While Xiao Tangqiu was still puzzled over the matter, the glass bottle in Lippinobert’s hand suddenly fell to the ground, making a crisp clink as it broke. Then, he suddenly knelt to the ground, grabbing his own neck as he screamed in pain.

Along with his screams, his body began to change. Thick black smoke emerged from within and his body started to expand. In a few seconds, his head had broken through the ceiling of the church, even wrecking the eaves.

The two rookies, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian, had to dodge the falling bricks and tiles and at the same time try their best to avoid being trampled to death by Lippinobert, who had transformed, becoming almost as large as a hill.

Lippinobert screamed painfully, surrounded by the black smoke. But all of a sudden, he suddenly cried out excitedly, “She’s back! She’s back!”

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time…”

“You’re back!”

“Welcome back…”

Xiao Tangqiu was immediately dumbfounded. Lily Marlene came back? Was their mission a failure?

He waited for awhile in fear but didn’t hear the system’s prompts. At this moment, the black smoke around Lippinobert began to gradually fade away.

By the time the black smoke had completely dissipated, Lippinobert had changed entirely.

His face was split in half, half of which was still his own, but the other half was extraordinarily feminine, which made him look as if he were wearing a mask. He seemed to be half male, half female.

The wedding dress on his body had been torn apart in the process of his transformation but it didn’t reveal a human body. Instead, he had a wooden body, just like a puppet. His elbows and knees had also turned into puppet joints. This freak puppet master, who was obsessed with turning others into puppets, had finally turned himself into one.

“Welcome back…”

Lippinobert began to talk to himself, his voice sounding very strange, both like a man and a woman, but nothing like a man or a woman. It was sometimes sharp and sometimes low.

In the next second, he asked himself and answered himself, “I’m back…”

After that, he began to laugh, “Hehehehe…”

Xiao Tangqiu was spooked by Lippinobert and subconsciously stumbled backwards in Shen Yuan’s direction. Although Lippinobert seemed to have only transformed physically, Xiao Tangqiu was keenly aware of the solemn expressions of Shen Yuan and the others. Things were obviously not optimistic.

Shen Yuan said coldly, “He took the demon’s heart and has become the first demon generation…”

Not only did demons exist in this world, but their numbers were also extremely large, so large that they needed levels to distinguish them?

When he heard Yu Fuling’s proposal to forcefully break away from the instance, Xiao Tangqiu’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had learned from Su Manluo that there were props to forcefully break away from the instance. It wasn’t surprising that Shen Yuan and the other old players had such props. However, it was obviously impossible for him and Tang Mianmian to own such a thing. If Shen Yuan decided to forcefully break away from the instance, he and Tang Mianmian could only stay here and wait for death.

Yu Fuling earnestly persuaded, “Older brother Shen, this instance doesn’t just have the difficulty of an ordinary S-level mission. You’ve used that ability too many times in this instance. If you continue, your body won’t be able to hold on…”

Sai Lulu’s expression was more serious than ever. “Yes, older brother Shen! You can’t use that ability anymore! Let’s go!”

Xiao Tangqiu’s gaze was as deep as an ocean as he looked at Shen Yuan. He bit his lip, not knowing what to feel.

He knew that what Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu said was true, because after the giant serpent had been eliminated earlier, the tattoo of Ouroboros on Shen Yuan’s body hadn’t disappeared as before. Instead, it remained on Shen Yuan’s cheek and neck till now, clearly visible, swirling slowly, as if the eternal serpent in his tattoo would come alive and devour everything in the next moment.

This must be a sign that Shen Yuan was almost at his limit.

Xiao Tangqiu lowered his eyes, laughing bitterly on the inside.

Although it was difficult to accept it in his heart, in his head, he knew that even if Shen Yuan made the choice to leave the instance, they had no reason or right to blame him for that. After all, from the beginning, Shen Yuan had no obligation to help and protect them. In this cruel world of death and murder, it had always been survival of the fittest. Even if they could temporarily depend on the strong, they couldn’t rely on them forever.

They weren’t strong enough and could only be eliminated… Was that it?

Xiao Tangqiu turned around, not daring to look at Shen Yuan’s expression. He was even more afraid to expect anything of his decision.

Yet in the next moment, Shen Yuan’s voice coldly rang, “No, we stay.”

Xiao Tangqiu suddenly froze. He didn’t expect that Shen Yuan would choose to stay. Yu Fuling cried out in disbelief, “Older brother Shen, what we’re facing is the first demon generation!”

Shen Yuan calmly interrupted Yu Fuling, “I will stay. You guys go.”

Sai Lulu obviously disagreed, “Older brother Shen, your body can’t hold on!”

Shen Yuan looked coldly at Lippinobert, who was in the form of a puppet. His voice was calm and steady, “We can’t escape forever.”

Yu Fuling sounded impatient, “But older brother Shen, in your current state… you’ll suffer repercussions!”

Xiao Tangqiu heart suddenly sank at once. Repercussions? What did she mean?

However, with the situation being what it was now, of course he couldn’t ask Yu Fuling. He could only anxiously look at Shen Yuan. The latter’s expression remained calm and unmoved. “He’s here.”

The black Ouroboros tattoo on his cheek continued to slowly swirl. The tail-biting serpent totem wound about, twisting and turning like a beast, eager to fight.

“You guys leave… I’ll stay.”

Shen Yuan repeated himself again, apparently having made up his mind.

Before Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu could object, Duan Hongzhen, who was still casually fiddling with his knife, spoke first. He half smiled, “Since when does it make sense for the captain to stay behind while his subordinates flee?”

Yu Fuling bit her lip, “If you don’t leave, neither will we!”

Sai Lulu snorted and cried with a face full of displeasure, “Older brother Shen, we’re teammates! You’re our captain, how can we abandon our captain?!”

Shen Yuan faintly added, “If you don’t leave now, it’ll be too late.”

Duan Hongzhen grinned. “It’s already too late.”

Right then, Lippinobert had finally passed the refractory period of his transformation. He couldn’t tolerate these foreign visitors who were ignoring him. With a smile and a wave of his hand, several puppet strings shot out towards them.

Tang Mianmian didn’t have time to dodge and was immediately entangled in Lippinobert’s puppet strings. His body lost control at once, turning in Duan Hongzhen’s direction.

Duan Hongzhen nimbly dodged the puppet strings and deftly kicked Tang Mianmian, who was attacking him under the control of Lippinobert, a great distance away.

Tang Mianmian rolled on the ground a few times, then quickly got up and jumped at Duan Hongzhen again.

Xiao Tangqiu, who was also controlled by the puppet strings, rushed at Shen Yuan against his own will, but the latter avoided him without the slightest change in his expression.

“Kill each other then!” Lippinobert was so excited that he let out strange laughter with that weird half male, half female voice of his. “I’m going to turn all of you into puppets! You’ll certainly become my best work!”

With another wave of his hand, countless puppets shot at them. This time, there was a black smoke, visible to the naked eye, attached to the puppets. Although Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu dodged immediately, those puppets that were wrapped in black smoke behaved as if they had their own consciousness, chasing after them. Sai Lulu and Yu Fuling quickly swept their weapons at them.

However, the puppets were extremely tough and couldn’t be dealt with at all. Soon, both person and weapon were entangled by the puppets.

Under the control of Lippinobert, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu lunged at Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen respectively, the four of them battling at once. Shen Yuan and Duan Hongzhen obviously couldn’t lay a hand on their teammates. They avoided their attacks and gave them some leeway. However, Yu Fuling and Sai Lulu, who were being manipulated, didn’t have the same concerns and went all out to claim their lives.

“Older brother Shen! Get out of the way!” Yu Fuling shouted as she struggled. Although her body was out of control, her consciousness and thoughts were still clear. She desperately tried to break free from Lippinobert’s control, but her struggle was in vain.

Lippinobert laughed viciously. He obviously preferred to watch them kill each other rather than kill them immediately.

Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were temporarily discarded to one side. Perhaps Lippinobert finally saw that the two men were just useless slags in battle and manipulating them to attack Shen Yuan was just like throwing stones at him, so he simply abandoned them completely.

Xiao Tangqiu was temporarily freed but his first reaction wasn’t to let out a sigh of relief or run away. If they couldn’t defeat Lippinobert, once Shen Yuan and the others were finished, it would be his turn and Tang Mianmian’s turn. 

In desperation, he held onto the last glimmer of hope, using his “Sexy Streamer’s Live Stream Channel” skill. This was also the third time in this instance that he used it, which meant that it was also the last time he could use this skill… This was the battle with the final BOSS! If he didn’t use it now, he wouldn’t have a chance to use it anymore!

In the next second, Xiao Tangqiu was blinded by the barrage before him.

“Exciting content up ahead!”

“Exciting content up ahead! Warning: battle with the BOSS!”

“Streamer kill him ahhhhhhhh! Kill this psycho and you’ll be the big BOSS!”

“You got this, Mr. Streamer! I’m betting on you oh!”

……

……This useless skill was indeed good for nothing!