Chapter 366: Metamorphosis and the Approaching Dungeon

“How could that be?!”

Zeng Ru practically slammed the table as she stood up.

This was her own top-secret operation. She hadn’t even informed the rest of the board.

And now, the fake Luo Wei had only just prepared to begin her activities this afternoon, yet she was already missing by nightfall?!

She quickly dialed her subordinate:

“What’s going on?!”

“I—I don’t know, President Zeng. We were waiting to upload the video and build hype... but we’ve lost contact with her.”

The subordinate was sweating profusely. He was the manager for this project and reported directly to Zeng Ru, yet such a massive blunder had occurred right out of the gate.

“What was the plan? Did you execute it as instructed?”

Rabbit Woman tried to suppress the anger surging in her chest, but her voice still came out as a near-growl.

“Y-yes, we followed the plan, President Zeng.”

The subordinate trembled in fear. The project had already cost over 500,000 Eerie Points.

With such a massive loss on a project assigned directly by Zeng Ru, his career was practically over.

“We even assigned a Fifth Tier bodyguard, adhering to the highest specifications. The shooting location was kept strictly confidential, and there was only one accompanying cameraman filming it as a mockumentary.”

“How many people knew the location?”

“There were...”

“I asked you how many people!!!” Rabbit Woman’s voice carried molten lava, erupting from her throat like a volcano.

“There... there were seven or eight.”

The subordinate’s face turned deathly pale as he finally answered.

“Interrogate all of them! Right now, immediately!!”

Rabbit Woman’s eyes darkened.

“Truth Serum. Use the latest model they just developed. Arrange it right away.”

“I’ll handle the fallout.”

Hearing Rabbit Woman’s words, the subordinate’s heart skipped a beat.

Forcibly administering Truth Serum!

This was a downright illegal act!

The company would only ever resort to this in the event of an absolutely massive crisis!

At this point, he already had half a foot off the edge of a cliff.

A step forward was a bottomless abyss, and a step back meant leaving not even a corpse behind.

He was sweating all over, barely able to answer.

It wasn’t until Rabbit Woman’s icy voice rang out again that he gave a violent shudder and agreed.

...

Several minutes later.

Yan Jing, in his Mao Si identity, calmly watched the footage Xiao Xin had captured of those employees being forcibly injected with Truth Serum.

Photos couldn’t be taken in Zeng Ru’s office, but Xiao Xin could observe and relay the information to him. However, there were still quite a few places in the Nuochen Biotech Tower where photos could be taken, such as the location in the current footage.

A few days ago, when Xiao Xin first started monitoring Zeng Ru, it had taken out a camera and was almost discovered, so it changed tactics afterward.

But even so, this was enough to keep him undefeated in this “business rivalry.”

With Xiao Xin around, he wasn’t worried about the “business rivalry.” What he cared more about was when the other side would use some real business tactics.

Such as...

Murder and silencing witnesses.

Fake corporate warfare: throwing dirt at the opponent through various means, using exquisite business skills, and trying every possible way to suppress them economically to force bankruptcy.

Real corporate warfare: killing the rival boss.

Nuochen Biotech had Seventh Rank experts.

Zeng Qing had told him this.

This was also one of the reasons why he chose to hide his Luo Sheng identity.

At this point in time, this identity held more value than Mao Si. Mao Si could die, but Luo Sheng couldn’t. Moreover, Luo Sheng could disguise his combat power; as long as he was given enough of an air of mystery, he could masquerade as a “Seventh Rank.”

So, Luo Sheng had to be kept behind the scenes.

Honestly, he didn’t know what level his current combat power was at. But he had lived with Boss Rat and knew he definitely couldn’t match a Seventh Rank. He felt even a Sixth Tier would be a serious stretch.

After all, he was only at the Fourth Tier. Although he could easily defeat some at the Fifth Tier, he never harbored any arrogant thoughts.

Meanwhile, Nuochen Biotech had three Seventh Rank and over twenty Sixth Tier experts. According to Zeng Qing, for a favored daughter of heaven like Zeng Ru, the bodyguards assigned to her should be at the Sixth Tier level.

“Valued children in the Family will be assigned relatively strong Fifth Tier bodyguards. Those who aren’t valued get weak Fifth Tier ones. If they are being cultivated as candidates, they’ll be assigned Sixth Tier ones.”

These were Zeng Qing’s exact words.

“Still weak. I’m still too weak.”

Yan Jing sighed softly.

He had been saying this since he was at the Second Tier, and even now, it hadn’t changed.

However...

There was only one final week left.

His eyes flickered.

After next week, as long as he cleared the Dungeon, he would truly have some weight to his words in the Inner World—at least in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom.

As for now...

He looked at the fake Tianwei and the cameraman who were tied up beside him, as well as the bodyguard who was now a corpse nearby, and spoke softly:

“I’ll have to trouble you to wait a little longer.”

Now wasn’t a good time to completely fall out with the other side.

Whether it was this fake Tianwei or the footage Xiao Xin had captured, these cards weren’t lethal enough yet. He needed to wait.

Several pitch-black threads extended from his eyes and burrowed into the corpse. A few seconds later, the corpse—which had been a Fifth Tier in life—stood up and gave a slight bow to Yan Jing, as if it were still alive.

[Calming Rite: Cut and Sew (Orange)]

[Corpse-Sewing Garment ability strengthened: Sew one corpse garment -> two corpse garments; corpse garment of the same Tier as oneself -> corpse garment up to one Tier higher than oneself (if your own strength is higher than the opponent's, you can forcibly sew them for a period of time even if it exceeds the Tier limit)]

[Life-Sewing Garment ability strengthened: Time limit for severed limb suturing removed; sew one garment every three days -> one garment per day]

[Death-Sewing Garment ability strengthened, new effect added: Bodies touched by the death garment threads will gradually march toward death; thread strength increased]

[New Ability - Tailor: You can summon the Iron Shears of the Lord of Execution to fight alongside you. The iron shears can fight autonomously without your command. The more wounds on the opponent, the stronger the iron shears' power will be.]

[Skin Sewing: You can sew the skin of living creatures onto yourself to achieve a completely authentic appearance. Of course, some sutured areas will require some touch-ups.]

This was the evolved Calming Rite ability. If previously Yan Jing needed to rely on his strength to forcibly suppress a Fifth Tier corpse to control it, now it felt completely natural. It looked almost like a genuine resurrection, entirely flawless.

The newly added Tailor ability gave him the ranged attack method he lacked, while Skin Sewing could be paired with the face-painting ability used by Luo Sheng when summoned through the Painting Spirit.

And then there was...

Yan Jing closed his eyes, and when he slowly opened them, the phantom of a massive tree seemed to suddenly sprout behind him. Because he was indoors and limited by the ceiling height, he didn’t let the tree phantom bloom entirely, only revealing the tip of the iceberg.

But just from a single trunk, one could imagine how it would blot out the sky and cover the sun when fully unfurled.

[Day Selection Ritual: Fear Tree Adult Form (Black-Orange)]

[Fear Seed ability strengthened: Now, whether ranged or melee, there is no longer a limit on the number of seeds (unless Weird Energy is exhausted); the strength of the Fear Thorn is massively increased]

[Fear Fruit ability strengthened: The cost of the Fear Stance Second Form and Third Form is massively reduced; the boosts from all three forms of the Fear Stance are increased. Fear Fruits can now be stored up to a maximum of ten, and each one can replenish about a third of your Weird Energy]

Yan Jing took a deep breath.

Everything was ready. Now he just had to wait for the Dungeon to arrive.

He had never wanted to advance to the Fifth Tier so urgently.

...

...

Meanwhile, in Longhe City, nearly a thousand kilometers away from Rainbow City.

Having looked at several Rituals and found them ordinary, Shen Youran, who had remained uninterested, suddenly caught sight of a Ritual and her eyes lit up:

“How much are you selling this for?”

“80 million surface coins.”

The vendor replied.

Wang Changnian couldn’t help but take a deep breath:

“How much?”

...

...

The day before the Dungeon began.

Yan Jing, in his Mao Si identity, was drinking tea with Zeng Qing in her office, discussing the future direction of the company.

For the past six days, the Inner World had been calm and peaceful.

Although Rabbit Woman’s side had lost someone, just as Yan Jing expected, they didn’t dare launch a massive search.

Therefore, Yan Jing called Xiao Xin back from Rabbit Woman’s end and kept it busy with another matter for several days. It had only just finished yesterday.

Then there were the Sanitarium and Tianwei. He had also taken the time to lay the groundwork and make the necessary preparations.

Suddenly, the Information Components in Yan Jing and Zeng Qing’s hands vibrated simultaneously.

A piece of breaking news had been published.

And it was mandatory for all residents of the Heavenly Kingdom to view.

“This Year’s Entertainment Extravaganza in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom: Sin Live Broadcast!!! A Blockbuster Event!!! Everyone, Please View Immediately!!!”