Chapter 2072: Friendly Interaction
"It should be possible." The purple-clad woman said uncertainly. "According to the theory of instance accumulation, players who hold instances aren't completely detached from their player identity. It makes sense that they can still use their personal panel—otherwise, how would they defend themselves when attacked? But the game has rules for instance holders—they can only kill people using the instance's rules."
"Then do you think the Puppet Maker's Instance Authorization is in the castle?" someone asked.
Most people believed the castle owner would definitely carry the Instance Authorization on him, since they had seen it during dinner for several consecutive days.
"Instances truly held by players are very rare. Sometimes instance bosses that look human aren't necessarily human. Do you think the castle owner looks human?"
The group wasn't sure. Although they couldn't see the Puppet Maker's face, wearing a prop could achieve the same effect.
"He doesn't even speak. Those servants are also puppets—maybe even props." The sweet girl's eyes turned sinister. "I wonder if he bought them or made them himself."
It was rare to see someone who was both a player and an Artificer, especially among ordinary players. Under the constant pressure to survive, who had the mood to study how to make artifacts? Besides, artifact-making required talent—not everyone could do it. Players like the Paper Servant Master, who could sell their self-made props throughout the game, were uncommon. But if someone could mass-produce props, especially the kind from the painting studio, even if the instance boss was once a player, their strength wouldn't be weak. According to the rules, they might not be able to actively attack players, but if players were stupid enough to attack the holder, whether the holder fought back was another matter.
After some discussion, the group still felt that following the rules to clear the instance was safer.
Xu Huo could tell that a few people were somewhat insincere. They were probably tempted, knowing that the Instance Authorization had to be placed in the instance when it was opened.
After finding one puppet, the players didn't go to the dining room to rest. Instead, they aimlessly searched the castle.
Xu Huo was also searching. Not only was he searching, but he also sent the Painting Woman out to look.
The Painting Woman's goal was still simple and clear—she wanted to enter the Puppet Maker's workshop. This time, everyone watched her try to pick the lock, but before she could open the door, Servant No. 1 and No. 2 appeared simultaneously. They invited the Painting Woman to the study, saying the master wanted to see her alone.
The Painting Woman was frustrated that she couldn't get in, so she waved at Xu Huo and cheerfully followed them.
"Aren't you worried at all?" The sweet girl instigated. "Aren't you afraid the castle owner will harm her?"
Xu Huo glanced at her. "If something happens, I can blow up the castle."
He was essentially copying her method.
The sweet girl smiled and turned to admire the puppets in the display room.
Fluorescent Pink muttered quietly beside him, "Instance bosses in small-field instances meeting people like you is like eight lifetimes of bad luck. No wonder most high-level instances no longer restrict areas—if you can't clear it, just blow up the instance. Who can stand that?"
"Instances aren't that easy to blow up." The older man advised everyone to be realistic. This was a B-rank instance field. Who knew if the castle was a high-level prop? Whether it could even be blown up was hard to say.
Everyone was waiting for the Painting Woman to return, so most people simply waited in the corridor. Unexpectedly, when she came back, she brought several puppets with her—besides her own, there were four servant puppets.
She happily waved her own puppet and ran to Xu Huo to show him.
The two-palm-long puppet gradually grew after landing, eventually reaching the same height as the Painting Woman and capable of performing simple actions. The four other puppets could also grow. They resembled Servants No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the castle, but the numbers on their backs were changed to 5, 6, 7, and 8. These four puppets were much more flexible and could follow the Painting Woman's commands.
"Where did you get so many puppets?" Fluorescent Pink exclaimed in surprise. "Did you steal them?"
The Painting Woman glared at her unhappily, then turned to Xu Huo and said, "The castle owner gave them to me. He also said he would make a puppet that looks like you and give it to me."
"Really?" Xu Huo looked at the Painting Woman's puppet. It had already transcended the realm of ordinary puppets—it was a prop.
"This probably has nothing to do with our clearance, right?" The purple-clad woman hesitated, reaching out to pick up the shrunken servant puppet for a look, but before she could touch it, the Painting Woman stepped in front to block her.
"What are you doing?" The Painting Woman stared at her. "This is mine."
"I didn't want your puppet, just a look." The purple-clad woman withdrew her hand.
"If getting these puppets really allowed you to clear the instance, do you think the castle owner would give them to her?" the sweet girl said.
That was true.
"So, are you still going to pick the lock?" Fluorescent Pink brought up the old topic.
The Painting Woman looked a bit embarrassed. "He gave me the gift I wanted. It wouldn't be good to break his things now."
The group was speechless, but going to pick the lock themselves felt like a loss. After lingering outside for a while, they returned to the dining room.
The Painting Woman couldn't stay in the dining room anymore. She greeted Xu Huo and followed the puppets into the castle's tower. Xu Huo returned to the dining room, and the others didn't press the matter—arguing with a fool would make them look like fools too.
"I don't know how someone like that became a B-rank player." Fluorescent Pink lay on the dining table, glanced at Xu Huo, who was leaning back in his chair flipping through the scripture prop, and said with a hint of envy, "I wish someone would carry me through a clearance too."
The Painting Woman couldn't hold props. After losing interest, the scripture ended up back in Xu Huo's hands.
The text that had been stripped away to kill had disappeared, but the lines the Painting Woman had drawn with an ordinary pen still carried faint power, just like the text at the back of the scripture. However, when he tried it, he found that these words needed to be spoken aloud to be used. So, using the pen from the long-coated man's item slot, he wrote the word "Cut" in a blank space of the scripture and then spoke it.
The surrounding players were startled by his sudden action, but they didn't expect the word "Cut" to form lines in the air, which were then sealed within an invisible barrier. It lasted about half a minute before dissipating on its own.
The power wasn't very strong—it was a prop suitable for delaying opponents in group battles.
But it might also be that he couldn't unleash the prop's full potential. The long-coated man's profession was tied to religion, and there must have been a reason for choosing scripture text.
After realizing he was just using a prop, the few players who had stood up to dodge looked somewhat annoyed. Although they didn't say much, their demeanor was noticeably less friendly than before.
"Yun He died because he was too flashy," the purple-clad woman reminded him.
"He didn't die because he was flashy," Xu Huo said calmly. "It was because someone happened to counter his combat habits."
Being flashy certainly wasn't a habit developed overnight. But his group battle props hadn't even taken effect before he fell, and his proud tactic of overwhelming with quantity was precisely blocked by strong electricity. He was just a bit unlucky.
(Chapter End)