Chapter 1112: Two Choices
High-risk instances don't give rewards upon completion. Of course, the people of Xiaohe City could consider that a reward in itself, but now it seemed Mr. Kang was a bit troublesome.
Seeing Xu Huo's silence, Jiang Wenzhang added, "Why don't you just hide outside for ten days? You don't have to go back and risk your life."
Everyone would be safe staying here.
Xu Huo ignored him and said after a moment, "Now you can hand over your item."
Jiang Wenzhang's face changed color, and he was forced to give up "Cannot Be Broken From Within." Fortunately, Xu Huo didn't demand any other items, but for his own safety, he voluntarily offered one.
It was an item resembling a full-length mirror. When deployed in a relatively enclosed space, it could fill the entire area with mirrors, creating a mirror maze-like environment to confuse others.
Xu Huo accepted the item, placed it into a picture frame, then stored it in his item slot. He then collected "Cannot Be Broken From Within." It was another A-grade item. Besides the effect he had already experienced, this item could also trap the holder inside. However, no matter who was trapped, breaking out from the inside was extremely difficult, while it was slightly easier from the outside.
In other words, this wasn't an item suited for group combat.
Of course, the quality of an A-grade item was still sufficient.
Zhou Yuanzhu, who had been submerged in water, finally emerged. She wiped the water off her protective barrier and said in surprise, "All dealt with?"
Xu Huo nodded. Jiang Wenzhang couldn't escape, and Wang Mo and Zhao Xiaofang naturally couldn't either. He had taken care of them when he killed Zheng Da.
"Are we returning to Xiaohe City now?" Zhou Yuanzhu asked. "But going back like this might mean a fight breaks out immediately."
Considering the time difference inside and outside Xiaohe City, if the two of them waited until tomorrow morning to return, Uncle Guan and the others would have spent enough time in the instance to be able to leave at any moment, no longer under Mr. Kang's control.
This would also serve as a buffer period. As long as they didn't return, the players in Xiaohe City wouldn't be in a hurry to act against the others. Their main concern was dealing with the spatial swallowing, and afterward, they would treat the newcomers as food reserves—the people of Xiaohe City had learned from the 002 District residents where they came from. The space teleportation device used by the Snow City players probably hadn't crossed a wormhole point, so they were still in E20.
Not crossing a wormhole point meant that if they stayed in Xiaohe City for about twenty days, they would be forcibly randomized. So after the chaos space ended, it would be time for Mr. Kang and his people to deal with the outsider players.
On the way back to Xiaohe City, Xu Huo told Zhou Yuanzhu all the information he had gathered. Zhou Yuanzhu was dumbfounded and didn't know where to start asking questions. After opening and closing her mouth several times, she said, "So Uncle Guan and the others can leave tomorrow?"
"If they clear the instance, how could they possibly fool the players?"
"From our perspective, less than four days have passed, but they've actually been through over ten days. The body's perception of time doesn't change. If there's trait inducement or spiritual interference, that much time is enough to affect a player's basic judgment," Xu Huo said.
He had asked Jiang Wenzhang about his trait. To put it simply, it wasn't particularly special—it was "Avoid the Heavy and Take the Light," which was also the trait's name. In a closed environment, this trait could infinitely amplify things that were insignificant to a person, making them focus on trivial or meaningless details, temporarily forgetting what they should be paying attention to.
However, Xu Huo guessed this trait wasn't that easy to use, as it was also based on spiritual interference. Players with strong willpower might not fall for it.
Moreover, before Jiang Wenzhang, Mr. Kang had already been using a similar model to "rule" Xiaohe City, so Mr. Kang probably had an item that could influence other players' judgment.
Zhou Yuanzhu found it unbelievable. "Would someone really forget the time to clear the instance? Even if they forgot the time, they should check if their ticket could be used."
"Would you use your ticket during an instance before receiving the clearance notification?" Xu Huo asked.
"But high-risk instances are different," Zhou Yuanzhu said. "High-risk instances have no rewards, so there might not be a clearance notification. When we entered, it only said that the ticket channel would open after fourteen days..."
She paused there. "When we were in Xiaohe City, our timing items worked fine. Only four days had passed. Maybe no one would take out their ticket to test it every day."
"That's cognition," Xu Huo said. "If it weren't for the black rain, it might have been easier to notice."
"Hard to say," Zhou Yuanzhu shook her head. "Normal people eat more, consume more, consume more, eat more. Hair and nails growing a bit faster can be explained away with any excuse. It's not like they suddenly aged. And it's only about ten days, not even a month. Who would notice that?"
"By the time they figure it out, maybe one or two months have passed, and then they're one hundred percent going into another high-risk instance."
She shuddered at the thought. "I never want to go into one of those again!"
More mutants appeared ahead, so the two used concealment items to gain altitude and travel through the air.
"But if Mr. Kang is as tough as you say, do we really have to go back?" Zhou Yuanzhu said. "Why not just notify Uncle Guan and the others from outside the city? Let them leave first."
Xu Huo didn't object but said, "You stay outside the city."
Zhou Yuanzhu's eyes widened. "I'm not that disloyal. If you're going back, why would I stay outside? We'll share the risk together."
"That's not what I mean," Xu Huo said. "There's something I need you to do outside the city. I'll leave 114 out here. Just keep an eye on things."
He briefly explained what he wanted her to do. After listening, Zhou Yuanzhu was silent for a moment before saying, "Do we really have to do this? If Xiaohe City is destroyed, all the ordinary people inside will die."
"Just do as I say," Xu Huo said, not delving deeper into the issue.
Zhou Yuanzhu cared more about her companions than strangers. She changed the subject. "You should have gotten a communicator from Xiaohe City, right? Why don't we contact Uncle Guan and the others from outside first and explain the situation?"
"Not for now," Xu Huo said. "Zheng Da and the others all used communicators modified by Wang Mo, so communications are monitored. Once I'm back in the city, I'll contact you."
He gave her a new communicator.
The two parted ways not far from Xiaohe City. Xu Huo entered the city, while Zhou Yuanzhu and 114 waited outside.
As soon as he descended into the city from above, Xu Huo was surrounded by three players who hadn't appeared in the restaurant earlier.
Putting away his concealment item, Xu Huo said to them, "Take me to see Mr. Kang."
"You're the only one coming back?" one of them said incredulously.
Xu Huo nodded with a somewhat grave expression. "Mr. Zheng and the others encountered a mutant tide while catching mutant cubs."
Zheng Da and his group were all veterans who had never failed before, so the three players' first reaction was that Xu Huo had done something.
"Damn it!" The player who spoke stomped his foot on the ground, and starting from his position, the ground rapidly collapsed!