Chapter 1088: Know It Well
Xiaohe City, or at least this commercial building, had its spatial items restricted. But just now, he had clearly sensed a fluctuation of spatial power behind him, yet when he turned around, he saw no one. Could it be that this building was currently under the control of an A-level or higher spatial item?
This wasn’t impossible. Mr. Kang and more than half of the people here were cannibal players. If someone wanted to openly devour others and used an item to deliberately fabricate bizarre disappearances, it would make sense. Moreover, this was Xu Huo’s first reaction upon hearing about the strange disappearances from Miss Ma and the others.
Miss Ma and her group knew very few relevant details—perhaps other players had intentionally concealed them.
If this line of reasoning was correct, it was both good and bad for their group. The good part was that the enemy was a tangible player, not some more unpredictable existence. The bad part was that the players of Xiaohe City could surround them at any time without any other reservations.
He could try testing Mr. Kang.
Putting away the item, Xu Huo went to check Room 002. One of the rooms occupied by the men was missing a person.
One person, bold enough to sleep, was already snoring, while another was curled up in the corner of the bed, trembling nonstop. Seeing Xu Huo, he immediately lunged forward, speaking with a sobbing tone: “Brother Liu suddenly disappeared… We ate too much earlier, so we went to the restroom together. We were squatting right next to each other, talking, and then he just went silent. When I came out, I couldn’t find him…”
Xu Huo sidestepped him and glanced over. “Did you wash your hands when you came out?”
The other person was stunned, wearing an expression that said, “In a life-or-death situation like this, you’re only concerned about whether I washed my hands?” But seeing Xu Huo’s stern face, he awkwardly lowered his head.
“I already know about the matter,” Xu Huo said. “Having a bed to sleep on doesn’t mean it’s safe. Don’t wander around outside at night.”
The other person quickly nodded. “Can I follow you?”
“Just stay put here.” Xu Huo left the room and made a trip to the restroom.
It was too easy to abduct an ordinary person, especially since the previous person hadn’t even seen how the man disappeared.
When he went out, a remote-controlled car was just reaching the doorway. Its camera turned toward him, then shifted away, continuing to run along the corridor.
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. It seemed they really didn’t dare to come out.
Returning to the room, Uncle Guan and the others had already rested. He nodded to Chi Minghong, who had his eyes open, and then lay down on the bed.
The latter half of the night passed quickly. Outside, the sky wasn’t very bright. Heavy clouds hung low, suggesting a heavy rain was coming.
This morning was not peaceful. Three players and one ordinary person had gone missing.
Someone had seen Zeng Shangping walk out of his room on his own, so he was also added to the “bizarre disappearance” list.
But no one saw Sun Jing leave his room.
“My little race car didn’t capture him either,” said a bald-headed player who was repairing a machine. “If he didn’t disappear, then he must have been killed by someone.”
“Last night was quite lively.”
He pointed his chin meaningfully at Xu Huo and the others.
Both sides knew it well. Xu Huo and his group couldn’t have gone out without being seen by the Xiaohe City players, and the Xiaohe City players wouldn’t come out to interfere with them at night, maintaining a fragile peace.
“Xiao Ma?” Mr. Kang looked at Miss Ma.
Sun Jing and Miss Ma were a fixed couple.
Miss Ma had been in a poor mental state since leaving her room, with dark circles under her eyes and a dazed expression. When Mr. Kang called her name, she instinctively sized him up, as if evaluating something.
“Ma Chunchun,” Gong Jiaji interrupted her. “Mr. Kang is asking you a question.”
Miss Ma’s peripheral vision caught Xu Huo not far away, and she also saw Cao Zheng and Qian Zi, who seemed completely unaffected by the previous incident. A flicker of doubt crossed her face, and she added a note of caution. “Sun Jing and I had a fight.”
“You guys are something else. Fighting and causing trouble at a time like this!” Qian Zi said angrily. “I knew it. One day, Sun Jing would be done in by you!”
Miss Ma wasn’t someone with a good temper, and Qian Zi was deliberately picking a fight. But unexpectedly, Miss Ma didn’t respond to the provocation. Instead, she lowered her head and sat to the side, looking resigned.
Seeing her like this, Qian Zi fell silent instead.
At that moment, the frail Jiang Wenzhang spoke up. “Sun Jing left his room on his own. He should have known what the consequences might be.”
Qian Zi shot him a cold glance. “You say you saw Zeng Shangping leave his room on his own, but Wang Mo’s machine didn’t capture it. Who knows if he disappeared or was killed by someone with ulterior motives?”
Jiang Wenzhang paused in the middle of adjusting his glasses, then looked up. “What did you say?”
Meeting his gaze, Qian Zi involuntarily stepped back, then grew even angrier. “If you’ve got guts, don’t use your trait. If you’re a real man, fight fair!”
“Why would I fight you?” Jiang Wenzhang said without changing expression. “Physical combat isn’t my strength. You might as well just tell me to stand still and not move.”
Qian Zi genuinely wanted to fight, but Cao Zheng stopped her. The latter signaled with his eyes, and Qian Zi immediately looked at Mr. Kang. “Mr. Kang, Jiang Wenzhang and Zeng Shangping have old grudges. For no reason, why would Zeng Shangping come out on his own?”
Mr. Kang wasn’t particularly concerned with their argument. Instead, he showed some interest in Xu Huo and the others, as some of their people had also gone missing.
Uncle Guan claimed that You Xuewen had disappeared while going to the restroom, and he pressed for more details about the “bizarre disappearances” that hadn’t been fully discussed the day before.
“This isn’t a secret in Xiaohe City,” Mr. Kang explained with a good attitude. “Every time outside players enter our district, Xiaohe City reacts like a reflex, and people go missing.”
“No matter whether we can find the players who came in from outside, this situation can’t be avoided.”
“Wenzhang speculates that the players’ entry startled a group of xenomorphs, causing some special xenomorph to sneak into Xiaohe City to hunt.”
“You might not know, but our district originally had a type of chameleon. After evolving and mutating, it developed a protective coloration that allows it to blend completely into its environment. Of course, since that chameleon evolved, we’ve never found any trace of them when walking outside.”
“But that doesn’t mean they’ve gone extinct.”
“So you think it’s this chameleon causing trouble?” Uncle Guan pondered for a moment. “It’s just a mutated beast. Catching it shouldn’t be too hard, should it?”
“Mr. Kang is just giving an example. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the chameleon,” Jiang Wenzhang interjected. “We have many peculiar species here that other districts have never heard of. To guard against this, we even specially purchased a spatial limiter. But unfortunately, we’ve tried many methods without any results.”
“Could it be that a special random instance has been born?” Xu Huo suggested. “I’ve seen instances with very strange entrances. Perhaps there’s one with an entrance that keeps moving.”
(Chapter End)