Chapter 2157: Measures Against Mental Evolvers
There were quite a few players trapped within the blockade barrier. After the troublemaking outer zone players were immediately stopped by the city government players and driven away from the hotel vicinity, the area inside the blockade remained orderly. A large number of ordinary people, without any notification from the city government, automatically moved toward the edges of the blockade barrier. Everyone conscientiously brought out their defense devices, and those who didn't have one on hand at the moment would promptly apply for one from the nearest enforcement team.
Xu Huo moved against the flow of the crowd, overhearing people discussing Dou Shengnan's abilities along the way. They worried about being hypnotized without their knowledge, and if they suddenly went mad and killed someone or committed suicide for no reason, they asked their companions to stop them immediately.
The ordinary people of Lichuan City were still quite optimistic, joking among themselves that if they felt they had been hypnotized, they would promptly knock their companion unconscious or inject them with a muscle relaxant. That way, whether they wanted to kill or commit suicide, they wouldn't be able to.
The rapid development of technology and economy had given ordinary people the confidence and assurance to deal with extreme situations.
However, it wouldn't come to that point anytime soon, unless Dou Shengnan didn't want the city government and the military district to officially step in and join the battle.
Like other players watching the battle, Xu Huo had to change positions almost every few minutes. Due to the influence of various blockade and jamming devices, spiritual power couldn't necessarily break through the obstacles to observe the situation inside and outside the hotel. Yet after changing positions seven or eight times, he still couldn't detect any difference between the Dou Shengnans appearing in the hotel.
Based on his observation, at the same time and place, three Dou Shengnans could appear. Unlike his own different personalities, these Dou Shengnans were completely indistinguishable—same appearance, same expressions, same behavior patterns. These weren't separate personalities; they were fake bodies condensed from Dou Shengnan's spiritual power.
Fake bodies everywhere, but where was the real one?
Xu Huo searched every corner of the hotel but could never find a more special location. It was as if Dou Shengnan's spiritual power was evenly spread across every inch of the hotel's walls and floors...
Human eyes were easily deceived. If an object was too small, it might be right in front of you and still go unseen. Conversely, if an object was too large, it would still be impossible to determine what it was even if it was right in front of you.
Dou Shengnan's spiritual realm was probably enough to cover the ten-kilometer range of the blockade barrier. If she couldn't be found in the hotel, she was likely somewhere else.
Just as Xu Huo was hesitating whether to test with his spiritual power, the streetlights throughout the city suddenly lit up, as if it was the scheduled time for illumination. All the lights within the blockade barrier emitted the same blue glow.
The players of Lichuan City clearly knew the reason for these lights turning on, and they exclaimed in amazement, "Could it be that our entire city is within Dou Shengnan's spiritual realm?"
Xu Huo's expression shifted slightly. He immediately opened his spiritual realm on a small scale, and sure enough, the blue light from the streetlights around him grew brighter. This also attracted the attention of nearby players.
What a grand gesture. Lichuan City had actually added a spiritual power detection system to the entire city's public lighting. Once activated, without needing a Super Evolver to distinguish, anyone could see that there was a Mental Super Evolver nearby.
Besides Xu Huo's location, the other area with brighter lights was near the hotel. Not only was Dou Shengnan there, but also the Super Evolvers from the Spring Thunder organization.
But it wasn't much brighter than anywhere else. It came back to the same point—Dou Shengnan's spiritual power was evenly distributed within this blockade barrier.
For some reason, Spring Thunder sent a few more Super Evolvers over, along with several cannon barrels.
Those cannon barrels weren't actual attack weapons. When another Dou Shengnan disappeared from before the Spring Thunder members, one of them activated a cannon barrel. A conical tip shot out from the barrel, carrying a thread finer than silk, and pierced the spot where Dou Shengnan had just vanished.
The energy inside the cannon barrel flowed along the thread to the conical tip, then sprayed from the tip into the air. Soon, some black mist appeared in midair. This black mist spread out like veins, floating toward the windows, and continued to grow with the constant infusion of energy until it merged with the energy from other cannon barrels, gradually forming a towering tree inside and outside the hotel.
The black mist of the tree varied in density and was not fixed. Wherever Dou Shengnan's figure appeared, the black mist would be especially thick. The traces of her spiritual power's activity were both new and old. From these varying densities and ages, one could relatively slowly detect and predict her whereabouts.
Not only Xu Huo and other foreign players, but even the local players of Lichuan City were stunned by this scene. They seemed not to have expected that Zone 008 had so many methods to counter Mental Super Evolvers. With this, Dou Shengnan would find it hard to remain invisible.
The instrument lights inside the hotel began to flicker frequently again, but this was only to contain Dou Shengnan, because the black mist tree hadn't stopped growing. One of its branches was extending toward a farther location.
If the real Dou Shengnan wasn't in the hotel, she must be in the direction the black mist was extending.
Soon, Dou Shengnan disappeared from the hotel and reappeared on the rooftop of the building. She stood on the spire, opened her pocket watch to glance at it, then snapped her fingers in the air.
In an instant, whether it was the people gathered nearby to watch the excitement or those trying to move as close to the edges of the blockade barrier as possible—ordinary people and players alike—all of them stood frozen in place.
The city suddenly fell silent. Only the Spring Thunder members gradually pursued from the hotel, surrounding Dou Shengnan on all sides.
"What are you trying to do!" a Spring Thunder member shouted, seeing the distant scene.
Dou Shengnan looked around at them, her eyes exceptionally bright but devoid of any human emotion. After a moment, she bypassed them and looked into the distance. "The military district took advantage of the chaos to collect data on my spiritual power and hastily made those materialized cannons to track me. Why bother hiding now, letting a small player organization take the front?"
After a moment, Yang Chong from the city government side appeared. Holding a loudspeaker device, he stood far away and pressured Dou Shengnan, demanding she release the hostages, otherwise the enforcement team would intervene.
Dou Shengnan stood upright, her long coat fluttering in the wind. Ignoring the city government's warning, she said, "And what can you do?"
Obviously, Zone 008 wasn't so easily threatened. Yang Chong raised a metal activator, flipped a switch, and instantly, the defense devices on most people within the entire blockade barrier activated automatically. As the defense spheres ejected, they also initiated a self-destruct interference mode. Within one second, everyone affected by Dou Shengnan's spiritual power fell unconscious under the influence of the sprayed agent.
People without autonomy couldn't serve as Dou Shengnan's hostages. The crisis was resolved, and the city government enforcement team members began to deploy.
But at that moment, the blockade barrier of the Non-Game Area Simulator collapsed from one corner. Dou Shengnan leaped down from the high building, and in midair, she killed several nearby Spring Thunder members!