Chapter 2113: Give It a Blast
The young master’s expression remained unchanged; he merely glanced back at him. The next second, the entire second-floor floor suddenly collapsed, sending tables, chairs, benches, and the people on them tumbling into an underground trap below—this was clearly a trap specifically designed to deal with players. The moment the floor opened, Xu Huo felt a powerful spatial force surging toward him, accompanied by a sense of restriction.
Catching a glimpse of the other players present, including the “young master,” all wearing a special spatial device, Xu Huo didn’t actually follow them down. Instead, he grabbed the young master with one hand and brought him to the arena below.
On the arena, two players were locked in a life-or-death struggle, their reaction speed and stamina already flagging, so their fists didn’t avoid the young master who suddenly appeared between them.
The young master took two solid punches. Although his passive defense item prevented injury, he was knocked to his knees. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, feeling humiliated, he scrambled to his feet and roared in fury, “Catch them! I’ll turn them into specimens and hang them in the arena!”
The players from the second floor all came down as well, clearing everyone off the arena. The spectators outside seemed long accustomed to such scenes, fleeing without a word, not caring whether the match had a result.
Ordinary items had no effect on the Painting Woman, so during that brief moment, the few players surrounding her had instead been injured. Seeing Xu Huo surrounded on the arena, she crawled along the wall to the ceiling, then jumped down onto the arena, flipping the young master over in the process. Stepping on his back, she asked Xu Huo, “Are they the local bullies?”
“Probably,” Xu Huo replied, glancing at the time. Sensing that the players responsible for city security outside were making no move, he couldn’t help but smile. “No one’s stepping in.”
The flying paper controlled by the Painting Woman circled the young master’s neck as she added, “I know. A lot of people say a strong dragon can’t crush a local snake. Are we the strong dragon?”
“We’ll find out,” Xu Huo said, nodding to her while twisting the time ring on his finger.
This time ring was the same one Tang Ming had used in Pumpkin City—an A-grade time-type item capable of releasing frozen time within a certain range. However, it could only be used three times a day, had a cooldown period, and a usage duration. Despite these limitations, the item had the advantage of allowing the controlled range of frozen time to be scaled, from a maximum of an entire city down to a minimum of a hundred meters in diameter.
So it was very convenient to use now; he could freeze this underground arena without alerting anyone outside.
Whether it was the struggling young master or the players attempting a sneak attack, the moment the ring turned, they all froze in place—not literally frozen, but the item’s time flow differed so greatly from the local zone’s time rate that they appeared motionless, moving only at an extremely slow pace.
The Painting Woman’s flying paper also hung in the air.
Looking around with some curiosity, the Painting Woman still remembered what she most wanted to do. She raised her foot to stomp directly on the young master’s cervical vertebrae, but before she could make contact, a long blade flew from one corner of the arena, passing right under her foot and embedding itself into the arena floor, blocking the young master’s neck.
Xu Huo turned to look at the old man outside the arena, speaking with interest, “It seems someone managed to evade the frozen time.”
The old man cautiously kept his distance, warning, “Time items are nothing special. A couple of higher-grade spacetime items can bypass the effect. While there are few people here, you’d better leave quickly.”
Xu Huo smiled instead. “After all, I’m a B-grade player. Your young master here says he’ll turn me into a specimen. Looks like you’ve done this kind of thing plenty. It’s only fair that someone kills you, not just you killing others, don’t you think?”
Before he finished speaking, dozens of black lines flowed from beneath his feet, spreading from the center of the arena and shooting straight toward the surrounding players, including the young master!
“How dare you!” the old man bellowed, pressing both hands down hard. A tremendous pressure enveloped the entire arena, crushing everything, including the people, toward the ground!
The arena beneath Xu Huo shattered first, followed by the Painting Woman and the other players. With a thunderous crash, everyone collapsed together with the arena. Below the arena was another chamber equipped with spatial devices. As they descended, the old man outside made no attempt to rescue anyone; instead, he used a massive shield item to try to seal the exit.
The materialized spiritual power mercilessly reaped over a dozen lives, including the young master’s. Xu Huo drew his Black Blade, cleaved the shield item in two, and leaped out of the chamber. But when he got up, the old man was nowhere to be seen. At the same time, all the arena’s doors and gates automatically closed, and the walls began contracting toward the center of the arena.
“So it’s a location item,” Xu Huo muttered, turning back to pull the Painting Woman, who was climbing out. She was carrying several spatial devices, clearly just retrieved.
Once out, seeing the tables and chairs crushed together by the shrinking walls, she asked curiously, “Is this house trying to flatten you?”
“Probably,” Xu Huo said, stepping toward the shrinking main door. He thrust the Black Blade into it, but to his surprise, the arena’s walls were made of a soft substance. The blade sank in as if into a swamp, finding no leverage.
The Painting Woman reached out and touched it, poking it with two fingers. “It’s elastic.”
“The blade isn’t very useful,” Xu Huo said, pulling out the “Mini Mushroom Cloud.” “I wonder if a blast can pry it open.”
The Painting Woman leaned in to touch it, clapping her hands repeatedly, mouthing, “This is good!”
Xu Huo took out the “Storm Shelter,” signaling her to go inside. After using “Auto Film,” he tossed out the “Mini Mushroom Cloud” and closed the door.
At that moment, the old man who had retreated was speaking with players who had come to help. “It’s too late to save the young master, but those two won’t escape either. Forget B-grade players—even A-grade players can’t survive the arena. At least we’ve avenged the young master.”
As he spoke, he looked at the arena, now shrunk to half its original size. The arena had originally occupied a considerable area, like a building naturally situated in the city, surrounded by adjacent shops and stalls. Now, as it suddenly contracted, it not only dragged down the nearby structures but also tore up the ground itself. The massive building now resembled a constantly shrinking fleshy tumor.
Besides the arena’s players, there were also over a dozen players from Harmony City’s government nearby. Their expressions soured at the sight, and they stepped forward to negotiate with the old man. But the old man spoke first, forcefully, “Two players who don’t know the rules killed my young master. They must die here…”
Before he could finish, the “tumor” suddenly expanded several times over, accompanied by a deafening roar!