Chapter 2259: A Special Space
The female player said somewhat apologetically, "Thanks to your help, I was able to complete today's goals so quickly. It's a bit embarrassing to take food and things with me."
She said this, but her hands didn't hesitate for a moment.
"What are you going to do next?" the female player asked again. "You're so strong. Taking this opportunity to kill more people would be perfect for clearing the game."
"I'm about done for today," Xu Huo said. "You're injured. Go back and rest first."
The bodies of the killed players had all been thrown back into their respective rooms. He wondered if these corpses would be cleaned up when eight o'clock tonight came around.
The female player didn't press further, only reminding him, "I'm afraid there will be more people competing with us for the 'Prison Guard' keys tomorrow."
Xu Huo had already completed the cumulative number required by the game, but that didn't mean he wouldn't need to kill more prisoners in the following days. And even if he met the headcount requirement, without a key to return to his room by eight in the morning, he would still lose the game.
As time went on, the "Prisoner" mentality would start to change. Since losing was inevitable, they might as well all lose together. Judging from those who had left the game, losing didn't result in death.
Xu Huo nodded, then headed toward the core of the space prison.
Space power had to undergo special treatment to be visible to the naked eye. When he had first looked at it this morning, this giant cube had only a rough outline, but now it had almost taken on a concrete form. It seemed to have some fundamental differences from Lawrence Li's Space Ray.
Lawrence Li's space power reflected a certain amount of light. Even people who hadn't evolved could judge its approximate position by the refracted light when his power was concentrated. This was equivalent to changing the state of the Space Ray, making it seem as if it had truly condensed into a solid form.
But this giant cube was similar to the Space Ray in Xu Huo's understanding. It had no color at all. Even when continuously stacked, it was like a patch of air that any object or light could penetrate, leaving virtually no trace.
Now, however, it had taken on a specific shape, seeming more stable.
Xu Huo moved closer to observe. Those shifting space entities seemed to have faint shadows, but they weren't obvious. They appeared and disappeared in an instant, difficult to capture.
At the same time, the changes in these space entities had increased. They almost couldn't be fixed in any single geometric form, constantly transforming every moment. The naked eye could no longer track their trajectories, but each time they split, they quickly reassembled. This still indicated they were bound by certain rules.
In Xu Huo's understanding, space power was static. It could become sharp blades, barriers, or geometric shapes, but once the controller let go, the aggregated form would quickly revert to its original state. Even space explosion-type items were no exception. However, the space inside the giant cube before him seemed alive and flowing, its form changes impossible to predict—Lawrence Li's Space Ray was merely a simple change in direction and separation or growth.
But these space entities were all contained within the giant cube, suggesting that some framework was needed to maintain its form. This bore a subtle resemblance to the "Cube Space" he had obtained earlier.
The internal rays of the "Cube Space" were also flexible, capable of quickly merging and absorbing newly entering rays of different densities while maintaining long-term existence. Thanks to the instrument's effect, the holder could easily change the state of the rays within, making operations like Ray Blade or Ray Barrier much simpler.
After sitting quietly beneath the giant cube for a long time, Xu Huo attempted to construct a cube of his own.
Of course, there was space inside the cube as well, but the ray barrier itself was a layer of obstruction. It was easy to stack things on the outside, but much harder to change the state of the rays inside through the cube.
It took Xu Huo an hour and a half to barely construct a smaller cube inside the large one. To make it more realistic, he changed the angle of the small cube, making it appear to exist independently within the large cube. But it only lasted for two or three seconds before it lost control and disappeared.
Was this related to the degree of control over space power?
If he could simultaneously create multiple small cubes within the large cube, each relatively independent, and then compress them multiple times before releasing them, he might barely achieve a similar state...
But this was far too different from the internal structure of the giant cube. The space entities inside weren't simply stacked space power. And if he had to construct each internal space entity one by one like this, it wouldn't be meaningful.
By the afternoon, Xu Huo still had no leads. Rubbing his sore eyes, he decided to return to his room to rest and replenish some energy.
On the way back, he encountered a severely injured "Prison Guard." The "Prisoner" who had killed him was already gone, and the key on him had vanished.
Xu Huo still carried some pills he had taken from other players. "Someone hid some medicine. It says 'Recovery Potion.' Want to give it a try?"
The player barely nodded.
Xu Huo poured out two pills and had him swallow them. They had some effect—at least the bleeding from his wounds slowed down.
"Thank you," the player said sincerely once he had a bit more strength. "If you hadn't come by, I would definitely be dead. That prisoner probably left because he noticed you. He was injured too."
Xu Huo nodded. "This counts as a loss for you, right? You should be back in Buliucheng soon."
He took out a name card and placed it in the player's pocket. "Come find me if you're interested."
"I definitely will," the player promised solemnly, then vanished from the corridor.
Xu Huo walked a bit further but didn't find the escaped prisoner. He had likely left the game as well.
However, when he approached the area near the room corresponding to his key, he noticed a Water Cube floating in a corner. It was only the size of a thumb, but the time power it contained was no different from a full-sized Water Cube.
This was another remarkable aspect of this one-third game—it actually allowed time power to maintain a fixed form, directly presented before one's eyes.
Sometimes it was like a fine rain, sometimes like a raging torrent, sometimes like nothing at all, sometimes like everything.
This was Dr. Wu's description of time power.
When time power was activated, it could be like a fine rain or a raging torrent, depending on how the Evolver controlled it. But when left unmanipulated, it existed everywhere, sometimes visible, sometimes invisible.
The space prison was a place of chaotic yet stable space. Perhaps it was inherently connected to different spaces, allowing it to easily draw upon the time power within them. And because it possessed a height of space and time power far exceeding human limits, it could manifest in the form of flowing water.
However, Xu Huo couldn't sense the source of the Water Cube. When he used super items to draw upon time power, there was always a fixed direction. If nothing was visible from the outside, then the only possibility was the interior of the Water Cube itself. (Chapter End)