Within the Dream King’s Court, Xu Lang sat upon the throne, four scenes unfolding before his eyes—the actions of his four Nightmare Apostles.

Each Nightmare Apostle had a terrifying dream-form, distinct and horrifying.

【Nightmare Apostle · Li Shuwen scares target, Nightmare Essence +6!】

【Nightmare Apostle · Wu Huihui scares target, Nightmare Essence +4!】

【Nightmare Apostle · Sword Saint scares target, Nightmare Essence +7!】

【Nightmare Apostle · Floating Life Play scares target, Nightmare Essence +10!】

Li Shuwen was targeting tenants below the eighth floor.

These days, the number of Mad King Building players had been steadily increasing, and among them were many Monster Players teleported through the Gate of Ten Thousand Lies.

These players had clashed frequently with the Mad King Building players, and Li Shuwen’s faction had naturally been caught up in the conflict.

Wu Huihui’s scare targets were players she usually couldn’t stand.

The Sword Saint targeted players with potential.

Floating Life Play’s scare targets were random, yet each time, he inflicted deep psychological torment, yielding a hefty amount of Nightmare Essence.

Xu Lang could revoke a Nightmare Apostle’s identity at any time, but doing so would put the ability on cooldown, preventing him from selecting a new apostle for a short period.

Thus, he had to somewhat evaluate these people’s performance.

The Dream Simulation was infinitely close to reality, and its value was sky-high.

But to initiate a Dream Simulation, one had to consume Nightmare Essence.

This elevated the value of Nightmare Essence by a whole tier, making it an incredibly precious resource.

As expected, by tomorrow, the term “Demon King’s Apostle” would spread throughout the entire Mad King Building.

“The Demon King’s Castle is releasing apostles—isn’t that just to annoy everyone?”

No!

This was a blessing!

Was helping you lower your SAN value not good enough?

The beauty of journalism lay right here.

Xu Lang exited the dream and briefed Su Yuan and the others on the matter of the Demon King’s Apostles, telling them to spin the story in the Blood Mist Morning Paper and guide public opinion.

In truth, he had considered making Su Yuan, Wang Lie, and Zhou Ye into Nightmare Apostles as well.

But the three had roughly equal merit, and it wouldn’t be fair to give it to only one.

Afterward, Xu Lang re-entered the dream.

His Fusion count had been upgraded to a hundred times, and the Simulation Dream had also been optimized. He intended to fully experience these trait abilities.

After some thought, he first smelted a portion of the Nightmare Essence, then began the simulation.

There was also a method to how one should set the starting point.

Simulating the Blood Calamity directly would be a waste if the calamity didn’t come the next day.

Suppose he simulated “the future after my death”; the dream would genuinely generate that scenario, even if he wasn’t going to die.

To ensure the simulation was one hundred percent accurate, he decided to start from the very beginning, setting only the time node without defining the scenario.

“I can’t presuppose the Blood Calamity’s appearance…”

Xu Lang pondered for a moment before weaving the dream—a dream about the future.

【Dream: Mad King Building, One Day Later】

【Initial Cost: 100 Nightmare Essence】

【Total Nightmare Essence: 12,302 Units】

【Start Simulation? Nightmare Essence will be consumed continuously during the simulation.】

“Start simulation!”

Xu Lang made his choice, and the Simulation Dream instantly began to shift.

…

In the dream.

One day later, Mad King Building.

Xu Lang woke up in bed and, accompanied by Miaoying, made his way to the corridor.

The Blood Mist outside the Safe Zone drifted faster and more violently than usual, thick with an ominous aura.

Black clouds pressed down, threatening to crush the building. The residents of Mad King Building had noticed the strange weather early in the morning.

Players stood in the corridor, talking animatedly among themselves.

Everyone was discussing the Blood Calamity, with scattered mentions of who had had nightmares and the like.

Xu Lang tapped his fingers on the guardrail, the total Nightmare Essence count hovering in the upper-left corner of his vision, the numbers slowly ticking down.

【Consume Nightmare Essence to accelerate time?】

“They offer this service too?”

Xu Lang decisively accelerated.

The light and shadows in the Simulation Dream shifted rapidly, as if someone had hit fast-forward.

And with that fast-forward came a similarly rapid drain of Nightmare Essence.

Xu Lang felt his heart bleeding. Smelting Nightmare Essence required facilities and Fusion attempts. Though not as valuable as Nightmare Coins, it was still an incredibly rare resource!

Fast-forwarding the simulation consumed less Nightmare Essence than waiting through time normally, since there were far fewer trivial, minute details.

Three thousand Nightmare Coins were quickly consumed, and he arrived at the time node he wanted.

Six in the evening, dusk approaching.

Suddenly, the Mad King Building’s broadcast system blared to life, harsh red lights flickering wildly in every corner of the Safe Zone.

【Mad King Building Broadcast—】

【Alert! Alert! Alert!】

【Blood Calamity incoming! Blood Calamity incoming! Blood Calamity incoming!】

【Estimated grade of this Blood Calamity: C-level. Tentatively named “Scarlet End · Tenfold Cataclysm.”】

【Calamity Details: The Blood Calamity will pass through, bringing tenfold disasters. Rivers will turn to blood, calamity frogs will sweep across the land, followed by plague, disease, extreme cold, famine, darkness, and civil strife!】

【The Scarlet End is about to descend upon Mad King Building. All personnel, prepare!】

【In this battle, Mad King Building will fight shoulder to shoulder with its players to resist the Blood Calamity!】

【We will survive to the very end!】

【Together!!!】

Xu Lang had never seen Mad King Building in such a frenzy. The broadcast sounded like a tearing scream—chaotic, delirious, and mad.

“The Blood Calamity is really here!!!”

“Crazy, this is crazy! Mad King Building has lost its mind!”

“So noisy! My SAN value is dropping! Mad King Building, what the hell are you screaming about?!”

“Damn it, Brother Hong! You said you’d fought in a Blood Calamity battle before. You’ve got to protect me this time!”

“Holy shit! It’s really a C-level Blood Calamity. Some dormitory building in the Titan Ruins is definitely getting wiped out!”

Players faced the threat of being purged, and so did the dormitory buildings!

After all, a dormitory building wasn’t the Dorm Survival Game itself—it was just one link in the game’s ecosystem, with both strong and weak.

Xu Lang’s expression grew more serious than ever before. Gazing at the ever-shifting sky beyond the Safe Zone, he felt a genuine panic, like a primitive man witnessing lightning and thunder for the first time.

At moments like this, returning to the cave was the safest option.

A Herd Spirit materialized beside him.

“I smell a scent of chaos!” Song Fei spread his arms, a fanatical gleam in his eyes.

“Have you ever fought against a Blood Calamity before?” Xu Lang asked.

Upon hearing the news of the Blood Calamity’s arrival, Xu Lang had recalled Song Fei as quickly as possible.

“I have!” Song Fei nodded. As a veteran of Taleblade Building, an old player who had accompanied it through its entire history, he knew quite a bit of lore.

“In my memory, I’ve experienced two Blood Calamities.”

“One was a C-level calamity. Back then, I was just a seven-cycle newbie and survived only thanks to the care of the veteran players.”

“The other was a D-level calamity, but it didn’t affect Taleblade Building directly, so I don’t know much about it.”

Xu Lang’s expression shifted. “I heard that even dormitory buildings can be destroyed by a Blood Calamity. Is it really that terrifying?”

Song Fei’s gaze flickered. “Absolutely true! And a dormitory building destroyed by a Blood Calamity might leave behind a considerable legacy. If you’re willing to venture into the Blood Mist World, you could act as a ‘treasure hunter.’ I know the site of one such dormitory and can tell you about it.”

“Stop right there.” Xu Lang only wanted to lie low at home. “How do we survive this calamity?”

“Just treat it like playing a game,” Song Fei replied. “And this time, the dormitory building will go all out to support the player faction.”

To be honest, he didn’t have any brilliant advice either.

Enduring a Blood Calamity was like a cultivator undergoing a tribulation—it came down to one’s foundation and luck.

If luck was against you and the center of the calamity landed right on your dormitory, then you might as well call it GG.

Of course, if your dormitory was strong enough, then the Blood Calamity would be no different from a gentle breeze brushing over a mountain.

But wishing for that was just wishful thinking.

If it were just a minor nuisance, the dormitory wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of warning everyone.

The Blood Calamity was a natural disaster in the Blood Mist World—a top-tier force that could forcibly break through the Safe Zone!