Chapter 2140: Disconnected Players
Zhao Zizhen looked back. "Oh, isn't that Dou Shengnan?"
Xu Huo expressionlessly closed the news. "You know this person?"
"The Eerie Sound Knights, a very famous player organization," Zhao Zizhen said. "Every single member is a wanted criminal."
"Most other wanted criminals, aside from Super Players, tend to keep their heads down, afraid that any day they'll be hunted by high-level players short on cash. But the Eerie Sound Knights are different—they go everywhere with extreme arrogance, as if they don't know how to write the word 'fear.' In reality, about a third of them are A-rank, and the rest are B-rank, yet they're ridiculously overconfident."
Seeing Xu Huo's grim expression, she pulled up a stool and sat beside him. "What, you have a grudge against them?"
Xu Huo said nothing, but she didn't mind and continued, "If you do, I'd advise you to settle it later. Dou Shengnan is also an A-rank player and a Super Evolver. Her mastery of Spiritual Power is said to be flawless—reportedly unmatched among her peers. As for whether there are other Mental Super Evolvers, that's anyone's guess."
Zhao Zizhen knew he was also a Mental Super Evolver, so she added with some goodwill, "She probably didn't come alone. Rumor has it that the leader, Jin Feixue, has some connections, which is why they can move through the game unhindered. They've done all sorts of evil, yet no one can truly strike at their foundation."
Xu Huo remained calm. "I had the fortune of seeing them once in another district. Back then, I watched them loading ordinary people onto their starship and almost thought they weren't the robbers featured on the game news channel, but human traffickers."
"More or less the same." Zhao Zizhen shrugged. "That's why people say Jin Feixue has backing. Who do they sell all those stolen goods to? People are no different—plenty of high-level districts treat those new districts as expendable resources. It's just that saying it outright sounds bad and stirs up public outrage, so hiring a third party to do the dirty work is much more convenient."
"As for the Tian family matter, I think it's probably true. Members of the Eerie Sound Knights showing up here again—who knows if they're colluding."
Although the Tian family also had Mental Evolvers of considerable strength, Dou Shengnan's appearance in Zone 008 suggested, at the very least, that the Eerie Sound Knights were involved in this affair.
"The name Jin Feixue is always linked to the Eerie Sound Knights, whether on the Bounty Platform or Under Dimension, but I've never seen any connection to player factions from other districts." Xu Huo glanced toward the transport company. It was nearly evening now, and the sunset on the horizon was a vivid, blood-red hue, strikingly beautiful.
"I heard about it by chance when I went to some district before." Zhao Zizhen said, "Hard to say if it's true—after all, the name Jin Feixue might not even be real."
Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Haha! A Stellar Corporation building just got blown up!"
Not far from them, a building under the Stellar banner had its top floor obliterated, along with several neighboring structures, by an outer-zone player who had forcefully stormed the Tian family laboratory. The barrier of the Defense Device hadn't even had time to activate.
"With so many types of time-space items and instruments around, interference is inevitable." Xu Huo noticed that the city government's Enforcement Team was deliberately steering the players' battle zone. He opened the map of the Double-Bright Bird Administrative District. "Not far ahead is a plaza."
"They definitely can't be driven out of the city. Find an open space to avoid harming innocents." Zhao Zizhen said, "I've been to that plaza. It should be equipped with high-level Jamming Devices and Blockade Barriers. Question is whether they'll be effective."
If they weren't effective, the Enforcement Team wouldn't be so carefully herding people there... Just as this thought crossed Xu Huo's mind, a semi-transparent white barrier lit up around the plaza. The dome-shaped barrier covered the entire plaza like a lid. As it activated, several players who had already entered the plaza suddenly froze, then, with barely concealed shock, tried to reactivate their items.
This scene stunned the other players who hadn't yet rushed into the plaza. One nearby turned and ran, warning his companion, "Get out! Trapped inside—can't use items..."
But it seemed too late. A second barrier activated, extending a kilometer outward from the plaza's perimeter, trapping a second wave of players who had just arrived nearby. Among them were not only outer-zone players but also local players from the Double-Bright Bird Administrative District—and once inside, they were all treated equally.
Long-range attack items and close-range defense items were all unusable. The weapons in their hands instantly regressed to cold steel. However, a lucky few had managed to pull out explosive-type items just before the barrier rose. Uncertain of the barrier's weak points, they could only randomly attack some part of it. But the barrier's resilience far exceeded the players' expectations—it merely trembled slightly before fully absorbing the impact.
Local players were clearly familiar with this type of Blockade Barrier, so they didn't panic when their items failed. Instead, they seized the opportunity to harvest the players around them.
The Blockade Barrier wasn't completely transparent, and with two layers stacked, it became even harder to see from a distance. Those outside couldn't tell what was happening inside, but judging by the Enforcement Team that had entered the blockade zone before the second barrier rose, it was undoubtedly a multi-sided hunt.
At that moment, the outer-zone players watching from the shadows, whether openly or covertly, all grew serious. No one had told them before coming to Zone 008 that the instruments here were this powerful—capable of disabling all items.
"Is it a Super Item specifically designed to suppress other items?" someone couldn't help asking. "Or has Zone 008 already developed this kind of instrument?"
But another said, "Is it just items failing, or are traits and items failing together?"
If both traits and items failed, that meant they had fallen into the situation players feared most—losing connection with the game.
Once disconnected from the game, items that needed to be retrieved from the Personal Panel and activated with specific operations were almost completely useless. Traits might be slightly better off, but they often also had "activation methods"—like spoken commands or specific gestures—that required the game to execute. Once disconnected, players were essentially reduced to a blank slate, relying only on their physical combat ability and any protective suits they were wearing that had inherent defensive properties.
"What's the difference between this and herding sheep into a pen for slaughter?" Some outer-zone players quickly took action. They could watch Instance players and local players fight, but if it threatened their own safety—absolutely not!
Many players spontaneously began searching for weak points in the barrier and the instruments or items generating it. But unfortunately, the local Enforcement Team was numerous enough, and player organizations had also intervened. Not only was it impossible to search up close, even getting near the barrier was difficult.
"A-rank time-space items have no effect." Zhao Zizhen also moved closer to the barrier, then turned to Xu Huo beside her. "Since interference doesn't work, has Zone 008 really found a way to sever the connection between players and the game?"
Xu Huo extended his Spiritual Realm, rapidly scanning an area nearly four kilometers wide. "It's not surprising. Isn't the legendary game development company supposedly hidden in a district that tickets can't reach?"
His gaze then fixed on one spot. "Follow me."