Chapter 2160: Clash (1)
Dou Shengnan had indeed come to the Double-Bright Bird Administrative District, and this news spread completely within ten minutes. The reason was simply that she was too arrogant. Even after shaking off the people from the 22nd Military District, she appeared in a different place without changing her appearance, showing up in public as if nothing had happened. This time, not only the Lichuan City Government and the 22nd Military District, but also the Double-Bright Bird Administrative District took measures.
Not long after Dou Shengnan appeared, she was spotted by players from Zone 008 again. But she didn't linger long in Double-Bright Bird, seemingly leaving again quickly.
"It seems the deal between the Eerie Sound Knights and the Tian Clan is extraordinary, enough for her to use herself as bait to buy time." Crouching at the entrance of the Game Government Base, Nie Xuan lowered his voice and said to Xu Huo beside him.
Soon, new messages appeared on the Message Collection Terminal. Dou Shengnan had run off to another city in the district, nearly crossing half the district from Double-Bright Bird.
Xu Huo had no intention of leaving. He even had the leisure to browse the terminal, reading the jokes ordinary people made about military players and government players. Zone 008 didn't seem intent on killing Dou Shengnan at all costs either. She moved through several cities without causing much damage, and this continued until around 9:10 PM.
"It's about time." Xu Huo finally stood up, telling Nie Xuan to wait near the plaza while he went to Double-Bright Bird Pharmaceuticals and found Dr. Dian.
The Painting Woman had already been playing at Dr. Dian's place for most of the day. At first, she proactively helped him clean, tidying up the already spotless robot-cleaned area all over again. After Dr. Dian repeatedly stopped her, she hesitantly asked if he really didn't need her help, explaining that when she stayed at other people's houses, she always helped with chores—otherwise, she'd be seen as freeloading.
After going back and forth a few times, Dr. Dian's emotions shifted from sympathy to guilt and pity. Not only did he let the Painting Woman stay in his office, but he also had robots run errands to buy all sorts of little things she wanted to eat or play with.
When Xu Huo arrived at Dr. Dian's workspace as a visitor, he saw the unkempt middle-aged man scratching his head while finishing his own work, all while keeping an eye on the Painting Woman to prevent her from "anxiously" picking up cleaning tools again.
Seeing Xu Huo, Dr. Dian immediately pointed at the Painting Woman and said, "Talk to her. Tell her to stop working. I have plenty of robots here to do the work."
With that, he excused himself to the restroom.
The Painting Woman patted her chest, then gave a thumbs-up, indicating she had Dr. Dian completely wrapped around her finger.
"Good." Xu Huo waited outside for Dr. Dian to come out, then got straight to the point, saying he wanted to leave something with the Painting Woman and hoped Dr. Dian would agree.
Dr. Dian didn't think much of it at first and agreed, but Xu Huo then asked for a different location, because this place wasn't big enough.
"How much space do you need?" Dr. Dian asked, slightly puzzled, then emphasized, "You remember your sister is only staying with me for one day, right?"
Xu Huo smiled. "When I come to pick her up, I'll take the thing with me. If I don't come, I'll send someone else."
He had previously said he had no friends here, which was why he wanted his sister to stay with him. Now he was saying someone would come to pick up the person and the item—a clear contradiction.
But people who agree to the first request often find it hard to refuse the second one that follows. So Dr. Dian hesitated for a moment before asking how much space he needed.
"At least fifty meters high and thirty meters wide," Xu Huo said.
Dr. Dian gave him a deep look. "Looks like I can't refuse today?"
"Not at all. You're a trustworthy person, which is why I entrusted my sister and the item to you." Xu Huo added with a hint of sorrow, "If I don't come back, and no one comes to pick them up, you..."
Dr. Dian raised a hand to stop him. "Stop. You'd better come yourself. One day means one day. Latest by tomorrow afternoon."
With that, he led the way, crossing a corridor bridge into another building. "This building is mostly used as sample storage warehouses. Most of them are empty."
By this time, the staff in the building had already left for the day. Only robots were still working. Dr. Dian used his access to open a warehouse. "This should be big enough. Put whatever you need to."
The Painting Woman had already walked inside. Xu Huo stood at the door and asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll put something dangerous in there?"
Dr. Dian had no intention of going in. He simply said, "Even if you threw a bomb in there, it wouldn't blow through this building."
"Don't worry, it's not a bomb." Xu Huo took out the "Time Tower."
Time-space type items have the characteristic of mutual incompatibility. So when the "Time Tower" appeared within the Double-Bright Bird Administrative District, some time-space items deployed in the city failed, and time-space instruments were also interfered with. Of course, considering this possibility, most of the instruments deployed in the city were not time-space type, so it didn't cause much chaos in the short term.
Mutual interference between time-space items and instruments wasn't uncommon. Maybe a passing player had just used an item. As long as nothing went wrong, the local government wouldn't pursue it too much.
By now, the time had passed 9:17 PM. After walking out of Double-Bright Bird Pharmaceuticals, Xu Huo tried to manipulate time within this range—and succeeded.
But just as he turned to head toward the plaza, a barely perceptible black thread suddenly swept across his waist!
Instantly expanding his spiritual realm to its maximum, Xu Huo barely managed to move a hundred meters before being intercepted again. Under the influence of the "Time Tower," A-grade items with super-strong defensive effects like "Space Sphere," "Inviolable Domain," and "Auto Film" had all failed. Using the "Lifelike Wax Figure" and the space ray barrier strengthened by "Cube Space," he barely blocked the first attack before being blasted away.
In the less than a second of retreat, no fewer than twenty item attacks followed in succession. An invisible force repeatedly struck his defensive item "Rainbow Light." The floating light spots flickered rapidly as they automatically absorbed the attacks, but a gap was soon found. A slender willow-leaf blade pierced through the defense and stabbed toward Xu Huo's heart!
Even with the assistance of the "Protagonist Halo" trait, Xu Huo still had to consume one use of "Cat's Triple Life Loan." Then, a chilling killing intent approached from behind. Without turning around, he knew—another wave of items was coming!
Wasting no extra effort, he first used "Harmonious Atmosphere" to disable some of the items, then quickly used the Black Blade to block several long-range attack items that had already reached him. After that, he retracted "Harmonious Atmosphere," used "Dimensional Fog" to ensure he wouldn't be affected by traits, and then consecutively activated "Holder's Demise," "Weight of Life," and "Righteous Holy Light." "Weight of Life" was a gravity item that didn't distinguish friend from foe, so he was also affected. Forced to descend toward the ground, he took out "City Sand Table" and "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe." While the opponent dodged "Holder's Demise," he locked onto them within the range of his spiritual realm, forcibly moving them to his preset position. At the same time, his spiritual materialization and "All Things Want to Cut Everything" attacked together!
Time-space type defensive items were among the most useful of all defensive items, but since Xu Huo couldn't use them now, neither could anyone else. That was why he took the risk to pin the opponent in place. However, this attack didn't succeed. When his spiritual materialization receded, there was nothing left under the tangent line.