Chapter 138: Successfully Escaped
The command room in Jing City, the main command post established on the outskirts of Hai City, and five temporary command posts within Hai City had all been maintaining a continuous line of communication.
"The bodies of police and civilians killed outside the skyscraper have all been sent out. The Special Affairs Bureau and special forces have all withdrawn and are currently clearing the surrounding civilians."
"Our helicopters cannot approach the skyscraper for observation, nor can we determine the number of players hiding inside."
"It is estimated that there are at least two thousand hostages inside, but after our people withdrew from the building, the other side stopped killing. Their intentions are unclear."
"The Special Affairs Bureau is currently attempting to communicate with the players inside."
Personnel at the Hai City main command post were giving a brief report:
"Furthermore, as of now, there is still no effective way to stop the life-or-death games. The only survivor also died in the second round."
"Aside from twenty fire incidents, a considerable number of players remain stranded within the life-or-death game zone. Special Affairs Bureau personnel and special forces came under attack upon entering, resulting in seven vicious incidents of outer zone players massacring our country's players."
"Besides the skyscraper, there are forty-seven large-scale hostage-taking incidents. Sixteen of these have been resolved. Among the remaining thirty-one, Defu Shopping Center has the highest number of people, with over two hundred trapped, including nearly thirty children."
"Due to the restrictions of the life-or-death game, rescue teams have only just arrived near the shopping center. However, the surrounding surveillance lines have been destroyed. The last video feed from the trapped crowd was detected two hours ago."
These brief reports sounded like just a few sentences, but the reality was a bloody nightmare.
Three and a half hours had passed since the Eerie Sound Knights declared war. The death toll within the entire life-or-death game zone was incalculable. At least one hundred thousand people were trapped. The highest number of deaths occurred in the first half hour and the first twenty minutes after the small turntables appeared.
Especially in the second round, the large turntable was split into countless small turntables. Without any explanation of the rules, dozens of people died simultaneously within each turntable. In some densely populated waiting areas, nearly five hundred people died in a single round!
This didn't even account for the rescue workers on the move. Car after car of people, unknowingly driving out of the turntable range, caused everyone inside to explode, leading to car accidents and fires...
To avoid even greater casualties, the rescue personnel outside first had to put out the fires upon entering. But this was also extremely difficult because moving around inside meant being pulled into a life-or-death game at any moment. Some special forces and players who entered ended up needing rescue themselves, forcing later arrivals to spread out as much as possible.
However, rescue efforts couldn't solve the root problem. The only way to truly control the situation was to find the people from the Eerie Sound Knights.
Although it currently seemed most likely they were hiding in the skyscraper, everyone who entered had obediently jumped off the building in a line. Even helicopters that got close would inexplicably crash. Negotiations were impossible. They were making no progress on their end.
Meanwhile, the false news about a super item that Jing City had leaked earlier to attract attention seemed ineffective. The Eerie Sound Knights weren't leaving. The other scattered players were insignificant in comparison. But more people seemed to be using the Eerie Sound Knights as a weather vane. The number of people around Hai City was gradually increasing, and sudden incidents were skyrocketing. Every single channel for distress calls was constantly ringing without a moment's pause.
"The Special Affairs Bureau has submitted a proposal." The old man from Jing City said, "Since attracting players to other cities isn't working, why not use this life-or-death game to trap the outer zone players? Our players can't break the game, but the outer zone players might not be able to break it either."
"That's not a bad idea." Dr. Sun, the Hai City official in charge of evolution research, said, "But currently, we don't have any player capable of this task. Unless we have a super item."
The old man fell silent. Without a super item, it was hard to convince others. If Zone 014 could develop for a bit longer, they might be able to produce a convincing fake item. But right now, they truly had none.
"Regardless, we have to try this plan." After a moment, the old man spoke again, "We can't just stand here with our hands tied and let them hit us. Even if we have to bite back, we have to make them feel the pain. We need to make every outer zone player understand that invading another country comes at a heavy cost!"
"The players from Jing City who can be of use have already gone deep into Hai City. They can all enter the life-or-death game zone within three minutes."
"The evacuation of the entire city of Hai City must be expedited. We need to get the ordinary citizens who aren't trapped out of Hai City as quickly as possible. First, save those we can save."
"Yes, sir!"
At that moment, the secretary of the Hai City main commander received an external call. He immediately reported, "It's Captain Xing. He has important new information and is requesting a video link."
"Connect it."
The video was quickly connected. The screen showed the interior of a shopping center. The situation inside several black-and-white turntables was immediately visible. The floor was practically covered in blood and flesh. The number of people had decreased by a third.
"Were the outer zone players killed by you?" the main commander asked.
"Two of the three outer zone players are dead, and one escaped two hours ago." Captain Xing turned the camera to the side, which was facing a group of elderly people, women, and children. Unlike the others in the shopping center, these people looked relaxed, especially the children, who were playing together.
"These people were also trapped in the life-or-death game ten minutes ago, but the turntable pattern on the ground has now disappeared!" Captain Xing's voice was full of excitement. "Commander, a player in Hai City drove away the outer zone players and also broke the multi-person life-or-death game!"
"What! Where is that player?! How did they break it?!"
"They've already left. I haven't had time to ask for the details. Let Comrade Wang Chaoqing report to you." Captain Xing pulled over a thin, bespectacled young man.
"L-Leader, hello." Wang Chaoqing gave a dry greeting to the camera. "Brother Xu has already left. He told me to tell you that the way to break the multi-person life-or-death game is to not spin the pointer for twelve consecutive rounds."
"Twelve consecutive rounds?" The command room found this hard to believe. According to Dr. Sun's statistics, entering the life-or-death game affected one's mind. The more afraid you were, the greater the effect. It was very difficult for anyone to remain completely in control. The person who had previously managed not to spin the pointer hadn't even lasted through the second round!
"What else is there?" Dr. Sun quickly asked.
"He didn't say anything else. But I can tell you what I know. However, you have to give me an antidote to cure the poison from the xenomorph I was infected with." Wang Chaoqing began to negotiate. "It's not just me. Brother Xu was also injured by that outer zone player's explosion. It was all to save people. If it weren't for us, these women and children might all be dead."
The command room wasn't afraid of him negotiating; they were afraid that no one would dare to come forward and negotiate at all. The main commander immediately said, "We have inhibitors here in Hai City. I'll send someone in right away."
"First, tell us about the life-or-death game."