Chapter 1979: Danger Value 41%
It wasn't just that their movements became sluggish; gradually, even their forms seemed to warp. From a high vantage point, they looked like a group of mannequins moving within a painting.
"Is this also a prop?" Qiao Qiao said. "I see some people from the Rebel Army panicking but not leaving. Could it be a Container prop?"
If they were trapped inside a Container prop, it would be equivalent to being completely cut off from the outside world, unable to use a Ticket to escape. This would effectively trap these people in the East District permanently.
Container props could even allow some players to escape Instances or avoid high-risk random Instances, but that was only temporary. No Container prop could sustain a person indefinitely; they generally had time limits. Once the time was up, players would most likely die inside and merge with the Container prop. For this reason, ordinary players also tried to avoid entering Container props, as no one knew what negative consequences prolonged or repeated use might bring. It was like the side effects of player evolution—who would have thought at the beginning that taking Evolution Agents would eventually cause problems? This was only discovered after some had evolved to a certain level.
And the East District people were ruthless enough to even pack their own people into a Container prop.
"They're told to be expendable, and they really go and act like expendables," Xu Huo said, draping the "Mysterious Person" suit over himself. He passed through the two players supporting the prop, killed them, then blocked the other East District players who tried to step in. Leaping into the air, he shook the ring on his Black Blade and, with a single slash, cut open the ground of the park!
This one strike wasn't enough to completely destroy the underground instruments in the East District, but it halted the commotion in the park, giving the Rebel Army members a chance to catch their breath.
A group of East District players surrounded him. Xu Huo raised a Space Ray Blade to force them back, then turned and fled.
After killing three East District players who had been tracking him, he circled around before reuniting with Qiao Qiao and the other two.
Qiao Qiao gave him a thumbs up, then said, "Leaving?"
This was a trap set by the East District players. Clearly, the truly important things weren't here. Since the Rebel Army had made a move, it was possible that the real targets were in the other aircraft that had launched.
The group turned back, only to find that besides the park, there were two other locations where attacks had occurred. After roughly checking the information publicly broadcast by the rescue robots, Old Zhou turned to ask them, "Which side?"
"Use a prop to check," Lin Cao said. He had a prop for assessing dangerous situations. Holding a small lamp that could change colors, he pressed it towards the two incident sites. One side showed a yellow light, the other a red light.
He frowned. "Both look dangerous, but the risk on the right is higher."
Xu Huo also used his trait, "Choice of Fate," to make a pre-assessment. The danger values he got were 23% and 41% respectively. This meant that the side with the red light also posed a high risk for him.
However, as long as it wasn't a guaranteed death scenario, he was willing to take the risk.
He was the first to propose going to the right.
Qiao Qiao and Old Zhou had no objections. They had come for the good stuff anyway. Didn't a high risk mean they had found the right place? There was no need to avoid it.
However, Lin Cao hesitated at this point. He said, "I'll go to the other side."
The prop he had used earlier was his, and only he knew its effects best. Was his refusal to go a sign that the red light represented a very high risk of death?
This made Qiao Qiao and Old Zhou hesitate as well. Nothing was more important than their lives.
"There's no need to waste time here," Xu Huo said. "We'll split up."
With that, he headed alone towards the right front.
Qiao Qiao and Old Zhou exchanged a glance and decided to go with Lin Cao in the other direction.
Of course, this situation wasn't unique to them. Other Outer Zone players also wanted to join in on the excitement, so more and more players emerged from their hiding spots, heading towards their respective destinations.
Xu Huo also ran into three or five players. They were just there to watch the fun, so they didn't interfere with each other. After nodding in greeting, they each went to find a suitable spot to observe.
The site of the attack was a library. This library housed a vast collection of paper books and was very tall. By the time Xu Huo arrived, three large holes had been blasted in the building's exterior. The building itself was still standing, but the destroyed books had turned into shredded paper flying everywhere. Players could be seen darting inside, and since there was no obvious difference in their attire, it was hard to tell at a glance who was fighting whom.
However, the nearby streets had been cordoned off. Xu Huo and the other Outer Zone players hadn't been able to enter the blockade barrier, but when a shell suddenly flew out from the library and punched a hole in one corner of the barrier, they took the opportunity to slip in. But before they could find a suitable spot to watch without being caught in the crossfire, the objects within the entire blockade zone began to float.
At first, it was paper scraps and leaves swept up by the battle. Then came small stones and metal shavings from the damaged buildings. Next were smaller items from inside and outside the buildings, like kitchenware, ornaments, shoes, and hats. They started by hovering just off the ground, slowly drifting in a uniform direction. As more and more objects floated, the drifting speed increased. Within a few breaths, these things had transformed into a giant tornado centered on the library building. Anything caught in it, even a tiny leaf, became a deadly weapon!
Occasionally, objects would crash nearby or come flying through the walls of the buildings they were hiding in. Xu Huo and the other Outer Zone players' first instinct was to retreat, as the tornado, centered on the library, didn't cover a very wide area. If they could get back outside the blockade barrier, they would be safe from the disturbance. But before they could act, the previously damaged barrier repaired itself and began to rapidly contract towards the library building. In an instant, it pressed against the edge of the tornado, completely trapping everyone in the middle!
The countless rotating objects created a cacophony of whooshing sounds of varying sizes, merging into a dull roar that constantly interfered with the players' hearing and judgment. One second they would dodge a kitchen knife flying towards them, and the next, a sharp metal shard might be right in front of their eyes. Trapped in the wind belt, they might have to deal with over a dozen sudden, lethal attacks per second. After a brief stalemate, most of the players caught in the wind belt chose to enter the library building.
They hadn't noticed it from the outside, but upon stepping into the building, everyone immediately realized it was a Location prop. Although the library was a relatively open space, they couldn't perceive the specific conditions of the adjacent corridors or the reading rooms with their doors open!
(Chapter End)