Chapter 2089: Time Killing
Xu Huo didn't make things difficult for him and gave him some dried meat. This player was so hungry his eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed the meat and stuffed it into his mouth, barely swallowing a couple of bites before choking and rolling his eyes. While pounding his chest, he reached forward with one hand.
Only then did Xu Huo leisurely take out water and hand it to him, crouching in front of him and saying, "I hadn't gotten around to giving you water yet. You're in such a hurry you might choke to death."
The other had no time to argue with him. His eyes were fixed in Xu Huo's direction, but his hands and mouth didn't stop moving. After gulping down two mouthfuls of water, he started chewing the dried meat again.
By then, Meng Wenguang had already subdued the other player. Meng Wenguang was as skilled in combat as his appearance suggested. Using a defense item, he was practically overwhelming the other, and his speed was very fast. Although the other player wasn't weak, his condition was even worse than the one who had choked and rolled his eyes. After a few more rounds of high-speed combat, he began to lose steam. The moment a weakness appeared, Meng Wenguang punched him to the ground.
To avoid attracting the attention of Pumpkin City residents, Meng Wenguang had also used a rubber item on the ground in advance to absorb the impact—very considerate of him.
That player was punched until he coughed up blood, his eyes going blank.
Meng Wenguang lifted the man in the air with one hand, shaking him like a piece of cured meat. "Don't die yet. I haven't questioned you."
After the player beside Xu Huo had eaten and drunk his fill, he finally mustered the energy to pay attention to this temporary companion. "He's been hungry longer than me. Give him a couple of sips of water, and he'll probably wake up."
Meng Wenguang pulled the water from his pants pocket, flicked the cap off with his thumb, and poured it over the head of the man in his hand.
That player finally regained his senses from his daze, involuntarily licking the water streaming down his face. As the water entered his throat, he seemed much more alert. Realizing his situation, he glared at Meng Wenguang and was about to say something when his body suddenly stiffened. Within two or three seconds, he turned into a handful of ash in Meng Wenguang's hand, leaving only his shoes, pants, and equipped items clattering to the ground.
Feng Hui looked at Meng Wenguang in terror, and Meng Wenguang himself was startled. He had thrown away the clothes he was holding as soon as the player in his hand turned to nothing!
"What's going on?" Meng Wenguang asked first.
The player beside Xu Huo was silent for a moment before saying, "He was killed by time power."
Compared to Xu Huo and Meng Wenguang, who understood a bit about time power, Feng Hui was more flustered. "Isn't it time repetition? Why was he killed by time?"
"It seems players in this area are periodically cleaned up," Xu Huo said. "There were also many traces of battle where we came in, some old and some new. Logically, this instance near District 011 has been swallowing people for quite a while. Players who couldn't get out would definitely starve to death, and at least their bones should remain."
"But everywhere we've walked is clean. We haven't seen any human bones." Meng Wenguang glanced again at the pile of dust-like substance not far away. With the roadside wind blowing, it seemed almost invisible.
"Does that mean we could die at any moment?" Feng Hui couldn't help but look at that player. "How did you survive?"
The man, who was somewhat emaciated from hunger, stood up and said solemnly, "Based on my experience... sheer luck."
Feng Hui's facial muscles trembled uncontrollably. "What did you say?"
"He's saying there's no pattern at all." Meng Wenguang answered for the man. "Unless you're a Temporal Super Evolver, who can predict changes in time power? Especially since this place itself is even more complex."
The man nodded. "Although it's all luck, from the people I've met, it shouldn't be a big problem before supplies run out."
Hearing this, not only Feng Hui and Meng Wenguang but even Xu Huo breathed a slight sigh of relief. He was more worried that this space had become so chaotic it was completely lawless.
"Speaking of which, since you've been here so long, have you found anything?" Xu Huo asked.
"Everything resets after 9 o'clock every day." The man looked around at everything, involuntarily reaching out to touch the flowers in the nearby flower shop. "This is the first time I've seen this brand-new world."
After he finished speaking, Xu Huo and the other two learned that he and the dead player had been wandering through the abandoned city for who knows how many days. At first, they hadn't even realized they were repeating the same cycle. It was only when food and water visibly decreased that they started keeping records and searching the city.
During that time, the man had also encountered some other players. Combining others' records with his own, he gradually figured out a pattern: his time would reset at 9:17 every night. Later, due to food shortages, the players who had gathered together began to scatter, hiding in the thick fog. No one knew who had gotten out or who had died, but he had personally witnessed two players being directly weathered away by time power, realizing that staying here long-term meant starvation wasn't the only option.
"None of you discovered the Time Tower?" Feng Hui found it hard to believe.
"What Time Tower?" The man looked puzzled but quickly caught on. "You found a Time Tower, so the city changed?"
No one answered his question. Xu Huo said, "Why did you come to Little Star Company?"
"We were both dizzy from hunger. We noticed the boss of Little Star Company looked a lot like the chairman of Stellar Group, so we came to try our luck." The man said, "If we couldn't get out, one of us would have to become food."
This was actually an overlooked issue facing them. Food was always limited. If they couldn't get out after eating everything they brought, the players themselves would become a source of food. But now, time power had solved that problem for them—before they starved to death or became food, the instance might eliminate them first.
"Do you have any clues on how to get out?" The man now asked with a hint of hope.
"Aren't we looking?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "You can help too. Do you have any new recorders?"
"I have a few old ones, all with recordings saved." The man pulled out a bag full. "All found."
Xu Huo and the others fell silent. Given the thick fog in the abandoned city, for him to have collected so many recorders, he must have already scoured the entire city.
The group returned to Little Star Company. While monitoring "Dr. Wu," Xu Huo asked their new companion, Shen Liang, some questions about the city's layout. He confirmed that the abandoned city was indeed Pumpkin City. As for the somewhat strange city structure, Shen Liang offered a unique perspective.
"Have you ever heard of curved time?"
"Curved time?" The last time Xu Huo had heard that term was on the Dimension Train when it was forced to stop due to a Dimensional Storm, and the train's conductor had mentioned it.
(Chapter End)