Chapter 1605: Everyone, Listen to Me
Xu Huo moved to the edge of the blast crater, raised his hand to lift the two men up, and said in a deep voice, "I'm not joking. Since you're also here looking for 'Midsummer Night Star River,' your goal is the same as ours, and since you're from District 013, you might be able to offer some useful advice."
The surrounding players weren't impressed by his rhetoric, but they were curious about what he would say next, so no one left.
The two Brown Skin City men were uneasy, stammering for a long time without being able to speak. Although they were locals, they truly had no clues about the "Star River," but they didn't dare say so, afraid they would be killed immediately.
Xu Huo didn't focus his attention on them for long. Instead, he turned around and asked loudly, "Before we start the big discussion on finding 'Midsummer Night Star River,' I want to ask three questions."
"First question: Has anyone already seen 'Midsummer Night Star River'?"
"Second question: Does anyone know a clear clue about 'Midsummer Night Star River'?"
"Third question: Is everyone sure that this instance venue only has one space?"
After he fired off the three questions in one breath, a long silence followed.
Even if there were answers, no one would take up his thread at that moment. In fact, a few players quietly slipped away.
Xu Huo wasn't really expecting answers. After waiting a suitable amount of time, he said, "Since no one has any clues, I'll unilaterally assume that everyone is on the same starting line."
"To show sincerity, I'll first share some information I know and my speculations."
"First, what causes people to fall into a deep sleep may not be a toxic fungus, but rather a special power within this instance, similar to spiritual interference."
"Second, regarding the players who have disappeared without a trace, I suspect they were sucked into other spaces within the instance—spaces closer to the 'Star River.'"
"Third, even if we don't want to clear the instance, we may not be able to leave here after ten days."
Although most players were adopting a "let's hear it" attitude, and some were watching him perform a "one-man show," where there's a proposal, there's debate. So as soon as he finished speaking, a player loudly retorted, "Your claim about spiritual interference doesn't hold up. I entered from Stone Medicine Island, and the locals there also have the problem of falling asleep."
With the first came the second. Immediately after, another player from a different side spoke up: "I used an item to check. There is no chaotic space in this instance venue. It's hard to accept that the missing people were sucked into another space. Besides, even if such a space exists, how can you be sure it's closer to the 'Star River'?"
The first two questions were more controversial. As for Xu Huo's third point, it sounded like an exaggeration to attract attention, and most people dismissed it.
"I also entered from Stone Medicine Island," Xu Huo explained to the first player. "The reason I suspect it might be spiritual interference is that I took an antidote, and after confirming I had no drowsiness, I still fell asleep within a very short time."
"As for the Stone Medicine Island issue, it's even easier to explain. I judge that the main venue of this instance is actually on Stone Medicine Island."
"What's so special about making you fall asleep?" that player said. "No one here is short of antidotes."
In other words, everyone had tried using antidotes to fight off the drowsiness, and the results didn't need him to demonstrate.
Xu Huo didn't rush to refute him. Instead, he smiled and looked around at the crowd. "Isn't there anyone who came in fully prepared from the start?"
People were gathered here, and although most were C-level players, not everyone could immediately cough up enough money to buy protective suits equipped with breathing apparatus. Most relied on antidotes to tough it out. After all, they were already affected, and antidotes were cheaper than new protective suits, and quite effective.
Thus, those wearing protective suits that could completely isolate them from the outside air stood out.
A strange undercurrent stirred in the crowd.
At that moment, Xu Huo spoke up to interrupt them. "I've already made it clear. Even after confirming I wasn't poisoned by the fungus, I was still affected. If any of you truly came prepared, you should understand what I mean even better."
"If there are players who have stayed on Stone Medicine Island for a longer time, you can also talk about the situation there. After all, this instance venue moves around to different places. If it were a toxic fungus causing sleep, other places shouldn't be spared."
He then turned to the two Brown Skin City men beside him. "In Brown Skin City, there are people who have seen 'Midsummer Night Star River,' and quite a few who have entered this place. Apart from being in this foggy space, have those who got out alive, or you yourselves, experienced any symptoms of falling asleep?"
The two Brown Skin City men quickly shook their heads. "No, no, absolutely not. The young man who got out alive earlier stayed in Brown Skin City for a long time and never showed any signs of suddenly falling asleep."
No one voluntarily admitted to being unaffected by the possible "toxic fungus," and no one admitted to knowing the situation on Stone Medicine Island. But it was clear that such people existed in the crowd, so they wouldn't leave.
Other players also sensed something was off, and of course, they wouldn't leave either.
This was a good start.
"Then what evidence do you have that there are other spaces within the instance venue?" another person asked. "Just because people disappear for no reason? There are too many ways to make someone disappear."
Xu Huo cited surveillance devices. Whether to monitor sleep or specifically to solve the mystery of the disappearances, players would surely have installed surveillance devices where they slept and moved around. If the surveillance was disrupted and no outsider was involved, it was very likely caused by power fluctuations from spatial instability.
Of course, this inference wasn't enough to be evidence, but since so many players had searched the city all day without finding any useful clues related to "Midsummer Night Star River," his inference couldn't be dismissed as wrong either. Since nothing could be found in this city, and other spaces might exist, wasn't it natural to suspect that those spaces were closer to the "Star River," or that the "Star River" was simply in another space?
Xu Huo didn't need to use concrete examples to prove his point; he just needed to steer the players in that direction.
"What you're saying sounds quite reasonable," a player who looked refined and upright stepped forward. "But it's actually useless and doesn't help us clear the instance at all."
Because both spiritual interference and multiple spaces were beyond most people's understanding.
"Don't be so impatient," Xu Huo said. "Don't I have a third inference?"
"Listen to it in context with the third inference, and you'll see how important my first two points are."
"Today, there are fifty players here. For a single instance, that's a very considerable number compared to this venue. With so many people, hasn't anyone managed to take information about 'Midsummer Night Star River' out?"
Some had heard the legend of "Midsummer Night Star River," but no one had heard any instance information about it. That was the key point.
(Chapter End)