Chapter 2067: Xu Huo's Puppet
The long-coated man looked at Xu Huo, and also at the Painting Woman standing behind him. After a moment, he revealed a humble and polite smile. "I am a person who always advocates harmony. Since everyone agrees, I have no objections."
"I was just having a little joke with everyone earlier. This is a small-scale closed instance. When we entered, we didn't see any players left over from the previous instance, which shows it's hard for anyone to retire in this instance. Even if a puppet is lost or damaged, it doesn't mean a new one won't appear later."
As he spoke, he proactively extended his hand toward Xu Huo. "Hello, my name is Yun He. May I ask how you are called?"
"Xu Zhi." Xu Huo did not shake his hand but instead withdrew the Black Blade and pointed to the dining table. "Please, have a seat."
Everyone sat down again and began breakfast.
Perhaps because a cooperation had been reached, the atmosphere at the table improved slightly. People gathered together and could even discuss methods for clearing the instance. Most importantly, this was an instance where if everyone undermined each other, no one could clear it, so they had to temporarily cease hostilities.
"That Black Blade of yours looks like a decent A-grade item." The Fluorescent Pink, for some reason, sidled up to Xu Huo again, speaking with a hint of probing. "You have quite a few A-grade items, don't you?"
Xu Huo turned his head to glance at her but said nothing.
"Any interest in selling?" Fluorescent Pink asked. "I'll buy it from you."
"Are you okay?" The one who said this was not Xu Huo but the Sweet Girl beside him. "Who would sell a good item to you? Why not just say outright that you want to see what items others have?"
Fluorescent Pink leaned back in her chair. "Do you have any? If you do, you can show them too."
"It's so hard to get a few good and handy items these days. I think Mr. Xu is exceptionally talented; his ratings for each clearance probably aren't low either. Maybe he has so many good items he doesn't know what to do with them?"
As she said this, she winked at Xu Huo and lightly placed a hand on his right arm. "Meeting by chance is fate. Why hold onto the unpleasantness from before?"
The Painting Woman's head poked out from the other side. She tugged at Xu Huo's left arm. "What good stuff? I want some too."
Xu Huo glanced at the Painting Woman, who then withdrew her hand and sat obediently to the side. Only then did he turn to look at Fluorescent Pink. "Respect yourself."
Fluorescent Pink rolled her eyes, waved her hand, and moved to another seat to play with her communicator.
After breakfast, the players had to start looking for the first puppet. Xu Huo could have easily done it himself, but considering the feelings of the other players, everyone moved together, starting the search from the dining room.
Soon, they found the first puppet.
It belonged to the Purple-Clad Woman. She was missing her left leg.
This was still normal, as long as she didn't stand up during meals.
At noon, they found the second puppet. It belonged to another short-statured player, missing a left arm.
What surprised everyone was that they found the third puppet in the afternoon. The third puppet was Xu Huo's, and it was also a complete puppet.
It had the same black coat and black leather boots, the same face, height, and build, and even some small details on the fingers were replicated accurately. However, it was slightly different from the puppets of the previous days.
"Is this your puppet?" The Purple-Clad Woman also noticed. "It appeared a bit early, and the craftsmanship looks quite rough."
Xu Huo confirmed that all players were in the dining room. There had been no opportunity to plant a fake during the earlier search. This puppet should have been made by the Puppet Maker. As for the rough craftsmanship, that actually fit the Puppet Maker's character.
"He lacks patience."
"No wonder. I thought my puppet didn't look as good as the ones from the previous days." The short-statured player examined his own puppet repeatedly. In terms of details like clothing and limbs, it wasn't as exquisite as those from the first three days.
"So even if a complete puppet is retrieved, there's still room for modification." The Glasses Player adjusted his frames. "I just wonder how we'll manage to get our own puppets when the time comes."
Compared to the others missing arms and legs, he and Xu Huo were already ahead. They were the two most likely to clear the instance.
Just as everyone's attention was focused on the second complete puppet, Xu Huo suddenly turned his head to look at two players standing in a corner of the dining room.
Those two had been keeping their distance from the group. After the three puppets appeared today, they had only glanced at them before pulling away. Now, it was the same. But compared to the others whose attention was on the complete puppet, their small movements were too obvious. The moment they took out their items, Xu Huo noticed them. The two stopped their actions and pretended to look away nonchalantly.
Xu Huo wasn't the only one who noticed this. The Sweet Girl, enjoying the drama, said, "Daring to think but not to act. What a shame."
"Pulling each other down benefits no one," the Glasses Player said. "This is an instance with no time limit. Does anyone think that if others don't clear it, it'll be their turn?"
"Easy for you to say, standing there," Fluorescent Pink said, lying on her chair. "Your puppet is complete and has a high degree of completion."
"Is my puppet real?" Xu Huo picked up the puppet and asked the Painting Woman.
The Painting Woman shook her head. "Yours is real. His is fake."
She pointed at Xu Huo and the short-statured player.
"What?!" The short-statured player was the most agitated. He examined his puppet repeatedly and then couldn't help but doubt the Painting Woman. "What makes you say it's fake? We went to find the puppets together!"
Xu Huo also looked at the Painting Woman. "Are there special markings on the puppets?"
The Painting Woman nodded, took out her own fake puppet, and pointed at the chest and abdomen area. "There are stones inside the puppet."
Everyone knew that the chest and abdomen area contained other filling materials. However, a layer of soft metal wrapped in the middle blocked the players' detection. They could only confirm that there were a few stones inside, but no one knew what difference the stones made. That included Xu Huo.
That was why everyone had reacted so strongly when the fake puppet appeared in the morning. Since the puppet couldn't be opened, the surface material had some blocking properties, making it hard for instruments to detect. Besides, even if an instrument could identify the material of the stones inside, it wouldn't be difficult for players to obtain them.
"When Zuo Yu's puppet was shattered, we all saw the materials inside. They were just ordinary stones," the Purple-Clad Woman said. "How can you be sure the stones are different?"
"It's just a feeling. Stones and stones are different," the Painting Woman said with a smile. "Anyway, your puppet is fake."
The short-statured player looked around at the others with suspicion. "Who swapped my puppet?"
The others instinctively turned their gazes toward the group of four, including the long-coated man, and even the Glasses Player fell under their suspicion.
The long-coated man, Yun He, now appeared completely at ease. "There's no need to go through all this trouble to confront me. If you have evidence, come and kill me."