinking it! The future is already set. Even if you see it, you can't change it. But this hurdle isn't that difficult after all—]

[Keep going! SS-rank dungeon, maybe we can clear it!]

[Four stages left?! Almost there! If we can really succeed, this will be the SS-rank dungeon... with the most players clearing it ever, right?]

【...】

The comments section was buzzing with excitement.

This is the first time that everyone has passed through a train station without any injuries.

Can!

What they failed to notice was the unusually rebellious nature of the comments section in the United States.

[The stern rancher: Holy crap! This substitute is pretty shrewd—deliberately letting Menloka out, which is typical of Bill's style, then blending into the crowd and waiting for the right moment to strike?]

[Free America, gunfights every day: If you ask me, if I hadn't rescued them just now, we would have already won the first round!]

[Long Live America: Upstairs! That's narrow-minded! If you can take out everyone, temporarily ignoring Menloka is actually insignificant!]

[Great! With this weird backing, I can't think of how I could possibly lose!]

[Crush all other countries! We, the beautiful nation, will be the rulers of this planet!!!]

【...】