Chapter 1273: Just Passing Through
Xu Huo blended into the chaotic crowd, casually pressing down the head of the little girl beside him. "Don't look up at the sky."
The little girl's face was streaked with tears. She choked up as she looked at him, wanting to speak but unable to get the words out.
Xu Huo didn't say much more. He glanced back at the Fresh Flower City players rushing toward the nearest underground station from the club, then pulled her out of the crowd. Using "Destination Arrival," he quickly distanced them from the city center.
The barrier covering the city center wasn't generated by a prop but was similar to the light curtain barrier the Fresh Flower City residents used to take shelter—synthesized by defensive instruments. When the ground collapsed, some of the instruments were damaged, preventing the barrier from connecting seamlessly. Gaps appeared everywhere, making it easy for players to pass through.
On top of that, with someone attacking Carol Field, the situation had escalated. The players in control couldn't execute their original orders immediately, giving others an opportunity. In just over ten seconds, more than Xu Huo had already broken through.
But soon, Fresh Flower City seemed to react. The players stationed around the barrier received orders and began indiscriminate slaughter.
"Are the people of Fresh Flower City all insane?" Even the players were shocked by the rivers of blood. This kind of scene was only seen when killing xenomorphs—who would turn their blades against so many ordinary people for such an absurd reason?
"Why..." The little girl Xu Huo was carrying asked in a daze, her voice filled with fear and confusion, as if she couldn't believe everything happening before her was real.
"I'll take you back to the welfare district," Xu Huo said.
"I don't want to go back!" The little girl instinctively screamed. "If I go back, they'll find me again... I don't know... why... those people usually seemed so kind... Is Fresh Flower City really like this... Did the director know... No wonder his face was so ugly when he heard the Han family was looking for me... Those kids who left the welfare home..."
"Calm down," Xu Huo interrupted her. "Not every child is this unlucky."
The little girl clung to him like a lifeline, desperately trying to salvage her crumbling worldview. She tugged at his clothes. "Uncle, what will happen to those people who went to the club with me today? Will they die?"
Xu Huo was silent. Seeing Fresh Flower City residents slaughtering outsiders, it was highly unlikely they'd return to the welfare home. At best, they'd accept their role as subordinates to the Fresh Flower City elites and become part of the crowd watching the massacre. At worst, they'd be dealt with directly.
The light in the little girl's eyes went out. She held back her tears and said, "Uncle, thank you for saving me. Take me back to the district. I want to find the director."
Xu Huo agreed and quickly moved through the city with her.
With the entire city's power cut off, the farther they got from the center, the darker it became. The center had been faintly audible earlier, but now there was complete silence. It seemed the Fresh Flower City players had taken control.
Xu Huo used the remove prop technique multiple times along the way to remove any prop or trait effects that might have been attached to him. But that didn't guarantee he wasn't being watched. When they were still some distance from the welfare district, he set the little girl down. "Go back on your own. There aren't many people around here. Run along the middle of the main road."
Now in a familiar area, the little girl calmed down a bit. She nodded firmly and said to him, "Uncle, you have to survive too!"
Sensing an aircraft approaching, Xu Huo quickly melted into the shadows, leaping into a house with an open window to avoid the aircraft's scan.
No sooner had the aircraft left than a massive explosion erupted from the city center. A blinding light replaced the fireworks, covering the entire city and startling the sleeping residents awake.
Standing on the balcony, Xu Huo heard complaints from the bedroom next door. "Another attack by outer zone players. Are those people from outside so desperate for money... If they damage the house... the city government will have to allocate a huge budget for repairs... affecting our benefits..."
An attack by outer zone players—that was likely the fig leaf the Fresh Flower City elites used to cover up the truth, and also an explanation to the outside world. So many people had died inexplicably, including residents from other cities of the same rank. They needed a plausible excuse.
But these people had done this more than once, and Carol Field was present, so everyone knew the score.
The dead and the outer zone players who escaped didn't matter. The 001 District used a very advanced message collection terminal, making it easy to suppress news. Besides, even if news did leak into the 001 District or Fresh Flower City, it wouldn't take root. The entire upper class of Fresh Flower City was rotten, and the ordinary people, who enjoyed benefits only as tools for reproduction, couldn't change their situation even without the freedom to choose their clothes.
Xu Huo kept his eyes on the city center, but he didn't try to spy with a monitor. Fresh Flower City had plenty of A-class players stationed there; there was no need to take that risk.
Twenty minutes later, the city center fell completely silent, and power was restored across the city.
An hour later, Xu Huo was about to leave. But as he stepped out of the room, a shadow emerged from the darkness by the street. At the same time, the shadow beneath his feet rapidly expanded, covering the entire street in an instant and pulling him back into a gray haze.
Xu Huo confirmed there was no one around. What stood before him was just a shadow—or a prop.
The shadow faced him, as if looking at him. After a few seconds, it raised a hand and waved at him. Then the shadow on the street and the shadow figure vanished together.
Xu Huo frowned, spreading his spiritual power over the block. A few seconds later, he detected an unusual force hidden in his own shadow.
"Come out!" He controlled his spiritual power to form a large black hand, reaching into the spiritual realm to drag out the figure hiding inside.
The figure seemed not very bright. It struggled sluggishly when grabbed by the shoulder, constantly reaching out to claw at the black arm materialized from spiritual power.
Xu Huo's eyes darkened. Just as he was about to strike, the figure suddenly opened its mouth and forced out a sound: "I... mean... no... harm..."
Before it could finish, the materialized hand tore it apart.
It seemed to be condensed from some unknown force. After shattering, it turned into dust and disappeared completely before hitting the ground.
Xu Huo kept his spiritual power within a hundred-meter radius and returned to Yongxing Hotel as fast as possible.
Yongxing Hotel was in the middle of negotiations with the third batch of Fresh Flower City players. It looked like things weren't going well.
"Without an official authorization, you cannot enter the hotel to search," the front desk clerk said with a smile to the newcomers. "Even with official authorization, you cannot arrest hotel guests without a valid reason. Otherwise, we will blacklist the official government."
"However, if you check into the hotel, that's a different matter. The hotel doesn't prohibit guests from fighting among themselves."
In short, spending money to fight was fine. Trying to arrest people for free under the government's banner? No way!
(Chapter End)