Chapter 1575: I'm Just Here to Help
"How does it feel to have your neck caught?" Xu Huo said with malicious glee as he looked at Xie Song.
"Xu Huo, don't think that just because you're a Super Evolver you can do whatever you want. Consider the consequences before you act..." Before the word "consequences" could even leave his mouth, the Space Blade pressed a little closer to his neck. With blades both in front and behind preventing any movement, the only way out would be to completely break through the prop or the space power.
"All Things Want to Cut Everything" was an A-grade prop, not easily destroyed, but it could potentially be removed by other props. To guard against that possibility, Xu Huo had deliberately borrowed the conference room wall as a framework for the tangent. Of course, even if the prop were actually removed, it wouldn't matter—his Space Blade, though not powerful enough to destroy high-grade props, was more than sufficient as a supplement here and now, especially in this environment where the time-space type props of these high-level players had largely failed.
"Don't move," Xu Huo still fulfilled his duty to warn them. He walked out from behind the old man, his gaze sweeping over every player, and lowered his voice to speak clearly, word by word: "I'll say this only once. From now on, anyone who makes a move will be considered declaring war on me. So think carefully about the consequences before making a decision. I can't say what will happen to the military and the Special Defense Department, but I can guarantee that whoever makes a move will die."
If anyone else had said something like this, it would have been utterly ridiculous—a player who had just barely reached C-grade warning the government, this behemoth, not to declare war on him?
In the past, those words had always been spoken by the military and the Special Defense Department to outsiders. Today, the tables had turned, and now they were being said to them!
Yet everyone present, even Xie Song who had been brimming with confidence earlier, understood that the fact there was still no movement from outside the conference room meant Xu Huo had already taken control of the situation. What was infuriating was that they couldn't even be sure if someone was colluding with him from the inside. According to the feedback from the Special Defense Department, his strength had long surpassed that of an ordinary C-grade player, and unlike the high-level players from the Special Defense Department and the military who relied on a large number of Evolution Agents and Instance grinding, who knew what props he had obtained in the game?
"Why don't you just say what you want? So many of us are sitting here today precisely to negotiate." The old man at the head of the table spoke. Unlike the few elderly people in the back row who had only been blocked by three tangents in front, he, like the players around the conference table, had a noose around his neck. Thus, he could only maintain a posture with his back straight and neck stretched out, not daring to even sway.
"I've heard enough of what you were saying earlier." Xu Huo raised his hand, releasing the secretary in the corner, and gestured for him to give up his chair. Then he sat down at the table, facing everyone calmly. "To be honest, I have little interest in your internal power struggles. Rise and fall are the norm; nothing remains eternal."
"But the bottom line is that you must have a bottom line."
"I have deep feelings for District 014, and I trust the government. Otherwise, during the Super prop incident, I wouldn't have cooperated with the Painting Woman to lure away some of the high-level players."
As he spoke, he tapped lightly on the conference table with his finger. White sand surged from the tabletop as if from nowhere, like diligent workers, piling up and building steadily on their own, then transforming into a winding white city wall.
"External crises cannot be predicted or controlled. Whether it's the people who sacrificed or those who survived, everyone has contributed to District 014. With just you sitting around this table, how could you possibly withstand high-level players?"
"Trying to tear down the bridge before you've even crossed the river—you all sit in positions that determine a nation's future, and it makes one wonder if District 014 has any future at all."
Whether they were deep in thought or unconvinced, Xu Huo didn't bother looking at them again. Instead, he reached out and touched the base of the wall. A few grains of sand slowly drifted out, floating around his fingers.
Because of those missing grains of sand, the wall began to collapse from the middle. In the blink of an eye, it spread out like water, then completely disappeared.
"It was you who contacted us in Hai City." The military old man sitting in the back row suddenly spoke. "Can I assume that the Super prop is still in your hands, or in the hands of your friend?"
Xu Huo smiled. "And how are you so sure that what you saw back then was definitely a Super prop?"
This was different from when they had first entered the game. Back then, they didn't understand the situation. The Painting Woman's ability to control all the paper in the entire city was a power completely beyond their reach. As they acquired more high-grade props, people gradually came to realize that some A-grade props could also achieve similar effects.
Super props weren't necessarily visibly more useful than A-grade props.
Plus, sometimes acquiring props relied on a bit of luck, so it was hard to say whether what had appeared in Hai City was a Super prop or some other A-grade prop.
The expressions in the conference room varied, but no one could discern anything from Xu Huo's face.
However, the military old man wasn't seeking a definitive answer. He just wanted to confirm whether Xu Huo was the one who had orchestrated the reversal of the situation back then.
"Whether it was a Super prop or not, your contribution in Hai City is indelible."
Given the circumstances at the time, not just anyone would have had the courage to gamble with props. Surrounded by so many high-level players, one wrong move and it would have meant death.
The Super prop from District 017 still hadn't appeared.
"On behalf of all the survivors of the entire X Nation, I thank you!" The military old man stood up and formally saluted him.
Xu Huo also stood up.
After a few seconds of silence in the conference room, the trait effects on the players who had been forcibly seated were gradually lifted. However, given the prior warning, they refrained from making any moves for the time being.
During the Hai City operation, they had only been playing a supporting role. Many people hadn't even encountered any danger before the crisis was nearly over. But plenty of people had died back then. If it hadn't been for that desperate chase that turned the tide, whether Hai City could have been saved was debatable.
Although the external environment at the time wasn't as bad as District 017, the fact that an E-grade player dared to toy with high-level players from other districts—just for that, everyone present had to respect him.
"You must have a reason for coming here." The old man at the head of the table was struggling to hold on, his forehead covered in fine sweat. He looked sideways at Xu Huo. "Just say it. Everything can be negotiated!"
Xu Huo glanced around. "Unfortunately, the person negotiating with you today isn't me. Once the people outside finish their work, someone will come to find you."
The old man's face darkened heavily, and he gripped the edge of the table with both hands.
"Calm down," Xu Huo warned him, and also warned the players in the conference room. "I'm just here to help. I don't want to make things too ugly..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a player sitting at the other end of the conference table suddenly raised a remote control and pressed it hard. As the conference room wall began to turn transparent, the player said harshly, "No one has claimed responsibility for the Hai City incident to this day. You can say whatever you want. I want to see if you're really that powerful!"
The others present looked outside with a glimmer of hope in their eyes. But when they saw groups of players hanging by their necks, bound and suspended in the air, the hope that had just risen quickly extinguished.