Where's the cute girl we were promised? She's completely wiped out S-rank dungeons!

If Fu Zhengyang hadn't sworn beforehand to kill the two of them in the game in the most brutal way, and hadn't held back when he was stabbing Qiao Ran, Qiao Ran, who is so fragile, would have been drained of all her health in just a few seconds.

Xu Jian turned pale with fright, hesitated before standing up, and only realized a few seconds later that Fu Zhengyang was also there.

They had clearly agreed to search separately in pairs. Fu Zhengyang was heading in the exact opposite direction, so how did he suddenly appear here?!

This was something Qiao Ran hadn't expected. Like He Xiao, Fu Zhengyang was also a very arrogant person. At their level, they generally didn't consider players below A-rank a threat. Why would he be acting with Xu Jian?

This time, Qiao Ran vomited real blood. He tried his best to grip the whip wrapped around his neck with both hands—after all, the neck is such an important place, and if you are not careful, your carotid artery will be severed. The pain made him want to faint. Dark red blood dripped down his elbows, and the system indicated that his health was dropping rapidly.

"The...the president?!"

"Xu Jian, what were you doing just now?"

Fu Zhengyang, however, did not seem angry at being betrayed by his subordinate. He reached out and touched Qiao Ran, pulled out the poison ingredients and stuffed them into his pocket. He cracked his whip and tossed Qiao Ran aside like trash, then grabbed Xu Jian by the neck and lifted him up.

Xu Jian was caught off guard by Fu Zhengyang. When the cold barbs touched his warm skin, he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, thinking that no matter what, Fu Zhengyang was just punishing him, as long as he wasn't killed...

"Pfft!"

Unlike the fragile Le Qiaoran, this time the barb pierced his flesh solidly. Blood gushed from his throat instantly, and even his eyeballs bulged out from their sockets due to the immense pressure.

Xu Jian vomited a large amount of bright red blood, and for a moment he truly had the illusion of teetering on the edge of life. His life force plummeted, and he was suspended in mid-air, strangled, staring at Fu Zhengyang with an utterly horrified expression, forgetting even to apologize.

"Pshaw! The...cough cough, the student council president?!"

Qiao Ran lay on the ground for a while before recovering. She struggled to sit up, moved to the carpet in front of the room door, and reached in to grope for something.

Fu Zhengyang didn't even notice him. His tone was completely calm, without any fluctuation. Not only did he not stop, but the whip continued to tighten, like a serpent about to strangle its prey.

"I knew you'd do this. I told you your so-called 'morality' would ruin everything sooner or later. Look at yourself, what have you just done? Are you going to be fooled by the sweet talk of such a low-level player?"

"Forget it, the guild has already discussed it internally. We don't need a player like you who disobeys orders. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had me bring you out before the PK tournament even started."

There's a secret Fu Zhengyang has never publicly announced: his weapon upgrades are different from regular players'. He doesn't rely on game experience, but rather on killing other players to absorb their lifesteal and increase his strength.

For an S-rank player like Xu Jian, once he's completely drained, his weapon should be able to reach S+ rank.

This big oaf thought he was showing him respect by bringing him into this instance, but he was just one of the life support items on his path to advancement.

"Click—"

Fu Zhengyang heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and then noticed Qiao Ran standing to the side. When he turned around, Qiao Ran had already rushed out, carrying a small jar in one hand. A system notification sounded:

As night falls, in order to concoct the love potion as soon as possible and gain their husbands' eternal love, the wives of Love Apartment are diligently cleaning their rooms to gather the ingredients, each drop of sweat bringing its reward.

[But there's one player! Refusing to work for themselves, they choose to plunder the fruits of NPCs' labor to achieve their final goal. That's not good!]

Player "Qiao Ran" has unlocked a new monster, "The Wrathful Housewife." This will put the player in a situation where they are chased by all the "Wrathful Housewives" in the entire building. The remaining players can join the chase. If they successfully retrieve the materials, they will receive +1 Hope Point. Hope Points can offset Disappointment Points, so please help out!

Fu Zhengyang gave him a crazy look. What was going on? This guy was about to die and still dared to offend the monsters in the dungeon. But the next second he knew Qiao Ran's intention. A rumbling sound came from downstairs. The doors on this floor were pushed open one after another, and countless monsters poured out of the stairwell.

Qiao Ran clutched her bleeding throat and managed to speak with difficulty:

"Fight back! Are you going to wait to die? Come here and run to the rooftop!"

At the same time, a flash of snow-white light appeared: Xu Jian only realized that Fu Zhengyang really wanted to kill him when his life force was critically low, and with all his might, he slashed at the long black whip with barbs:

His twin swords were also S-grade weapons, and the whip, as if alive, released him in pain. To Fu Zhengyang's disbelief, Qiao Ran tossed a small, transparent cube-shaped box at him:

[Ding~ Player "Qiao Ran" has used the special item Crystal Barrier, which ignores level-based attacks for three seconds, and then automatically shatters after three seconds~]

"Xu Jian—!!!"