Chapter 1989: Your Target Is Zheng Yuci
Inside a private office at the Agor Headquarters, Zheng Yuci rapidly spun the puzzle ball in his hands, layer by layer unraveling the mechanisms arranged within it, until the final layer. With a soft "pop," the puzzle ball split into two halves, revealing a small paper-cut red flower inside.
"Teacher really is something. At my age, do I still need a reward?" He smiled as he picked up the little red flower, gently twisting it between his thumb and forefinger, then raised his eyes to look out the window and let out a soft sigh. "I really don't want to leave this place."
Two A-Class players were also in the room, sent by Agor to protect him. Upon hearing this, they exchanged glances, and one of them said, "Teacher Zheng, this arrangement is for your own good. Leave the East District temporarily, and once things are resolved, you can come back. Everything will be just as it was."
"Just as it was?" Zheng Yuci said flatly. "I traveled thousands of miles to choose such a remote place for my research. Now that it's been exposed to the public, how could it possibly return to how it was before?"
The two A-Class players had not only the duty to protect him but also the task of monitoring him. So the other one said, "Teacher Zheng, there's no time to waste. Don't delay."
Zheng Yuci turned back to look at them, his expression unchanged. He simply raised his left hand and tapped lightly on the table.
In an instant, the alertness and vigilance in the two A-Class players' eyes vanished, replaced by a blank numbness.
Zheng Yuci stared at them, slightly dissatisfied, then asked, "Who was the first to release the news about the 'White Blood'?"
"The company has already sent people to investigate," one of them replied. "It should be members of the Rebel Army. They were also the first to reveal the matter of the chips."
"It's not them," Zheng Yuci said with certainty. "If the Rebel Army had that kind of intelligence, they wouldn't have been at a stalemate with Agor until now. The person who first revealed the 'White Blood' understands that the truly important thing isn't the chips."
"Never mind." He paused, then asked, "How many people are outside the Agor Headquarters right now?"
"No fewer than a hundred Outer Zone players," the same person answered.
"They should be inside by now," Zheng Yuci said. "After the Outer Zone players launch a large-scale assault, if they fail to break through the defense barrier outside the headquarters within three minutes, you two will personally go and shut down the barrier."
The two silently accepted the order and left the room under his command.
Zheng Yuci paced over to the window and looked out at the gloomy sky. "It's raining."
It had started to rain in Jade Spring City.
The rain wasn't heavy, but it quickly made the entire city damp. The moisture in the air clinging to the skin was somewhat uncomfortable, and everywhere there was a patter of sounds, constantly pounding on everyone's eardrums—the city had fallen into a silence as if no one was there.
This silence lasted until the afternoon. As the sky grew darker, the first wave of Outer Zone players made their move. They began by attacking the defense barriers outside the Agor Headquarters and the City Hall with explosive props and devices.
Given this situation, the East District players had no choice but to resist, and a small-scale skirmish broke out.
The East District players were well-equipped, and the Outer Zone players didn't gain any advantage. So the first wave of fighting lasted only two minutes before ending with the Outer Zone players retreating.
About half an hour later, the second wave of Outer Zone players began their action. This time, those who came were prepared, so they quickly broke through the defense barrier. This group scattered into about twenty or more people, most of whom entered the square in front of the Agor Headquarters, only to be trapped inside when the defense barrier closed back up.
In terms of numbers, they were certainly no match for the East District, so they quickly fell into a disadvantage. At that point, some players started fighting while trying to rally the players watching from outside.
But the crowd remained unmoved.
It wasn't until this group had been locked in a deadly battle with the East District players for over ten minutes, with both sides consuming a large number of props and devices and suffering significant casualties, that the third wave of players made their move.
This group should have been a set of players who had coordinated in advance. They cut in from above the defense barrier, directly breaking it to prepare for an airdrop onto the rooftop of the building. However, they hadn't expected that the Agor Headquarters had a backup plan. After they broke through the barrier, a new prop took effect. The newly generated defense barrier had a strong impact force, and when it expanded, it blasted all the players in the air away. Two unlucky ones happened to hit the gap just as the defense prop failed, and were immediately knocked back, spitting blood, forced to withdraw from the battlefield in resentment.
Those who remained continued to attack the new barrier. When one of them used a round, scale-like prop to open a hole in the barrier large enough for two people to pass through, all the third-wave players successfully entered the Agor Headquarters. Moreover, after they passed through, the barrier didn't close. Several East District players tried to activate a new barrier, but because the previous defense prop hadn't completely disappeared, the new prop failed to take effect.
A golden opportunity!
The Outer Zone players sprang into action. Several immediately entered through the opened hole. Seeing this, the East District players had no choice but to block the opening themselves. Both sides began a protracted battle around this breach. However, with high-level props involved, defense was easier than offense, so the Outer Zone players who came in groups didn't make any new progress for the time being. And through the barrier, they could see that the East District players, besides killing those who had already entered, were also deploying small-scale defense barriers, layer upon layer, without end.
At this rate, even if they broke through the outer barrier, there would still be countless smaller ones waiting for them inside!
But this stalemate didn't last long. Suddenly, the entire defense barrier vanished. Not only did the barrier covering the entire Agor Headquarters disappear, but even the barrier props that the ground players had just prepared also failed one after another. In an instant, everyone lost their protection or defense, and they were all face to face.
After a brief moment of shock, the Outer Zone players were filled with ecstasy. Those already inside, as well as those who had been watching from the sidelines, all surged like a swarm toward the Agor building!
"Should we go?" Old Zhou felt a bit tempted, afraid that if they were late, all the good stuff would be snatched up. Not to mention the props and devices inside the Agor building, even killing two East District players would yield a considerable reward.
Xu Huo remained unmoved. He stood on the rooftop, silently watching the direction of the building.
The ones currently fighting the Outer Zone players were not Agor's top-tier players. If it were the top-tier, it would at least be the player who could twist space rays to achieve a spatial freeze, or the one who had nearly slit his throat with a single thread the night before.
Qiao Qiao and Old Zhou silently slipped away. Xu Huo turned his head to look at the building on his right. The masked youth had appeared again. The other turned to look at him as well, and said with a hint of laughter, "I can see it now. Your target is Zheng Yuci."
"Do you have a grudge against Zheng Yuci?"