Chapter 1395: Unexpected
As he spoke, Li Kun tossed several frisbee-shaped jammers toward the mechanical men, but they were shot down by bullets before they could take effect. At the same time, the two mechanical men closest to them pressed buttons on their chests, and a shockwave spread out like a net. Jammers or ordinary items were directly blocked three to five meters away, completely ineffective, but the mechanical men's bullets continued to fire without issue.
The remaining mechanical men split into two groups. One group kept Xu Huo and Li Kun pinned down from both close and long range, while the other group drove the transport vehicle forward.
"This direction leads to the New District Government City," Li Kun said in confusion. "What did they stop for in the middle of the road?"
There were no players in this convoy; it was entirely managed by mechanical men. They could have simply passed through directly, and the two sides might not have even encountered each other.
"It might be a set protocol," Xu Huo said. He switched out "Three Hundred Sixty Defenses" and reactivated "Flower Bloom." From a normal perspective, this conflict was completely unnecessary, as if the mechanical men were just looking for trouble. But this indirectly demonstrated the New District Government's confidence in their mechanical army.
He noticed that the mechanical men, both near and far, were collecting combat data on him and Li Kun, as well as information on their item usage. In an extremely short time, several mechanical men could coordinate their attacks, predicting their movements to the greatest extent and setting up ambushes in advance. Their greatest advantage was long-range assault, and most items designed to target humans were unusable. Some indiscriminate attack items would be dodged by them ahead of time.
Additionally, these mechanical men were equipped with spatial jamming devices that could render Cube Space ineffective within a small area.
Of course, this wasn't a problem for Xu Huo. With rapid movement and the Black Blade, harvesting the mechanical men wasn't difficult. The slightly troublesome part was the detonation devices on them. Attempting to dismantle a mechanical man or render it combat-ineffective was impossible. Once its main body was damaged or it lost control, it would immediately self-destruct, taking the micro-missiles attached to it along for the ride.
The shockwave from the explosion was enough to tear through barriers formed by low-level defense items. Li Kun had barely triggered an explosion when he was flung over ten meters away. If he hadn't retreated in time, he would have been turned into a sieve in seconds.
Seeing that these mechanical men had no further use, Xu Huo activated "Inviolable Domain" and quickly dealt with the few around him. Then he chased after the two vehicles that had fled, taking out the drivers with one slash each, letting the trucks overturn on the main road.
A large amount of ore spilled out. The remaining dozen or so mechanical men began an orderly retreat while simultaneously releasing an attractant—a strange, pungent scent wafted into the air.
"They're trying to lure mutants!" Li Kun said. "Brother Xu, you take care of them, and leave the rest to me!"
Xu Huo's figure moved rapidly along the main road. After flashes of the Black Blade's light, explosions of fire followed. Since the mechanical men had already moved some distance away, the explosions didn't affect the area where the attractant had been spilled. At that moment, Li Kun was half-bent over, covering the puddle of liquid on the ground with a thin gauze cover.
The strange smell was sealed off, but Li Kun said, "With all that commotion, mutants will definitely come later. We'd better leave quickly... What are you planning to do with that ore?"
"Sell it," Xu Huo said. "Do you have any good channels?"
This was exactly what Li Kun wanted to hear. He rubbed his hands together, picked a nearby piece of ore, and tested it. "C-grade ore, top quality. Might even yield a gem. The price will definitely be high. But with this much, there's no time to appraise each piece individually. Better to sell it all in bulk."
After speaking, he looked up again. "If Brother Xu trusts me, I'll find an acquaintance to sell it. The price will be fair."
There were no special ores in the vehicles, and Xu Huo wasn't particularly interested. So he entrusted the matter to Li Kun. "Sixty-forty split."
"No need, no need," Li Kun said, grinning from ear to ear. "I didn't really do much. How could I take that much? I'll just take twenty percent. That's already a steal."
Xu Huo had no objection. He first returned to the "Only Entrance" area to put away the items.
By then, Dai Song was helping Dr. Duo Er out. Seeing the situation outside, he was startled, then said, "We need to leave quickly. The news of the transport vehicle being hijacked will have been sent back to the New District Government City by the mechanical men in no time. Players from the district government will be here soon."
Xu Huo nodded. Li Kun sped up, using container items to collect the ore on the ground. A few minutes later, he walked over with a beaming smile. "Got a good price—thirty million!"
He then generously took out twenty-four million White Notes.
With so much money piled up, even Dai Song and Dr. Duo Er's eyes widened with envy. Players from Twin Cities and its surrounding areas were dirt poor. They couldn't even handle their own city's affairs, let alone rob the New District Government. If they had players this strong, the gene disease cure wouldn't have been delayed until now.
Xu Huo took twenty million and gestured for Dai Song to pocket the remaining White Notes. "Consider it my contribution to medical research. I hope you succeed soon."
The two men's eyes reddened, and their throats tightened, unable to speak.
Li Kun gave Xu Huo a thumbs-up. "Generous!"
But Xu Huo said, "With the transport hijacking, we might not be able to enter the city smoothly."
Dai Song snapped back to reality. "We have to try, whether it works or not. We need to find a way to avoid the district government's players."
Xu Huo agreed with this idea. At the very least, they couldn't take the original route. They could take some detours along the way, and time wouldn't be a major issue.
However, what they didn't expect was that the New District Government City didn't react to the incident at all. There were no traces of district government player squads passing through the cities along the way. And when they were about to reach the New District Government City, they spotted many vehicles coming from the direction of the new city.
Dai Song stopped a passing player to ask about the situation. He learned that the New District Government City had been attacked by players from the outer zones. The city was now in a semi-lockdown state. The mechanical men stationed there had taken control of the city gates, and anything or anyone within a hundred-meter radius was a target for attack.
"Could Number 8 and the others have already arrived?" Li Kun said in surprise. "The agreed time hasn't come yet."
They had originally set a ten-day deadline, but given the difficulty of travel, that number was flexible. They had arrived early. There was no way Number 8 and his group, with so few people, would dare to attack the New District Government.
"Something else must have happened," Xu Huo said. A dozen or a few dozen players robbing the place wouldn't be enough to put an entire city on lockdown. Besides, mechanical men guarding the gates didn't mean much for restricting players.
"Should we go in?" Li Kun asked seriously.