Chapter 2305: Come On In and Play Together
“Think about it, some districts might have already evolved for over a hundred years. Their technology level must be far beyond later districts. Occupying a district or even a wormhole point would be a piece of cake. Why don’t they do it? It’s because of this backlash.”
Zhu Xiaojin said smugly, “The game went too far, treating players like they’re not human. Then players have no choice but to fight to the death. Underestimating the power of players will definitely come at a cost!”
Xu Huo listened silently. The first half of his statement made sense, but as an absolutely leading district, if an A-level wormhole point needed to, it probably wouldn’t back down because of certain players or player organizations. The more likely possibility was that a new district, after a long period of evolution, could produce more resources—whether people or natural products. Raiding districts was for resources. Since there were better resources, why not wait?
The Game Government Base should have come from this.
The degree of evolution in a district was clearly related to the degree of evolution of its players. The natural emergence of fixed instances and random instances was inseparable from a district’s past, and a district’s past was closely tied to its people.
Of course, it was also possible that there were too many subsequent wormhole points, and directly managing districts across wormhole points would be too time-consuming and labor-intensive, so it wasn’t necessary.
In the current game, where even the existence of carriers and where they were placed were unknown, later players could hardly pose a threat, so there was no need to waste energy.
“Being a gray player in an advanced wormhole point is actually pretty good,” Mi Qiaonan said. “The more comprehensive the management of a district, the better it is for ordinary people. If everyone has to follow the rules, even non-players can live well.”
Zhu Xiaojin snorted dismissively. “Gray players sounds nice, but it’s actually just running errands for the game. And you have to be ranked below those useless people born in advanced wormhole points. I didn’t fight tooth and nail in the game just to one day listen to them boss me around.”
“Do you think that Shi Sanjiu from earlier was useless?” Mi Qiaonan interrupted him.
Zhu Xiaojin paused, a bit grudgingly. “A Super Evolver, of course not.”
“Then there you go,” Mi Qiaonan said. “Don’t underestimate them. They’ve been developing in the game for hundreds of years. How could they be useless?”
Zhu Xiaojin fell silent for a moment, then awkwardly looked at Xu Huo. “Any progress at the City Hall?”
There had been no progress since the disconnection earlier. Old Cai and those people from City Hall had disappeared without a trace. The Painting Woman had followed them.
“Staying here won’t help much. I think I’ll go find Tang Yu and help catch a few more wanted criminals,” Zhu Xiaojin said.
Mi Qiaonan had the same idea.
“If you’ve cleared the instance and don’t leave, you might get dragged into the One-Third Game,” Xu Huo reminded them again. “Once you enter the game, even if you clear it, you can’t leave.”
Zhu Xiaojin still had that nonchalant attitude. “We know what we’re doing.”
Mi Qiaonan smiled at him. “We’ll leave when we think the time is right.”
The number of wanted criminals they had accumulated was largely thanks to Xu Huo’s help. Their staying now was a way of repaying the favor, though not necessarily with their lives. They had already cleared the instance, so they had a big advantage over others.
Xu Huo didn’t advise them further.
After the two left, Xu Huo walked along the outer edge of the city center barrier. He walked for a long time without encountering any more Water Cubes coming out, so he left a message on the Message Collection Terminal in Buliucheng, hoping someone could provide information about the Water Cubes.
Adhering to Buliucheng’s usual fine tradition, countless false messages immediately flooded in. Those claiming to have seen a Water Cube somewhere were all ruled out. Xu Huo needed a Water Cube that had appeared within five minutes, so a couple of expired videos and photos could also be ruled out. Just as he thought it would be hard to get anything, someone actually provided him with a fresh video of a Water Cube.
The time was just one minute ago, not far from him.
Xu Huo rushed over as fast as he could. When he was close to the destination, a few players from left and right followed him. He didn’t pay them any attention and hurried to the place where the Water Cube had passed in the video.
Indeed, at this moment, the space power inside the city center barrier was already fluctuating.
After this, there should be a relatively stable period.
More than a dozen players gathered around him, all unfamiliar faces. Two of them were wearing vests, openly displaying their numbers—they were Cannibal Players.
“Looking for me?” he asked, looking at them.
“Nothing major. Just want to borrow your identity,” said a middle-aged man missing half his right ear.
“I still need it myself, so it’s not for loan right now,” Xu Huo said flatly. “If you have patience, you can wait.”
“Haha!” the earless man laughed loudly. “Do we look like patient people to you? Instead of waiting until you’re beaten half to death before handing over your communicator, why not be smart!”
Xu Huo raised his hand, and the other immediately stopped him. “Don’t move!”
Xu Huo paused, looking at them with a half-smile. “Aren’t you asking for the communicator? Are you scared just because I’m getting something?”
“I don’t fall for provocation,” the earless man said. “Stay where you are, and I’ll get the communicator myself!”
Xu Huo complied readily, and the man nodded to a companion, who threw out a box item.
The box should be a restriction item, but before it was even ten meters from its target, it was blocked by an invisible barrier and bounced back.
The players surrounding Xu Huo expected it wouldn’t be that easy. In an instant, items and traits took turns being used, but in the blink of an eye, the person who had been in their encirclement disappeared. Then a voice seemed to whisper right next to their ears, “Since you want to play, come on in!”
The players came to their senses and found themselves falling down a passage. Before they could figure out what was happening, the scenery around them changed from normal streets and buildings to a barren wasteland!
Xu Huo was standing not far away.
“You…” the earless man was furious and about to speak when he heard a scream from a companion. Turning around, he saw a player split in half, the blood gushing out like an irregular sawtooth…
“This is space power!” someone shouted in panic. “We’re inside the city center!”
The rest were horrified. They forgot all about Xu Huo and turned to flee outward. But they could only rely on their instincts to judge where the space power was surging, and it was especially chaotic here. Unable to make an accurate judgment, three people ran straight into Space Ray Blades—one dead, two injured.
And it wasn’t over yet, because black crescent moons appeared above them!