Li Ku's words were spoken with absolute certainty and conviction, as if he had already grasped the truth and seen the reality clearly.

And such an extreme statement couldn't help but make Jiang Ye suspect...

Was this guy perhaps the "Dark Emperor" from his own hypothetical scenario?

The so-called "black energy" he revered could perhaps be understood as dark-type energy?

He recalled that in the history of the Doomsday Apartment, the initial dominant force was dark-type creatures.

It wasn't until Light players appeared, whose skill characteristics completely crushed those of dark-type creatures, that they directly ascended to the peak of the power pyramid.

Later, dark-type creatures couldn't survive anymore, so they found a way to overthrow the Light faction, directly strangling all Light players.

However, by that time, dark-type creatures had formed various major factions that kept each other in check, so it was no longer the era of a single emperor's absolute authority.

In reality, there should have been differences in strength among the major factions.

It's just that those top-tier strong players seemed to have tacitly agreed to no longer claim titles like emperor or sovereign, as if they were wary of something.

If the current Jiang Ye was indeed in the ancient past, walking on the path of creating history...

Then perhaps the next stop on this road was the era of the "Dark Emperor"?

Actually, whether it was the Dark Emperor or the Light Emperor, they were essentially "of the same kind," just with different ideologies.

It was like how Qin Shi Huang believed in Legalism, but his son believed in Confucianism.

History has proven that Confucian thought could also govern the world.

It's just that Qin Shi Huang, as a participant in the situation, relied on Legalist thought to conquer the world, so he naturally believed that the system he followed was the truth of the world.

Just like Li Ku at this moment, he belonged to the generation that was "conquering the world."

And in this step of conquering and unifying the world, dark-type methods could indeed play a more significant role.

Otherwise, if it were Light players conquering the world during this period...

Then facing non-dark-type Sun People players, Light players would have no advantage at all.

And Light-type methods were only effective against dark-types.

Using those methods against Sun People players...

Then the world might very well have been unified by the Sun People.

So...

Jiang Ye vaguely sensed a historical trend.

During this period, the Light faction truly should not exist.

Only with the Light faction absent could all dark-type creatures unite without worries, working towards a common goal.

Although they came from the same civilization, if they also shared the belief in the dark-type and were all dark-type creatures...

That would naturally deepen their mutual sense of identity.

So...

Li Ku might truly believe in "black energy."

Or perhaps he wanted to use "black energy" to give all players a common belief.

This move wasn't really a problem.

The real problem was...

Jiang Ye's gaze swept over Lin Jing, Chen Cang, and the others.

These people knew of the Light faction's existence.

They also knew the trajectory of history.

So...

They could choose to follow the "Dark Emperor," but they wouldn't become the "Dark Emperor" themselves.

It wasn't about ability.

Simply because they knew...

When the Light faction appeared, that once invincible Dark Emperor would become the biggest living target on the path to seizing power!

If these time-traveling players could survive until the era when the Light faction emerged.

Then when the Light faction appeared, or even before it appeared, they would definitely need to lay low and retreat into seclusion.

Then quietly lie in wait, biding their time for the opportunity to overthrow the Light faction again.

That was the wise course of action.

No wonder Lin Jing, who had considerable leadership talent, showed no intention of competing with Li Ku. Instead, he seemed inclined to assist Li Ku.

Even Li Si...

This guy.

Jiang Ye had previously suspected he might be unwilling to remain subordinate to others.

But if he could foresee the "Dark Emperor's" outcome in advance...

Then it was hard to say; he might truly be willing to assist the Dark Emperor.

Because what he was fighting for wasn't temporary fame and success.

He wanted to live longer...

And looking at Li Ku's demeanor, observing his relationship with Lin Dong.

It wasn't hard to see that Li Ku, while perhaps somewhat unscrupulous in achieving his goals, wouldn't treat his own people poorly as long as they didn't hinder his objectives.

Thinking this, even Jiang Ye couldn't help but feel like assisting this suspected Dark Emperor.

As for the others...

The one who suggested the existence of terrifying creatures in the Blood Pool was Du Yuheng.

And Du Yuheng seemed to have accepted Li Ku's "same-kind theory."

After a moment of silence, he even nodded directly and said:

"Indeed, I also don't consider the Glyph Pattern Ability to be inauspicious. I also believe in black energy."

"Since that's the case, I am willing to accept your—black same-kind theory."

As he spoke, Du Yuheng's gaze swept across the gathered players.

This gaze carried a hint of scrutiny.

Without him needing to say more, Lin Jing was the first to reveal the tattoo on his body and explain:

"As you all know, I replaced the identity of another Moon People player."

"This identity was a newbie who hadn't mastered the Glyph Pattern Ability before."

"This is the Glyph Pattern Ability I obtained myself within a dungeon."

"As for my four teammates here, they also believe in the dark and don't consider the Glyph Pattern Ability inauspicious."

"It's just that two of them have had slightly bad luck, so they temporarily don't have the Glyph Pattern Ability."

"Of course, if anyone among you is willing to provide 'Exile Fruits' for free, I think they would swallow them without hesitation to awaken their Glyph Pattern Ability."

As Lin Jing said this, two youths beside him also revealed the glyph patterns on their bodies.

One was the Rebellious Youth, and the other was a youth who appeared somewhat cold and aloof.

The glyph patterns were located on the wrist and the nape of the neck respectively.

The remaining two without glyph pattern abilities looked very weak, appearing as insignificant fringe characters in the eyes of the strong.

Most strong players would probably simply ignore those two.

However, after a moment of thought, Li Ku actually flipped his hand and took out two "Exile Fruits," tossing them towards those two.

The two didn't hesitate, obediently consumed the "Exile Fruits," and directly awakened their glyph pattern abilities on the spot.

One of the youths, who had a perpetually unlucky look about him, seemed to have genuinely terrible luck. A rat-shaped glyph pattern immediately grew on his forehead, and his glyph pattern ability was merely the ability to turn into a rat...

It was a remarkably rare... trash ability.

Even Lin Jing's expression showed a bit of speechlessness as he emphasized, "This guy's luck is comparatively poor, but it's said he can bring good luck to those around him."

The players who had just been looking at the unlucky youth with disdain instantly changed their expressions.

And Jiang Ye couldn't help but suspect...

Was this unlucky guy perhaps Wan Xin?

Then, within the body he occupied, could there also be a Yang Wenchao?

However...

Upon closer observation, Jiang Ye felt that cold and aloof youth might be Yang Wenchao.

He had suspected this before, but wasn't sure how Yang Wenchao got mixed up with Lin Jing, so he hadn't thought too deeply about it.

But if the unlucky one was really Wan Xin...

Then the cold and aloof youth was very likely Yang Wenchao!

Then the remaining youth, who looked awkward and uncomfortable, should be... Wang Lingling?

At this point, Jiang Ye had preliminary guesses about the identities of these five people, and they were probably quite accurate.

And Wang Lingling's luck directly formed a stark contrast with Wan Xin's!

Wan Xin instantly awakened a garbage glyph pattern ability in one second.

After awakening, the dark-type energy on his body was also minimal.

But Wang Lingling...

Her awakening process lasted for over a minute and still hadn't ended!

Her entire body seemed to be burning with something, turning completely red, with black mist swirling around her.

What was even more outrageous was—

As her glyph pattern awakening entered its later stages, the black mist swirling around her surged back into her body.

Typically, a glyph pattern awakening would end here.

However...

The black mist within this Blood Pool and Forest of Flesh space seemed to be attracted by something, following the example of that earlier black mist, frantically rushing into her body!

This phenomenon wasn't actually rare among dark-type creatures.

Just like in the Doomsday Apartment era, dark-type creatures grew faster in dark-attribute environments.

In the Doomsday Prison era, if players consumed "Exile Fruits" in certain special dark-type environments, there was indeed a probability that their glyph pattern ability would mutate upon awakening!

And the mutation of glyph pattern abilities was somewhat different from the mutation of talent abilities.

Talent mutations were mostly highly random.

And many non-dark-type talents would mutate towards dark-type talents.

It was as if the act of "mutation" itself inherently carried a dark attribute.

Perhaps because of this, glyph pattern ability mutations basically always resulted in becoming stronger.

So players might not dare to let their talents mutate.

But for glyph pattern abilities, they would instead deliberately pursue mutation.

And now, Wang Lingling, consuming an "Exile Fruit" for the first time, actually had the opportunity for mutation...

And this mutation opportunity came from the black mist of the Blood Pool!

This scene made even Chen Cang feel sour inside!

Dammit! He was the protagonist!

How could someone right under his nose obtain an opportunity?!

Was that even reasonable?!

Besides Chen Cang, the other players witnessing this scene firsthand also found it hard to conceal their shock.

In contrast, Lin Jing appeared quite calm.

After a moment of thought, he stated, "See, I told you. The unlucky one can make those around him lucky."

"My teammate here was already quite lucky. Teaming up with the unlucky one is practically like enjoying double the luck."

"..."

Wan Xin: Thank you, senior, for proving I'm useful QAQ

Most people present, besides being shocked, also felt some envy and jealousy.

However, the "Exile Fruits" were given by Li Ku, so they couldn't very well interrupt Wang Lingling's opportunity right in front of him.

So they watched helplessly as—

The black mist throughout the entire Blood Pool and Forest of Flesh space seemed about to be completely drained by Wang Lingling!

Simultaneously, Du Yuheng suddenly blurted out, "Don't you all feel like the burnt smell in the air has become fainter again?"

Wan Xin, that goofball, immediately twitched his nose and sniffed hard.

But he looked utterly confused and said, "No way? I feel like the smell has gotten stronger."

"..." Du Yuheng waved him over. "Come here, let's swap positions."

Wan Xin looked confused, glanced at Lin Jing, received a nod, and then swapped positions with Du Yuheng.

Soon after, he sniffed his nose again and exclaimed in surprise, "It's true! The burnt smell in this spot really has become fainter!"

"Could it be because of this Blood Pool?" As he spoke, he even prepared to lean over the edge of the Blood Pool to sniff it... 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Lin Jing watched, speechless, and directly hinted, "Is it possible that it's not because of the Blood Pool, but because of Wang Lingling?"

His words directly confirmed Wang Lingling's identity.

Jiang Ye also confirmed his own guess.

And it was also quite obvious—

That burnt smell seemed to have transferred to Wang Lingling along with the black mist.

That's why players farther from Wang Lingling felt the burnt smell in the air had become fainter.

Wan Xin finally reacted, "Oh, right... So that burnt smell facilitated the mutation of her glyph pattern ability?"

No one answered.

And around this time, the black mist in the air had become very, very faint.

The players' field of vision became much clearer, and they finally got a clear view of this Blood Pool and Forest of Flesh space.

First, right in the middle of the entire space was that Blood Pool.

The large surrounding areas, previously shrouded in black mist, had looked hazy.

Whether from the perspective of normal players' eyes or mechanical eyeballs, everything appeared as a charred black color, as if scorched by a great fire.

However, now...

With the black mist receding, the traces of the ground being burned by the fire seemed to have faded as well.

What was revealed was a ground with a unique patterned texture, similar to marble.

And this type of ground was quite similar in texture to the floor of the Doomsday Apartment rooftop!

It was as if the Doomsday Apartment rooftop Jiang Ye saw in the future was created by suspending this space in the air above the apartment rooftop?

Players like him, who had seen the Doomsday Apartment rooftop, recognized it at a glance.

However, players from this era who hadn't seen the Doomsday Apartment rooftop were merely astonished by—

"This... The black mist is gone, and the burn marks on the ground have disappeared too..."

"Is this... marble? Or some special material?" A player tried squatting down and tapping the ground.

But immediately following this action, the entire ground began to tremble slowly!

The player was so frightened he jumped up, his face full of panic.

Soon, however, he realized the ground shaking didn't seem to be caused by his tapping.

Rather, it was...

Wang Lingling's glyph pattern ability had completed its awakening!

That was...

"This... A solidified glyph pattern is actually floating in mid-air?!"

"Glyph patterns can only awaken on players' bodies, right? How can this glyph pattern exist independently without attaching to anything?!"

As this voice declaring "independent existence" rang out.

Immediately, a figure decisively and without hesitation charged towards that independently floating black glyph pattern.

And this figure was undoubtedly none other than our protagonist—Chen Cang!

Are you kidding! Opportunities like this were surely prepared for the protagonist!

Other players were still standing there in shock.

But Chen Cang's first reaction was to seize the opportunity!

He flashed forward, his outstretched hand truly touching that floating glyph pattern.

He grasped it.

But the next second, he let out a scream: "Ah—"

Visibly, Chen Cang's entire palm that held the glyph pattern turned black.

From his scream, it wasn't hard to tell he was experiencing immense pain!

Li Ku frowned and shouted, "Let go!"

But how could Chen Cang let go of something already in his grasp!

He directly called out to Witch Gui Jiang Ye: "Senior! Save, save me! Help, help me, get some [Pain Sharing]..."