Tang Zhen, who had just rushed back, was slightly taken aback when he heard Gu Hedao's words.
“Forgive me, Elder Gu. I heard earlier that His Majesty had been attacked by a specter, so in my anxiety, I brought my men back. May I ask if His Majesty is safe now?”
Gu Hedao said, “His Majesty is fine. You all—”
Before he could finish his sentence, all the players suddenly whipped their heads around. They saw nothing, but their sharp instincts as high-level martial artists warned them.
Danger!
And it was rapidly drawing closer!
“It's specters! And there's a lot of them! Everyone, watch out!”
Although there were still players with the 【Spirit Vision】 talent, most were currently unconscious. Those who remained awake could probably only sustain their talent for a few seconds. For now, they had to rely on themselves.
There was only one player with the 【Imprisonment】 talent, and since its charge had already been spent on Zuo Lin'an, it naturally couldn't be used again.
Gu Hedao sighed. “Tang Zhen, I'll leave the first floor to you. You don't need to worry about His Majesty!”
Tang Zhen shouted in response.
“Yes, sir!”
Gu Hedao quickly returned to the office to guard Xuan Jingyuan alongside Xuan Er, while Tang Zhen remained on the first floor. The men he had brought back would now come in handy.
Tang Zhen frowned deeply and barked orders. “Everyone, listen up! Guard the administrative building! Do not let a single specter inside!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a bloodcurdling scream echoed from a nearby direction.
When he looked over, he only saw a figure slowly collapsing to the ground.
Clasping his neck in sheer shock, the man's throat was a mangled mess of blood and flesh, as if a massive chunk had been bitten right out of him.
He could even see segments of bone peeking through the shredded flesh.
As for the specter?
After claiming its victim, it had instantly vanished back into hiding. He hadn't even caught a glimpse of its shadow.
“Dammit!”
If there were only one specter, he might have been able to sense its general direction. But now, with threats looming from every side, he felt danger lurking in every corner.
In other words, there were definitely more than ten specters launching this attack!
Meanwhile, Zuo Lin'an was being carried down to the first floor on Zhang Shenli's shoulder. The players were using one specter item after another on him, solely to keep him under control.
By now, he had been continuously controlled for over thirty seconds.
Frankly, these people really had a lot of good stuff.
Just as Zuo Lin'an thought he was about to be tossed out of the administrative building, several first-floor windows suddenly shattered, showering the ground with countless shards of glass.
Still outside, Tang Zhen heard the commotion and whipped his head around.
“This is bad!”
Specters had bypassed their blockade and broken into the administrative building.
In reality, Xu Youyou and the others hadn't even approached. They had simply picked up a few random stones and thrown them to smash the windows.
This sudden development put all the players on high alert.
Zhang Shenli, who was carrying Zuo Lin'an, paused in his tracks. His focus, which had been entirely locked onto Zuo Lin'an, was momentarily divided.
This split-second distraction was exactly the opportunity Zuo Lin'an needed.
The moment he felt his mobility restore, he instantly vanished from Zhang Shenli's shoulder!
Meanwhile, a player standing right next to Zhang Shenli, who had intended to slap a specter item onto Zuo Lin'an, ended up slapping it directly onto Zhang Shenli's shoulder instead.
Witnessing this, both of them froze.
They stared at each other in bewilderment, shock evident in both of their eyes.
Zhang Shenli stood frozen in place, unable to move a muscle.
This was because the freezing effect of this specter item wasn't exclusive to specters; it worked on living humans as well.
Capitalizing on this discovery, Zuo Lin'an reappeared right behind Zhang Shenli. With a swift swipe of his blade across the man's throat, he finished him off on the spot.
Before anyone could react, he concealed his figure once more and dashed toward the second floor.
Just then, Tang Zhen, who had just stepped through the main entrance, witnessed Zhang Shenli collapsing to the ground with a look of utter shock on his face.
“General Zhang!”
Tang Zhen was about to bark out orders when another scream pierced the air from outside. The specters surrounding them had struck again!
Frowning deeply, he made an instant decision.
“Ignore the specters outside! Find Zuo Lin'an first and get him under control!”
“Anyone with the means to counter specters, go upstairs and protect His Majesty! Those whose talents and specter items are spent, get outside! Make room for the others and stop crowding this place!”
Upon hearing his command, everyone who met the criteria surged deeper inside, while those with no remaining means to fight specters filed out of the administrative building.
This was to prevent overcrowding from hindering the others' performance.
To Tang Zhen, such an order was perfectly logical.
After all, Zuo Lin'an was the primary threat.
But he had no idea that this very command brought immense joy to Xu Youyou and the others, who had been harassing them from the outside!
Previously, they had been worried about being repelled if they weren't careful while attacking the players.
But with Tang Zhen's order, they no longer had any reservations.
“Brothers, move fast! These players are basically free kills!”
At this point, Tang Zhen stepped out of the administrative building. He reached into his robes and pulled out a knife—by the looks of it, a cleaver he had swiped from the cafeteria kitchen.
“Everyone, hold off the specters outside with me!”
For them, the best course of action would actually be to flee the administrative building.
The specters were after the people inside. They only needed to hold out for the remaining twenty minutes, and they wouldn't have to worry about the Scarlet Dream anymore.
After all, this was the third time all the players present had entered the dream.
As long as they could make it out alive this time...
Aside from a portion of the fiercely loyal Dark Dragon Guards, the rest standing outside with Tang Zhen consisted of the Tianlong Guards, the imperial guards, and some regular soldiers.
Although these men were also loyal, loyalty had its limits depending on the situation.
They had already done more than enough by exhausting all of their talents and specter items to protect His Majesty under orders!
Several of them exchanged subtle glances and began drifting toward the nearby green belts. When they thought no one was watching, they quickly fled from the administrative building!
Xu Youyou naturally noticed the deserters, but he was in no mood to give chase right now.
Meanwhile, Zuo Lin'an was preparing to head up to the second floor again.
To avoid being controlled by the players again, he proceeded with extreme caution.
However, the stairs and the second-floor corridor were bound to be packed with players. If he took the stairs directly, he would most likely fall into their hands again.
In that case...
The corners of Zuo Lin'an's mouth curled up. He glanced out the window and caught sight of two sneaky figures slipping into the green belt before quickly making their escape.
Oh?
It seemed some people's loyalty was rather lacking.
Tang Zhen roared in fury upon noticing this, but there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Zuo Lin'an sneered at the sight. He climbed out of the shattered first-floor window and scaled the wall, appearing directly outside the second-floor window.
Since taking the stairs inside was so difficult, why not just climb up through the windows from the outside?
In any case, Xuan Jingyuan and the others were definitely in the principal's office.
Xu Youyou caught sight of Zuo Lin'an's movements. Leaving the desperately resisting players to the other specters, he quickly followed after him.
Rate on N.U.
