Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

"A monster...a monster!"

The liquidator looked at Lin Yu and finally broke down completely.

He never imagined that his simple cleaning task would result in him kicking such a hard steel plate.

Lin Yu's strength far exceeded the expectations of the shelter and himself.

"So, these are all the cards you have up your sleeve?" Lin Yu raised his hand, and a golden flame flickered at his fingertips—Samadhi True Fire!

"Then, the game is over."

He flicked his finger, and the wisp of golden flame, as if it had a life of its own, drifted toward the liquidator.

"You forced me to this! Let's die together! [Blood Curse - Abyss Summoning]!"

At the critical moment of life and death, the liquidator let out a hysterical roar, suddenly pulling out a talisman that emitted a bloody light, his eyes flashing with madness.

Without hesitation, he crushed the talisman.

An evil, chaotic, and terrifying aura, far surpassing that of a diamond-level artifact, suddenly erupted from the broken part of the talisman.

A blurry vortex began to slowly take shape in the hall.

Abyssal energy surged from the vortex, and at that moment, the Cleaner unleashed a final, mad, and venomous curse: "Insects that blaspheme the will of the containment facility... be destroyed under the gaze of the abyss!!"

His body melted like a wax figure, his flesh and soul greedily devoured by the vortex.

The vortex began to expand and solidify rapidly.

Finally, a terrifying dragon roar, seemingly from the deepest depths of hell, reverberated throughout the Nightmare Building!

Boom!

A colossal creature was forced out of the vortex!

It is over twenty meters long and its entire body is covered with thick, jet-black scales, with dark red, lava-like patterns flowing between the scales.

The enormous bone wings stretched out, their edges sharp as knives, and their flapping carried a strong sulfurous odor.

Its head was ferocious and terrifying, with its horns twisted upwards, and its huge dragon eyes exuded a terrifying and violent aura.

The pressure it exuded had reached the peak of the Diamond level, and it even had one foot in the threshold of the Obsidian level! It far surpassed the previous Cleansers!

"roar!!!"

As soon as the demonic dragon appeared, its gaze locked onto the only living being in the arena—Lin Yu.

It let out a deafening roar, its terrifying dragon might mixed with the spiritual pollution of the abyss and the final resentment of the purgers, crashing down on Lin Yu like a tsunami.

Lin Yu's eyes narrowed. This demonic dragon's strength far exceeded his expectations. He would probably find it difficult to defeat it quickly using only the [King's Battle Technique].

But it's not a big problem; he still has a trump card up his sleeve.

He was about to activate [Dragon Transformation] without hesitation...

But just then, a cold, clear, and slightly impatient child's voice exploded deep within his mind:

"Shut up! How dare a little bug bother me? Kid, use the leverage your second brother gave you to let me out and have some fun!"

That voice... is it the Third Prince?

What's going on?

That doesn't make sense either; the voice is clearly a child's. So, could it be the Third Prince from that painting?

He in the picture is indeed still a child.

But how can He speak?

"Stop talking so much nonsense! After absorbing so much energy, if I don't improve, do you think I'm a piece of trash?!"

The Third Prince's voice rang in his ears once again.

Lin Yu was filled with doubts, but he still did not hesitate to abandon the guidance of [Dragon Transformation] and instead focused his mind on communicating with the True Lord statue!

Leverage resources!

Lin Yu initiated the borrowing of power, but this time he did not borrow the power of the True Lord.

Inside the apartment, the third eye on the forehead of the True Lord statue shone brightly, and a beam of light shone directly on the painting of Nezha making havoc in the sea. The painting instantly lit up with a red light, and a ball of light flew towards Lin Yu outside.

"Respectfully inviting the Third Prince!"

Om-! ! !

A divine power, completely different from the righteous, majestic, and imposing power of Qingyuan Miaodao Zhenjun, suddenly descended!

This power is violent, intense, and incomparably domineering.

It is full of unruliness and rebellion, defying all rules and constraints.

Lin Yu was instantly enveloped in an incomparably dazzling and intense red light.

His physical appearance did not change drastically, but his temperament underwent a sudden transformation.

His eyes blazed with a fierce Samadhi fire, his gaze becoming arrogant and domineering, as if everything in the world could be burned and crushed.

A flame-shaped pattern lit up on his forehead, replacing the third eye.

The illusory image of the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) surrounded him, moving and fluttering without wind, radiating a powerful force that could shake the heavens and earth.

Beneath their feet, a pair of golden wheel phantoms burning with raging flames suddenly appeared—the Wind and Fire Wheels!

This caused his body to levitate off the ground, instantly boosting his speed and agility to the extreme.

The Demon-Slaying Sword in his right hand emitted a joyful hum, its blade covered in extremely condensed Samadhi True Fire. The flames rose and transformed into the phantom of a flaming spear, merging with the sword.

The golden Qiankun Ring in his left hand slowly appeared.

"Hey! You little mudfish, how dare you make a fuss!" Lin Yu looked at the black dragon, a smile of extreme arrogance and disdain curling at the corner of his mouth, his voice carrying the unique childlike tone and murderous aura of Nezha.

The abyssal dragon seemed to sense this sudden, terrifying power as well, a hint of surprise flashing in its eyes, but the abyss's ferocity quickly overwhelmed that surprise.

It opened its massive jaws, its abyssal dragon breath poised to unleash!

"Watch me skewer you and roast you!"

Lin Yu gave it no chance at all. The Wind and Fire Wheels under his feet suddenly roared, and his figure disappeared from the spot in an instant.

Fast! Extremely fast!

Like a fiery meteor tearing through space, it appeared instantly beside the giant head of the demonic dragon.

"break!"

【Demon-Slaying Sword】(Phantom of Fire-Tipped Spear) A simple and direct straight thrust.

There are no fancy techniques, only penetrating power enhanced by extreme speed and strength.

Pfft!!!

The sword tip, encased in Samadhi Fire, pierced through the dragon's hard scales and solid skull with ease, like a red-hot iron rod piercing through grease, and emerged directly from its other temple.

boom!

The Samadhi Fire erupted violently inside the demon's head!

The dragon let out a mournful howl of agony, its massive body thrashing wildly as its breath exploded out of control in its mouth, charring its own jaws black.

"It's not over yet!"

Lin Yu continued his offensive, drawing his sword. The phantom of the Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) swelled, transforming into a giant red dragon that instantly coiled around the demonic dragon's neck and wings, twisting and whipping violently.

Snap! Crack!

A sickening cracking sound rang out as the massive body of the demonic dragon was forcefully slammed to the ground by the incredible power of the Hun Tian Ling, causing the ground to tremble violently and crack open with countless fissures.

"Crush it!"

Lin Yu flung out the Qiankun Ring, and the golden ring rapidly expanded in the air before slamming directly into the black dragon.

"Wuhu!"

At the same time, Lin Yu rode on his Wind and Fire Wheels, as if driving a war chariot, and directly crushed over the fallen body of the demonic dragon.

The Samadhi True Fire on the Wind and Fire Wheels burned wildly, carving two charred, deep wounds on the back of the demonic dragon, exposing the bone. Abyssal demonic blood spurted out, but was instantly evaporated by the True Fire.

The dragon struggled frantically, tearing with its claws, sweeping with its tail, and unleashing abyssal magic continuously. However, thanks to the binding and interference of the [Chaos Ribbon] and the evasion of the [Wind and Fire Wheels], most of its attacks missed their mark.

Occasionally, when an attack came at him, Lin Yu would casually shatter it with a single shot, or simply take the hit with his body. With the blessing of the Third Prince's divine power, his physical defense had reached a terrifying level.

The battle was a complete one-sided crushing defeat!

The entire second floor of the Nightmare Building was riddled with holes, as if it had been through a natural disaster.

The dragon was injured time and time again, and struggled to get up each time, but was knocked to the ground faster and more ruthlessly each time.

"Awooo—!"

The dragon let out a final, unwilling cry, its massive body convulsed violently a few times, and finally ceased to move, the flames in its enormous eyes gradually dying out.

"...Solved? So weak." Lin Yu curled his lip and looked at the dead dragon on the ground with disdain.

However, just when he thought the battle was over, another change occurred!

The surrounding nightmare energy and abyssal aura seemed to be drawn to something, frantically converging towards the mangled corpse of the demonic dragon.

At the heart site destroyed by the Samadhi Fire, granulation tissue began to writhe and regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The shattered skull pieced itself back together, charred flesh peeled away, and new scales sprouted...

In just over ten seconds, nourished by the dense, almost overwhelming power of nightmares, the abyssal dragon, which should have been dead, let out a low, resentful roar and struggled to its feet once more.

"Hmm? You're alive again?" Lin Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of joy in his eyes, and the Samadhi True Fire in his eyes blazed once more: "Fine! Then I'll kill you again! Let's see how many times you can resurrect!"

The battle has broken out again!

The result is no suspense.

Even after being resurrected, the dragon was still completely crushed and was quickly dismantled and burned by Lin Yu in different ways.

But a few minutes later, it was reborn once again by the convergence of nightmare energy!

This was repeated three times!

Lin Yu was able to kill it every time, but this demonic dragon seemed to be bound to the entire Nightmare Tower, just like the monsters in the local area. As long as the nightmare energy here did not run out, it could resurrect indefinitely.

"Damn it, this is never going to end!" Although Lin Yu was enjoying the fight, he realized that this couldn't go on.

Although it was easy to resolve, the Third Prince's borrowing of divine power was not limitless, and continuing like this would still be detrimental to him.

Just as he was considering whether to use other methods or try to lure the dragon away from the Nightmare Building's area, a lazy, slightly mocking voice suddenly rang out not far away:

"Tsk tsk tsk, young people are so hot-tempered. Why bother arguing with an artificially created energy puppet?"

Lin Yu turned his head sharply and saw that Old Chen had reappeared at some point. He was leaning against a half-collapsed pillar, holding a bag of sunflower seeds from who-knows-where, and was eating them with great relish.

"Old monster? You have a way?" Lin Yu looked at him sharply.

At this moment, he was in Nezha's spirit, so his tone naturally carried a hint of arrogance.

"Tsk tsk, what a devil, but what can I do? Of course I have a solution." Hearing Lin Yu's arrogant tone, Old Chen clicked his tongue twice, then chuckled, popped the last few sunflower seeds into his mouth, and clapped his hands: "Watch out, kid, this Nightmare Building is still 'my' territory after all."

After saying that, he stretched out his seemingly greasy hand and gently clenched it in the air, as if he had grasped some invisible vein, and muttered a few obscure syllables in a low voice.

The next moment, the entire Nightmare Building began to tremble slightly.

The previously chaotic and dense nightmare energy, which had even been drained by the demonic dragon, seemed to have heard some command and instantly became orderly.

Instead of converging on the demonic dragon, they became like billions of invisible tentacles, tightly binding the newly resurrected and still weakened projection of the demonic dragon from all directions.

"roar?!!"

The dragon let out a terrified roar, feeling its connection to the abyss being forcibly severed. The nightmare energy that constituted the origin of its projection began to turn against it, frantically devouring and disintegrating its body.

Its scales, muscles, bones... were like a wax figure thrown into strong acid, rapidly melting, decomposing, and dissipating.

It struggled and roared, but to no avail.

Old Chen's control over nightmare energy reached an unbelievable level, as if he were part of the rules of this space.

In just a few breaths, the infinitely resurrected, peak-level diamond-grade demonic dragon projection was forcibly "decomposed" into the purest stream of dark energy under Lin Yu's gaze. Then, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, it silently merged into the environment of the Nightmare Building, and its existence could no longer be sensed.

Old Chen clapped his hands with a relaxed air and grinned at Lin Yu: "Done. How about that, kid? Now you believe I'm the big boss of this game, right?"

"That's quite interesting."

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, but quickly curled his lip in disdain and said, "But you're just taking advantage of the rules of this small world. If it really comes down to a fight, you can't beat that earthworm. I can skewer you into a gourd with one shot."

"Using the rules is a means to an end, but of course I can't compare to ruthless people like you."

Old Chen chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his hands together.

"Tch, boring."

Lin Yu scoffed, then slowly closed his eyes, instantly canceling the state of borrowing power.

"Phew~"

When Lin Yu opened his eyes again, he took a deep breath and then slowly landed on the ground with the help of the Hun Tian Cloak.

He looked at Old Chen not far away and asked speechlessly, "Old Chen, you didn't steal my loot, did you? That monster was so big, and it didn't drop anything?"

"Hey! You little brat, what do you take me for?" Old Chen glared at him, looking as if he had been greatly wronged.

"That thing is just an energy puppet, an empty shell made by using the flesh and soul of that stupid kid, the Purifier, and the Abyss Runes as a catalyst, and then using the endless nightmare energy in this building."

Essentially, it's a rather solid mass of nightmare energy. Have you ever seen a block of ice burst open and release gold coins?

He shrugged and continued, "The reason it can resurrect infinitely is because its 'core' is not in itself at all, but is dispersed and integrated into the nightmare energy cycle of the entire small world."

I simply tied a knot in the loop, completely formatting its 'introduction' and connections, so naturally nothing was left.

Lin Yu frowned. Although Old Chen's words made sense, he was still a little annoyed that he had gone to such great lengths and even used the power of the Third Prince, only to gain nothing.

Old Chen seemed to read his mind, chuckled, leaned closer, and lowered his voice, saying, "But... although there are no spoils of war, at least now you know what those guys in the containment facility are like when they're desperate. They even dare to use this kind of self-destructive Abyss Summoning, and..."

He paused, then pointed meaningfully upwards: "The commotion you caused just now was quite significant. I reckon someone up there must have sensed it. Once you get out of here, someone will definitely come looking for you. Just tell them what happened, and I'll confirm it for you. I reckon you won't even need to lift a finger; the system will avenge you."

Lin Yu glanced at him, frowned, and asked, "Isn't the containment facility a system organization?"

Old Chen sneered: "They can hardly be considered a system organization; at most, they're a third-party outsourcing company. However, over the years, they've abused the so-called rules of the system to act arrogantly and domineeringly. Things like what you experienced have happened quite often."

Hearing his words, Lin Yu crossed his arms and said, "This is interesting. Since this kind of thing happens quite often, there must be quite a few people reporting them, right?"

But the system hasn't done anything about it. Do you think my report will be effective in this situation?

"Of course it's useful."

Old Chen's tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable confidence.

Why?

Lin Yu's brows furrowed even deeper.

"Because you are the only player who has survived their looting schemes over the years."

Old Chen gave Lin Yu a deep look and then spoke.

"Is that so?"

Lin Yu suddenly realized.

He then looked at Old Chen and said, "So the reason you helped me is actually to deal with the asylum, right? Why? Do the NPCs also have a grudge against them?"

Old Chen shook his head: "That's only one of the reasons. The main reason is that I really want to get to know you, and I'm not lying about that."

As for whether NPCs and the containment facilities have any enmity, that would be a huge deal. You have to understand that the main reason the system created the containment facility organization is actually to ensure that there are no accidents in the game world.

"These guys in the shelters do the same thing, of course, but some of their methods are quite hateful, and unfortunately, there's not much we can do about it."

Old Chen smiled helplessly.

Lin Yu remained silent for a moment, processing this information.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter anyway, I do have a grudge against the shelter." Lin Yu finally said.

He then continued, "But don't get too excited yet. After all, things might not go as you expect, and nobody knows if the system will deal with them."

If they cause you trouble later, there's nothing I can do to help you.

"That doesn't matter. I can't do anything about them, but they can't do anything about me either. They're just trying to annoy me." Old Chen grinned.

He continued, "That's it for now. Deal with the immediate problem first."

The liquidator is dead, and the shelter certainly won't let it go, but they can't send anyone else in either—that's the rule. So for the rest of the game, you don't need to worry about the shelter.

Of course, it's also possible that they will use other means to contact you, coercing or bribing you to shut up and not reveal what's happening in the world.

Whether you agree or not at that time is up to you.

"Heh." Lin Yu chuckled coldly twice.

"Alright, then I'll take my leave first. I still need to 'maintain' this dilapidated building and clean up your mess." Old Chen waved his hand, his figure gradually fading away, disappearing as if blending into the shadows.

"By the way, there's something good deep inside this floor that you should be able to use. Consider it my reward to you."

His voice faded into the distance, eventually disappearing completely, leaving only a coordinate.

Lin Yu noted down the coordinates given by Lao Chen, but did not go there immediately.

He first carefully checked his own condition.

Using the [King's Battle Technique] and [Borrowing Power] repeatedly, although the battle was short, consumed a great deal of energy. His mana was almost depleted, and he also felt a bit tired in his mental energy.

He took out the Moon Spring Capsule and the Pure Spirit Spring to quickly replenish his energy.

Meanwhile, he had Jin Ling keep watch at high altitude while he sat cross-legged to speed up his recovery.

In about ten minutes, he had almost fully recovered.

In fact, because of the battle just now, he has also improved his Samadhi Fire and fire magic.

"Indeed, combat is the best form of training." Lin Yu nodded in satisfaction as he felt the changes within his body.

He stood up and, following the coordinates given by Old Chen, headed deeper into the second floor.

With a clear goal in mind, and with Old Chen seemingly having "cleared" the path beforehand, the journey was exceptionally smooth, without encountering any monsters or traps.

Soon, he arrived at an ancient altar that had collapsed halfway.

The altar was made of a black stone, covered with incomprehensible, twisted runes, exuding an aura of antiquity and unease.

In the center of the altar, a fist-sized crystal ball with a constantly shifting purplish-black luster floats.

[The Core of the Nightmare]

Category: Materials

Grade: Diamond

effect:

① Nightmare Energy Source: Contains pure nightmare energy, which can be used as a high-level energy core to power certain special devices or skills.

② Mental Tempering: By using this core to cultivate mental skills or meditate, efficiency is greatly improved, and there is a chance to learn special abilities related to "nightmares" and "fear".

③ Illusion Weaving: Can be actively activated to create a large-scale, high-intensity realistic illusion that affects the mind of the enemy.

Description: The core of the Nightmare Mansion's rules is formed, containing terrifying power.

"nice one!"

Lin Yu's eyes lit up, and he reached out to take it down.

The crystal ball felt cool to the touch, and inside it seemed as if countless distorted images were flowing; looking at it for too long could even make one dizzy.

This is exactly what he needs, since the twisting power within the nightmare energy can enhance the statue of the True Lord and the portrait of the Third Prince.

Without hesitation, he put it into his storage ring, planning to study it slowly when he returned to his apartment.

After obtaining the item, Lin Yu did not linger and quickly returned the way he came.

Taking the elevator back to the first floor, the corridor remained silent, filled with a faint smell of blood, a reminder of the cleanup that had taken place not long ago.

In the player chat, the number of survivors has stopped at 47/100, and there have been no new death notifications for a long time.

The surviving players are either incredibly strong, extremely lucky, or exceptionally good at hiding, and have narrowly escaped the hunters' clutches.

In the group chat, players were discussing the issue because no one had died for a long time.

"The liquidator seems to have... disappeared?"

"I wonder, with such a loud commotion just now, did someone fight with that monster?"

"Is anyone alive? Let's team up! It's too scary to be alone!"

The channel started receiving tentative inquiries and SOS messages.

Lin Yu glanced at it but ignored it.

He has no interest in being a savior now.

He went straight back to the door of his apartment.

A familiar sense of security washes over me.

He immediately went inside to check the study.

The [World Power Core] still lay there quietly, its surface shimmering with a more gentle and vibrant light, and its efficiency in absorbing and converting external energy had indeed improved slightly.

It's probably because the dragon generated too much energy after being broken down.

Next comes the verification process.

Lin Yu took out the Nightmare Core he had just obtained and placed it next to the World Power Core.

A faint resonance seemed to have formed between the two, and the gravitational field emanating from the [World Power Core] slightly adjusted, also incorporating the pure nightmare energy emanating from the [Nightmare Core] into its absorption range.

"It works as expected!" Lin Yu nodded in satisfaction.