Thinking of this, Zhang Tinglei no longer hesitated.
In that instant, Zuo Lin'an felt the hand gripping his neck suddenly exert force.
He clearly heard a sound coming from his neck.
It was the sound of bones snapping.
He hadn't expected that he would actually be able to hear the sound of his own neck being snapped. It was quite a novel experience.
Exerting force in his hand, Zhang Tinglei snapped Zuo Lin'an's neck and casually threw his limp body onto the ground.
Just as he was waiting for Zuo Lin'an's fused specter to appear, he suddenly noticed a black skull pattern slowly emerging on the back of his right hand.
“What is this...?”
He frowned slightly, but his expression immediately changed drastically.
“Oh no! This is...”
The very next instant after he realized something was wrong, the black skull pattern abruptly transformed into a thick black smoke, enveloping a one-meter radius around him.
By a stroke of sheer coincidence...
Both Zhang Tinglei himself and Zuo Lin'an's living body—which seemed to have been killed but had actually long since recovered—were completely enveloped by the black smoke.
However, because Zuo Lin'an had detached his specter body beforehand and was standing just a short distance behind his living body, he managed to avoid the black smoke.
The enveloped living body was not so fortunate.
The moment the black smoke enveloped him, he felt himself being poisoned. Before he could even react, his living body had already died.
And of course, along with it, Zhang Tinglei!
With the shock still frozen on his face, the old man perished in the black smoke.
“This...”
Zuo Lin'an was utterly shocked. He had not expected Zhang Tinglei to die so easily!
Before his shock could even register fully, the black smoke abruptly dissipated, as if it had never existed.
He looked down at Zhang Tinglei's corpse on the ground, filled with deep confusion.
What happened?
Was that a specter item just now?
Yes, it had to be a specter item.
Without a doubt, this was Zhong Cheng's doing. He had no idea when Zhong Cheng had managed to silently plant a specter item on Zhang Tinglei.
As for the trigger condition of the specter item...
Zuo Lin'an replayed everything that had just happened in his mind. It seemed... to have triggered the exact moment Zhang Tinglei killed his living body?
In other words, this was highly likely a one-time consumable specter item.
It could be attached to someone else, and once that person initiated a kill, the specter item would trigger instantly, poisoning everyone within a one-meter radius to death.
After all, the sensation his living body had felt just now was indeed poisoning.
Zuo Lin'an lowered his head in contemplation.
So... when on earth did Zhong Cheng make his move?
He carefully reviewed every single contact and conversation between Zhong Cheng and Zhang Tinglei, and in the end, he actually found the answer.
It was back by the puddle, when Zhang Tinglei had used underhanded schemes to launch a sneak attack on Zhong Cheng, crippling his dantian!
At that time, Zhong Cheng had been half-kneeling on the ground, gripping Zhang Tinglei's wrist tightly with one hand.
Zuo Lin'an recalled that the spot where the black skull pattern had appeared just now was exactly where Zhong Cheng had grabbed him!
When Zhong Cheng grabbed Zhang Tinglei's hand, it wasn't just to trigger his talent, 【Injury Transfer】, but also to attach the specter item to him!
“No wonder...”
Zuo Lin'an came to a sudden realization.
No wonder Zhong Cheng had focused solely on hiding and biding his time after transferring his injuries to Zhang Tinglei.
He had found it strange before.
After all, Zhong Cheng knew about Zhang Tinglei's talent, which meant he must have realized that Zhang Tinglei would definitely trigger his talent to kill him before clearing the dungeon and leaving.
Therefore, in Zuo Lin'an's view, Zhong Cheng's best option should have been to stop Zhang Tinglei from clearing the dungeon, or even to drag him down with him.
Yet, he had done absolutely nothing.
As it turned out, all of his forbearance was for the sake of waiting for this very moment!
Only now did Zuo Lin'an realize that he had underestimated Zhong Cheng.
If Zhang Tinglei could deduce that the native was a Specter Master based on Wu Zhao's experience and the information provided by other players, Zhong Cheng might not have been entirely oblivious either.
Perhaps he had even factored in the possibility that a native like himself wouldn't obediently listen to Zhang Tinglei, leading to a confrontation where he would eventually be killed.
Thinking up to this point, Zuo Lin'an slowly shook his head.
“No, that's not right.”
If he could even anticipate that, then Zhong Cheng would be a bit too terrifying. That shouldn't be the case.
“He probably didn't think that far ahead.”
He probably just wanted to stall for time.
He had done everything he could to keep himself alive, knowing that as long as he held out until Zhang Tinglei made a move to repel the specter, the specter item he had planted in advance would be triggered.
Zhang Tinglei would be poisoned to death instantly.
The death would be so swift that there would be no time for Zhang Tinglei to trigger his talent, allowing Zhong Cheng to survive.
At that point...
Although Zhang Tinglei would be dead, he would have repelled the specter right before his demise.
This meant that the players' main quest, 【repel the specter twice】, would be completed.
And as the last surviving player, Zhong Cheng would become the sole player to clear the dungeon.
Zuo Lin'an let out a long breath.
“As expected, one must never underestimate any player.”
But unfortunately...
Zuo Lin'an's living body lying on the ground twitched, then stood up, casually brushing the dust off his clothes.
“Unfortunately, my specter body wasn't killed.”
Zhang Tinglei had mistaken him for a Specter Master, believing that as long as he killed the Specter Master, the specter would appear and be repelled by him.
He thought he could easily repel the specter and clear the dungeon before the native transformed into an unsolvable specter.
Little did he know, things were far from that simple.
Two players and one dungeon boss—the three of them each harbored their own hidden agendas and trump cards.
Yet, the ultimate winner was him, the native.
As for Zhong Cheng, who was still hiding in the dungeon, Zuo Lin'an didn't even need to lift a finger.
After all, Zhang Tinglei had been killed by Zhong Cheng's specter item. Since they were both players, it wouldn't be long before Zhang Tinglei transformed into an unsolvable specter!
Right at that moment, Zuo Lin'an noticed a faint, chilly aura rising from Zhang Tinglei's corpse.
“Zhong Cheng probably thought along those lines too...”
Although Zhang Tinglei would be killed by his specter item, Zhong Cheng believed he could clear the dungeon before the unsolvable specter came knocking, so he hadn't worried about that issue at all.
However, things had not unfolded according to his plans.
Zuo Lin'an's specter body quietly left the area, returning shortly after with the work phone he had hidden earlier.
However, he didn't check the phone immediately.
Instead, he watched the fully formed unsolvable specter that Zhang Tinglei had transformed into.
With his long black-and-white hair wild and disheveled, and his hands transformed into sharp claws, the specter let out a ferocious roar. Then, ignoring Zuo Lin'an, it flew rapidly toward a certain direction.
Zuo Lin'an quietly observed the situation on Zhong Cheng's end.
At this moment, Zhong Cheng was sitting despondently on a rock.
“How can this be?”
“The specter item was triggered, so why hasn't the main quest been completed?”
“Who else could Zhang Tinglei have killed in this dungeon besides a specter?”
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