Chapter 378: The Cruel Four-to-Three Elimination

"..."

As the screen cut to black once more, the Peace Heavenly Kingdom's Streaming Platform fell dead silent for half a second before erupting again.

"Thank the machines!! I bet on [Monster]!"

"So did I!!! At least I recouped some of my losses!!!"

"This human finally did one good thing. If he'd killed Feng Qiwen at the end, I really would have died..."

"..."

"..."

At the same time, Zeng Ru's Information Component blew up with messages once again.

And this time, she was given no chance to refuse.

A "Shareholders' Meeting" was forcibly convened.

Phantom projections of seats materialized, arranged in a diagonal line slanting upward.

A gaunt figure sat at the highest position, speaking in a cold voice:

"The estimated losses this time are forty-three million Eerie Points (roughly 2.15 billion surface coins). Furthermore, the losses from fourth place have yet to be calculated. Zeng Ru, give us an explanation..."

The Rabbit Woman's eyes went wide. Dripping with cold sweat and breathing heavily, she stared blankly at the floor in front of her.

"I... I... I am willing to accept any punishment..."

"We are deducting five years of your salary and issuing a formal reprimand. You will have no promotion opportunities for the next three years, and 1.5 percent of your group shares will be stripped to compensate the others."

The figure seated at the top spoke coldly, as if they had decided on the Rabbit Woman's punishment long ago.

"Yes..."

The Rabbit Woman clenched her fists, veins bulging on the backs of her hands.

The others seemed dissatisfied with this punishment and looked as if they wanted to object. However, as the figure's gaze swept over them, they ultimately chose to keep their mouths shut.

"Bring that human back."

The figure's words made the Rabbit Woman tremble.

"Do not disappoint me again."

"...Yes."

The Rabbit Woman nodded heavily.

...

...

Within the dilapidated, collapsed ruins of the Anthill.

Yan Jing looked at Wang Gang, whom he was dangling by one hand, and asked:

"Where are they?"

"Just up ahead. The three of them are spread out,"

Wang Gang replied, sounding deeply aggrieved.

"Stop grabbing my arm. Grabbing my collar would be better than this."

She had just been grumbling, but to her surprise, the moment she finished speaking, Yan Jing actually let go.

Dropping to the ground suddenly, Wang Gang stumbled and nearly fell. She looked at him in disbelief.

"You... you're not holding me anymore?"

"I'm not."

Yan Jing's expression was indifferent.

"Then... I'm free?"

Wang Gang asked tentatively.

"Exactly."

Yan Jing nodded again.

"Then..."

Wang Gang's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"That's right!"

Yan Jing gave a firm nod. He looked toward the densely packed red dots of light falling outside the ruins and said seriously:

"What welcomes you now is the cruel four-to-three elimination match, complete with an added bonus mission: survive the pursuit of a Sixth Tier guardian. Good luck, kid."

Yan Jing patted the dumbfounded Wang Gang on the shoulder.

"How about..." Wang Gang looked up at him, blinking her large eyes.

"We hang out together a little longer?"

Thud!

A few seconds later, Wang Gang was kicked out of the ruins.

The instant she was exposed to the red beams, the dense cluster of red dots in the sky flared up as if awakening, locking onto her in unison.

"So savage, how savage!"

Wang Gang rubbed her rear end, somewhat in disbelief that the word "savage" had actually come out of her mouth.

But the current situation left her no time to care about such things. Looking at the crimson rays in the air, a deep sense of foreboding washed over her, and she immediately broke into a wild sprint.

White steam poured from her body as she hoped it would obscure their line of sight.

But clearly, that was going to be difficult.

"Human in the vicinity of the target human discovered. Qunxing Second Stage, activated."

In a flash, the beams that had previously only swept the surface seemed to amplify. Never mind the white steam, even solid rock seemed to be penetrated and probed.

Soon after, several alarms rang out.

"Suspected target human discovered."

"Suspected target human discovered."

"Suspected target human discovered."

"Target human discovered."

Wang Gang ran like the wind. She didn't dare turn back toward Yan Jing, terrified that he really would kill her, so she could only sprint in the direction of the three humans she had detected earlier.

Although she didn't know exactly what these red lights did, her instincts told her that letting them touch her would not end well.

Combined with Yan Jing's seemingly baseless warning about being "hunted by a Sixth Tier guardian," she had a creeping suspicion that they had hit the jackpot of bad luck!

Yan Jing truly had the ability to leave at any time. Therefore, her most pressing priority was to find the other three people and, no matter what it took, kill one of them to end this Dungeon as quickly as possible.

"Son of a bitch, I was so damn close!"

She looked at her Sin Value frozen at over 2.6 million in the upper right corner, wanting to weep but having no tears left.

She had no idea how she had ended up so unlucky this time.

She had originally just wanted to find a spot to properly study the machinery of this place. Instead, she had bumped into Yan Jing and been tormented the entire way. She had finally managed to scrape together over two million in Sin Value, only for the Dungeon's rules to suddenly change upon entry, demanding three million.

On the other side.

He Xinquan, Jin Yao, and Zhao Dongchuan all stood up at almost the exact same time.

Though they didn't understand what was going on with the red light, all of them were Dungeon veterans with incredibly high vigilance. They had previously found cover, but that cover was now clearly useless.

In near-perfect synchronization, the three arrived at the wide highway where they had previously crossed paths.

"We're just missing one," Jin Yao said with a smile, tossing his tied-up hair back.

"She's already here."

Zhao Dongchuan looked into the distance. Wang Gang's figure had appeared at the end of the highway, sprinting wildly in their direction.

He Xinquan remained silent.

He didn't have anything he wanted to say. This was merely a formality. Once the motions were finished, he would step into the Fifth Tier. After that, he would proceed step by step, methodically, until he reached the Summit.

Very few things could stir any ripples in his heart.

"Quick! Start fighting!"

Wang Gang came to a halt with a massive leap. She looked at the three men, her entire body flushed slightly red from the steam.

"Hurry up and fight! A Sixth Tier is going to catch up to us soon!"

Sixth Tier!

The other three exchanged glances, each seeing varying degrees of disbelief in the others' eyes.

"Little girl, don't try to deceive people," Jin Yao laughed.

"It's true!"

Seeing that they didn't believe her, Wang Gang grew anxious and blurted out:

"I ran into a bastard, the bastard captured me, the bastard killed a bunch of Inner World Residents, then he maxed out his Sin Value, and then someone sent people to hunt the bastard down! The bastard saw things going south and let me go, and now we're all being targeted—do you get it?!"

"Huh? Do you understand?!"

Seeing the suspicion in their eyes deepen, Wang Gang felt like tearing her hair out.

These city folks weren't the smart people the village chief had made them out to be! Was what she said not simple and clear enough? Even her grandma would have understood it by now!

But right then, Zhao Dongchuan suddenly spoke up.

"I believe you."

"Really?"

Wang Gang's eyes widened in delight.

"Yeah, I believe you."

Zhao Dongchuan nodded.

"I believe there's a bastard like that."

Because he, too, refused to believe that Yan Jing would die in the Dungeon. The only reason he wasn't on the ranking board right now was that he had already accumulated enough Sin Value and dropped off the list.

Moreover, the way the "bastard" Wang Gang described operated perfectly matched his impression of Yan Jing.

It was highly credible.

"Great. Since you believe me..."

Wang Gang nodded happily, but then her gaze suddenly turned sharp.

"Then let's fight!!!"

In a flash, everyone moved.

Wang Gang's skin rapidly turned crimson. White steam billowed outward as the sound of grinding gears rang out.

Golden light flared around Zhao Dongchuan. Several wooden slips materialized, circling and flying above his palm.

A dark gold Broadsword materialized in Jin Yao's hands, and he took a heavy step forward as if cleaving through a massive wave.

But what was truly shocking was that the target of all three was the exact same person—

He Xinquan!