Chapter 1600: The Disappeared Person
Time passed very slowly. It hadn't even been half an hour since Xu Huo had unlocked the first mechanism of the puzzle ball. He hadn't deliberately concealed the noise, but none of the sleeping people in the room reacted. Instead, Chi Xian noticed that the markings on the map hadn't increased and called him to confirm the situation.
"Find a few people to run an experiment. I won't be moving from this spot for now. How are things on your end?"
Chi Xian yawned. "I can still hold on. I don't know if I'll still be drowsy after dawn tomorrow. Unfortunately, I haven't run into anyone from Stone Medicine Island, otherwise I could've learned a bit more. If I really can't take it anymore, I'll rest near the last place I marked. If dawn comes and I still haven't contacted you, you have to come find me."
"No problem." Xu Huo agreed.
Just as he put down the paper phone, two people in the distance headed straight for him.
Xu Huo put away the puzzle ball and stepped outside, slightly blocking the two. "What a coincidence. We meet again."
The arrivals were none other than Young Master Mo and his scarred, bespectacled companion. The former frowned. "You again? Have you been following me?"
"Why would I follow you?" Xu Huo smiled. "It just so happens we're heading in the same direction. What business do you two have here?"
Young Master Mo had lost his earlier composure and elegance. He said irritably, "Move aside."
"Sorry, but the people inside are all new friends I've just made. I can't just hand them over to strangers." Xu Huo showed no intention of yielding and even used a defense item to seal off the room.
"You want to oppose me?" Young Master Mo's face darkened. "Are you Midsummer Night Star River?"
Xu Huo looked at him with some confusion. "You should have seen the residents of District 013 who came in here. Don't you know that 'Midsummer Night Star River' is a legend?"
"Legend or instance, there must be someone here named Midsummer Night Star River," Young Master Mo said with certainty. "Even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I'll find him."
"If you're digging three feet down, you've brought too few people," Xu Huo remarked.
This wasn't meant as a jab. They had arrived via a C-Class train, and the few bodyguards accompanying them were only B-Class—not top-tier. Their first step upon reaching the Suffocating Rainforest Station was to force locals to reveal information about "Midsummer Night Star River," which showed they had no solid leads. Coming to District 013 was nothing more than fishing for a needle in the ocean.
But Young Master Mo took the comment as a provocation. He raised a rotating wheel and flicked the metal parts on it with his other hand. The sharp, piercing sound it emitted was like a demonic melody drilling into the ears, instantly causing dizziness and confusion.
Xu Huo, who hadn't sealed his ears in time, was also affected. As his gaze shifted, the scarred, bespectacled man had already broken through the outer defense barrier and entered the room.
Xu Huo immediately turned and followed.
The two entered the room one after the other. Watching Xu Huo's back, Young Master Mo was about to take out a second item when he suddenly looked up and found himself staring into a pair of rapidly enlarging eyes. Startled, he glanced toward the room as his field of vision shifted and saw that Xu Huo hadn't disappeared from there either, realizing that the one in front of him was a fake.
He shook his arm, and a metal ring on his wrist shot out a half-meter-long arc of light, slashing toward Xu Huo's waist.
"Bang!" The light arc collided with the barrier of the "Inviolable Domain," producing a loud sound. Only then did Young Master Mo realize the person before him was real. He immediately used a space-restraining item to lock down Xu Huo's movements, but the item's effect lasted barely a second before it was quickly broken. Before he could retreat, several icy threads coiled around his neck.
Young Master Mo could only freeze in place. After he used removal items three times in succession without getting rid of the tangents, the scarred, bespectacled man, who should have been killing people in the room, suddenly appeared beside him.
Their eyes met. The scarred, bespectacled man had just raised his hand when Young Master Mo quickly warned, "Space items don't work on him!"
The scarred, bespectacled man swiftly changed his gesture. He flashed forward and slapped the tangents, causing the taut threads to suddenly loosen, leaving enough of a gap for Young Master Mo to escape.
After rescuing him, the scarred, bespectacled man tossed out an item to delay Xu Huo, then, without a moment's pause, used a teleportation item to take Young Master Mo far away from there.
Xu Huo didn't give chase. He intended to return to the room, but as he turned, his expression froze slightly—because one person was missing from the room.
The scarred, bespectacled man hadn't had time to kill anyone before being sent out. When he left, everyone in the room was still present. But in the brief moment they had escaped, someone had vanished from the room!
Stepping back into the room in one stride, Xu Huo first checked the surroundings to confirm no outsider had entered before approaching the spot where the missing person had been lying.
When he had first encountered these people, he had observed their condition. From the outside, he couldn't tell the depth of their poisoning, but since everyone had fallen asleep quickly, they must all have been affected by the environment. Only one person had disappeared—was it a matter of time, or random selection?
Within the range of the released "Cube Space," a new ray had appeared at this spot.
But that didn't mean much. It only indicated that there had been a spatial fluctuation here, or perhaps interference from a time-space item.
He retrieved the surveillance monitors placed at the four corners of the room. Everything had been normal up to a point, but when the scarred, bespectacled man entered the room, the footage showed a stutter and a gap. There was less than a second of black screen, and after the image flickered, the player sleeping in the corner had vanished.
Unsure whether the interference was caused by the instance's power or by Young Master Mo and his companion, Xu Huo took one monitor and followed the direction they had fled.
The instance city was only so big, and the two couldn't be completely invisible. Xu Huo spread out his space power as far as possible, rapidly shuttling through the city at maximum range, and soon found their trail.
Young Master Mo was throwing a tantrum. He slapped the scarred, bespectacled man several times across the face. "Can't even beat a C-Class player? Useless! And why didn't you notice this was an instance earlier? If the others were here, how could I have been humiliated by a C-Class player!"
The scarred, bespectacled man's head tilted with each slap, but he didn't react. After straightening his glasses, he said, "That's no ordinary C-Class player. He's a Super Evolver. If we really fought, I wouldn't be able to protect you."
Young Master Mo sneered coldly. "I need your protection..."
Before he could finish, he saw the scarred, bespectacled man's eyes turn icy, his face full of murderous intent as he charged toward him!
Young Master Mo was startled, but before he could take out an item, the man grabbed him and threw him aside. The next moment, two figures darted through the building at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, and the old, dilapidated buildings collapsed one after another.
Sparks from colliding items flashed in the white mist. One moment they were right in front, the next they were buried deep in the thick fog. Young Master Mo couldn't keep up with their speed, and every time he tried to follow, they had already moved elsewhere.
Seeing that the two were still circling nearby, he took out a thin tube and blew hard into the air.