Chapter 1642: Heading to Brown Skin City
The woman who had been grievously injured on the train, begging for her life just to return to her child, now wore a ferocious expression as she chopped off an ordinary person's head and held it high. She roared at the group of Zone 013 people, who were screaming and crying in terror under the siege of several players, "Shut up, all of you! Whoever screams again will be killed!"
These Zone 013 people seemed to have escaped from somewhere, carrying crude bundles and dragging their children along. Faced with the murderous players, they could only desperately hide their children in their arms.
A player laughed mockingly and dragged a woman from the edge of the crowd. But his target wasn't the woman—it was the child in her arms. Grabbing the child's thin shoulder, he said to the others, "We weren't planning to eat you lot, but who told you to run?"
This remark made the trapped people even more terrified. In their panic, someone summoned great courage, stood up, and lunged at the player. "You beasts! Have you forgotten who raised you? Our parents scrimped and saved to bring you up, not so you could treat your own people as food!"
The player kicked him back. "Who told the last batch of runaways to take so much food with them? What they took, we have to collect from you."
"If you're short on food, why not buy it from other districts?" Xu Huo said, stepping behind the man. "The luggage compartments are empty. A trip there could bring back plenty of rations."
The players were enjoying themselves when they suddenly noticed Xu Huo among them. Their faces changed instantly. The player in front of him raised a prop to kill, but the next second, he realized the opponent's strength far exceeded his own—he couldn't move at all, let alone turn around or even look back!
Xu Huo activated Tangent and killed two players who made the first move, then repeated his question, "Why not buy food from other districts?"
These people were clearly still active players in the game. Since they hadn't paused their player status, bringing back food would be easy. There was no need to resort to cannibalism.
The remaining six players exchanged glances, unsure of his intentions, so no one spoke.
The middle-aged female player had already recognized Xu Huo. When his gaze fell on her, she felt a pang of guilt and embarrassment, but quickly masked it. In a slightly lowered voice, she said, "Because not every player can navigate the game with ease. Many can't clear instances, and even if they do, the rewards aren't great. Everyone's short on money, and they're reluctant to sell props or potions to buy food..."
"Especially to feed these people."
"Why are you telling him so much!" the player in front of Xu Huo shouted recklessly. "Kill him now—"
Before he could finish, his head slid smoothly to the ground.
Kicking the corpse aside, Xu Huo asked again, "Is what you said true or false? Are these people really your food supply?"
The remaining players didn't even know what prop he'd used to kill. But seeing the scene, they realized he likely shared the same disgust for cannibal players as most others. Killing one, two, or three was all the same—he wouldn't spare them either. So the next second, they didn't hesitate to pull out their tickets and flee.
Xu Huo was a bit too slow, only managing to kill three, including the female player, while the other three escaped.
Retrieving his prop, Xu Huo asked the Zone 013 people, "Where are you planning to escape to?"
After a moment, a man cautiously said, "Brown Skin City isn't far ahead. We plan to settle there."
"Brown Skin City isn't any better than other places," Xu Huo said. "Isn't there a better choice on this island?"
"It's not that we don't want to go elsewhere, but on this island, aside from Brown Skin City, no other city has many players. They won't protect us either—they'll just drive us out."
The residents of Brown Skin City, twisted by fungal infestation into something neither human nor ghost, were ironically the least harassed. It was their last resort.
"I happen to be heading to Brown Skin City too," Xu Huo said. He decided to take them along. Given their condition, he couldn't stuff them into a container prop—the fungus might not be fully cleaned out inside the prop. So he just had them follow him.
Soon, Chi Xian and Tong Qi arrived. Seeing the dead players and the gaunt, pitiful group, they understood everything. Since they were already out of the instance, Tong Qi even shared some of his food.
It would only take half a day to reach Brown Skin City on foot, meaning they weren't far from it. Players traveling would be even faster. So after walking for just an hour, they encountered a player sent to scout for information.
Since he was here, Xu Huo naturally didn't intend to let him leave. He left him right there in the woods.
"Are there really that many cannibal players?" Chi Xian still found it hard to believe what the Zone 013 people had said. According to them, most of the players gathered in one city were cannibals. Where had the other players gone?
"Maybe it's the environment," Tong Qi speculated. "Everyone living here is infested with fungus, and there's nothing good to eat. Maybe their willpower was weak during evolution, so that's why so many cannibal players emerged."
"Plus, ordinary players aren't as physically strong as cannibal players in the early stages of evolution. It's not surprising they got killed off gradually."
Chi Xian looked ahead. "This is the direction of Brown Skin City. Players keep coming, and they're not from Brown Skin City. Could they be cannibal players?"
"Possible," Xu Huo said. "This isn't the first batch of runaways. The ones who left before probably went to Brown Skin City too. Since those cannibal players treat ordinary people as backup food, and the food families are fleeing en masse, instead of chasing and catching them one by one, it's better to cut off the source—bring Brown Skin City into their sphere of influence."
His words filled the Zone 013 people with despair.
"Brown Skin City should have plenty of players too," Chi Xian said. From what they'd heard in Midsummer Night Star River, the players in Brown Skin City were very united.
Of course, given the state of Brown Skin City's residents, those who stayed were mostly reluctant to leave their homeland. Those whose hearts weren't in it had already left.
"Then we need to speed up," Tong Qi said. "If a fight breaks out between the two sides, we can help."
Xu Huo and Chi Xian had no objections, but the refugees couldn't move fast. Plus, it wasn't wise to bring potions into dangerous areas. So Tong Qi volunteered to scout ahead in Brown Skin City.
"You two go together," Xu Huo said. "Safer that way."
Chi Xian nodded. "If necessary, I'll contact the players in Brown Skin City first."
The two left first, and Tong Qi's path-clearing prop was transferred to Xu Huo. The Zone 013 people traveling with them also helped clear the roadside vegetation, trying to make the "Wriggling Wheel" move as fast as possible.
(Chapter End)