Chapter 1555: An Unchangeable Ending
"Is that so?" Dou Shengnan's expression remained unchanged as she spoke, and this space seemed to be shrouded in an endless darkness. At its center were her and Jin Feixue, slightly farther away were Xue Lang and Chang Bei, and even farther were those players who had been watching and had yet to leave, as well as Xu Huo, who had retreated a thousand meters in an instant like a fish caught in the crossfire.
Without a doubt, they had entered Dou Shengnan's spiritual realm. The pitch-black world was like a dark seabed, seeming to hold a glimmer of light, yet that light felt like an illusion. In short, as the darkness spread, everything in their field of vision slowly disappeared, leaving an eerie silence.
Spiritual realms usually didn't have forced boundaries. As long as one wasn't immediately affected by the Super Evolver, it wasn't difficult to completely break free, especially when all the players were equipped with long-distance teleportation items.
But for ordinary players, the spiritual power that created an insurmountable barrier wasn't so effective against Dou Shengnan's targets. Xue Lang and Chang Bei didn't even use items to escape; instead, they forcibly carved a path within her spiritual realm, leading straight to the outside!
Neither of them was a Mental Super Evolver, but they were no strangers to this.
Dou Shengnan rarely encountered such a situation. Just as she was about to strengthen her control over the spiritual realm, Jin Feixue beside her pressed her shoulder and raised her left hand, releasing a thin, almost invisible thread. It pierced through the defensive barrier at incredible speed, wrapped around Chang Bei's right leg, and burrowed into her skin in an instant.
Even though Xue Lang immediately used an item to bind Chang Bei's thigh, her body visibly began to tremble, and all her muscles twitched uncontrollably, as if she were being completely controlled.
Within just two seconds, blood flowed from Chang Bei's mouth and nose. She raised her hand toward Xue Lang as if begging for help, but a trace of blood seeped from her palm. The thin thread that had entered her body pierced through her skin again and flew toward Xue Lang.
Xue Lang, who had been standing right next to her, didn't hesitate to kick her away. The external force caused Chang Bei to lose her balance and fall to the ground, crashing into a pile of destroyed rubble and not emerging again.
At that moment, Jin Feixue suddenly struck, joining Dou Shengnan in a pincer attack on Xue Lang.
The two sides quickly moved through the city. In just ten seconds, they shifted to the city center and then back again. Xue Lang was at a disadvantage fighting two-on-one and gradually began to struggle. After enduring for a few more seconds, he said to the ground, "How long are you going to play dead?"
Chang Bei flipped out of the rubble, still holding the thread Jin Feixue had released. She looked up at the sky and was about to speak when her expression suddenly changed. The next second, her skin began to peel from her face, and her entire body turned red as if on fire... A man dressed like a gentleman, wearing a hat and carrying a box, stood behind her, following her gaze to look at the people in the air.
The Box Carrier!
This iconic appearance sent a jolt through everyone present. Almost without hesitation, the surrounding players watching the battle, as well as Jin Feixue and the other two who had just been fighting, all fled, including Chang Bei, who was being melted!
Logically, escaping from the Box Carrier was extremely difficult, especially since Chang Bei had already been caught. But fortunately, Lawrence Li and the Paper Servant Master appeared one after another. The flying paper that materialized out of nowhere tore through the Box Carrier's control barrier, giving Chang Bei a slim chance to escape.
A confrontation between three Super Players was a rare sight, but no player below A-rank would think they could walk away unscathed from a melee between three Super Players. Thus, within seconds of their appearance, the surrounding players had all cleared out.
Xu Huo was among them.
Not to mention surviving the chaos, even if he fell into the Box Carrier's suitcase again, he wouldn't be so lucky as to escape a second time. Moreover, the Box Carrier had likely targeted him first because he was carrying the Painting Woman.
In her two states—paper painting and living human—ordinary players couldn't see through the Painting Woman's identity, just like in Hai City, where players from other districts thought she was someone holding a Super Item. In other words, as long as she remained in a fixed state, it was hard for others to recognize her as a Super Item... But he wasn't sure if the same applied to Super Players.
However, judging by how quickly the Box Carrier shifted his attention, this choice seemed more like a habit or instinct. But regardless of the reason, escaping from him a second time in the same way would be exponentially harder.
As long as Chang Bei wasn't dead, his goal for this trip to the Capital Safe Zone was achieved. So he quickly returned to the operation base, took the Painting Woman and the remaining people, and entered the "Head-to-Tail Loop."
When they stopped in a nearby city, a towering pillar of flame erupted from the Capital Safe Zone. The entire city was instantly engulfed in golden-red light, much like the scene Xu Huo had once seen in Block Fairy Tale City.
"A bit dazzling." The mechanical voice came from the Painting Woman's communicator. She had already crawled out of Xu Huo's clothes and was standing shoulder to shoulder with him, also looking toward the Capital Safe Zone.
The light from the blazing flames cast faint shadows of light and dark on their faces. Accompanied by a violent gust of wind, the scorching heat from the explosion swept across the entire land...
Xu Huo's expression didn't change. He simply watched silently as the city disappeared.
The Painting Woman tilted her head slightly and asked him, "There were so many people in there. Are they all dead?"
Xu Huo nodded. "Yes."
"Who killed them? Was it that man with the box just now?" the Painting Woman asked again.
"It was him."
The Painting Woman felt he was acting a bit strange, but after carefully examining his face, she found nothing. So she looked away and turned her gaze back to the Capital Safe Zone. "Then he's really bad."
The destruction of the Capital Safe Zone seemed to fast-forward the disaster in Zone 017. More and more cities fell. Besides the players who arrived later, there were endless swarms of xenomorphs that came from nowhere and could never be wiped out. They swept through the entire zone, recklessly destroying the land and claiming countless lives. Jin Zi's grandfather's plea for help was like a single drop of water swallowed by a tsunami, long since drowned out.
Such tragedy and devastation would move anyone, but after the emotion came endless sighs, because no one could change what was happening. Zone 017 was just another zone, like many that had disappeared into the game or been reduced to farming zones—a place soon to be forgotten.
After a long silence, a player shook his head and said, "Zone 017 is done for."
"Let's go, let's go. A wasted trip. I wasted my items..." The outer zone players in the small city began to withdraw.
The Painting Woman suddenly patted Xu Huo's arm, signaling him to turn around.
On the streets of the small city, crowds of desperate people surged out. They looked mournfully toward the Capital Safe Zone, no longer paying attention to the outer zone players passing by.
Xu Huo contacted Bai Kou through the bounty platform:
"Is there a place that can take in a large number of ordinary people?"
(End of Chapter)