Chapter 1645: Target Lock and Moving Mosaic
Liao Jie wasn't among the top-tier B-grade players in terms of strength, at least not in mental intensity. So when he frowned at the consultation desk on the first floor, Xu Huo knew it was only a matter of time before he fell into the hospital.
He still had to wait for other players from Hope City to arrive, so Xu Huo first contacted Cong Yu, who was hiding in a locked room.
Cong Yu hadn't had the time or mood to check Under Dimension since the Brown Skin City people were taken. Now, hiding behind the door of a ward, he stared at the iron-barred window and instinctively stepped forward to test its hardness. But the next second, he heard footsteps from the stairwell, seemingly heading his way.
Cong Yu silently returned to the door, listening to the sounds outside. When he looked up, he was startled to see a person sitting on the bed across from him. But seeing them waving their hands in the air as if tapping something, he calmed down. As the footsteps outside opened doors one by one, he tensely opened his game panel.
He was about to contact other companions when he suddenly saw Xu Huo's message and instinctively opened it.
First, there were several doses of antidote. The note explained that these were gene agents obtained from Midsummer Night Star River, specifically targeting the 013 District people, capable of quickly eliminating the parasitic fungi on their bodies.
Reading the text, Cong Yu's eyes moistened. Not because he thought the agent could completely save the Brown Skin City people, but because it had come too late—the children who had suddenly fallen severely ill had died the day before yesterday.
Then he read the new message. After finishing, he was momentarily dazed. He patted his head, unsure if what he saw was real.
Could such a coincidence really exist in the world?
But he had no other choice now. He quickly replied and, following the code Xu Huo had arranged, relayed the message to other companions about to arrive in Brown Skin City.
After doing this, he stared nervously at his personal panel until Xu Huo responded. Only then did he breathe a slight sigh of relief, followed by a touch of self-mockery, yet also a glimmer of hope—hope that someone would truly descend from the heavens to save Brown Skin City's fate.
But the footsteps outside drew closer.
Cong Yu tightened his grip on the short blade in his hand, gently resting his hand on the door handle, focusing intently on the door, ready to strike unexpectedly when it opened. However, the handle only turned once before stopping. Then the sound of a door opening came from upstairs.
He didn't understand what was happening. After waiting two seconds, he opened the door. The hallway was empty.
"Tap, tap, tap..." Footsteps sounded above his head again.
Cong Yu glanced up and withdrew his gaze, about to hide back in the room. But turning his head, he saw another person on the bed behind him, identical in appearance and clothing.
The person who had been waving their hands in the air suddenly turned their head, staring intently at him.
Cong Yu frowned, stepped out of the room, and went to the opposite side. But he didn't notice that as the door closed, the "twins" on the bed had become "triplets."
The Seventeenth Hospital was a special venue that could interfere with a person's mind. When Xu Huo's mental power couldn't yet extend outward to affect others, entering this venue allowed him to achieve external interference. Similarly, the spiritual world that only he could see could also be displayed to others here, making it a powerful aid.
Xu Huo had just completed the comprehension from "Mental Interference" to "Mind Control." Compressing the "interference process" to achieve instant "control" wasn't very effective. His forced commands could only briefly affect players with weaker mental strength, and the effect diminished as the target's evolution rate increased. So for now, he could only manage small "controls," making opponents freeze for a moment—nothing compared to Dou Shengnan of the Eerie Sound Knights, who could directly command others to die.
When staying in the hospital as an instance holder, he could only use the venue's special properties combined with mental power to interfere with incoming players. The process also carried some risk, as interference required gradual progression and couldn't be achieved in one go. But now, the risk and time for "psychotherapy" would both decrease. Unfortunately, the scheduled treatment time was still a few hours away.
The timing of his entry was unlucky, so Xu Huo made some adjustments on Building Two, moving the location of the "important fungal disease samples" to prevent Liao Jie and the others from clearing quickly. As for the hospital's main entrance, that was just a decoy. With exceptional luck, someone might clear it quickly. But he had "Cong Yu" move around, luring Liao Jie and his team deeper into the hospital to delay their clearance. The longer they stayed, the more dangerous the hospital would become.
During this time, Xu Huo checked the rewards from this instance.
Besides the fixed agents, White Notes, and tickets, he had gained a new primary trait.
[Target Lock: A passerby with the perseverance to journey and the determination to seek truth also possesses extraordinary talent in tracking. Once this trait is activated, a tracking chain will form between the passerby and the target. When both appear in the same district, this tracking chain will automatically appear before the passerby's eyes.]
[This trait is not invalidated by the target changing appearance or using removal items. However, to change the tracking target, the previous tracking must be ended.]
This trait's effect was somewhat like the special item "Fated Thread Across a Thousand Miles." That item also formed a line on the target, but it could provide some danger prediction—whether the target would bring benefits could be partially judged by the line's color. However, that item could only be used within the same district, on one person only once, and would fail upon crossing districts.
"Target Lock" had a much larger range, allowing tracking of a target for up to half a year. As long as both appeared in the same district, he would receive a notification. Whether for tracking others or escaping pursuit, it was convenient.
The downside was that he could only lock onto one person at a time.
Under the primary trait "Forgetting Switch," a new extended trait had been added:
[Moving Mosaic: A passerby is only the center of attention when being interviewed. At any other time, they should go unnoticed. Since they shouldn't be noticed by people, they also shouldn't be noticed by machines. But because machines lack autonomy, when the passerby uses this trait, their entire body will be covered with a special layer of power. This power will affect all surveillance instruments and items, turning them into a moving mosaic in the camera.]
[Note: This trait's effect only works on surveillance-type instruments and items, not on the human eye. The passerby should be careful not to use it to sneak into bathhouses or restrooms.]
[Duration: three minutes. Cooldown: twenty-four hours.]