Chapter 2302: High-Difficulty Zone
Time quickly arrived at the next day. The number of people applying for review at the city government was increasing rapidly. At this rate, waiting just one more day would meet Xu Huo's clearance requirements.
During this time, Old Cai and his group hadn't left, and other players came and went nearby. Seeing nothing happening, they gradually lost interest and went off to hunt for wanted criminals.
Xu Huo spent half a day walking around the city center barrier, but unfortunately didn't encounter the Water Cube again. He also tested with his spiritual power multiple times, but there wasn't exactly a chain reaction triggered by any force intervening. The spatial gaps themselves appeared frequently and chaotically, varying in range and size.
From the marks left on the ground, players might be able to quickly dodge smaller spatial gaps, but some were so large that even high-level players couldn't cross them. These were nearly impossible to avoid.
However, such massive spatial gaps occurred less often.
After observing for a sufficient amount of time, he chose a suitable spot, equipped "Pure Heart" and "Three Seconds of Life," along with other passive life-saving items, and slowly stepped through that layer of barrier.
As long as the city center didn't cut off players' personal panels, these items should be effective. Whether time-space items like "Three Seconds of Life" would work was a matter of luck.
The moment Xu Huo stepped inside, he immediately felt the chaotic time-space forces around him, like unpredictable bullets and cannon fire coming from unknown directions, clinging to him every step of the way. One wrong move could mean instant death!
He released his spiritual realm and sprinted toward the city center at full speed.
With his evolution rate increased and the boost from his spiritual realm allowing rapid traversal through space, his speed should have been extremely fast. However, this chaotic space felt like mud stuffed into the air—just passing through was incredibly difficult. On top of that, the spatial forces formed space blades, forcing him to dodge while slowing down even more. Simply put, it was like carrying a heavy load while walking through a minefield.
He hadn't even advanced two kilometers before encountering his first spatial gap. A black fissure suddenly opened like an eye, turning into a crescent shape and sweeping over his head!
He barely managed to avoid this expanding spatial gap by nearly lying flat against the ground. Sliding past the black eyeball, he flipped over, crouched low to evade it, and dashed without looking back toward two massive spatial walls closing in ahead!
He squeezed through just before the intersecting space blades sealed shut, then slammed to a halt in front of him—because rushing toward him were two giant spatial gaps. What lay beyond them was unknown, but when the sky was peeled open, it revealed pitch-black darkness. Moreover, these spatial gaps weren't entirely stable. Unlike orderly item portals, they had fine serrated edges. Because of these serrations, a spatial gap might be crescent-shaped one second and torn into a bulging sphere the next. It wasn't so much a crack in space as two spaces squeezing each other, one forcing its way into the other.
But that wasn't his immediate concern, because these two spatial gaps had already covered his planned route. The path ahead was blocked, the rear was sealed by massive walls formed by spatial forces, and both sides were walled off by space blades. With no way out, he had to forcibly pull up the surrounding space rays, create several space entities, and then release them.
The technique he learned from "One-Third Game" was somewhat effective here. When the space entities collapsed, the force they released struck the massive walls, causing a large-scale collapse of spatial forces and creating gaps in the blocked walls!
Two more players had joined Old Cai's group. They had been lingering near Xu Huo, not to do anything specific, but because they couldn't relax without watching him. Fortunately, Xu Huo had only been walking outside the barrier without any intention of disturbing the space.
Who would have thought he'd suddenly step inside? The process was too calm, the start too abrupt, that these people had no time to react—in fact, it was too late. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared, unless they chased after him!
Old Cai and the others gathered, staring grimly at the blockade barrier. They were worried both that Xu Huo was dead and that he wasn't. Just as they were about to notify their companions in the city center, a figure suddenly burst out of the barrier, sliding uncontrollably for over ten meters before stopping. When he steadied himself and turned around, they saw the blockade barrier, which had always seemed like a real sky, ripple as if something was trying to squeeze out, but it was ultimately pushed back.
Old Cai and the others were stunned. Looking at the man who seemed as calm as still water, they could hardly believe their eyes!
"You just came out like that?" Old Cai blurted out.
"I didn't get far, so I had to come out this way." Xu Huo glanced at him.
"That's not what I meant," Old Cai swallowed hard, stepped forward urgently, and asked, "What's it like inside?"
"The spatial forces are too strong. The route map provided by the city government is completely unusable. The situation changes constantly," Xu Huo said. "The spatial forces inside are far more dangerous than I imagined."
Old Cai's eyes darkened at this, then he said, "If it were just you alone, could you get in?"
"Hard to say," Xu Huo replied. "If the entire city center area is like this entrance section, it's probably impossible for anyone to get in, even A-level players."
"However, I estimate that the closer you get to the Water Cube's core, the more dangerous it will be. Even if there's a typhoon eye left at the very center, you can only stare at it."
"Also, I think if your friend isn't a player, his chances of survival are very low. Given the difficulty outside, even replenishing food and water would be a problem for him."
"That makes it hard to explain how his photo came about," Old Cai said in a deep voice. "You've seen the photo too. You're the verifier."
This point was indeed difficult to explain logically. But in such a high-risk place, even ordinary-level players would struggle, let alone super players. How could an ordinary person survive so long without external help?
Unless the city center wasn't completely sealed off and had channels of communication with the outside world.
But that would be very hard for a non-player to achieve.
Old Cai and his group left disappointed. Xu Huo didn't stop them and returned to where the Painting Woman was resting. Unexpectedly, Zhu Xiaojin and Mi Qiaonan came looking for him, bringing along an A-level player.
As soon as they met, Xu Huo pulled a business card from his pocket, and the A-level player raised an eyebrow, pulling out his own card as well.
They had exchanged cards in the second game and both survived.