The principal completely ignored Xu Youyou.
“Student Zuo, the player Xuan Jingyuan has ordered all his subordinates to form a perimeter and conduct a sweep of the entire school.”
“They have already finished searching the administrative building, Academic Building No. 1, and Academic Building No. 2, and are about to head toward Academic Building No. 3 and Academic Building No. 4. Your living body is hidden in Academic Building No. 5, isn't it? Go retrieve it quickly.”
“Also, bring back the things you hid in the office. Xuan Jingyuan has a minister with a specter item that can guide him to ownerless specter items in the dungeon!”
“The specter item in my office was found by him and presented to the Emperor.”
Zuo Lin'an was taken aback. First, he was surprised that the players were actually conducting a thorough sweep, and then he was shocked by the special effect of that specter item.
But...
“The gold hairpin is mine. It isn't ownerless.”
The principal replied, “An ownerless specter item refers to any specter item that hasn't been obtained by other players yet.”
Zuo Lin'an paused for a moment before it clicked.
“That makes sense. After all, the specter item hidden in the principal's office was, in principle, the principal's property, but it was still found by that player...”
The principal continued.
“Furthermore, even if those people encounter other players, they are required to verify their identities.”
“Of course, even if they can't verify their identities, they won't kill the players. Instead, they will detain everyone and keep them in one place.”
Hearing this, Zuo Lin'an knew he couldn't waste any more time. He stood up with a start.
“I'll be right back.”
He moved incredibly fast. Concealing his figure, he flickered forward step by step, arriving at the sixth-floor office of Building No. 5 in just a brief moment.
Zuo Lin'an quickly fused with his living body, then pushed the desk aside. He retrieved the gold hairpin and the card he had hidden in the small depression underneath and stuffed them into his shirt.
Right after that, he restored the office to its original state before finally leaving with peace of mind.
He had previously hidden his things here thinking that Xuan Jingyuan and his men would likely repel the principal early on and trap him in the administrative building.
That way, they wouldn't search other parts of the school.
But the situation was different now.
The principal was still perfectly fine, and because of this, Xuan Jingyuan had been driven to desperation.
However, the main reason was that his living body had been watching over the spot, ensuring that the items wouldn't be stolen.
“Sigh... This is so tough.”
Zuo Lin'an muttered to himself as he returned to the dormitory area and found Xu Youyou.
“Where's the principal?”
Only Xu Youyou was left standing by the campus shop; the principal was nowhere to be seen.
Xu Youyou turned around.
“Not long after you left, the principal took off. He said staying with me would shorten his lifespan.”
His tone sounded a bit aggrieved, but he had a cheeky grin on his face.
“By the way, am I really that formidable?”
Zuo Lin'an's lips twitched.
“Whatever, let the principal go if he wants to.”
“The current issue is how we should deal with those players next. The dormitory area is the furthest from the administrative building, so we still have some time to think.”
Xu Youyou scratched his head.
“Under these circumstances, we can't even hide our living bodies anymore.”
Zuo Lin'an pondered. “They are searching every single inch, so their progress will be relatively slow. It will take them at least twenty minutes, or even half an hour, to search their way here.”
“And there are less than fifty minutes left until midnight. This means that if we don't hide, we'll need to hold out for another twenty minutes or so.”
Xu Youyou said, “Why don't we just fight them head-on? It's not like either of us can be killed anyway.”
As long as Zuo Lin'an hid his living body, he truly couldn't be killed if he fought the players solely in his specter form.
As for Xu Youyou...
Granted, when he faced attacks from specter items or talents, he only needed to switch to his living body state to become immune to those special effects specifically designed against specters.
But there were also some players whose talents and specter items didn't just target specters.
Xu Youyou reasoned, “This is already the third Scarlet Dream. Most of their talents and specter items were probably used up in the first two days and are currently on cooldown. Even if they still have things that can target specters, it definitely won't be much.”
He stared intently at Zuo Lin'an as he spoke.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Zuo Lin'an's expression turned odd. Finally, he asked in disbelief, “Don't tell me you want me to attack those players and bait out all the remaining specter items they have left?”
Xu Youyou nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“That's exactly what I was thinking. And I think it's a great idea. At worst, you'll just get frozen or disrupted, which doesn't really matter to you anyway.”
Zuo Lin'an rubbed his chin and thought it over carefully, but ultimately decided to play it safe first.
“Let's wait a bit and see how things go first.”
Xu Youyou replied, “Alright.”
Before long, they saw several specters approaching together.
Xu Youyou waved at them from upstairs, and they quickly gathered inside the dormitory building.
Zuo Lin'an did a rough count.
“Only ten in total?”
A female specter spoke up. “More than that. There are other specters scattered all over the school.”
“Even if there are, there probably aren't many left. With so few of us, how are we supposed to deal with over a hundred and fifty veteran players under His Majesty the Emperor?”
The others also began to chatter, discussing their strategy.
“Most of their talents and specter items shouldn't be usable anymore, right?”
“Even so, there's still a risk.”
“It's fine if we get repelled, but we should at least trade one-for-one. That way, we won't lose out.”
Everyone spoke at once, chiming in.
“Earlier, I saw several players with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent desperately using their talents from a distance. One of them already fainted, and I bet the rest are pushing their limits too.”
“As long as we keep ourselves concealed, those players won't be able to attack us even if they can sense our location.”
“Unless a player with 【Spirit Vision】 wakes up and is also holding a specter item capable of repelling specters.”
“By the way, can't those Specter Masters also sense specters in a concealed state to some extent?”
“Specter Masters can only vaguely sense us, seeing at most a blurry silhouette. It can't compare to 【Spirit Vision】 at all, and they can't even attack us. So what are you all so worried about?”
That was true.
However, the players definitely knew all of this as well.
Yet, knowing this, they were still actively searching for specters. Could it really be that simple?
Xu Youyou leaned closer to Zuo Lin'an.
“I feel like something is off.”
“The players have probably just finished searching the academic buildings, but under these circumstances, the players with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent should be reaching their limits. What are they going to do next?”
Zuo Lin'an pondered for a moment.
“You mean... they have a way to force concealed specters to reveal themselves?”
Rate on N.U.
