Chapter 1017: I Have Valuable Information
The prop time was up, and as the chains disappeared, Xu Huo returned to the ground, smiling slightly. "You really are unlucky, drawing me of all people. Take out the note."
With his life in Xu Huo's hands, the male player had no choice but to submit, reluctantly reaching into his luggage compartment to retrieve it.
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "If you really can't get it out, I can help."
As he spoke, the half-open "Eye of the Dead" was already in his hand.
The male player's eyelids twitched, and he had no choice but to toss the note to him.
It was a small strip of paper torn from an ordinary white sheet, with no writing on it, only a graffiti-like drawing of a person with their hands and feet cut off, placed inside a circle, with a "13" marked beside it.
13 was exactly the order in which Xu Huo had entered this villa.
"Just based on this drawing, you decided to kill someone?" he asked. "The instance clearance requirement is just to find a small note, right?"
"Everyone before me did it, so why can't I?" the male player stated bluntly that he was just following suit. "Besides, I don't have any other way to clear it. Of course I'll do what others do. If we all clear it together, fine. If not, I'm not the only one."
Xu Huo laughed out loud, raising a finger to point at his own temple. "Can't you use your brain?"
Feeling insulted, the male player's face flushed with embarrassment as he quickly retorted, "Do you have other clues then?"
Xu Huo wasn't sure if he did. His purpose for coming to this villa had already been fulfilled, and so far, he still didn't understand the background introduction of this instance.
The instance task was very simple, and the mentioned "small note" had no clear instructions. The real hidden conditions should still be in the background introduction, but no one had brought them up yet.
The male player stared at him for a moment, then said, "Actually, you don't know either, or you wouldn't be wasting time asking me here."
He seemed to see an opportunity. "We don't have to fight to the death. Wouldn't cooperating to clear the instance be better?"
"To be honest, it probably won't be that easy for you to kill me like this. Your prop probably won't last much longer, and soon other players will notice the commotion here."
Xu Huo looked at him with a half-smile. "Do you think saying a few words like that will let you walk out of this room unscathed?"
The male player's expression shifted, and he gripped his prop tightly. "There's no way I'll just sit back and wait to die!"
Given how easily he had been trapped earlier, his mental strength was average, and now that he was deeply immersed in the spiritual realm, it would be even harder for him to break free. Xu Huo didn't waste time, quickly dislocating both of his arms and then using the "Restraint Collar" to bind him.
Instead of killing him outright, Xu Huo simply demonstrated by crossing his hands and said, "When I clasp my hands again, this collar will tighten until you stop breathing. You're the first to experience the full process. I'll record your death in detail later, so no rush."
The male player grabbed at the collar with both hands, feeling it grow harder to breathe, and quickly said, "Wait, wait! I'll give you all my props and money, just let me go!"
Xu Huo remained unmoved, so the male player had to raise the stakes. "Besides these, I can also give you some valuable information."
"Let's hear it." Xu Huo showed a bit of interest.
"The first killer last night was definitely that teacher surnamed Fan," the male player said. "I actually noticed someone had died last night, so I quietly smeared some blood on one side of my room. The killer would definitely be guilty and come to wipe it off. When I came out this morning, the blood was already cleaned up, and coincidentally, only that Teacher Fan was living to my left."
"That doesn't necessarily prove it was him. He might have just been avoiding trouble," Xu Huo said.
"It was definitely him," the male player insisted. "Yesterday, I accidentally overheard him asking the woman who died this morning about the order of player entry. I didn't understand why at the time, but after getting the small note, what else was there to figure out?"
It was such a coincidence that the second person to get the note was the long-haired female player. She must have also known Teacher Fan's intentions, but there was no need to expose him, because she also needed to know the order in which other players had arrived.
This meant there were two possibilities for the long-haired female player's death: either she was killed by her target in self-defense, or she was silenced by Teacher Fan.
Either way, the difference wasn't significant.
"The value of this information is average." Xu Huo pulled over a stool and sat across from him. "Tell me something else."
The man across from him darkened his expression before speaking. "Snow City should be about to face a major incident."
"I have an information channel. Apparently, the higher-ups in Snow City, in order to invade other new districts and seize resources, purchased a batch of large-scale space weapons from the Game Government Base. You should know about the small space passage in District 002. This is an enhanced version—not only larger, but it also allows people to directly traverse through space."
"In two more days, after the beauty pageant ends, a large number of District 002 players should be leaving. By then, Snow City will definitely be in chaos. For outsider players like us, it's undoubtedly a good opportunity."
"A good opportunity..." Xu Huo let out a low laugh. "Just looting in the chaos."
The male player, however, said, "The people in District 002 aren't good either. Robbing new districts, who knows how many people they'll kill. Taking a few of their props isn't too much, is it?"
"With so many shops selling props and potions, robbing just one would be worth two instance runs!"
"It is indeed tempting." Xu Huo rubbed his chin. "But such big news—how did an outsider like you find out?"
"I told you, I have my channels." The male player held onto this leverage. "And I have allied companions outside. Snow City won't be stupid enough to pull all their advanced players away. So choosing the right spot is key—neither leaving empty-handed nor getting trapped."
Therefore, picking a suitable robbery location was crucial.
"After the instance ends, I can take you to meet them. With your abilities, no one will object to you getting a share."
Xu Huo nodded. "Anything else?"
The male player paused. "What else do you want to know?"
"Cooperating with you isn't out of the question," Xu Huo tapped the ground with his foot. "But you'll need at least two decent props to trade for your life."
Hearing this, the male player actually relaxed and immediately handed over the "Hell Cage" he had used earlier. "This is a B-grade prop, and my most practical one."
Among the props he had used, this was the one Xu Huo valued most, which was why he hadn't destroyed it with the "Life Core."
But he didn't take it.
"Just this one isn't enough." The male player gritted his teeth and took out another C-grade prop and a special prop. "This is really my best prop. You have to leave me something to protect myself with, or I might not survive until the instance ends."
(Chapter End)