Chapter 1151: All Men Must Die
When Xu Huo returned, he noticed that besides the Special Defense Department personnel, there were others monitoring the area near the residential complex—he didn't need to actually see them; this was a convenience afforded by his spatial evolution combined with the Cube Space.
However, the Cube Space's coverage was limited, and its range was no more than a thousand meters in length or width, far exceeding what he could perceive on his own. That was why he needed people outside to help him gather information.
Compared to the Special Defense Department, which was filled with players everywhere, the safe zone—though guarded by Special Defense Department players—was mostly inhabited by ordinary people, making it a clearly more suitable target for an attack.
This attack likely had nothing to do with personal grudges. While the Special Defense Department was planning to deal with those unruly troublemakers, players lurking in the shadows were also preparing to strike a heavy blow against the department. Attacking a safe zone was a convenient and low-cost method—many of the residents here were family members of players. If the Special Defense Department failed to protect them, it would inevitably provoke dissatisfaction among the players.
Music began playing in the residential complex. After a cheerful tune ended, the Special Defense Department publicly announced that residents should stay indoors and not move around casually. Instantly, the sound of televisions in the vicinity almost vanished.
However, this was merely an auditory illusion. Most residents had turned down their TV volumes significantly, but it was still easy for players to pick up. Yet at that moment, every person in the complex felt as if earplugs had been stuffed into their ears, with all sounds they heard being muffled.
It was precisely because of this effect that some players within the complex failed to notice the skirmish happening at its periphery—until a loud gunshot rang out.
The effect of the hearing-blocking prop was shattered by the gunshot. Players who had been patrolling the complex on their own suddenly snapped back to reality. Some rushed toward the scene of the incident immediately, while others stayed behind to guard the building entrances where they lived. As the sounds of fighting grew closer, the players' tension mounted.
The balance was soon broken—a masked player who had broken into the complex took a pregnant woman hostage, forcing her husband to shoot at the pursuing players.
The middle-aged man raised his gun with trembling hands, aiming the muzzle at the pursuing player, but he hesitated to pull the trigger.
"Coward!" The masked player shot the man, but thanks to the help of a nearby player, the bullet veered off course and wasn't fatal. At the same time, the masked player's gun flew into that player's hands due to the effect of a prop.
"Let her go!" the player shouted, making a pushing motion in the air toward the masked player and the pregnant woman. The two were separated by an external force, and another player emerged from the side to rescue the woman. However, they hadn't anticipated that the masked player had tampered with the pregnant woman. As soon as the player caught her, they heard a "ding"—instinct made them look down, only to find a grenade tucked inside the woman's coat!
They reflexively threw the woman aside, but the next second, the unsteady pregnant woman seemed to be caught by something out of thin air, and the grenade in her arms fell to the ground, exploding mid-air.
But the explosion wasn't as powerful as expected. The flames of the blast formed a neat cube, and the shockwave was completely sealed within that small square frame. Aside from a muffled "bang," it didn't even have the lethality of a firecracker.
Players near and far were stunned for a moment. Before they could investigate further, the pregnant woman and her husband suddenly vanished from the spot!
This shocked both sides. The unseen figure had effortlessly neutralized the grenade and rescued the two people—clearly on a completely different level from them!
Meanwhile, the invading masked player, taking advantage of everyone's momentary distraction, quickly dashed into the nearest building. The complex's players chased after him but found he had disappeared without a trace.
"Ah!!!" A scream came from upstairs. The three players who had entered the building rushed up—the screamer was a female resident on the upper floor, cowering in a corner of the living room, pointing at the person collapsed beside the coffee table: "His head flew off as soon as he came in..."
The dead man was the masked player.
With him dead, it was good news for the complex's players—one less enemy, and it suggested that whoever had acted earlier was likely on their side.
The three dragged the corpse downstairs and returned to the fight.
Throughout this, Xu Huo hadn't left his own building. Gu Yu had already sent him updates on the Special Defense Department's battle situation.
In the past twenty minutes, three waves of players had launched attacks from outside. All of them wore identical clothes and masks. One group had entered through the main gate, tying up the Special Defense Department personnel, while a few slipped into the complex amid the chaos.
However, according to the information Wen Xuelin and the others had compiled, the few who had broken through didn't last long before retreating from different directions. Clearly, the Special Defense Department had kept a backup plan within the complex.
This meant that none of the attackers from tonight had successfully entered the complex.
So where did the masked players currently active inside the complex come from?
Xu Huo tucked the communicator into his pocket, expanded the Cube Space's coverage again, and released his vertical pupils to swiftly inspect the nearby buildings on his behalf.
As he searched each floor one by one, he found a player in the building across the way who was just putting on gear. In his hand was a mask identical to those worn by the invaders.
Seeing him fully equipped and ready to jump out the window, Xu Huo simply opened a spatial portal in the floor, causing him to fall right in front of him.
The opponent was an experienced player. As he dropped from a height of two or three meters, he quickly adjusted his position and launched an attack at the only person present before even landing.
Xu Huo flicked his fingers, and a spatial barrier formed by Space Rays blocked the prop's effect. An invisible blade sliced off the mask from the man's face and pressed against his neck. "Where are your companions?"
The man sneered, "You're just another lackey of the Special Defense Department!"
Probably thinking he could escape using a ticket, this young player's face displayed undisguised anger and contempt as he spoke. But it lasted less than a second before his expression stiffened, turned ugly, and then gave way to panic.
Xu Huo looked at him with curiosity, "I really thought you were some kind of avenger on a special mission to punish evil and promote good. Didn't expect you're afraid of death too?"
"All men must die..." The other puffed out his chest, but before he could finish, he received a slap that sent him crashing into a wall ten meters away, smashing a large hole before rolling to the ground.
He had a defense prop, so the "divine slap" didn't leave him incapacitated—just bleeding from his mouth and nose, with his head a bit dazed.
Xu Huo walked up to the man, who was kneeling on the ground and struggling to get up, looking down at him. "If you want to cause trouble for the Special Defense Department, do it openly. Using the elderly, women, and children as hostages—you've got some nerve."
"I'll ask you one more time: where are your companions? Think carefully before you answer."