Chapter 1235: Exchanging the First Card
Shouting and yelling inevitably made one lose face. After discovering that their traits and items were ineffective and that they couldn't break free from their restraints, Big Tiger and the others quieted down instead.
Xu Huo lowered his hand, quite satisfied with their cooperation. Smiling, he said, "The reason I asked everyone to sit down is so we can talk properly. I hope you'll continue to cooperate like this from now on."
Big Tiger let out a cold laugh. "Our lives are in your hands. Whatever you say goes!"
Xu Huo didn't mind his attitude and continued, "First thing: what cards do each of you hold, and what are their effects?"
Seeing Big Tiger about to speak again, he glanced at him. "Don't interrupt me."
After being warned, Big Tiger closed his mouth with some resentment.
"But there's a rule: no lying," Xu Huo added. "To save everyone time, I'll first eliminate those who lie."
Instead of using truth serum or other potions, he directly blocked their senses and announced the start.
The first was Big Tiger.
"Don't lie," Xu Huo said, looking at him.
Big Tiger's face turned ugly, sweat beading on his forehead. After a moment, he said, "First card Black 17, Black Throne. Trap card Black 5. Exchange card Black 10."
Xu Huo nodded. "The exchange card should be able to make the first card disappear. Specific usage?"
"When you know the other person's card face, use the designated card to exchange with theirs."
"Do you need to call out the card?"
"Yes, but after one exchange, the exchange card returns to the instance."
"So the person you found the night before last was holding the exchange card." Xu Huo smiled faintly, then turned to his companion.
"White 12, White 19, both trap cards..." The companion hesitated, then reluctantly said, "Black 20, location card, points to the position of the flower card."
Xu Huo wasn't very interested in these three cards. Next was the female player, who said expressionlessly, "White card 16, Black card 16. Both should be trap cards. The latter adds five dead ends."
Then came the buzz-cut player. This guy started lying right away. "I only have one card..."
Through the barrier, Xu Huo flicked his finger, cutting his wrist. Before Mu Yan could even act, he hastily changed his words, "I have two! Two cards! Clue cards Black 4 and Black 2! The clue is that paired cards are beneficial for clearing the instance. Black 2 is the first card, and I don't know what effect it has either!"
Xu Huo glanced at the female player, then turned to the two pale-faced men at the back. "It's your turn. Think carefully before you speak. Choose whether to keep your cards or keep your life."
Unexpectedly, despite looking sinister, the pale-faced man actually only had two cards. He truthfully said his second card was obtained from the maze wall. He hadn't killed anyone. His companion was his cousin, and they had both just moved to District 001, coming to explore the maze out of admiration. He only had one card.
The clue card in the pale-faced man's hand also indicated that paired cards were more beneficial for clearing the instance. So when they learned the female player held a pair of cards, they followed her. As for why they lied when searching for clues separately, it was because most of the time they hadn't triggered the maze wall at all, and the clue information was all fabricated.
As for his cousin, he had obtained the White card 9 that Xu Huo had randomly discarded.
Xu Huo looked at them with newfound respect.
"Let's leave it at that for now."
So far, Xu Huo had enough card information to basically deduce the classification rules for various types of cards. However, one strange thing was the female player's pair of 16s and the White card 9 he had once held.
Cards 5, 12, and 19 were basically confirmed as trap cards. If 9 and 16 were also trap cards, then the number of trap cards was clearly greater than other types.
After a brief thought, he said to Big Tiger, "Use your Black Throne to exchange for my Black card 1."
Big Tiger gritted his teeth. "You might as well kill me and take the cards directly!"
Xu Huo didn't directly respond to his hatred. Instead, he said to the two pale-faced brothers, "Which of you is willing to take his cards and exchange them with me?"
"I'll do it!" the pale-faced man immediately said. "I only have two cards anyway, so I can just take all his cards! I'm willing to exchange with you too!"
"Not you... you do it." Xu Huo skipped him and pointed at the buzz-cut player. Under Big Tiger's furious glare, he released the restraints on him.
The surprise on the buzz-cut player's face hadn't faded before he realized he was free. He stood up, stretched his body, then glanced at the barrier in front of Xu Huo before slowly walking over to Big Tiger.
Big Tiger struggled with all his might, but no matter what, he couldn't break free from the chair's restraints. He cursed loudly, then said to Xu Huo, "If you've got guts, let's fight one-on-one. Having some coward kill me makes my death humiliating!"
The buzz-cut player, now insulted, was filled with anger. He rushed over and punched Big Tiger first. After knocking the chair over, he rained punch after punch down on him. But before he could enjoy it, he noticed a flash of light at his face. He abruptly stopped, turning his head to see an extremely thin line right under his arm, gleaming coldly, its sharpness fully exposed!
Turning around, he discovered that all around him were such tangent lines. Not just him, but the other players were also surrounded by them. Whoever broke free would be asking for death!
"No need to put on a show." Xu Huo expressionlessly manipulated the tangent lines, making some space for him.
The buzz-cut player turned back to look at Big Tiger. "Friend, don't blame me for this..."
But before he could finish, Big Tiger suddenly broke free from the chair, kicked him hard, and punched down at the barrier—the barrier shattered... Although he couldn't use items temporarily, the ones he wore on his body could still be used. The ring on the back of his hand was specifically for this situation, and now it came in handy!
"Boom!" The thick barrier shattered with a sound. Xu Huo, whose defenses were supposedly impenetrable, was now right in front of him. Big Tiger's eyes blazed with killing intent!
But before he could even touch him, two streaks of cold light severed one of his hands and one of his legs, sending him crashing heavily to the ground!
Even at this point, Big Tiger didn't give up. He hooked a micro-bomb at his waist and threw it forward, but Xu Huo raised his hand and sent it away, where it exploded against the maze wall fifty meters away.
"Bang!" The man on the ground was kicked to the buzz-cut player's feet.
The buzz-cut player felt no satisfaction from revenge. Instead, his face darkened as he had no choice but to finish off Big Tiger.
The moment Big Tiger's four cards transferred to the buzz-cut player's hand, he was pulled by an unseen force to Xu Huo's side. They were less than a meter apart, but looking at this man who had easily dealt with Big Tiger, the buzz-cut player dared not make any extra moves. He obediently used the Black Throne card to exchange for Black card 1.
Thus, Xu Huo's first card was replaced by the Black Throne.
Black card 10 returned to the instance.
"Black card 17 is also an exchange card. Use Black card 2 to exchange for my White card 6."