Chapter 1978: One Trap Within Another
After meeting near the laboratory, Xu Huo carefully asked about the details of Qiao Qiao's capture.
Qiao Qiao hadn't thought much of it at first, simply feeling lucky to have escaped from someone else's hands. However, as Xu Huo pressed for more specifics, he gradually began to catch on. "You mean, among the people captured with me, there might be members of the Rebel Army?"
"What's their purpose in infiltrating the base to cause trouble? To kidnap the psychotherapists?"
"That's not necessarily the case." Old Zhou spoke up at this point. "Kidnapping is certainly possible, but we can't rule out the possibility of them planting people inside. Otherwise, why wouldn't they just kill all the therapists? That would at least give Agor Corporation something to deal with."
Lin Cao nodded as well, then turned to Xu Huo. "What do you think the Rebel Army wants with the psychotherapists?"
Xu Huo didn't reveal everything he had seen before, but simply said, "Maybe they want the same thing we do—to get Agor's secrets out of the psychotherapists."
"But that's a roundabout approach for us. Now that all the psychotherapists are being protected by Agor's players, even if we guess the Rebel Army will plant people among them, we don't know who specifically. Besides, tracking the company's players isn't easy either. This side, though."
He gestured with his chin toward the laboratory. "The Rebel Army is watching this place. The bait from the trading company was eaten by an Outer Zone player earlier. Maybe this place is just as important as the medical base."
Xu Huo had gone to the medical base based on the itinerary of Zheng Yuci provided by the Rebel Army, while Lin Cao and Old Zhou had tracked Qiao Qiao. Normally speaking, if what Qiao Qiao saw was real, then the surgical experiments on players were likely conducted at the medical base, which was also the most likely place to hide the secret of the East District players' power. But now the base was definitely inaccessible, and after the previous attack, the truly important things might have already been moved.
Xu Huo didn't mention that the Rebel Army was targeting Zheng Yuci. For Outer Zone players, knowing about "White Blood" was enough. Based on his speculation, they might even stumble onto the truth by accident.
You don't put all your eggs in one basket. Especially for a tech company like Agor, any method or drug that could make players stronger was the foundation for attracting more players and a means of control. It was definitely not unique—even backups would need multiple copies.
The group reached a consensus and waited outside the laboratory.
From nightfall until two in the morning, six batches of aircraft left the laboratory. Each batch had the same model and specifications, and they all headed in different directions after departing.
Honestly, in this situation, unless they could jam the aircraft or shoot them down, there was no way to stop them—and indeed, no one tried to intercept these batches; they all left the laboratory safely.
Just when they thought nothing would come of it tonight, the Rebel Army members who had been watching the store made their move. They followed a low-flying aircraft.
Low-flying aircraft had appeared in previous batches as well, because the routes and destinations were different, making ground-level travel more convenient. But this time, the Rebel Army actively followed.
Xu Huo and the others exchanged glances and followed behind.
When the aircraft passed a park, it suddenly encountered unknown interference. Several aircraft all landed on the ground. Before the accompanying East District players could get out, several blockade barriers locked the aircraft in place individually. Then, one by one, players emerged from under the lawn and directly dismantled the aircraft into parts—literally into parts. Their goals were twofold: the contents of the aircraft and the players inside. So when they acted, they had already prepared all the necessary instruments in advance. Targeting the characteristics of the East District players, they had prepared special instruments, seemingly specifically aimed at the anti-interference instruments implanted in their brains. But unexpectedly, when they opened the aircraft, there was no one inside!
The same was true for all the aircraft. This realization made the Rebel Army members who had launched the interception realize something was terribly wrong. They then tore open the boxes inside the aircraft, only to find them empty. Their faces changed drastically, and they immediately called for their companions to retreat.
But leaving wasn't so easy. The destroyed aircraft suddenly emitted a vibration, followed by a low, earth-shaking rumble that rose from all directions. In an instant, all the Rebel Army members in the park showed expressions of pain, and one or two even had blood trickling from their ears!
"What is that sound?" Qiao Qiao and the others were stunned. To guard against the East District players' vibration jammers, even Outer Zone players had to wear anti-interference instruments in their ears. Since the Rebel Army dared to come, they must have prepared thoroughly—at least sound wave interference shouldn't have worked. But they hadn't expected the East District to have another trick up their sleeve. This time, the instrument used had a larger range and greater intensity. Even those of them some distance away from the park felt dizzy and disoriented.
"No, am I hallucinating or is this real? I feel like the ground is moving." Qiao Qiao held his head.
Old Zhou immediately crouched down and used an instrument for a preliminary check. "The vibration is indeed coming from underground, but it's not an earthquake. It's too regular—it must be an instrument."
"No wonder the East District players' instrument is called a Vibration Jammer. So that's what it means." Lin Cao said. "When I first arrived, I got some jammers to study, and I found they weren't technically sophisticated. The excellent effect was surprising. I didn't expect the real source to be underground. They must have buried corresponding instruments underground first. The jammers worn by people on the surface can actually control the underground instruments' on-off switch within a small range. When the switch is turned on, it indiscriminately affects both ordinary people and players."
"That's the principle, but the instruments buried underground are hard to destroy." Qiao Qiao looked toward the park again.
This was undoubtedly a trap set specifically for the Rebel Army. After using instruments to jam and prevent the Rebel Army members from escaping, the East District players who had been lying in ambush finally showed themselves. They surrounded the park with three times the Rebel Army's numbers and began a massacre with overwhelming force—this time, they had no intention of taking prisoners.
Not only that, but to completely cut off any possibility of the Rebel Army players escaping, four East District players pulled up a film-like substance from the ground at the outermost edge of the battlefield.
Because they were standing farther away, they were especially conspicuous. As that film-like substance was pulled up, it invisibly covered all the players present with a bubble-like shell. Strangely, as the players' bodies were gradually wrapped by the film, although they could still move freely, in the eyes of the onlookers, every move they made became abnormally sluggish.
(End of Chapter)