Thud—

Click—

Along with a body collapsing came a heavy footstep.

In an instant, everyone from the Mutual Aid Group deep in the corridor froze in place, tense and rigid.

Especially Bai Ruowan, who had just arrived—her legs went weak and she nearly collapsed!

She almost screamed.

But extreme fear rendered her completely voiceless.

With wide, terrified eyes, she stiffly turned her head.

And then she saw—

The one lying on the ground was… You Ziyu!

And behind him stood… a skeleton warrior with a body like steel!

Wait, what?!

Skeleton… warrior??!

Bai Ruowan whipped her head toward Wang Lingling!

No—

The moment everyone laid eyes on the skeleton warrior, they all turned to look at Wang Lingling in shock.

Their eyes brimmed with subtle fear!

After all…

That skeleton warrior must have come from one of Wang Lingling’s dark-type abilities!

But back when they were leveling up as a team, she had never shown this!

Even just using 【Black Whirlwind】 paired with high attributes had already made her one of the strongest in the Mutual Aid Group!

And now…

Just as Lu Shen said—she’d clearly been hiding her strength!

But then…

Why did she suddenly kill someone?!

Just because Lu Shen exposed her hidden power?!

In an instant, many people backed away in fear.

As if worried Wang Lingling might strike again any second!

But…

Though Lu Shen stood stiff and tense, he actually still had the guts to speak up:

“So this is the ‘more important matter’ you mentioned?”

Wang Lingling’s gaze was calm as she slowly nodded.

Lu Shen’s eyes flickered as he turned to the others in the group, deliberately putting on a relaxed tone:

“Actually, I’d also suspected You Ziyu before, but I kept quiet out of consideration for our classmates' bond.”

“Didn’t any of you find it odd?”

“The registry for our Mutual Aid Group was managed by You Ziyu.”

“But now that the registry is in Xing Man’s hands, You Ziyu’s totally unharmed…”

“Did none of you ever suspect anything?”

As soon as he said this, realization dawned on the others—

That’s right!

The registry ended up with Xing Man, yet You Ziyu didn’t get hurt at all?

With his strength, how could he possibly escape from Xing Man?

And how did Xing Man even know about the registry in the first place?

So…

Was it betrayal by You Ziyu?

Or maybe not?

Wang Lingling hadn’t asked a single question before striking him dead!

What if… she killed the wrong guy?

What if he was actually innocent?

And…

Bai Ruowan, who had just joined, was now terrified.

She was scared Wang Lingling might strike again—maybe even kill her next!

Then claim afterward that she was also suspected of being Xing Man’s mole!

Bai Ruowan took two steps back.

Just a moment ago, she had been sobbing at the sight of Wang Lingling like she’d found family.

Now, as she looked at her again, she suddenly seemed like a stranger…

Like someone who was no longer her classmate but a…

Tyrant?

Yes! That was the word that popped into Bai Ruowan’s mind.

Not because Wang Lingling actually exuded some domineering, warlord aura.

But because Bai Ruowan remembered a piece of history—

The falling-out between Cao Cao and Chen Gong.

Even to this day, people still debated—

Was Lü Boshe truly an innocent man wrongly killed by the paranoid Cao Cao?

Or was he guilty and simply romanticized by history?

And now…

You Ziyu was dead.

There was no way for her to know anymore—

Had he really betrayed them, or was he unjustly executed by Wang Lingling…

But his death, and the power Wang Lingling had kept hidden, seemed to scream—

Wang Lingling hadn’t formed the Mutual Aid Group out of some bleeding-heart need to protect her classmates.

Just like Lord Cao claiming he loved talent didn’t mean he truly did.

Behind the scenes—it was all about interests.

Bai Ruowan didn’t dare retreat another step after those two.

She swallowed hard, her eyes frozen.

Lu Shen cast her a brief glance, then turned back toward the Mutual Aid Group:

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what Sister Ling did.”

“How the registry ended up with Xing Man was suspicious to begin with.”

“If You Ziyu was suspicious, then he died without injustice.”

“Compare that to Ge Zining and Yang Wei…”

“They did nothing wrong—yet they were killed by Xing Man!”

“If even a strong player like Sister Ling gets questioned for taking out a traitor…”

“Then what—do you want all the powerful people in this doomsday world to be like Xing Man?

Killing people at will, without needing a reason?”

All of this—sophistry, really.

But the members of the Mutual Aid Group understood what he meant.

It was simple:

Xing Man kills without reason.

Wang Lingling had a reason.

Then that just means she’s stronger than Xing Man!

In fact, with her power, she could’ve gone on a killing spree just like Xing Man.

But she didn’t—that alone says a lot.

The moral standards of the past…

In this Doomsday Apartment, they can only restrain the weak, not shackle the strong!

Now, whether or not You Ziyu actually betrayed them, he’s a traitor.

Because Wang Lingling decided he was.

Maybe this was an upgraded version of calling a deer a horse.

The difference was—none of them could even tell if You Ziyu was the deer or the horse.

Xu Yuewan glanced at the pale-faced Bai Ruowan, then at Lu Shen, and intentionally praised:

“Lu-shen really lives up to the name. I can’t believe I didn’t suspect You Ziyu before.”

Gao Chang glanced at the steel-gray skeleton warrior with its cold, intimidating aura, pursed his lips slightly, then nodded.

“At the time, all my focus was on that arrogant Xing Man. I didn’t even think about You Ziyu being suspicious.”

Other members of the Mutual Aid Group chimed in one after another:

“Yeah, Xing Man had us scared sh*tless back then—who had time to worry about You Ziyu?”

“Looking back now, if You Ziyu had died the moment the registry ended up in Xing Man’s hands, that would’ve made more sense, right?”

“If he survived, then something’s definitely off!”

Bai Ruowan, watching all this unfold, wasn’t even surprised anymore.

She forced herself to stay on her feet and took two steps forward, her voice soft and timid as she echoed:

“Right, Lu-shen’s deductions are always spot-on. Sounds like You Ziyu really was suspicious…”

But right after she spoke, she noticed Wang Lingling staring straight at her.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she almost started crying again!

Because—if just being suspicious is enough reason to kill someone…

Then anyone could be accused of anything at any time!

She was supposed to have been killed by Xing Man in her room.

But somehow, she was here instead…

Isn’t that suspicious too?

The hope Bai Ruowan felt upon finding the group was instantly crushed by despair!

She quickly looked toward Lu Shen.

She and Lu Shen had joined the Mutual Aid Group together!

She hoped he’d speak up for her…

But—

To her shock—

Lu Shen was clearly watching Wang Lingling for cues and had no intention of helping her.

Instead, it was Wang Lingling who suddenly shifted her gaze away from Bai Ruowan and said solemnly to the group:

“We posted about our monster hunt on the 3rd floor in the group chat. So all our classmates should know.”

“I don’t believe any of our classmates are so loyal they’d keep that a secret under torture.”

And it was true.

Their classmates were probably the kind to spill everything with just a blade waved near their face…

“So, if Bai Ruowan could find this place, Xing Man probably can too.”

“That means we need to move quickly.”

Since Wang Lingling said it was time to relocate, no one dared object.

But Lu Shen, ever the schemer, rolled his eyes around and lowered his voice:

“If we can feed Xing Man false intel while relocating… all the better.”

“Lead him straight to the spot where we’ll ambush him.”

That was actually a solid idea.

But how would they do it?

“We can leave a message here, pretend it’s for any other classmates in the Mutual Aid Group who might show up.”

“But in reality, it’s meant for Xing Man.”

“When he finds this place and sees the ‘message for our classmates,’ he’ll follow the clues and track us down.”

Lu Shen laid out the whole thing in one go.

The others weren’t so sure though: “You think that’ll work?”

This kind of cunning trap—

They’d only seen stuff like this in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Could they really predict someone’s actions and lead an enemy into a trap in real life?

Xu Yuewan, being a top student, stepped forward to support Lu Shen:

“From what I know, Xing Man’s not exactly a genius.”

“In Three Kingdoms terms, he’s worse than Lü Bu.”

“He’s arrogant now only because he lucked into some strong abilities.”

“Like a nouveau riche—someone who gets a little power and immediately loses it.”

“The way he acts in the chat group, talking like he’s going door to door to slaughter people…”

“If he keeps running into empty rooms, he’s bound to get pissed!”

“He’ll want to know where those classmates he missed went.”

“After that, he’ll just torture someone until they point him to the third floor.”

“Then he gets here and finds nothing—he’ll be even more pissed!”

“Once he finds the note we left for the Mutual Aid Group, he’ll go from rage to excitement and rush to kill us!”

“With that bloated ego of his, it won’t even cross his mind that we’d dare ambush him!”

“So yeah, this plan could really work.”

“The only issue is… will that pea brain of his even find the message we leave?”

“It’d be great if we could plant a traitor on his side as a spy…”

As Xu Yuewan analyzed and pondered out loud, there was a glint of excitement in her eyes.

Clearly, this kind of scheme-filled drama scenario thrilled her.

Wang Lingling seemed willing to try Lu Shen and Xu Yuewan’s plan.

However…

After a moment of thought, she slowly added:

“This method could work, but the problem is—it’s too passive!”

“We have to wait on Xing Man to act.”

“Wait for him to torture someone and learn about the third floor, then wait for him to find the planted message…”

“All we can do is wait. The initiative remains in Xing Man’s hands.”

“We have no idea when he’ll interrogate someone and head to the third floor.”

That was true…

The others went silent again.

Then Wang Lingling suddenly said, “Actually, I want to protect Jiang Ye.”

At that, everyone turned to her in surprise.

They all looked at her, stunned.

Wang Lingling didn’t explain much more, but instead turned her gaze back to Bai Ruowan.

Bai Ruowan, who had already been scared senseless, instantly went pale again under her stare.

She used to think Wang Lingling was just her classmate.

Now she felt—

Wang Lingling was someone in power.

She could barely bring herself to call her “Sister Ling” anymore—what she really wanted to shout was “Boss!”

Thankfully, the boss didn’t seem interested in killing her. Instead, she asked,

“I remember you like Three Kingdoms, so you’ve probably heard of the ruse of self-injury, right?”

Bai Ruowan instantly understood, “I—I’m supposed to be Huang Gai?”

But Wang Lingling shook her head. “No need to go through that much suffering.”

“You don’t even have to risk your life running to Xing Man to act.”

“Your mental resilience is poor, your acting skills aren’t great either—most likely you’d get exposed on the spot.”

Bai: QAQ

“S-So, what do I do then…”

Wang Lingling stayed calm, giving clear, orderly instructions:

“Just now, You Ziyu died. Based on the chat group’s member list, the other classmates will definitely have noticed.”

“It’s only because of the current tense situation that no one dares to speak in the group, and it hasn’t caused a stir.”

“But you can post in the group. Accuse me.”

“Say I suspected You Ziyu of betrayal and killed him.”

“Now I suspect you too and am about to kill you.”

“You can act more desperate, make your messages in the group come off frantic and incoherent.”

“Then, through your panicked and chaotic rambling, leak some information to Xing Man.”

Uh…

That really was a faster way than waiting around for Xing Man to stumble across them.

And if it worked, he might even put off his plan to go to the 20th floor and look for Jiang Ye.

There was a real chance they could protect Jiang Ye.

On top of that, Bai Ruowan could frame it so the Mutual Aid Group looked like it was breaking down from internal suspicion and infighting.

That would definitely lower Xing Man’s guard!

Lu Shen and Xu Yuewan exchanged a look—they both agreed this was a good move.

But they still needed to prepare.

They had things to get ready, but Bai Ruowan’s “betrayal” needed to happen immediately.

Otherwise, if she only turned on Wang Lingling long after You Ziyu’s death, it would seem too fake.

So…

While Wang Lingling and the others moved quickly to prepare,

Bai Ruowan began her performance in the group chat.

Still sulking from being told her acting sucked, she was fired up to prove herself.

She swore this performance was going to shock everyone!

Meanwhile, Jiang Ye had no idea what the Mutual Aid Group was up to.

He was still waiting quietly in Room 2025 for Xing Man’s arrival.

He figured, once he took Xing Man down, the crisis would be over.

Of course, in the meantime, he noticed that You Ziyu’s name had grayed out.

But he didn’t think much of it.

In his mind—

You Ziyu was probably doomed the moment the registry ended up with Xing Man.

The reason he lasted this long was probably because he was being tortured for information by Xing Man’s minions.

But what caught him off guard was—

While he anxiously waited for Xing Man to show up,

A sudden SOS popped up in the chat group from Bai Ruowan!

Bai Ruowan: 【Help me… someone save me… wuwuwuwu QAQ】

Jiang Ye’s heart skipped a beat!

Bai Ruowan…

Had she finally been found?

Did Xing Man get her?

So Xing Man didn’t go to the 20th floor—he went after Bai Ruowan instead?

Just as he was thinking that—

He suddenly heard a knock on his apartment door!