Chapter 2237: One-Third City
[Detected that player Passerby A has arrived at "Buliucheng Station," defaulting to participation in B-level instance "One-Third City."]
[Background Introduction: One-Third City is a super-large city with a long history of crime. It is said that the ancestors of all its residents were criminals, concentrated and imprisoned here for ease of supervision. The genes of these criminals seem to have granted them power beyond ordinary people during evolution. Therefore, three years after the evolution began, the District Government released a pardon document, promising to release all criminals in this city, provide them with free identity documents, and make them legal citizens.]
[But the good times did not last long. Due to the successive impacts of local evolvers and the integration of the game, the District Government gradually lost its regulatory capacity. Within just a few years, this city became a paradise for criminals, with more and more criminals spontaneously gathering here. The city's area expanded rapidly. Just as it was about to spiral out of control, a player organization that rose within the city intervened efficiently, quickly took control of the situation, and delineated the activity areas for the city's permanent residents, ultimately calming these criminals down.]
[To punish criminals and attract outsiders, One-Third City enacted strict legal codes. Everyone entering this city must abide by them. Anyone who commits a crime will be added to the wanted list, becoming a target for free hunting by the entire city.]
[Instance Task: Kill 1000 criminals.]
[Instance Time: Thirty days of local time.]
[Please note, players: Once this instance introduction is fully read, you will be automatically teleported into the city. Task requirements and unlocked areas of the city depend on the player's specific situation. Be sure to prepare in advance.]
Having quickly read through the instance introduction, Xu Huo's shock at the number 1000 had not yet subsided when a countdown appeared on his personal panel. Five seconds later, having just arrived at the station, he was forcibly teleported into One-Third City—the teleportation method was quite unfriendly, dropping him right between two buildings. Before he could move to either side, over a dozen players surged from above and below, unanimously attacking him.
Using a Space Ray Barrier and defensive items, he easily blocked this wave of attacks. Xu Huo adjusted his position in mid-air, planning to find a floor to enter, when he suddenly saw a circular ring one zhang in diameter appear on the ground. The ring had a faint halo around it, cutting the inside and outside into two distinct parts.
No way.
"No way!"
The latter exclamation came from a player on a nearby building, and the moment Xu Huo saw the ring, he realized that this ring likely represented the currently unlocked area of One-Third City for him.
Indeed, this instance not only crazily demanded he kill a thousand criminals in thirty days but also only gave him a single spot to stand on.
Controlling his spatial power to move over, Xu Huo landed in the center of the ring. The faint halo released from the ring's edge on the ground did not disappear. It seemed that this nail-sized unlocked area had not expanded due to his arrival.
Although the instance introduction mentioned that the player organization controlling One-Third City had delineated areas for the city, it likely didn't go into such detail as a one-zhang range. Clearly, there were other rules within this city that required the clearing players to explore on their own.
He hadn't stood there for two seconds before players around him began attacking again. This time, the attacks were fiercer, as if trying to force him out of this unlocked circle.
The instance introduction didn't mention whether becoming a criminal affected the criteria for clearing the instance, but judging by how eager these people were, it was easy to imagine the severe consequences of leaving this "unlocked area." Their goal wasn't even necessarily to kill him.
To prevent these people from blowing up the street along with him, Xu Huo put on a "Space Sphere" to ensure his safety before carefully observing his surroundings.
It was unclear whether damaging city buildings constituted a crime, but it didn't seem to be a big deal. Apart from the commotion caused by the players attacking him, the streets and surrounding buildings showed varying degrees of damage. Some places were under repair, others had repair machines broken during the process, and there were other players fighting nearby. This welcome ceremony for new players wasn't targeting him alone—everyone in the city seemed to unanimously follow the same rule.
This was already strange enough, but even stranger was that, despite being a place swarming with players, ordinary people were still peering around.
Although most of the city's residents were once criminals, after a long period of dilution and the gap between players and ordinary people, it shouldn't have come to a point where even ordinary people wanted to join in the hunt for clearing players.
Soon after, two more players were teleported nearby. Xu Huo could also see their area boundaries. He couldn't tell where the other boundaries were, but the one closest to him covered several nearby streets.
With more space, they could find places to hide immediately.
Those two seemed equally shocked but didn't linger and quickly moved away from the concentrated fire zone. Meanwhile, players from the building near Xu Huo came out, steadily closing in on him.
He had never seen an instance city so united in targeting clearing players. It was clear that the guides on Under Dimension weren't entirely reliable. But regardless of what was true or false, the task was to kill criminals, and killing criminals shouldn't be a problem.
Xu Huo swept his gaze around and quickly locked onto a player. This person had a wanted notice posted a kilometer away. He directly pulled the person into his unlocked area. Just as he was about to act, the captured player panicked, pointing at his own face and then at his throat.
This person wasn't mute—he had been shouting loudly earlier—but after being caught, he suddenly lost his voice... Xu Huo used a removal item on him.
After the item's effect was removed, the player's true face was revealed, and it wasn't the one on the wanted notice.
"Those damn bastards..." The other person struggled to speak, barely able to form words before eagerly complaining. But the next second, a sharp light swept across from the side. Xu Huo's defensive item blocked it, but this person was sliced in half!
Xu Huo turned his head and precisely locked onto the player who had acted. The man stood on a distant building, his expression provocative, confident that Xu Huo wouldn't dare leave or kill anyone recklessly.
There were plenty of players here, and it was easy to manipulate things. Who knew if the killed player was a criminal? Would killing the wrong person affect the instance clearance?
Although Xu Huo had obtained a local communicator in advance, who could guarantee that the information on the Message Collection Terminal was real? It would be difficult to filter through in a short time.
The player who had just tried to kill him and the captured player at least showed one thing: killing non-criminals wouldn't have too severe consequences. But that was for stranded players. As a clearing player, Xu Huo didn't need to gamble on that.
Therefore, he randomly selected about twenty people around him and asked them if they were on the wanted list. (Chapter End)