Chapter 2251: Lining Up to Take the Bait
"Without asking, I wouldn't have known—there are quite a few people like this in Buliucheng," Zhu Xiaojin said. "Actually, Buliucheng is still trading with other cities. Some players, to cut costs, have set aside parts of the city specifically as planting bases. Buliucheng is so big, theoretically, as long as someone isn't completely without survival skills, finding food isn't that hard. After all, the city isn't that developed, and a lot of things rely on manual labor."
"But living well is definitely out of the question, so some people have started targeting their own kind."
The captured man's face was full of indignation. "What do you know? If I could survive, who would want to eat people? You players either just kill people when you come here, or you oppress us ordinary folks. Forget eating well—people are starving to death. Besides killing, what else can I do?"
"You're right," Xu Huo said, having already recorded his information. "You might have had no choice, but I have a legitimate reason to arrest you."
"Feed him some medicine to keep him docile, lock him up first. Once the wanted notice comes through, kill him."
Zhu Xiaojin nodded. Seeing that the man was about to argue, he simply dislocated his jaw and dragged him away.
The others brought back all had solid evidence. To keep the process complete, none of them were killed—they were all locked up.
While waiting for the city government's wanted notice, Xu Huo went out again, trying to expand his unlocked area. But since there were many active players today, after reaching the 7th District, he could no longer identify the boundaries of the unlocked area and had to turn back.
On his way back, he encountered several players tailing him. Even a casual glance at the numbers above their heads showed their murderous intent.
Passing by a residential building, he placed a few recorders in the corners. Then, as he exited the building, he suddenly accelerated.
"Trying to escape!" A masked player intercepted him, a light shield springing from his palm, knocking Xu Huo back into the residential building. Two more players flanked him from left and right, the three of them forcing Xu Huo into a retreat.
"What are you doing!" Xu Huo shouted while blocking their props. "I'm the joint archon of the 7th District, representing the city government. Aren't you afraid of being wanted for attacking me?"
Three of them attacked, while two assisted from the side. This group of five clearly knew his current identity—their goal was to kill him.
"To contact the city government, we don't necessarily need to listen to you," one of them said. "Just getting your work badge is enough!"
Becoming a temporary worker still required Xu Huo's approval, which was far less convenient than contacting the city government directly. Eliminating Xu Huo would solve the problem once and for all.
Xu Huo said with some exasperation, "I got this work badge through immense effort. Why don't you get your own?"
"I see—you're a bunch of poor bastards who can't afford it, right?"
This remark hit a nerve with the players. Didn't they want to connect with the city government? But the government only accepted instruments and machinery, and in large quantities at high prices. An armed robot cost tens of millions of white notes. Spending that much on something flashy but useless was worse than investing in props. Even if they exchanged props of equivalent value, they were reluctant. That much money meant how many instance runs?
After weighing it, killing and robbing was the better deal.
"Kill him and grab the communicator!" one of them shouted.
"Won't turn back until hitting the wall!" another player yelled. As his words fell, a giant barrier appeared behind Xu Huo, completely sealing him inside the building.
Xu Huo slammed into the barrier and was forced back into the building. In the abandoned office floor, the other five players arrived one after another, blocking the floor-to-ceiling windows on the other side and the doors left and right.
Another layer of barrier sealed off behind them, easily turning the building into a completely enclosed space.
"Let's see where you run now!" The leading player, his face covered in scars, drew a palm-length short blade as he approached Xu Huo.
Three minutes later, Xu Huo walked out of the building and headed straight back to his temporary office.
He locked up the five players, whose limbs had been broken and bound, and who had been injected with sedatives, in a separate room. He said to the Painting Woman, who was staying to watch them, "If anyone wakes up, give them another shot. Don't let them get their spirits up."
The Painting Woman made a gesture indicating no problem.
After coming out, he heard from Zhu Xiaojin that several of their teams had been attacked today. Aside from those trying to get work badges from them, most were just trying to hinder their clearance. A lawless city was very convenient for players, especially those who had already given up on clearing the instance.
"Tell them to be careful when going out. Don't spread the manpower too thin." Xu Huo then selected another dozen or so players from the applications to come help here.
"We need to keep people here," Zhu Xiaojin said. He had just returned from sending people off. He didn't trust the newcomers, nor did he trust Shen Fu and Shi Meng, worrying they might kill the captured players to clear the instance while others were out.
"It's fine. Didn't we set up props?" Xu Huo estimated the time and took a batch of people he had brought back to the hall into an inner room to lock up. "Besides, someone is watching. It shouldn't be a big problem."
Seeing how confident he was, Zhu Xiaojin, despite his worries, didn't say much. After all, the top priority now was gathering enough people.
Xu Huo came out again soon after. He couldn't afford to be idle either. The communicator was flooded with messages—not just from temporary workers, but also videos sent by other players. These people didn't want to cooperate with him; they just wanted to use his channel to get the wanted notices.
He didn't exclude them. Anyone who met the criteria, he submitted to the city government, but none had received a reply yet.
After finishing, he put the communicator used to contact the city government into his luggage compartment, planning to meet a few players interested in cooperating. They were restricted by the blockade zone and couldn't enter the 5th District, but they claimed to have important clues and hoped to trade some wanted criminals from him. The specific numbers could be discussed in person.
But no sooner had he left than players stormed the temporary enforcement building. Breaking past Shen Fu and the Painting Woman left to guard it, they burst into the room where the prisoners were held.
"Empty! Why is it empty!" The player who broke in stared at the empty room, then turned to look at the Painting Woman, who had been knocked back. "Where did the people go?!"
The Painting Woman raised her communicator. "Every word and action of yours has been recorded. Gathering with weapons to break into a prison—congratulations! From now on, you're wanted criminals!"
The players who had rushed in changed color, realizing they had been tricked. Without a second thought, they tried to flee. But at that moment, countless shreds of paper floated up inside and outside the room. An incalculable number of paper pieces turned into sharp blades, attacking their defense barriers from all directions with no blind spots!