Chapter 1157: Safe Zone Attack Incident
Xu Huo's disappearance from the safe zone was immediately reported to the Special Defense Department headquarters, but Minister Fan was currently overwhelmed by the flood of evidence surfacing online and simply couldn't spare any extra personnel to investigate his whereabouts.
"Since he hasn't contacted the outside world from yesterday until now, there's no room for him to manipulate this. Let him be for now..."
As he spoke, the headquarters' phone never stopped ringing. After hanging up one call, his assistant brought over another communication device.
Minister Fan's head was splitting. He said directly, "Hang up on anyone asking about the situation. From now on, except for necessary operational contacts, don't answer any other calls!"
The night of the first day of the Lunar New Year was destined to be another sleepless night. Not only were Special Defense Department personnel on the move, but those who had already been caught or were about to be caught were also scrambling. Some were urgently destroying evidence, others were outright fleeing, and still others were hoping someone from Jing City could offer guidance—aside from minor skirmishes, those who could directly use the Special Defense Department's laboratories for Evolver screening must have deep-rooted power, and these people had already extended their reach during the large-scale construction and facility requisition by the Special Defense Department.
These weren't people the Special Defense Department could simply arrest, including the team leaders who had attended the meeting the day before. Who knew who was backing them or who they were secretly contacting?
But the Special Defense Department couldn't afford to offend everyone at once, nor could it truly afford to offend everyone. These people also had players around them. Even to avoid an irreparable situation, some leaks had to be made. Besides, this was no longer just the Special Defense Department's affair.
On the surface, the Special Defense Department represented the nation's player deployment, but in reality, they didn't have a complete list of all players. That meant some players had their identity information, assigned tasks, and whereabouts kept confidential. And these people, when not doing instances, might be scattered across different key safe zones or important national military and research bases.
The ordinary people who could stay in these places often had very unusual identities and weren't the type to easily come out, especially in such unstable times.
The list Xu Huo obtained had six people in the same safe zone.
This safe zone was outside Jing City but wasn't on the maps issued by the Special Defense Department. It also had the highest security level. Compared to some people further down the list, Nie Xuan had only given a rough address for their information.
This was the address of the safe zone, but no method of entry was provided.
This wasn't surprising. Even before entering the game, some classified locations would have instruments for detection. Now that a large number of people in Zone 014 were becoming players, the items brought back from the game were only more advanced. Forget sneaking in—even getting close might trigger instrument recognition. After all, whether using props or Super Evolution powers, people couldn't vanish into thin air. There was always a way to detect them.
Moreover, after witnessing players' abilities, these places had even sealed the ground with metal.
Xu Huo hitched a ride with the Special Defense Department out of the city and got off not far from his destination, using a prop to teleport directly outside the secret safe zone.
From a distance, the entrance to the secret safe zone was a tunnel with roadblocks set up outside. The real entrance was two hundred meters in, but the safe zone was far from peaceful right now. The noise of chaotic voices and car engines overlapped. Amid a series of urgent commands, bulletproof cars rushed out of the tunnel one after another, speeding away!
At the same time, gunfire was moving outward from inside the tunnel. The sound of bullets hitting metal grew denser and denser. Then, another identical bulletproof car burst out of the tunnel, swerving sharply and crashing into the last car of the convoy!
A large number of military personnel poured out of the tunnel—some conducting rescues, others pursuing. A heavy-firepower chase unfolded on the mountain road. Meanwhile, players moved back and forth between the cars, trying to take out the unidentified driver of the bulletproof car in the middle.
But the person inside was clearly also a player. The military players repeatedly used props but couldn't take down the car. Instead, they were restrained by the driver's traits and fell behind.
"There should have been nine people, but now two are missing!" a player tracking from the air reported to the ground. However, the next second, a bullet fired from somewhere pierced his throat, and his body crashed heavily in front of the convoy!
The driver in front instinctively swerved to avoid the body but nearly flipped due to excessive speed. Thanks to superb driving skills, the car barely stabilized, but the second car couldn't brake in time and slammed directly into it!
The two cars crashed into the rocks by the roadside. Their midsections and fronts were deformed, and they could no longer move.
But this cleared the way for the cars behind. The third car sped past without stopping, and the following cars also kept going, leaving only a few players and the military personnel at the rear to carry out rescues.
Inside the cars, aside from the driver and security personnel, only three women and five children were rescued. Unfortunately, one woman and two children died on the spot, while the others suffered varying degrees of injury.
Just as the injured were being carried out and before treatment could begin, two military personnel standing guard silently collapsed to the ground.
"Someone's here!" The four remaining players quickly went on alert, but the attacker's goal wasn't to kill. With a loud "boom," a large amount of rock tumbled down from above.
"Go! Get out of here!" The overturned area was the first to be hit. The players, while rescuing people, directed others to run to the side. However, the player who had blown up the mountain and destroyed the road didn't intend to let them off, killing one player with the same method.
The child that player had been holding was passed to another player—in the choice between saving others and saving themselves, these people chose the former.
The rumbling sound of rolling rocks was right in their ears. Before they could escape the range of the landslide, three players felt a shadow looming overhead. They didn't look up but quickened their pace!
Rocks were falling all around, and the dust and debris almost covered the entire route. Just as they were about to be buried under the landslide, the three players and the military personnel suddenly saw a blur before their eyes and were instantly teleported a hundred meters away!
"What happened?" They were still in a running posture, confused as to why they had suddenly escaped the landslide's range.
"Someone must have helped!" The three players remained relatively calm and immediately ordered the group to proceed on foot, not bothering to investigate how they had escaped.
Watching them run off, Xu Huo, who had already landed among the trees, turned his gaze to the white-haired man twenty meters away.
The white-haired man looked very nervous. He raised his hand and summoned two other companions hiding nearby. The three of them surrounded Xu Huo.
Xu Huo stared at the white-haired man. "That face of yours has appeared on the Special Defense Department's wanted list."
(Chapter End)