Chapter 1143: Let's Reschedule
But as his entire body split in two, the flesh also disappeared, like a piece of paper being cut open.
The Magician's attack missed, and Xu Huo, now split in half, suddenly transformed into a flurry of colorful paper rushing toward him. The paper passed around him and then reassembled behind him into a new Xu Huo.
"Holder's Demise" and "All Things Want to Cut Everything" were used in turn, each canceling out or blocking the Magician's props. In the spiritual realm, the illusions created by both sides had little effect on each other, so every exchange was a real fight. At the same time, both used spatial evolution power, battling within the narrow confines of the cabin while minimizing the impact as much as possible.
Xu Huo was slightly slower, and his evolution rate was a bit lower, so he focused more on defense. However, with a reusable A-grade defensive item and two special items that could save his life in a critical moment, he didn't fall behind in this fight.
As time passed, the weaknesses and strengths of both combatants gradually became fully apparent.
Xu Huo was weaker in speed and physical strength, but he was exceptionally adept at manipulating the spiritual realm. As long as he didn't repeatedly open doors in hard-to-penetrate materials using the Cube Space, prolonged spiritual manipulation didn't impose too heavy a mental burden.
The Magician was at least an A-grade player, so his speed and physical strength were superior. Additionally, he was better at spatial evolution than Xu Huo. Without relying on spatial auxiliary props, he could use his personal evolution power alone to alter spatial channels and form spatial barriers on a small scale.
However, his spiritual power was weaker than Xu Huo's. The spiritual realm he constructed, like his gate, had a very small range, sometimes only covering two or three meters around him. But this "concentrated" spiritual realm was almost indistinguishable from reality—earlier, when Xu Huo was split in half, he momentarily thought the Magician was truly standing opposite him.
Speed and physical strength could be compensated for with props, so with spatial and spiritual super evolution each having their own strengths and weaknesses, neither side could gain an advantage for a while. Especially since Xu Huo, though a C-grade player, already had quite a few A-grade props. With the aid of the spiritual realm, he could fully utilize the props' effects without the player's ability being too weak to deploy the props or having them taken away.
Xu Huo's Library Tower pulled the cabin into a rapidly changing and highly repetitive world. Not to mention the passenger players who had been pushed aside, even the Magician felt exhausted by the continuous changes.
Fighting on the plane wasn't a good choice.
The narrower and more enclosed the space, the more conducive it was to deploying the spiritual realm. If they fought while moving at high speed, it would greatly weaken the control intensity of spiritual power.
Soon, ten minutes passed... twenty minutes passed...
The Magician was unscathed, but Xu Huo only had superficial injuries.
"The plane is about to reach the destination." Xu Huo stopped and said to the floating colorful paper opposite him, "I'm going home for the New Year. Why don't you come back after the New Year?"
From the vortex of colorful paper, a top hat gradually emerged. As a black cloth swept through, the Magician stood in the empty space. His makeup was still exaggerated, but the eerie smile was gone. He tipped his hat and said, "I'll come back in five days."
With that, he disappeared into the vortex, leaving the cabin filled with colorful paper that hadn't yet settled.
The plane reappeared on its flight path, and Xu Huo closed his spiritual realm. He nodded to the few players standing at the back of the cabin and found a nearby seat to sit down.
The surviving players exchanged glances but wisely said nothing. Just then, the pilot came out from the front and handed a phone to Xu Huo. "Mr. Xu, Minister Fan wants to speak with you."
Xu Huo looked at the fighter jets flying outside the window, took the phone, and got straight to the point. "The plane is fine. It can land as usual."
With the crisis resolved, Minister Fan breathed a sigh of relief, said he would send someone to pick him up after the plane landed, and hung up.
Xu Huo handed the phone back to the pilot, closed his eyes, and rested.
The rest of the journey passed peacefully. When the plane landed, the rescue team that had already been in place took over the plane immediately. Not only was the plane to be thoroughly inspected, but the passenger players were also taken away for isolation to ensure they weren't unknowingly controlled or carrying dangerous props.
This was a mandatory requirement of the Special Defense Department, and no one with connections was exempt, including Xu Huo.
However, he only underwent a simple instrument check before getting into a Special Defense Department vehicle and heading to the safe zone, without needing a period of isolation.
The person who came to pick him up was Team Leader Lu. He smiled warmly and shook hands with Xu Huo, not asking about the details of the flight crisis, but instead telling him about the current situation in the safe zone.
Country X had a vast territory, and unlike other major countries like Country Y, it wasn't engulfed in war everywhere. So, instead of establishing safe zones based on super-large cities, it built small-scale shelters in multiple locations within a city, enough to accommodate most of the city's population in an emergency.
In Jing City, besides the few temporary safe zones known to the public, there were also safe zones set up in government isolation areas. These areas were now cut off from the outside, with all daily necessities provided by dedicated personnel. On the surface, they looked like ordinary residential areas, but in reality, they were specially protected by players.
The Special Defense Department vehicle entered this blockade zone through an inconspicuous gate and drove along a tree-lined path into the underground parking lot of a residential building.
"1001 is where the Xu family lives." Team Leader Lu gave him a set of access cards, saw him off, and left with his people.
Xu Huo swiped his card to enter the elevator. It was a high-end residence with one elevator per household, and the elevator went directly to the door.
When the elevator opened, there was a chime. He heard the excited voice of a child inside the door, "Someone's coming up! It must be my brother!"
The one who opened the door was Tongtong. Seeing Xu Huo, he immediately pounced and hugged his leg, shouting crisply, "Brother!"
Xu Huo patted his head and greeted his father, who had come to the door.
Xu's father noticed his pale face and said, "Are you injured? Sit down and rest."
"Just a minor injury." Xu Huo lifted the kid clinging to his leg and entered the house, nodding to his stepmother, Ms. Yu.
Ms. Yu quickly called Tongtong over, "Your brother is injured. Don't bother him."
But the child didn't care. He found it fun to hang on Xu Huo's leg and giggled, refusing to listen to his mother as he hid behind Xu Huo.
As Xu Huo lifted him aside, the old man came out of the study. The potion brought back from the game was very effective; he looked energetic and walked without any problem.
"Good to have you back. For the New Year, tell your mother to bring her boyfriend over for a meal." The old man said gently, "Let's make it lively."
Just as he finished speaking, a call came through the elevator. A middle-aged woman said softly, "Xiao Yu, my mother-in-law brought some homegrown vegetables from the countryside. I remember Old Xu likes these little dishes, so I brought some for you."
"It's the neighbor." Ms. Yu explained to Xu Huo, then opened the door to let her come up.
The middle-aged woman was carrying vegetables in both hands. She exchanged pleasantries with Ms. Yu as she entered. When she saw Xu Huo, her expression clearly changed. "This is Xu Huo, right?"
(Chapter End)