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

Qiao Ran said urgently, "No! My skill duration can be split up, it's not continuous. You should conserve your stamina and save it for when you face Fu Zhengyang later."

The skill duration can be broken down into smaller segments, meaning the thirty seconds can be divided into many smaller segments, and the skill will only start cooling down once all thirty seconds have been used. If that's the case, then locking this man-eating imp in the server room would only use it for three to five seconds at most, without consuming all thirty seconds.

Song Yuan thought it was feasible and nodded in agreement: "Okay, hold on tight to me so you don't fall. You'll be dead if you get bitten."

The man-eating imp chased them for a long time, and several times it almost bit their flesh; but without exception, Song Yuan blocked it with her long knife. It jumped around in a rage, but fortunately it wasn't smart enough, and was soon led to the computer room by the two.

The server room was built on the rooftop, surrounded by eight walls, with no windows. Song Yuan put Qiao Ran down and took out the "Master Key," an item Qiao Ran had once given her. After completing the [Mountain Village Corpse] dungeon, Qiao Ran had acquired some upgrade materials and upgraded this D-grade item to C-grade. Song Yuan tapped the key against the lock, and the door opened.

The rooftop was open, with nothing to hold onto. Once on the rooftop, the cannibalistic little devil was like a fish out of water, its eyes revealing a naive, innocent foolishness. Qiao Ran stood in front of the server room, smiling and waving at it, then spreading his palms in a welcoming gesture towards the server room.

"Go in."

Players can equip items to prevent mental attacks, but NPCs are completely defenseless against Qiao Ran's skill. Without a second's hesitation, the little imp leaped inside. Song Yuan slammed the door shut behind it, and Qiao Ran promptly paused his skill.

The whole process took three seconds.

The cannibalistic little devil, trapped in the server room, only realized what had happened belatedly. Like a fly trapped in a glass jar, it frantically scurried around in the cramped space.

"Wow, that's fierce."

Qiao Ran put her ear to it and listened. The computer room was well soundproofed, and she could vaguely hear it crashing against the computer room wall, howling in pain, and then starting to crash into it again after a moment of silence.

"It can't be trapped here for long," Song Yuan said, leading Qiao Ran and cutting down ordinary imps as they rushed towards where Xu Jian and An Xiaomei were. "I can tell that even in a confined space, it's still constantly leveling up. As its attack power increases, even the thickest walls won't be able to stop it."

Qiao Ran exclaimed in surprise, "No way? Those injuries were all inflicted by it... well, we were indirectly responsible for them too."

"So we must complete the clearance conditions as soon as possible tonight. If we can't find Fu Zhengyang soon...!"

Just as Song Yuan was about to sort out her plan, the long sword in her hand suddenly felt lighter; her pupils contracted as she looked at her right hand—it was empty. The sword Xu Jian had given her was gone, leaving only tattered strips of cloth torn from the female monster's body.

Qiao Ran noticed something was off about her tone and looked over as well, his expression turning serious: when a player dies, the effect of their talent will also be canceled.

For example, players with shapeshifting abilities will revert to their original form after death.

Players with the Golden Body talent will no longer be immune to any damage after death.

The knife Xu Jian was holding for her suddenly disappeared. Could this mean...?

On the other side, after Song Yuan and Qiao Ran left:

Xu Jian and An Xiaomei fought off the little devils while slowly moving towards Wang Daqiang's corpse. Since An Xiaomei was not strong enough to move Wang Daqiang now, she took the initiative to deal with the little devils, giving Xu Jian time to take stock of the available weapons and tools.

The kid is fragile, but once he starts fighting, it never ends and he gets incredibly annoying. An Xiaomei, panting heavily, turned to Xu Jian and asked:

"How is it?! What's usable inside?"

"He doesn't have the necessary tools; otherwise, he wouldn't be in this predicament. He does have a set of poison ingredients, so all four are complete!"

An Xiaoyou was so angry that she cursed and swore:

"*Isn't this just a penniless wretch? He acted so arrogant in front of me, but he doesn't have anything of value in his pocket."

Indeed, although Wang Daqiang was a minor leader in the Crystal Guild, he was not valued by the puppeteers, and therefore had fewer useful items than Qiao Ran, the once favored defector.

The more Xu Jian searched, the more uneasy he felt. He didn't pity Wang Daqiang; he just felt a deep sadness. This was something someone of Fu Zhengyang's high status could never understand. Although he was being groomed as a star member by the guild, his props and weapons were considered internal resources and not to be kept privately. He had done countless things against his conscience, and yet Fu Zhengyang still wanted to kill him.

"Huh... what is this thing?"

When Xu Jian searched Wang Daqiang, he found a strange rectangular piece of paper under his body.

The paper was soaked in pus and blood, making it impossible to read what was written on it. Xu Jian carefully tried to pick it up:

"Is this thing also a prop? Can it still be used after being soaked like this?"

The softenable card could no longer withstand any stimulation and split in two:

[Ding~ Your special item "Swap Card" has been activated. Remember to give us a five-star review!]

The card, along with Wang Daqiang's corpse, suddenly vanished before their eyes without warning. Xu Jian felt a chill run down his spine. In that critical moment, the instinct for survival overcame his reflexes, and before Fu Zhengyang's whip could wrap around his neck, he raised his twin knives, barely managing to block the attack.

Fu Zhengyang looked down at him, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Ha, two traitors! Why are there only you two? Where are Song Yuan and Qiao Ran?"

Things sometimes take unexpected turns. Wang Daqiang still managed to complete Fu Zhengyang's final order, finding them and using a swap card to bring Fu Zhengyang to their side.

As Fu Zhengyang spoke, the whip tip suddenly extended, lashing out at An Xiaoyou, who was standing to the side. An Xiaoyou had no choice but to use her skill, Harden, to block it with a claw; she lowered her head, blowing on her nails, which were as hot as burning coals from the intense friction, and rolled her eyes at Fu Zhengyang:

"Old dog! Watch your tone... Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you only wearing your shorts on one side? Are your socks and shoes a matching set? Don't you always like wearing a suit and acting all high and mighty? Why are you suddenly so unrefined?"

Fu Zhengyang's face turned from black to purple, then from purple to green, after being mocked like that. He was an extremely image-conscious person, and after his leg was bitten off by the monster, he tried his best to dress presentably. He turned the house upside down, but couldn't find his suit trousers. He only found a pair of green and purple floral shorts with pink stars, and a pair of brown leather shoes that didn't match his black leather shoes at all.

Brown leather shoes are fine, they're barely wearable. But I can't exactly let him go out in floral shorts, can I?!

So he walked out of the house wearing these two asymmetrical shoes, with one trouser leg empty.

"Shut up! Who gives you the right to speak here!?"