Chapter 1775: Leaving Zone 019 Means Certain Death
"The reason they chose Xia Xi Duolaiti as their kidnapping target is the same as why they chose Old Lady Mei and Enbo—they all represent the weak."
Xu Huo's voice carried no emotional fluctuation:
"Compared to middle-aged men, children and the elderly are the weak. Compared to men in the general sense, women are the weak."
"But compared to a physically disabled middle-aged person, children or the elderly might be the strong. Compared to men or women with greater strength, men with lesser strength are the weak."
"Compared to ordinary people, government and mining group staff are the strong. But compared to players, both of the former are the weak."
"Strength and weakness are not fixed."
"If a civilization does not maintain respect and empathy for the weak, and only sees the exploitable gaps created by the disparity between strong and weak, can it truly be called a civilization?"
"Continuation—what continues can be hatred, or it can be something else."
Xin He stared blankly, his mouth opening slightly before he let out a sigh of relief. "So that's what Mother meant..."
"That's just my guess." Xu Huo smiled, then turned his head to look at Matri. "Mr. Duolaiti, do you have any more questions?"
Leaving aside Master Solan's intentions for now, Xu Huo needed to elevate the instance, and the District Government needed to maintain stability in Zone 019. The crux of the issue lay in the authenticity of the mining disaster jointly orchestrated by the District Government and the Mining Group. To verify this, aside from searching for evidence and witnesses, the most direct and convenient method was to let Xu Huo clear the instance and judge based on his rating.
Matri Duolaiti stared deeply at Xu Huo. "You've talked so much about others, but you haven't stated your own demands."
Just to raise an instance rating, it wasn't worth taking such a risk. Besides, he was only a C-grade player—how could he have such audacity!
"No demands." Xu Huo leaned back in his chair, raised his eyes to look at the distant sky, and said something completely unrelated. "The color of the sunlight today is really beautiful."
Ignoring the stares of others, he continued, "It's a pity that those buried under the mine can't see it."
With that, he stood up. However, the female player standing behind Xin He suddenly spoke up to warn him, "Don't clear the instance. The District Government has used a Super Item on you. If you leave Zone 019, you will die without a doubt!"
As she spoke, she plucked a white tuning fork. As the sound waves rippled outward, translucent chains rose from the ground, starting from where Xu Huo and the others sat and extending toward the sky in all directions. The other ends of the chains disappeared into space, while this end coiled beneath the table. The chain closest to Xu Huo split off a thinner one, one end firmly connecting to the position of his heart on his back. The chains could lengthen or shorten as needed, not hindering his movements in any way.
"Your District Government sure has a dirty heart." Xu Huo glanced at Zheng Shijiu with a half-smile. He had dared to clear the instance in such a dangerous way because he had "Pure Heart" and "Three Seconds of Life" as a safety net. He thought he might use "Three Seconds of Life" once or twice at most here, but he never expected these people to drop a big move on him right from the start!
The tuning fork only made the chains temporarily visible. Within two seconds, the chains disappeared back into the air. The moment the chains became visible, Zheng Shijiu vanished from his seat. At the same time, the four government players standing on either side began to move, attempting to restrain Xu Huo.
"Buzz!" The female player who had followed Solan's son acted without hesitation, blocking two of them. Xu Huo could move freely, but he couldn't overpower the powerful A-grade players. The "Goalkeeper" barrier shattered as soon as it was activated, and "Flower Bloom" had just been taken out when it slipped from his hand before he could use it. An A-grade player caught it and casually tossed it to a companion who had joined from behind.
Xu Huo frowned. He used "Ideal Skin" to create a barrier over his body, deployed all his trap and defense items like "Snowflakes Falling" and "Stars Falling to the Ground," expanded the range of "Cube Space" to its maximum, and controlled the Space Rays as much as possible, combining Cube barriers and Ray Blades to frantically and fully block the attacks coming from all around.
He had long been surrounded by government players. The female player who had helped him was now pinned down, and a few unknown players had joined in, but the government side had prepared hundreds of A-grade players. Within just half a minute, Xu Huo had gained over a dozen wounds.
"Cripple his limbs. Just keep him alive," one one-eyed player ordered the others.
The people in the square had already scattered in all directions. Xu Huo, covered in blood from the repeated attacks, had barely moved fifty meters. Since that was the case, he decided to stop moving and glanced at the main government building out of the corner of his eye.
As if guessing his intention, several players flashed into his path.
Xu Huo had already searched the surrounding space for Mental Interference devices. He couldn't move an inch now and couldn't enter to destroy the devices, so his only option was to manipulate Space Rays to destroy the government building.
The government building was made of ore, and Space Rays could barely control it. However, just as he tried to manipulate the Space Rays inside the building, another A-grade player broke through the defense barrier and swung a blade at his right leg!
Almost all the defense items Xu Huo was using now were A-grade. Whether items of the same level could directly break a barrier depended on the situation. Generally speaking, the most likely outcome was that the impact force from item collisions would affect him. But these A-grade players had no intention of dragging out the fight. They were determined to completely break through the barrier, and the rest of the time, they kept him locked within a fifty-meter diameter like a game of keep-away.
The repeated impacts had already caused severe internal injuries to Xu Huo. Losing a leg would basically seal the deal, so he simply fell backward, using "Unhesitating Substitute for the Dead" to take a fatal blow in his place.
Then the defense barrier was re-established, and he successfully collapsed a corner of the government building—the result was modest, but the effect was quite good. It enraged many government players, and a few of them even began to quietly destroy the flying aircraft in the air!
But just then, an explosion suddenly came from inside the main government building. A large number of players, accompanied by Armed Robots, flew out. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that these Armed Robots had activated combat mode or self-destruct mode, and their targets were precisely the government players!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Once an Armed Robot's protocols had been tampered with, the best way to handle it was to destroy it. So within a few seconds, these robots exploded like fireworks over the square. Thanks to their interference and destruction, Xu Huo finally managed to activate his Spiritual Realm. However, just as he was searching for Matri Duolaiti, who had been quickly escorted back into the main building, he suddenly felt a powerful Mental Suppression. The immense impact made his vision go black, and he involuntarily fell to his knees as blood gushed from his nose!
(End of Chapter)