Chapter 1277: Drawn Into the Chaos
This was a chaotic battle. That A-class player clearly hadn't told the truth; he still had companions inside the Yongxing Hotel. The ones responsible for bombing the hotel earlier were these people, and now they were also tying up the players from Fresh Flower City.
It was unclear which side had used an item, but Xu Huo, standing outside the flames, could no longer discern how many players were inside the hotel. At the same time, the surrounding Fresh Flower City players had no intention of letting the outer zone players who had fled the hotel go.
Several points of the barrier formed outside the hotel had been breached, but what guarded the exterior were rows of high-lethality weapons, with the players acting as backup instead.
Back when evolution had just begun in Zone 014, before players had improved their items, traits, and physical capabilities, the government military held an absolute advantage. Bullets, anesthetics, electric nets—these were all effective methods for capturing players. But as players progressed, these things gradually became less useful. It was no longer possible to capture players with minimal weapon attrition in player-versus-player combat. However, today, Fresh Flower City had once again demonstrated that side.
Modified bullets, whether they hit their target or not, would automatically detonate within a second of leaving the barrel. The scattered, ultra-thin micro-bombs would explode simultaneously upon dispersal. A single bullet could cover at least a ten-meter radius. Meanwhile, invisible aircraft would drop capture nets from high altitude when players dodged. These nets were coated with a specially formulated anesthetic designed to knock a person out the moment it touched their skin.
Other measures included visual interference, auditory interference, and a high-frequency sound wave device deployed across the street that could cause excruciating headaches even when the human ear couldn't detect the sound...
Only after all this did the players launch their opportunistic attacks.
There were quite a few players staying at the Yongxing Hotel, many of whom wanted to test their skills against the Fresh Flower City players. Xu Huo equipped himself with "Lifelike Wax Figure" and "Cat's Triple Life Loan," selected "Cake Slice" and "Nail Clipper"—two close-combat items—and engaged the surrounding players. Near the breach in the barrier, he used his trait to move quickly—Fresh Flower City had restricted spatial and temporal items in advance, so long-distance teleportation items couldn't be used.
But just then, a burly man nearly two meters tall appeared at the outermost edge of the encirclement. Raising his arm, he drove a round pestle-like object into the ground. As the earth cracked, a pale blue arc of light sprang from the pestle, instantly covering the area including the Yongxing Hotel. It even trapped the players who had escaped the encirclement earlier but hadn't gone far.
"Get your heads in the game!" the burly man bellowed. "If we let these people come and go as they please, where will Fresh Flower City's face be?"
The Fresh Flower City players responded with loud shouts, and a large number of them joined the battle.
The outer zone players weren't about to back down either. Someone immediately charged at the burly man, aiming to destroy the pestle in his hand.
"Bring it on!" The burly man moved like a fierce tiger. Taking heavy steps forward, he swung the pestle in a full arc and smashed it down!
The attacking player had already deployed two layers of defense barriers, but to his surprise, the barriers were shattered the moment he closed in. He leaned back in an exaggerated posture, seemingly trying to avoid the attack. However, the pestle unleashed a shockwave of considerable size, covering his entire body!
"Boom!" The air echoed with the sound of an inflated paper bag being burst from the outside.
The attacking player was knocked back dozens of meters, stopping just before hitting a building at the end of the street. He stood firm, his back foot braced against the ground.
But seconds later, blood streamed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
This man was beyond saving.
Xu Huo kicked away the player entangled with him. From the feedback of his Space Ray, he could clearly sense that the other's breathing had grown weak.
He had died from his own defense barrier. At the moment the pestle struck, he had deployed another layer of defense. But what he hadn't expected was that this time, the barrier wasn't pierced at a single point but was struck head-on. It was like a force sphere—if torn from one corner, the sphere would be damaged but could still offset the attack to the greatest extent. But if an attack several times larger and stronger than the sphere itself came, it would be like a fly under a flyswatter, its internal organs shattered!
Killing a player in a single blow made many others think twice. They turned around and looked for ways to break out.
The burly man laughed heartily. "If you've got the guts, stay and fight! Don't hide in the station!"
With that, he casually picked a target and attacked.
Xu Huo found himself facing three players. In a crowd, items and traits could easily cause friendly fire, so they mostly used targeted items. However, "Inviolable Domain" was enough to temporarily cut off these items. With a three-second interval, Xu Huo deliberately stretched the pauses a bit longer, wielding his blade in close combat with these players.
The three seemed to realize that Xu Huo was holding back. After a few exchanges, one of them lost patience and threw out a demolition item.
With a thunderous roar, the street was blown into a large crater, affecting many people nearby, including Fresh Flower City players. But after the explosion, Xu Huo had vanished.
"This kid was just messing with us!"
"He definitely hasn't left yet! Find him!"
"Kill him!"
The three players shouted and began searching the area.
By this time, Xu Huo had already reached the edge of the new blockade barrier.
The inability to use spatial teleportation items wasn't a major issue. He could move directly by manipulating space power. Although the Cube Space was somewhat interfered with by the instruments, resulting in chaotic rays, he could still create a concealing space barrier in a short time. He smoothly passed through the battlefield-turned-street and reached the outermost edge.
Many players had arrived before him, but this defense item was likely at least A-class. Even items of the same level might not be able to break it.
Xu Huo first tried using "Unbreakable." This newly purchased A-class item could indeed penetrate the barrier, but it wasn't enough to destroy it.
Going underground was also impossible. He didn't know how deep the barrier extended, but the underground tunnels were completely severed. Some players who had gone down had already retreated.
Pulling the blade out of the barrier, Xu Huo noticed that where the breach contacted the Cube Space, a set of rays with different densities appeared within the latter's range—this meant the defense barrier was a spatial layer.
Since it was a spatial layer capable of blocking A-class items, its internal rays probably couldn't be easily manipulated.
But Xu Huo wanted to give it a try.
After his secondary evolution, he could already control airborne rays within a small range. Within the Cube Space, this control was doubled. He wasn't confident he could destroy the barrier like snapping a twig from a distance, but it was a good chance to practice.
(Chapter End)