It was as if all the delimiters from the database had been deleted, all segmentations removed, comments and identifiers erased, mixed into a mess, losing response, and completely crashing.

And the victims had completely fallen to ordinary people, at the mercy of others.

Of course, if it were White Deer, the crowd, or Ruins, they might just be sluggish for an instant, but if the victims were also from Embers... that would be interesting.

Indeed, colleagues hope for each other's demise.

Malice is truly poisonous.

But it's also incredibly useful!

Breaching defenses, inflicting real damage, and even incorporating Magic Ban and control, one use was so thrillingly addictive you couldn't stop. After all the hardships of putting one's life on the line, one has to net a few more weapons from Mr. Lou!

At this moment, watching the craftsman lying on the ground twitching and unable to move, Ji Jue calmly extended his hand and plucked the other's Protective Talisman, pinning it onto himself.

The Non-attack emblem appeared on his hands, and under the gaze of those desperate eyes, he deftly extracted the workshop identification authority attached to the other's Matrix, transferring it into his own spirit.

"Thank you for the gift of nature."

Ji Jue pressed his hands together in sincere thanks, then, smiling, reached out to that face convulsed in spasms.

He had about three minutes to harvest the materials - enough time.

...

In fact, it wasn't enough time.

He had originally estimated that the workshop would fall into chaos, returning to normal after at least ten minutes. But less than five minutes passed and all the chaos was forcefully suppressed back into silence, and no one dared to wander anymore.

Too fast!

It was, after all, under Jian Yuan's watchful eyes, with no room for any mischief.

Faced with an unexpected attack, the workshop's internal emergency response measures were still very mature, stabilizing the situation to the greatest extent, and then, began investigations for any risks.

And upon seeing that unrecognizable, bloody corpse in the hallway, everyone collectively gasped.

"All departments, check for risks and confirm member lists. Anyone out of place, showing abnormalities, grab them all!" Cun Ling, temporarily in charge of the workshop, gave orders with a grim expression: "Did everyone get that?!"

"Yes!"

The subordinates nodded frantically.

Amidst the crowd, Sun Ci, who had just been promoted to garbage heap supervisor, was especially panicked, especially recalling the secret movements of his assistant in the past few days, which made him even more uneasy.

He could only maintain a semblance of calm on his face.

Dealing with idle chatter amongst colleagues, then rushing back downstairs, he cautiously knocked on the office door, to which an impatient voice responded from within.

"What is it?"

"No, nothing, nothing at all." Sun Ci instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, forcing a smile: "There's a problem in the workshop, we're conducting an emergency inspection."

The door opened, revealing the familiar, ugly face behind it.

Full of impatience.

"What? Do you need my help?"

"No, no need!" Sun Ci shook his head decisively, his heart settling down: "I'm just worried, worried about your..."

"Worried that I'm the one causing trouble?" The apprentice with the scarred face sneered: "Don't worry, I don't have the guts to show off tricks under the Craftsman Grandmaster's nose."

"Of course not, how could that be!"

Sun Ci laughed, feeling relieved all over as the door slammed shut, almost hitting his nose, but he didn't mind at all.

With burdens lifted, he felt light as air.

It's all good if there's nothing wrong.

Behind the door, the Mercury Puppet, patched with Ether correction pages, gradually lost the color of its skin, becoming unresponsive.

Silent once more.

.

Meanwhile, on the third floor, in the warehouse, the intensive inspections and tallying continued.

As the outer reserve gradually became clarified, the bald woman's demeanor relaxed, and her gaze towards the spacious chair beside her grew increasingly easygoing.

"It looks like there's no problem here with the materials and reserves." She looked at the report that had been summarized in her hands, sighing with relief, "Everything's in order, would Master Lian Yun like to take a look?"

"Some trash materials, what's there to see?"

Craftsman Lian Yun, who had been waiting with his leg cocked for the check results, waved his hand expressionlessly, "If I were a thief, I wouldn't come in for this pile of rubbish."

"The inner layer's valuable materials, are you sure there's no problem with them?"

"This... this..."

The bald woman's expression stiffened, nervous, "The outer layer's seal is intact, but inside, my authority isn't enough, I only have one key."

"That's why I was sent here."

Lian Yun glanced at her, raising his hand, the Spiritual Sequence bestowed by the workshop emerged, "The other key is with me. You still remember the emergency management protocols, right?"

"Yes, yes."

The bald woman nodded hastily, leading the way in front.

In an emergency situation, to open the valuable materials storage room, apart from Craftsman Grandmaster Jian Yuan, both warehouse management and authorized special permissions were required for validation, along with two keys.

Moreover, after entering, at least two people were required to be present at the same time, and no changes such as withdrawals or movements were permitted.

Having managed the warehouse for so long, she knew these rules inside out.

Only, the further they advanced, for some reason, an increasing sense of unease crept into her heart.

It was as if, she always had a feeling that there was some oversight she couldn't pinpoint, bringing to mind scenes from movies where the management personnel open the warehouse door only to encounter a completely empty space...

Until the innermost door slowly opened.

Observing the unchanged, familiar scene inside, she instantly breathed a sigh of relief, sweat drenching her back.

Thank goodness, it was just a false alarm.

"All Class Two valuable materials and the newly arrived critical items are here." She skillfully retrieved the inventory list and handed it to the craftsman beside her, but as she turned her head back, her movements froze in place.

Chilled to the bone.

"Hmm?"

Lian Yun looked over, puzzled and not understanding, while the bald woman's expression involuntarily twitched, "Master Lian Yun, your... your face... face..."

A smile.

As a smile surfaced on that face, a thin line of blood abruptly appeared on the forehead, slowly extending downwards.

Snap!

Half a thin layer of facial skin lost its adhesion and fell onto the dusty ground.

Revealing the desperation and horror before death.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's new, didn't stick on properly."

'Lian Yun' bent over, picked up the half-peeled face.

With a snap, he reattached it to the mutilated face, but it was placed incorrectly.

Stuck over the half of the face that was still attached, hanging down halfway, the other half of the face exposed with muscle was even more gruesome.

Under the eerily white light, blood oozed out slowly from the crack, dripping.

Drawing a mocking curve.

Gulp.

The bald woman swallowed hard.

That horrific face was now frighteningly close.

Smiling, it asked:

"What were you just saying... about my face?"

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