Chapter 1552: The Best Method Within a Limited Time
Whether or not he could walk through walls was no longer important. Since he was already inside, who cared how he got in? There were all sorts of bizarre items in the game—what was so strange about walking through a wall?
"What did he do?" The glasses-wearing man immediately seized on the key point.
Who knew?
The players in the command room were all slow to react. They had no idea how long they had been in the command room, let alone remembered what he had done. They only vaguely recalled that he had been standing next to the translator, but that was useless. Everyone in the command room had vanished.
A flash of anger passed through the glasses-wearing man's eyes. He immediately turned and headed to the ground floor. When he got up there, he discovered that the few players left on the surface had already turned into corpses, while the government high-ranking officials who had been detained had disappeared without a trace, just like the people in the command room!
Then news came from the family quarters as well. The situation was the same as here—every single person who had been locked up had been rescued.
"They hired outside help?" a player asked.
"A bunch of trash!" the glasses-wearing man cursed under his breath.
This stirred up dissatisfaction among some of the players. One of them said, "Cai Bo, I've been putting up with you for a long time. You act all high and mighty, bossing people around. If you've got the guts, go find them yourself!"
The glasses-wearing man, Cai Bo, didn't say much more. His lingering anger was clearly written on his face as the words "too lazy to argue with idiots." Ignoring the provoked players, he turned and left the small building.
Looking at it now, the purpose of that explosion earlier was probably to lure the people here away. In fact, the strongest players had indeed gone out, mainly to gather information so they wouldn't be caught off guard if a Super Player or a top-tier A-rank player approached.
The skilled players who had left hadn't returned yet, and all the government personnel in the command room had been taken away. This meant a major change had occurred. And these fools actually thought Zone 017 had hired outside help... It was so stupid it was beyond words!
Of course, controlling the capital safe zone's combat base was just a strategy. Whether it would yield any benefits was unknown. Coming to Zone 017 had always been a gamble, and they had already made considerable gains. So losing control of the combat base wasn't something unacceptable. If one place didn't work out, they could just move on to another.
But whether to leave or not still depended on the specific situation.
Cai Bo moved outside the combat base. He had intended to check on the battle situation outside, but unexpectedly, he looked up and met a pair of eyes in the distance.
It was as if he heard a "click" sound beside his ear. Cai Bo froze in place, unable to tear himself away from those eyes. After several struggles and relapses, he involuntarily began walking toward the owner of those eyes.
Also under control were some of the players who had come out earlier to scout. It was uncertain whether those who weren't there had already escaped, but the remaining ones, like Cai Bo, were walking stiffly toward a small observation deck not far from the combat base.
Standing in the observation deck was a short-haired woman dressed in black clothes and black pants. She was flicking a pocket watch in her hand, and with each flick, the resistance of the controlled players around her weakened, and their bodies became more natural.
At least ten players were affected, including two A-ranks. Compared to their painful struggles, the woman appeared much more relaxed, as if she were just standing in the observation deck admiring the pocket watch in her hand.
However, when she moved the second hand to "6," she suddenly stopped and turned her head to look toward the combat base.
Xu Huo had already jumped down from the wall. He hadn't expected such a coincidence. Originally, using the "Mini Mushroom Cloud" was just to divert the attention of Cai Bo and the others. Who would have thought that when they went out, they would run into Dou Shengnan, who had arrived nearby.
Dou Shengnan, a hypnotist from the Eerie Sound Knights. Xu Huo had witnessed her prowess as early as Zone 014. This A-rank player, whose Mental Super Evolution was especially formidable, had made people line up to jump off a building—a scene that was still deeply impressive. It was the perfect example of Mental Interference advancing to Mind Control.
Not intending to confront this person head-on, he simply observed from the sidelines for a moment before turning and leaving.
Avoiding the players who had scattered from the command room, Xu Huo returned to the family building and released some people.
Among them were Jin Zi's family members.
They had already learned about the encrypted information from the translator. Jin Zi's grandfather, the highest-ranking officer of the combat base, had seen through Xu Huo's intentions at once.
"Do you have a grudge against that female player from the Eerie Sound Knights?"
It wasn't exactly a grudge. Moreover, Xu Huo's target wasn't Dou Shengnan. He just wanted to use the available forces to help fish out the woman in the black trench coat who had come to Zone 017 with Xue Lang. When describing her features, he had deliberately added some ambiguous information. If anyone suspected Dou Shengnan, that was none of his concern.
If the Super Players kept fighting endlessly, then the Super Item incident in Zone 017 wouldn't last long before it ended. Finding that person on his own would be somewhat difficult. Besides, although he had escaped from the battle between the Box Carrier and Lawrence Li, that didn't mean he was completely safe. So time was tight. He would just have to see how far he could get.
Without answering Jin Zi's grandfather's question, Xu Huo asked, "Do you have a place to go?"
The crowd had thought he would extort items or valuables like the previous players. Hearing this, they were momentarily stunned. "You're letting us go?"
"I know Jin Zi. She helped me out a little, so I'm returning the favor." Xu Huo asked again, "Are there any players coming to pick you up?"
Jin Zi's mother's eagerness was written all over her face, but after seeing her father-in-law and husband remain silent, she forcibly suppressed her emotions.
"As long as she's still alive." After a moment, Jin Zi's grandfather said this.
Xu Huo didn't try to persuade them further. He only said, "Zone 017 becoming a Xenomorph breeding ground is only a matter of time. Among the spreading Xenomorph viruses, there's one that can cause rapid Degeneration. If it's just accelerated death, that's one thing. But if they lose their minds and attack others, your insistence will be meaningless."
As the nation's highest leaders, not abandoning their country and people to escape first was a matter of responsibility and righteousness. Xu Huo respected and admired them, and he wouldn't interfere further.
At that moment, someone started crying. They could have left long ago, but not to mention the whole country, even the capital safe zone had so many people. How could they simply abandon these people and save themselves?
But when death was staring them in the face, their survival instinct made them extremely anguished.
Because if they didn't want to end up being humiliated and slaughtered by players from other zones, or after a long struggle for survival, eventually become Xenomorphs, the best option was to end themselves.
When facing a threat, anger might overcome fear. But when holding the power of life and death in their own hands, it was hard to find the determination and courage to move forward.
(End of Chapter)