Chapter 1617: Justice From Above
Although the two sneak attack items failed to kill Yi Jun, they still proved quite useful. After destroying his defensive items, Xu Huo put on defensive items like "Inviolable Domain," "Flower Bloom," and "Stars Falling to the Ground" before engaging him in close combat.
Although his speed couldn't match Yi Jun's, his endless array of items and methods, combined with the perfect coordination between items and Super Evolution powers, fully compensated for the speed gap.
"Why so agitated? I was helping you just now," Yi Jun said while fighting. "How about we each take a step back, forget past grievances, and cooperate again?"
A minute ago, those words might have worked, but Xu Huo had already wounded his right hand and would never leave this hidden danger alive.
Xu Huo said nothing and accelerated his attacks.
Yi Jun grew somewhat irritated. He poured a potion over his arm, ignoring the wound still gushing blood, tossed the severed half-arm into the luggage compartment, then suddenly thrust his left hand high into the air and yanked it down with force.
Xu Huo felt the entire space sink, as if pressed down by immense gravity. He too was caught in this gravitational force, like being embedded in mud—every movement became extremely difficult.
Yi Jun was also trapped in this space, unable to move freely. But he opened his mouth, curled his tongue, and spat out a mung bean-sized metal nail embedded beneath it. The object ignored the spatial gravity and shot straight toward Xu Huo's eyes!
It was difficult for the Space Ray, as if welded solid, to quickly form a barrier in front of him. Before Xu Huo could sluggishly open his Spiritual Gate, the item pierced through several layers of protective items before his eyes and arrived right in front of him!
Xu Huo had seen items capable of breaking "Inviolable Domain" before, but this was the first time one had breached several layers of A-grade defensive barriers so quickly. Just as he was about to use "Truth Transcends All," the "Unhesitating Substitute for the Dead" he wore suddenly spat out a semi-transparent humanoid figure in front of him. This water-like being spread its arms, used its body to catch the bean-sized item, wrapped it up, and then rapidly shriveled.
At that moment, the Spiritual Gate on the ground opened. Xu Huo dropped down while grabbing the item that fell from the figure.
Unexpected that Xu Huo could escape even like this, Yi Jun cursed through gritted teeth. But he didn't immediately break free from the spatial pressure—perhaps because the effect hadn't worn off or he wanted to use it for a brief rest. In any case, he stood still. When he realized something was wrong the next moment, he looked up just in time to see a dark shadow, and then a massive stone slab, over ten meters in both length and width, completely crushed him!
A dull "thump" came from beneath the stone, but the smashed flesh and blood couldn't splatter beyond the stone's range, firmly pressed into this shallow pit.
A few meters away, Xu Huo surveyed the massive stone with great satisfaction.
The two A-grade items provided by the Special Defense Department had achieved victory on their first outing. Both "Unhesitating Substitute for the Dead" and "Justice From Above" had effects that exceeded expectations.
His position wasn't far from the clock tower. The gathered players had essentially witnessed Yi Jun's death firsthand. As onlookers, none could help but feel shocked—who would have thought a C-grade player could kill two B-grade players? And Yi Jun's death was truly brutal.
Tong Qi approached without any psychological pressure, patted the large stone, and said, "Your item is too powerful. It could probably crush even a defensive barrier!"
Although the description of "Justice From Above" mentioned gravity suppression during the stone's descent to reduce escape chances, Xu Huo hadn't expected it to go so smoothly. There were no stones this large nearby. Moving one from afar and dropping it from midair in such a short time meant it must have come through space. With its immense weight and gravity enhancement, it easily crushed a B-grade player to death.
"He brought it on himself," Xu Huo said, his words carrying double meaning.
Indeed, that was the case. He had already collected Yi Jun's items, none of which matched the spatial gravity effect. It should have been Yi Jun's trait—one that could nullify "Life Flashback." What a pity. But if Yi Jun hadn't immobilized himself, he might have had a chance to escape.
However, the stone seemed to have fallen from not too high a position—he estimated no more than two hundred meters. He had been transferring from the Spiritual Realm and dodging urgently, so he hadn't seen it clearly.
Regardless, his part was done. He turned his head to look at the players near the clock tower.
The air fell silent.
For the few players on Xu Huo's side—like Tong Qi, Chi Xian, and Young Master Mo and his companion—having a strong ally was beneficial. But for those who had sided with Yi Jun, the feeling wasn't pleasant.
Still, there was safety in numbers.
One player muttered quietly, "There are so many of us. He can't kill us all, can he..."
Before he finished speaking, he felt Xu Huo's mental pressure and immediately shut up.
Of course, there were smart people too. Xu Huo had separated them to keep them out of the fight for now, and they hadn't rashly interfered in the three-way battle. Things hadn't reached an irredeemable point. The best part was that the two sides hadn't even negotiated before fighting started. Flexible players could even claim they were coerced by the two B-grade players.
"Mr. Xu, as long as I can clear the instance, it doesn't matter to me who I cooperate with," a beautiful female player stepped forward, smiling sweetly. "I wasn't friends with the two who died. I wonder if you could take me along? You're short on people now too."
As she finished speaking, more players stepped out one after another, echoing her words and gathering together.
Some players were still watching.
Tong Qi then walked out dramatically, raising his hand to greet everyone. "We're all fated to be together in this instance. Don't make the atmosphere so tense. We're all here to clear it. No one's fought yet—there's still room for negotiation."
"Right, Brother Xu?" He turned and winked at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo's expression softened slightly. "Those who don't want to cooperate, feel free to leave."
The crowd was silent for a few seconds. Then a burly man with dark skin stepped out, clapped his hands, and said, "Brother, you're straightforward. For that, I'm willing to trust you!"
That's what he said, but in reality, circumstances were stronger than will. If he had any leads himself, he wouldn't have gathered with the B-grade players. Walking away might mean being excluded, and finding information from the 013 District residents like today would likely become very difficult.
Liao Xiaorong and the others who had left earlier also stepped forward to give both sides a way out.
Young Master Mo looked down on these people's actions and went to rest nearby with Scarface Glasses.
Xu Huo didn't care much. The clock tower had been heavily damaged and was certainly unusable. He moved the venue to the nearby shopping mall hall.