Chapter 1633: A Speed Unlike Any Other
Xu Huo was extremely fast and could quickly conceal his tracks, so by the time he returned to the mall, the players besieging Young Master Mo and Scarface Glasses had yet to disperse. Furthermore, the players who had seen him escape earlier hadn't returned to the mall, so no one had tipped them off.
Before he even arrived, he first used his Spiritual Realm to surround them.
Of course, there were also players with high vigilance or those carrying instruments or items related to spiritual power. The moment the spiritual power covered them, they realized something was wrong and immediately tried to leave.
But under the suppression of the Super Item, almost all similar temporal and spatial items became ineffective. They could only rely on their legs to run.
However, Xu Huo's control over the Spiritual Realm was now far greater than before. Within a thousand-meter range, he could open portals at will. For those who only knew they had fallen into the Spiritual Realm but couldn't break free from the influence of spiritual power, he would first send them back to the mall or stall them in place. As for those unaffected by the control, he would deal with them first.
"Do you think just because you're a Super Evolver, no one can do anything to you?!" The first player sensed Xu Huo approaching and frantically threw items and traits around himself, but it was useless. Xu Huo hadn't even gotten close. Instead, he kept his distance and used a spiritual portal to surround the player with "All Things Want to Cut Everything" in mid-air.
Of course, because the distance was too great, the density of the tangents was low. If the opponent had stayed calm, they might have had a chance to escape. But Xu Huo's intermittent appearances and interference put too much mental pressure on him, so much so that he only realized the tangents had closed in on his defense barrier when it was too late.
The corpse fell to the ground.
Xu Huo retrieved the tangents and headed in another direction.
This time, two players were working together. It seemed they were specifically targeting him. The two of them used a jamming device together, which briefly disrupted the Spiritual Realm. Moreover, the jamming device had a wide coverage area, affecting even Xu Huo, who was far away.
That didn't matter. Xu Huo first killed two other nearby players, then closed the Spiritual Realm, grabbed the Space Ray, and flashed behind one of the two. With a single slash, he finished him off, and the jamming device fell to the ground.
This was a paired device. After Xu Huo picked it up and turned it off, the one held by the other player also became useless.
That player was still stubborn. He directly stabbed the device with his blade, destroying it, then threw it aside and charged at Xu Huo.
But this was just a feint. As the opponent's figure closed in on Xu Huo, it suddenly split in two—one real, one fake. The fake drew attention from the front, while the real one moved behind Xu Huo for a sneak attack.
"Bang!" The item struck the defense barrier. The next second, the player's raised hand was grabbed, and then he was slammed into the ground with immense force!
The opponent reacted quickly, using an item to cushion the impact of the fall. But in truth, even without the item, this blow wouldn't have been fatal. It just dislocated his arm when he was thrown.
After breaking free from Xu Huo's control, the player retreated while popping his arm back into place. But in the blink of an eye, the figure in his field of vision vanished. Before he could search, a black blade pierced through his body.
Pushing the corpse away and pulling out the black blade, Xu Huo flicked the blood off the edge and turned back to the mall.
When he closed the Spiritual Realm, a few players had managed to escape. The rest had mostly been dealt with by Young Master Mo and Scarface Glasses. Now, only three or four were still locked in a stalemate.
With Xu Huo's arrival, the situation became one-sided, and the remaining few were quickly taken care of.
Scarface Glasses, Young Master Mo, and even Tong Qi, who had arrived later, were all injured, but none of the wounds were life-threatening.
Apart from the corpses, only three players and two people from Zone 013 remained asleep in the mall.
"Those who woke up during the day saw the situation was bad and ran off," Young Master Mo said, pointing at the people on the ground. "No one had time to worry about them during the fight."
So these five were lucky—they hadn't been killed in their sleep.
"They've been asleep for almost a day," Tong Qi said while searching the corpses for items. "They fell asleep last night, and now it's almost dark again, and they still haven't woken up."
"Speaking of which, you also fell asleep this morning. You were out for an entire day. After midnight, it'll be the seventh day."
"Any findings?"
"A little bit." Xu Huo briefly recounted what he had seen in the dream, omitting the part about the pool at the end and his speculations about Dr. Wu.
"So the Star River we saw in the dream isn't the real Star River?" Tong Qi asked in surprise. "Could there really be such a river?"
A river had been their earliest guess. Since Zone 013 had many types of fungi, including many that glowed, the players first speculated it was a river polluted by fungi, or perhaps a reflection of the stars in the sky. In any case, there had to be a real location.
But after searching the city fruitlessly and experiencing the irresistible sleep and dreams, everyone gradually began to think that the "Star River" might be some kind of metaphor, or perhaps an illusion. Now, hearing Xu Huo's account of the dream, it seemed those people walking in the river had most likely really found the "Star River." It was just that not everyone who found it made it out alive.
There were no rivers in the city, only artificial lakes and ditches.
"It seems the key to leaving really is in another space," Scarface Glasses said. His eye sockets were dark, as if he hadn't slept in seven or eight days. Sitting on the ground, he suddenly added, "I feel like I might not make it through tonight."
Young Master Mo's head snapped up to look at him.
Scarface Glasses raised his hand. "I'm not dying, but I really want to sleep. It's almost the seventh day. At most, I can only sleep twice. I'll sleep first tonight. If I wake up tomorrow, it'll be your turn. You rest once, and for the next three days, don't sleep anymore. If you can't hold on, use stimulants. See if you can drag it out for ten days."
They were Non-Ticket Players, so they might not be able to enter that space.
"People from Zone 013 can find the Star River. Whether or not they have a ticket probably doesn't matter much," Xu Huo said. He was now the one most likely to be unable to enter.
"Don't rely on luck." Scarface Glasses gave Young Master Mo a serious look. After saying this, he leaned against the wall and fell asleep.
Young Master Mo silently used a Location Item to surround him.
"Don't be so discouraged," Tong Qi patted his shoulder. "You've still got me at the bottom."
Young Master Mo glanced at him. "Thanks."
"It's nothing, nothing," Tong Qi said with a grin. "Just give me two more items, and we'll call it even."
Scarface Glasses had killed quite a few people.
"Keep all the items you found. I don't want any," Young Master Mo said.
Tong Qi then looked at Xu Huo, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. After Xu Huo agreed, he stuffed all the items into his Personal Panel. "I've been in this game for so long, and I've never met such generous people. You two are good people. You'll definitely survive the hardships and live long lives."
Xu Huo turned to look at him. "You're not sleepy?"
"I am sleepy," Tong Qi said, pointing at his own dark circles. Then he closed his eyes and fell to the ground. The next second, he vanished right before their eyes.
The wind outside the mall was a bit cold.