Chapter 2296: Poisonous Scheme and Bargaining Chips
This player told him that the gaps in the rules of space were actually the same as the effects of cross-space teleportation items or instruments—they opened a portal between different spaces. The gaps in the rules of space might be relatively stable portals, but they had no fixed direction or range. In other words, where the gap teleported you was unknown—it could be a populated district, an abandoned district unreachable by ticket, or even a place where humans simply couldn't survive.
But generally speaking, it could be used to achieve the goal of crossing space. If you were lucky, a wanted criminal or something might even escape the instance through it.
This kind of spatial rift could be naturally formed or artificially created. In terms of formation, naturally occurring spatial rifts were more like a product of dimensional storms. They shouldn't exist in space at all, as they would make space unstable.
"Did you run into some difficult problem?" the other person asked enthusiastically. "I have a few friends who have some experience in this area. If you have time, we could exchange ideas."
Xu Huo left a contact method, saying they could get in touch another day.
Given the situation in Buliucheng, such spatial rifts definitely wouldn't be naturally formed. But they appeared at irregular intervals, and judging by the way the city center had been devoured, they were precisely confined to a certain range. It was unclear whether this was deliberately preserved to destroy traces, or because of the time-space restrictions of the One-Third Game, which could only confine them to this range.
But no matter what, it would probably be very difficult to go in and investigate.
He had completely forgotten the content of the second game. He could only estimate how long he had spent in the game based on the consumption of the food and water he carried. Aside from time, there were no other meaningful clues—just a few business cards of unknown authenticity.
He hadn't contacted the people on the cards, and they hadn't contacted him either.
The duration of the second game was shorter than the first. He hadn't obtained any more items, which meant the content of the second game didn't involve players killing each other. Yet winning the game in such a short time could only mean the second game was mostly related to Temporal Evolution. If it were like the first game, more players would have survived, and at least someone would have revealed fragments of information about the second game, even if it was just a game notification.
Xu Huo stood still for a moment, then turned his gaze to his left. Inside a small building there, "Ding Dong Bleeding" and several of her companions were present.
Those people were also observing him. When they saw him suddenly look their way, their expressions changed. But before they could retreat, Xu Huo was already in front of them.
Standing in the middle of the group, he looked at the trap triggered upon landing and the three-layered Blockade Barrier, and said calmly, "Are you sure there are still people in the city center? Are you sure the Water Cube was brought by your former companions?"
The several players from the original city government had been startled earlier and had already taken various items in their hands. Now, seeing him standing in the barrier without making a move, they cautiously kept their distance, each standing at the exits of the floor before speaking to him.
"If there were no people in the city center, who approved your application?" "Ding Dong Bleeding" said.
"The city center is already a ruin, not even a piece of good land left. It's not surprising that the city government was moved out." Xu Huo looked at this tattooed woman. "You are people from the city government, originally possessing authority. After all these years of preparing equipment, it's easy to restart the office system."
"The reason you can't release too many temporary Archon slots might be due to some force majeure factors, or it might be that you want to keep more players here. After all, the One-Third Game regularly consumes a considerable number of people. If all the players cleared the game and left, they and the people they killed would cause the city's population to plummet."
"To preserve Buliucheng, the best way is to keep those players who dare not kill."
"Because of the restrictions of the One-Third Game, even failing to clear the game means you can't leave. This just works in your favor."
He paused here, swept his gaze over their expressions, and then continued, "Still not planning to tell the truth? I still have a third game. If I can't find a suitable way to escape from you all, I'll have to think of other ideas."
"What do you want to do?" the tattooed woman shouted, outwardly tough but inwardly weak.
Xu Huo raised his hand and took out a bottle of separately stored germs. After showing it to them, he loosened his two fingers, and the glass container shattered on the floor. The small piece of germ inside immediately regained its vitality. The purple-black mixed with gray-black germs looked unpleasant, but what was truly terrifying was its growth speed. In just a few breaths, it had grown to the size of a palm, continuously emitting some black dust.
Even through the Blockade Barrier, the city government players still put on their protective masks immediately.
"It doesn't just spread through breathing; contact works too. It can also contaminate water, food, soil, and buildings. Everything you see before you, except metal, it can grow on."
"Moreover, this germ has been improved over several generations and is not easily killed by potions."
"I don't know how many people are in the city government, and I'm too lazy to find out. If I can't clear the game and leave Buliucheng smoothly, these germs will spread throughout the entire city at the fastest speed. If Buliucheng is no more, the instance will naturally disappear."
Xu Huo coldly looked at the few people in front of him. "A city made up of criminals and their descendants should have ceased to exist long ago."
The city government people naturally had backup plans when they dared to come. Having witnessed Xu Huo's abilities before, they had deliberately prepared ample space items and instruments, hoping to escape quickly if the previous stagnation occurred again. But since they came, they were prepared to die—whether at the hands of a Xu Huo who had turned hostile, or in the city center...
What they absolutely hadn't expected was that Xu Huo would come up with such a poisonous scheme.
Indeed, making the instance fail was also a method. But Buliucheng was so large—even killing district by district would take ages, let alone the many players within.
But if it were plague and poison, spreading quickly without a timely antidote, then no matter how big the city, it wouldn't hold out for long.
For a moment, the breathing of the few people in the room became heavy. They stared intently at Xu Huo, as if trying to judge whether he would be such a ruthless person... No one dared to bet.
Seeing that the germs had already climbed onto his shoes, the tattooed woman finally found her voice. "Your germs don't have that high a lethality rate."
Otherwise, how could he stand there so defenselessly.
Xu Huo scraped off the newly grown germs from his shoes. "I have an antidote."
The city government people fell silent again. Just as the atmosphere was at a stalemate, Old Cai suddenly entered from outside and urged, "Everyone, let's talk things out properly. Isn't everything negotiable?"