# Chapter 1970: Underestimating Us
Even though they couldn't see with their eyes, the players still sensed when someone beside them was killed. For a time, none dared risk buying time to recover, instead using defensive items to guard themselves tightly while pulling back distance and launching a frantic attack on the surrounding weapons and blockade barriers.
With such a large number of people, the players' fight consumed items and weapons. The East District had clearly come prepared this time—break one layer of blockade barrier, and another appeared; destroy one batch of weapons, and another batch emerged. Only a few East District players wove through the chaos, using items as cover to occasionally fire cold arrows. Within just three to five minutes of engagement, three people on Xu Huo's side had already died.
"Staying trapped here won't work!" Qiao Qiao shouted loudly. "Blow this place up!"
The others immediately understood. Several people split off to hold off the surrounding attacks while the rest worked on opening the ground—this was an underground structure built with high-grade metal. To maximize the effectiveness of explosive items, they needed to open a passage above first. Even if they couldn't fully open it, they had to create a crack in the East District players' defensive line!
Xu Huo also leaped into the air. He dodged the East District players' attacks and used his Black Blade to carve a cross-shaped crack in the ceiling. Unfortunately, he only managed two slashes before a powerful force slammed him to one side. Then a metal bracelet broke through the defense barrier and locked onto his right arm. Its irresistible weight dragged his entire body toward the ground, and the Black Blade in his hand slipped toward the floor.
Besides "Dimensional Fog," he had equipped "Life Flashback" and several other lower-grade defensive trait items, with multiple defense items stacked around him. Yet even this failed to block his opponent. Sensing the Black Blade hit the ground and slide toward a certain direction, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed the hilt that had passed through the spiritual gate, then swung back to slice off the metal ring on his right arm.
By then, Qiao Qiao's item had already been thrown.
Instead of chasing the player who had tried to steal his blade, Xu Huo turned and retreated to the very edge of the blockade barrier. He not only stacked defense items but also pulled out "Storm Cabin," though he didn't enter it—he simply used the item as a shield in front of him to block most of the shockwave.
The explosive shockwave carried tremendous power. Besides flipping over the nearby players, it tore through the East District players' blockade circle, including the continuously stacking barriers, weapons, instruments, and even the underground fortifications reinforced with high-grade metal. All the weapons and instruments were either destroyed or crushed against the metal walls, warping and deforming along with them!
The entire room had been stretched out of shape, and the ground was no exception. Combined with the already damaged ceiling, the impact sent metal plates flying outward, creating an exit.
They had come down from the center of the trading company, and the room trapping them faced the entrance, meaning they were actually beneath the main entrance of the trading company. Even after breaking out, they were still inside the trading company.
Outside, a large number of East District players were waiting for them.
This trap definitely wasn't set for them. So when Qiao Qiao and the others emerged and saw nearly fifty players both inside and outside the door, their expressions darkened. And the East District elite players lived up to expectations—they didn't waste a single word, quickly splitting the remaining nine people into four groups.
Xu Huo and Lin Cao were surrounded together. The East District players first trapped them under an electrified cage, then tried to incapacitate them from outside the cage.
"You're underestimating us too much!" Lin Cao sneered. Grabbing a fan, he swung it with force. The seemingly heavy cage was directly flipped away, taking a group of East District players with it. Then he fanned away the players charging at close range one by one, adding, "You want to catch turtles in a jar? Do you think we can only run with our heads down? Well, I'm not leaving today!"
With that, he turned and threw a metal ball behind him—the sphere, which looked like a weapon, automatically expanded in midair, spraying white smoke while emitting a beeping sound!
Three East District players immediately stepped forward to intercept. But just as they used items to trap the metal ball and tried to take it away, the thing suddenly split in half from the middle. A faint blue light like a doorway appeared between the two halves, and the next second, a figure emerged from the blue light.
"What—" The nearby players were startled, because the person appearing in the blue light was clearly Lin Cao, who had just been surrounded again. The East District's spatial teleportation items had basically been blocked—how could Lin Cao swap positions across space?
But there was no time to think in the heat of battle. The repositioned Lin Cao found himself surrounded by three East District players, yet he showed no awareness of being trapped. Instead, he made a pulling motion from the inside out toward his own throat.
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
The three East District players' throats bulged, heads tilted back, and their necks snapped backward!
Without even glancing at the East District players in front of him, Lin Cao headed straight into the depths of the trading company.
"Stop him!" The East District players quickly mobilized.
Meanwhile, Xu Huo had just killed a player who had accidentally run into his blade. As he pulled the Black Blade back, it trailed a long spray of blood. Through the space barrier, he flicked the blood onto the faces of several East District players who had used their comrade's death to gain an attack opportunity. Glancing at Lin Cao, Qiao Qiao, and the others who had disappeared one after another through doors and walls, he stepped into the center of the trading company's main hall and spun the blade in a full circle around his waist.
A thin black light circled the entire building, cutting it in two at a height of about one and a half meters from the ground. Also sliced apart were three East District players who hadn't dodged in time. But this wasn't the end—after cutting the building, Xu Huo rushed toward Lin Cao and the others' direction. Not only did he leave, but he also manipulated space rays to pull the building toward the rear of the trading company's main structure!
On the surface, the trading company only had a few buildings covering a modest area. Behind the main building was a small recreational park. But since the area beneath the main building had been hollowed out, the back was likely similar.
Of course, the East District players wouldn't let the building actually collapse. But as long as they had to divert their attention to stop it, that was Xu Huo's opportunity. So in the ten-plus seconds after the building began to tilt, the outer zone players joined forces to kill over twenty East District players.
Of course, such an opportunity couldn't last forever. Soon, space was blocked again—and not just spatial blockade. Five A-class players arrived, including a man who could move freely through the blocked space. He immediately captured three outer zone players, including Qiao Qiao.
When they tried to repeat the tactic and capture the rest, Xu Huo had already activated "Cube Space." The instrument had previously adapted to the space rays within the blocked space. Although operating it was harder than in normal space rays, as long as it wasn't completely immovable, it was his chance!