Chapter 1533: Why Are You Following Me
Xu Huo's expression softened slightly. "That's not wrong, but you can't get revenge, and you can't hurt Bai Tiao Yi. Besides, he wasn't injured either."
The buzz-cut man was surprised. "How is that possible? We clearly saw just now..."
"A player who could clearly escape into the game would rather bite off his own tongue than leave—wouldn't you be suspicious and on guard?" Xu Huo said. "Even if Bai Tiao Yi didn't think of that, his defensive items are more than enough. It only cost him a little time."
The three of them couldn't help but feel disappointed upon hearing this, but they didn't say anything about giving up.
"Is it just you few who came?" Xu Huo asked instead.
The three didn't know Xu Huo's identity, but since he hadn't revealed it, he certainly wasn't an insider, so naturally they wouldn't tell him the information they had already obtained.
Xu Huo didn't press the issue either, only asking, "Did Nie Xuan come?"
The "beggar" player hesitated for a moment before saying, "Team Leader Nie had something to attend to and couldn't get away..."
"Does his leg injury have a problem?" Xu Huo immediately understood. "Is it serious? Has the Special Defense Department still not found a solution?"
On the surface, Nie Xuan served as a team leader, but in reality, he was one of the core figures among the elite players of the Special Defense Department. His physical condition was kept confidential from outsiders, and even insiders only knew he had a leg problem—the specifics were unclear. However, the fact that Xu Huo could say this meant he might have learned about it directly from Nie Xuan.
"We don't know about that either." The "beggar" player genuinely didn't know.
Seeing they were unaware, Xu Huo then asked how many Super Players and famous A-Class players had come to Zone 017 so far.
This wasn't something that needed to be kept secret, so the "beggar" player briefly explained the current situation.
Three Super Players had been confirmed: Paper Servant Master, Lawrence Li, and Meteor Star. There was also a city suspected to be under the control of a Super Player, but the situation hadn't been investigated yet.
Lawrence Li had initially visited the government cores of the major nations in Zone 017 one by one, but later somehow left on his own. Someone later found him appearing in areas where Xenomorphs roamed, and there had been no news of him since.
After observing the situation for a day, Paper Servant Master proactively offered to help the governments of Zone 017 transfer people to other zones, on the condition that they find a group of craftsmen skilled in paper handicrafts.
As for Meteor Star, he was relatively unfamiliar to the zones of the E26 Wormhole Point, likely a Super Player who didn't move around much. Meteor Star was his player nickname.
As for the player whose identity hadn't been uncovered, he had taken over a not-small country—yes, a country. He had sealed off that country, completely cutting off internal and external communications. Players couldn't enter it either, let alone walk around freely like in Xiaoyue City.
"I feel like these Super Players don't really care about Super Items," the "beggar" player said. "Nominally, they're here for the Super Items, but they don't pressure governments or players to hand over items like other players do, nor do they treat city destruction as a countdown like the Eerie Sound Knights."
This wasn't hard to understand. For someone who could become a Super Player, even if they didn't have a Super Item in hand, they would at least have items no less powerful than Super Items. Moreover, having evolved to their level, the power of their traits might be unimaginable. Take Paper Servant Master, for example—he could even use paper to create high-level items. For someone like that, Super Items were nice, but not enough to make them act desperate and scheming.
Of course, perhaps they had other methods and didn't need to go through all this trouble.
Xu Huo had met both Paper Servant Master and Lawrence Li in person. From his brief exchange with Paper Servant Master, he seemed relatively normal. As for Lawrence Li, his desire to restore his body outweighed everything else, making him an unpredictable person.
He looked toward the school. The people there had already left. Neither the "beggar" trio nor he could currently face Bai Tiao Yi in direct combat. The Eerie Sound Knights were famous for looting, and the items they held were definitely not weak. Even without Super Evolution, an average level of evolution probably couldn't affect them, let alone the fact that they were rich in combat experience—they were definitely not players who could be easily challenged across levels.
But the Eerie Sound Knights had split up. The best approach in Zone 017 was to find players who could match them in combat, like in Xiaoyue City.
However, this still couldn't cause them substantial harm. Anyone could escape into the game. These people could hold their own against Super Players, but if facing one alone, they might not fight to the death. If it were a player of the same level but slightly stronger, that would be ideal.
"Do you know the locations of the random instances in Zone 017?" Xu Huo asked after a moment of thought.
"Zone 017 hasn't been evolving for long, so there aren't many random instances," the "beggar" player told him about three C-Class instances and one B-Class instance. "This information comes from the Zone 017 government—absolutely accurate."
"Are you trying to lure Bai Tiao Yi into a random instance?" the buzz-cut player interjected. "But even a B-Class instance wouldn't be difficult for them. They might even clear the instance. Would that work?"
"Besides, I've heard that players with an evolution rate close to one hundred can sense the entrances to random instances, so they definitely won't fall for it easily."
Xu Huo wasn't really counting on it either, but that didn't stop him from gathering information.
"Opportunities often come from chance," he said, then told the three to go to the edge of the city and leave once the space maze dissipated.
The buzz-cut player wanted to ask about his identity, but the older one pulled him away, and they parted ways.
Xu Huo turned around and found Bai Tiao Yi again, following him at a moderate distance.
The other man circled the city center twice, killed two groups of people who came seeking revenge, and then proactively approached Xu Huo:
"Why are you following me?"
When the voice suddenly sounded from behind him, Xu Huo instinctively retreated to one side. Because in his field of vision, Bai Tiao Yi, who should have been walking ahead, hadn't disappeared. But at this very moment, the one so close was indeed real. Suspecting this might be some special item, he prepared his own items and quickly moved through the space, trying to shake him off.
However, Bai Tiao Yi appeared behind him several times, smiling as he said, "Why are you running? Aren't you here for me? Looking for revenge or trying to rob me?"
Realizing he couldn't shake the other man, Xu Huo chose to stop in a residential area dense with buildings. After steadying himself, he said, "I want to leave Xiaoyue City. Isn't it natural to follow the person most likely to leave?"
Bai Tiao Yi hadn't expected this answer. Generally, without a special reason, ordinary players wouldn't actively approach the Eerie Sound Knights, especially low-level players.
"You don't seem to be lying," Bai Tiao Yi said, staring at him. "But I still think you are lying. Want to know why?"
Xu Huo's expression remained calm. "I'm all ears."
(Chapter End)