Chapter 1348: Only One Group Can Clear
The bald-headed group's main goal was to snatch the person. Since they had succeeded and their opponents were tough nuts to crack, there was no need to waste any more time. So the leader among them blew a whistle, and in an instant, that super-speed player shuttled through the xenomorphs, grabbed his companions, and left.
Fan Zhigang and the other two were trapped inside the xenomorph swarm. They couldn't catch up to the high-speed player either, so they had to turn back.
Meanwhile, the two people who had been fighting with Cao Qinglin and Qiu Ming received the signal and immediately used teleportation items to leave—within a few seconds, the group had cleared out completely.
"Damn it!" Qiu Ming cursed. "So they never actually wanted the car!"
Surrounded by xenomorphs, the car had become a burden instead. In this situation, they had no choice but to abandon the car and look after themselves. However, at that moment, a barrier covered the car, also shielding them and the cleaning robot that had already tidied up the vehicle.
The xenomorphs almost completely plastered the barrier. Fan Zhigang, the other two, and Dai Song, who arrived later, couldn't get inside. But with a fixed target, their pressure was somewhat reduced.
"Has the Doctor come back yet?" Dai Song shouted loudly, and in the gaps, he saw the situation inside the barrier. He couldn't help but say furiously, "So many of you, and you still couldn't keep an eye on the Doctor!"
"Weren't you the one who went to rescue people?" Qiu Ming retorted, and added, "We're doing an instance mission, not your hired bodyguards. Watch your tone!"
Dai Song's expression was anxious. He didn't bother arguing with him and turned to chase after the group that had left.
"Aren't you going to help?" Fan Zhigang asked.
Qiu Ming didn't say anything. This barrier wasn't from him or Cao Qinglin; it could only be from Xu Huo.
Xu Huo retracted his spiritual realm and said to the group, "Let's shake off these xenomorphs first. Drive the car forward."
The second half of the sentence was directed at the cleaning robot.
"We'll clear the way ahead!" Fan Zhigang and the other two stepped forward to help. The group worked together, fighting the xenomorphs while clearing the path.
But the number of xenomorphs in the area was simply too high. The clearing speed couldn't keep up with the encirclement speed. Before long, Fan Zhigang and the others couldn't hold on anymore and suggested abandoning the car. It would be easy for them to leave on foot, and since the person they were supposed to deliver was gone, abandoning the car would actually be easier.
"Wait a little longer," Xu Huo said.
"Dai Song probably won't come back," Cao Qinglin said at that point. "Even if he finds Dr. Duo Er, he'll likely join the opposing team. Anyway, his only goal is to deliver the Doctor to the secondary city. It doesn't matter who does it."
Xu Huo didn't say that the Doctor had already been loaded into the painting. Instead, he said, "It's best not to be alone."
Long-distance teleportation items had varying ranges and usage limits. Once they decided to abandon the car, it meant they would each go their own way.
"Even running on foot would be faster than the car," Fan Zhigang said.
"But the Dr. Duo Er we brought out might not be real," Xu Huo said instead. "If we take a different route, we might run into a second one."
The others were distracted and turned their heads. Qiu Ming asked, "How can you be sure the Dr. Duo Er we found is fake?"
Judging by Dai Song's behavior, the Doctor shouldn't be fake. Otherwise, he could have given up entirely and wouldn't have chased after them alone.
Xu Huo just had a vague premonition in his heart, not yet a certainty, so he didn't elaborate. Instead, he said, "Even if it's not Dr. Duo Er, it's still Dai Song's compatriot. It's normal not to abandon a compatriot."
The others fell silent for a moment.
But for the next period of time, no one brought up abandoning the car again.
During this time, Xu Huo kept injecting attractants and toxins into the xenomorphs. After the mutated animals ate each other, the poison began to spread, and the effects gradually became apparent.
Bottle after bottle of attractant was thrown out. After about ten minutes, the xenomorphs that had been surrounding them stopped fixating on them. Half an hour later, the group was out of danger.
"What clues did you spot?" After catching his breath, Qiu Ming couldn't help but ask again. "Is that Dr. Duo Er real or fake? I'm getting confused."
"I can't be sure either, but what do you think—did those players who came to snatch people bring someone in with them, or did they come empty-handed?" Xu Huo said. "Personally, I lean toward them bringing another Dr. Duo Er with them. Since they came to snatch someone, it means that whether the Dr. Duo Er they brought is alive or not, the identity being fake is certain. Otherwise, they wouldn't have targeted us."
"Even twins don't necessarily look exactly alike. How many people and how many sets of identities would the Spring Bamboo Laboratory need to prepare to fool so many players?" Cao Qinglin frowned.
During the rest yesterday, Fan Zhigang and the others had already described the appearance of the "Dr. Duo Er" they were escorting, which was different from the one following Xu Huo's group.
"Generally speaking, more people would still trust the old photos, right?" Gou Wu said. "At the time, we were being extra cautious, thinking the newspaper photos weren't real, and ended up outsmarting ourselves..."
"I also think the photos in those newspapers and books from Twin Cities are of the real person," Wei Dong took over. "If that's the case, then more players should have received a Dr. Duo Er who looks the same as the photos."
"Could it be multiple births?" Qiu Ming said skeptically. "I know some people can carry over a dozen children at once. In certain technologically advanced districts, the numbers can be increased and survival rates guaranteed... But District 023 doesn't have that technology."
"That probability is very low. It's more likely they used different people to impersonate him. What would they gain from multiple births?" Fan Zhigang said.
"It's not impossible. Dai Song said someone in District 023 was trying to assassinate Dr. Duo Er. The locals might know what Dr. Duo Er looks like. Besides, even without multiple births, plastic surgery technology can achieve the same result," Cao Qinglin pondered. "Find people with similar facial features, and no major changes are needed."
Everyone's guesses had some merit. For Twin Cities to deliver Dr. Duo Er to the secondary city, whether they used multiple births, plastic surgery, or some other method, it would all come back to one question: who was the real Dr. Duo Er?
There was only one Dr. Duo Er, and that was certain, right?
"So this instance only allows one group to clear?" Qiu Ming punched the seat. "Where are we supposed to find Dr. Duo Er now? Apart from the relatively safe places marked on Dai Song's map, everywhere else is a blind spot for us. We don't even know what species are there!"
"How about we hurry out of the Stairway to Heaven and maybe block people outside the secondary city, checking them one by one?" Wei Dong hesitantly suggested.
"Don't rush," Xu Huo said, looking at the red grass that had grown back a few hundred meters away. "We still have unfinished business from earlier."
As soon as he finished speaking, a massive blaze erupted in the distance, lighting up half the sky before the sound of an explosion came!
(Chapter End)