# Chapter 1276: The Pool of Fish Suffers When the City Gate Burns
"I've thought about that too, but I feel like dying like that wouldn't be worth it. If the contaminated mineral vein isn't dealt with, wouldn't that just benefit Carol Field? After all, my primary target is his life." The sword-wielding man snorted, then added, "That long-haired player isn't high-level. You should be able to influence him."
Whether he could influence him or not was a matter for later. Since the Han Clan was one of the owners of the mineral vein, the long-haired youth, as a descendant of the clan, would inevitably receive special treatment. Quite a few players were following him. Additionally, District 001 was filled with various instruments, and almost every player would equip detection devices when they went out. Some of these were naturally designed to counter spiritual power. They might not be able to interfere with it, but they could certainly detect it.
To deal with spiritual interference, the most straightforward solution was to simply leave. If the Han Clan was attacked, their key members would definitely withdraw immediately. If the target wasn't even there, spiritual interference would be useless.
Moreover, Fresh Flower City should also have Mental Super Evolver players. Getting close enough to the long-haired youth to influence him was simply not feasible under the current conditions.
As he had said before, in an emergency, using such a roundabout method was far less effective than just carrying a bomb and charging in.
"Whether it works or not, we have to try." The sword-wielding man said, "Don't you want to take care of those brats?"
"Willing but unable." Xu Huo said flatly. He was actually more interested in the mineral vein. A mineral vein that looked like diamonds... it should be related to the diamond key He Pu had given him. Could it be that what he left behind wasn't a specific item, but a hint pointing to something else?
No, Bai Kou had come to District 001 before. It seemed He Pu had set up a fake target to lure her there. What he left behind should be a concrete object.
The Game Government Base was probably a dead end. Xu Huo planned to go to the Directly Administered District tomorrow.
"Someone's coming." The sword-wielding man suddenly said.
Xu Huo also vaguely sensed a faint, intangible force enveloping the hotel. He grabbed his coat, ready to leave, and said, "If you really can't hold out, go to the station. Come back another time."
The sword-wielding man chuckled behind him. Just as Xu Huo was about to open the door, he said, "The entrance to the mineral vein is directly beneath the Crystal Flower."
Xu Huo quickly left that floor while contacting the front desk to book a new room. A few seconds later, he gained access to another room.
By the time he entered the room, a considerable number of players had already gathered outside Yongxing Hotel. The streets around the hotel were quickly cleared and sealed off. An astonishing number of defense instruments and defense items had formed a double, three-hundred-sixty-degree encirclement barrier, enclosing the entire hotel within it.
Xu Huo noticed that Fresh Flower City wasn't using a single item to directly cover the hotel. Instead, they were painstakingly using a "splicing" method to create the blockade. He didn't see Carol Field or the other young people from the club, but that didn't mean they weren't taking the escape of an A-rank player seriously.
He had his ticket ready.
Upstairs, the sword-wielding man opened the window and called out to the masked man floating in the distance, "You're at the door, why not come in?"
"Too scared to come in, right? It'll take Carol at least an hour or two to get the authorization. You can only stand here and wait."
The players around Carol Field had excellent composure. They showed no reaction to his provocation, merely watching him.
The players from Fresh Flower City weren't so restrained. Two hot-tempered players started shouting, telling the sword-wielding man to come out and fight.
The sword-wielding man flipped them off. "You think I'm stupid?"
The shouting outside grew even louder.
It was rare to see so many high-level players gathered together, hurling insults.
"Are you going to fight or not?" A voice that loved watching the chaos came from another direction. "All A-rank and B-rank, and you're just spitting at each other? Zero class!"
This enraged the Fresh Flower City players, and someone immediately tried to enter the hotel, but was stopped by their companions.
The masked player, who had been watching the sword-wielding man the whole time, finally spoke. "Once the authorization is opened, every player inside Yongxing Hotel can become a target for capture. For the convenience of both sides, please do not get involved, unrelated personnel."
This wasn't a threat; it was a notification.
The players inside the hotel who had been trying to light the fuse backed down. Under the invisible pressure released by the masked player, Fresh Flower City's side also gradually quieted down. The streets were no longer noisy; they had entered a pre-battle silence.
The more people there were, and the more restless they were, the easier it was for problems to arise. The masked player wasn't giving the sword-wielding man that opportunity.
"Why isn't Carol coming?" The sword-wielding man seemed unconcerned about his own predicament, speaking with anger instead. "Doesn't he feel any guilt at all?"
Being madly obsessed with a woman almost old enough to be his mother, being threatened with suicide, and then facing retaliation from her husband after her death... this wasn't a glorious affair for anyone, least of all Carol Field. Therefore, the masked player's side's strategy was simply not to respond.
The sword-wielding man was a bit talkative, which was evident from his earlier attempt to "trick" Xu Huo into working for him. During the lull when the other side wasn't attacking, he began to tell everyone the love story between him and his wife, while taking the opportunity to badmouth Carol Field.
Xu Huo stood by the window, expressionless, listening to the old gossip along with the players inside and outside the building.
Thirty minutes later, everyone was left with only one thought: that man could really talk.
Xu Huo left his room and encountered a few players who had also lost patience and were hiding out. Among them was the fat player he had met in the lobby earlier.
"You're getting out of the way too?" The fat player said. "I'm afraid they'll start fighting and drag us into it, but I also don't want to listen to that sob story. I'm going to find a safe place to hide."
"I've already asked around. The strongest part of the entire hotel is the restaurant on the second floor. Let's go to the restaurant."
Xu Huo followed along readily. But just as they reached the entrance, his expression suddenly changed. He thrust the "101 Shelter" in front of him while activating all his high-level defense items. Almost the moment the barrier formed, a blinding light accompanied by a shockwave exploded from the center of the restaurant, blasting the shelter and him flying!
The hotel had exploded.
This wasn't an ordinary explosion. Even though the hotel was a location item, it couldn't contain the blast force. Several floors were blown through. Players who hadn't had time to escape into the station were inevitably blasted out of the hotel. A massive flame, like a giant fire erupting from underground, swallowed the entire building!
In the towering flames, the players from Fresh Flower City were also caught in the blast. Before they could react, a gray shadow swept across the entire blockade circle, dragging even the sky into it!
"Run!" The injured fat player, who had fallen not far away, screamed while clutching his bleeding arm. "These two groups are using us as cannon fodder!"
Xu Huo had protected himself in time, and the shelter had blocked the brunt of the blast, leaving him with only minor injuries. When he looked up again, both the masked player in the air and the sword-wielding man sitting by the hotel window had vanished. Through a wall of flames, the players inside and outside the hotel had already begun to clash!
(Chapter End)