Chapter 2272: Are You Kidding Me?
"Ta-da!" Zhu Xiaojin opened the door with a flourish, stepping aside to make a grand gesture of presentation. Then the tattooed woman and the bartender saw the few companions inside frozen in half-standing positions, their gazes vacant and expressions stagnant, as if a movie had been paused!
Time-space items have an incompatibility trait, meaning that time-space-type items tend to interfere with each other during use, causing them to fail or have their effects greatly diminished. For super items like "Three Seconds of Life," even their mere existence in space can interfere with other time-space items and instruments.
Similarly, to escape the influence of time power, one only needs to wear a similar time-space item on their person, especially for frozen time power, which gives players a relatively long window to react. However, this also depends on the relative strength of the two interfering parties. For example, under the influence of the "Time Tower," even a player like Dou Shengnan, equipped with sufficiently advanced items, would find it difficult to break free. As for the few players in the private room, although they also carried space items, unfortunately, under the clash of time-space forces, their items did not gain the upper hand.
In practical application, Xu Huo felt the difference between an Evolver directly manipulating time power and borrowing time items. Based on his current perception, time items, even super items, use time power very subtly. The duration is short, and it seems to seek an average, spreading the time power thinly across each point, far less simple and brutal than direct manipulation.
Of course, both methods have their pros and cons.
"Time power is unstable in my hands. If you have something to say, say it quickly. If you're too late, I can't guarantee they'll still be alive." Xu Huo said to the two beside him.
The tattooed woman and the bartender exchanged a glance. They had considered rushing over to save them, but not to mention Xu Huo standing in the middle, even the Painting Woman and Zhu Xiaojin alone would be difficult for them to take down easily!
"Fine, whatever you want to know, I can tell you." The tattooed woman conceded.
"Don't speak too soon." Xu Huo said. "Are you sure you really know the truth about the One-Third Game?"
"What do you mean by that?" The tattooed woman frowned. "Since you don't believe me, why force us?"
"Without ever entering the city center, relying only on facts told by someone who once deceived you and didn't care about your companions' lives, are you sure those facts are true?" Xu Huo wasn't looking down on these people. A venue possessing both time and space powers, assuming it was a movable Instance or game, would have long since ceased to exist in Buliucheng. "Was the One-Third Game really brought to Buliucheng by your companion?"
The tattooed woman gritted her teeth. "Although I'm very reluctant to believe it, that's how it is. I'm not afraid to tell you, the person holding the carrier is just an ordinary person, not even a player. Yet he can receive items through the Under Dimension. Doesn't that alone prove his specialness?"
Xu Huo laughed at that. "Are you saying that a person who can hack into a dimensional rift game is trapped in the game he found himself?"
That was a self-contradictory statement.
Repeatedly denied, the tattooed woman grew somewhat angry. "Believe it or not, that's how it is. I'm telling you what I know to be true."
Xu Huo made a "please" gesture, signaling her to continue.
"The city center is indeed covered by time-space power. I didn't lie to you about that. That person clearly said he could find us a relatively safe route, but he himself is controlled by the One-Third Game and cannot find the carrier. He needs us to go in and destroy the carrier. That's why we were scouting for Super Evolvers and eventually targeted you."
The tattooed woman glanced at him again. "We just want to get rid of the One-Third Game and leave Buliucheng."
"Leaving Buliucheng means heading straight into high-risk Instances." Xu Huo didn't believe her words.
"We've already found a way out," the tattooed woman said. "Once we get rid of the One-Third Game, we'll suspend our player status and stop entering Instances."
Xu Huo made no comment, instead shifting the topic. "On the Under Dimension, there's almost no information about the One-Third Game. The rumors about the game in Buliucheng can mix truth with falsehood from the Instances to deceive Clearance Players, but no one ever mentions the game itself. That's very abnormal."
The tattooed woman smiled bitterly. "Don't you understand? Once you enter Buliucheng, almost no one can leave. But the game goes on every moment. To survive, everyone hopes more and more people come to Buliucheng. Of course, no one would talk about the One-Third Game."
"Besides, talk about what? The One-Third? Doesn't this Instance just call itself One-Third City?"
"Or does anyone even remember what the game really looks like?"
Xu Huo was silent for a moment, then asked again, "Besides an unsafe route, is there anything else?"
"What does the game carrier look like? How many games are there in the One-Third Game? What is the purpose of the game? How did it appear?"
"We don't know the game's content," the tattooed woman said, quickly adding, "But the game carrier is a Water Cube."
"Unlike the Water Cubes that occasionally appear in Buliucheng, this one is stable, always in some place in the city center."
"Is that all?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "To destroy the game carrier, you at least need to know the method, right? Didn't your companion in the city center say anything?"
The tattooed woman's face darkened again. "With the Water Cube as the carrier, it can only be destroyed by brute force."
Xu Huo gave a strange smile, raised his hand to release the few players in the private room, then stood up and called to the Painting Woman and Zhu Xiaojin. "Let's go."
The tattooed woman and the others were baffled. "We sincerely invite you to cooperate. If we succeed, not only can we help you clear the Instance, but you can take all the items and instruments left behind in the city center!"
"Destroying the Water Cube by brute force? Hearing that, I thought you were kidding me." Xu Huo turned back to look at them. "If you can't come up with a practical and effective way to destroy the game carrier, there's no need to come talk to me."
"Or you can seek help from A-level players and Super Players on the Under Dimension."
He finished speaking and left, ignoring the people calling after him.
By the time they left the bar, it was almost dark. The group hurried toward the location item, and on the way, Zhu Xiaojin said worriedly, "They won't really team up with the people in the city center to deliberately stall our wanted criminal review, will they?"
"Doing that would force Clearance Players to kill them first." Xu Huo said. "As long as they still want to cooperate with Clearance Players, they won't completely block that path. Tightening it up a bit is possible."
"How strange. Their only demand is to escape the game. Why not just find a Super Player? If the One-Third Game is really that amazing, Super Players would definitely be interested too." Zhu Xiaojin was puzzled. "And it's also strange that no one on the Under Dimension mentions the One-Third Game. It can't be that everyone has a drowning-victim mentality, right? There must be people like me who do good deeds without expecting anything in return. Leaking the existence of a game is nothing, isn't it?"
"It's not necessarily that they don't want to leak it; it could be that they can't leak it." Xu Huo sped up. "Entering Buliucheng is equivalent to entering the game. Since the game can cut off the personal panel, there might be other ways to prevent the game from being leaked."
"Besides, the game carrier is just the claim of the city government players. Whether it exists or not remains to be seen. A-level players might not be able to kill them in Buliucheng, but Super Players are a different story." (End of Chapter)