Chapter 2313: Ting City Crisis
"A big gift, huh." Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"Making friends." Shi Sanjiu smiled and said, "I knew from the first look we were kindred spirits. We'll probably meet again in the future!"
"Then many thanks." Xu Huo accepted the badge, nodded slightly to Zhu Xiaojin and Mi Qiaonan, said "See you when fate allows," and then led the Painting Woman through the Spiritual Realm portal to leave.
Whatever happened next in Buliucheng, Xu Huo no longer cared about. Using the Spiritual Realm to quickly exit the Buliucheng territory, a few players tried to stop him along the way, but after making an example of them, the latter half of the journey was smooth sailing.
"Going back?" the Painting Woman asked him. "Where to?"
Xu Huo had stumbled in the One-Third Game. Based on the strength of the temporal-spatial power from the City Government, ordinary players absolutely could not break through that suddenly appearing barrier. Now there were only two directions: one was to find an advanced player or Super Player proficient in this field for help, and the other was to go to the Platinum Eye and try to use a jamming device to destroy the Magic Cube Block.
Seeking help from others, the best target should be Lawrence Li. He was the most accomplished Spatial Evolver among the active Super Players Xu Huo knew. The last time they met was on the train, and Lawrence Li had cost him two Time Rewinds. Moreover, he was hunting Xenomorphs at the time. Considering the rumors that he had been searching for ways to alleviate Degeneration, asking him for help was not a wise move.
Xu Huo didn't understand this person and couldn't judge whether he might have other thoughts about Perfect Evolution.
The second candidate was Huahan Werner, a known Temporal Super Evolver who had shown goodwill towards him. Temporal-spatial evolution, he should understand it better than ordinary players. Besides, as a Super Player, he stood among the top combatants in the game and likely knew more about the instruments developed by the game.
However, just like the Paper Servant Master, it was difficult to assess the risk when facing an absolute power gap, so seeking them out couldn't be the first choice.
As for the Platinum Eye, there were indeed many people proficient in instrument making. Deconstructing the Magic Cube Block from the instrument itself was also a low-risk method, but it inevitably required seeking help from Bai Kou. Previous experiences showed that the internal situation of the Platinum Eye City Government was unstable. Bai Kou seemed to have a high degree of influence, but she was controlled by her mother—that woman who looked completely like an ordinary person showed no emotional fluctuation when facing her daughter or the outsiders her daughter brought, and it was even difficult to read her motives from her words or body language.
Such an unstable factor couldn't be the first choice either.
The Magic Cube Block had sealed his Spatial Evolution ability, largely locking away his combat power. Temporal Evolution was not enough to make up for the gap. Therefore, the Platinum Eye, which could easily seal player items, was also a very dangerous place.
As an instrument, the Water Cube had already far surpassed all the instruments he had ever seen. Presumably, there would be no shortage of people interested in it.
By the time he walked out of Buliucheng, Xu Huo had already made his decision. After tucking the Painting Woman into his clothes, he released the local female player he had trapped in the picture frame and directly used the Return Ticket.
*
Ting City had already been sealed.
Inside the city, except for a few densely populated streets near the Special Defense Department branch, people from other areas were continuously being evacuated out of the city. The city was visibly emptying out.
The players from the Special Defense Department branch had already withdrawn. Now taking over were advanced players transferred from nearby large cities and Jing City, most of whom were battle-hardened C-level and B-level players. These people had been stationed near the branch since a day ago and were cooperating with other players to set up a Blockade Barrier.
During this time, the few blocks around the branch were very quiet. Messages for help were sent out in droves, but those trapped inside, even children, dared not make a sound.
Because the day before yesterday, a group of six Outer Zone players had broken into one of the residential complexes, killing over a hundred panicked ordinary people who tried to flee on the spot, thus shutting everyone up.
For over a day now, aside from continuously arranging personnel, the Special Defense Department had not given up negotiating with these six people. But these people refused to show their faces or stick their heads out, only reluctantly indicating that they would exchange the residents of one residential complex for the head of one player.
The temporary command center had already gone through several rounds of arguments. The focus of their argument was not whether to exchange one player for the people in one complex, but how to kill or drive away those six players while ensuring the safety of the majority.
This group had appeared from a medium-sized city in the coastal area. They were already injured when they arrived. Although their purpose was unknown, it seemed they didn't plan to leave anytime soon. Probably thinking they were B-level players with Space Teleportation Items, and walking through densely populated cities, they were confident the government wouldn't use super-large weapons against them. So, they ran amok in the city, no different from those Outer Zone players who entered Zone 014 during the Super Item incident.
The Special Defense Department naturally couldn't let them be. So, using an elite team and newly acquired instruments, they intensively analyzed the group's behavior patterns and ambushed them in a certain city in advance.
There were ten people in this group acting together. Four died in the ambush, and three of the remaining six were seriously injured. They barely escaped the encirclement and fled all the way to Ting City before stopping.
Somehow, they learned the codename of the player who formulated the ambush plan. Now they took the opportunity to demand that the Special Defense Department exchange that player's head for the residents of one complex to be released from the blockade circle.
The Special Defense Department certainly wouldn't agree to their demands. The fallback plan was to simply stall them here for a month or two. If the enemy doesn't move, we don't move. Anyway, when the next Instance time comes, they will leave on their own.
"This plan won't work." A man wearing a Special Defense Department uniform and a special mask stepped into the meeting room, took off his hat, placed it on the table, and said, "I just rechecked the materials with the rest of my team. This batch of Outer Zone players should be more than ten people. There are at least three more scattered outside, and they've already lost their traces."
"If we drag this out, once their injuries heal, the situation will only be worse than it is now."
Everyone in the meeting room fell silent. Attacks by Outer Zone players had been happening intermittently over the past two years. Some players would always use items or instruments to reach zones that hadn't fully merged with the game, delusionally trying to grab first-hand resources. However, Zone 014 was not weak, so these were just minor skirmishes. A group of over ten people acting together was rare.
"They came prepared, and their goal is still unclear. These six people are not a big threat, but they form a pincer with the three scattered outside." The uniformed man said, "No matter what they want to do, if we take out one prong, the plan will naturally fall through."
"When I arrived, I had already sent the assault plan to everyone's communicators. I wonder what you all have discussed."
The personnel in the meeting room mainly consisted of local Special Defense Department members from Ting City and cooperating members from nearby cities. Jing City only sent one representative; everyone else had their own tasks. The uniformed man's proposal had already been argued over twice in the meeting room. Team Leader Wu firmly opposed it.
"Using poison gas? How can you even think of that!" Team Leader Wu glared angrily at the uniformed man. "Even if we send players directly in, the death toll would probably be lower than your plan. Poison gas that can take down advanced players—how could ordinary people withstand it? Before you come up with a plan, can you also consider the lives of the people in Ting City, Team Leader Ming!"
The man called Team Leader Ming calmly analyzed the pros and cons with him. "These six people have set up three layers of blockade in the area they control, and each has taken over a building full of people. The moment our people enter, they will get the news. Killing people to vent their anger will be their first choice. We can interfere with the Blockade Barrier, but judging by the results, it won't make much difference."
"Using poison gas is different. As long as it's over within half an hour, the vast majority of people can be saved."
"These six people and the people on these few streets are no longer the most important thing. They have attracted the attention of the Special Defense Department, making us focus our main efforts on them, thus letting the other three escape. We still don't know where those three are now."
"If they go to some absolutely forbidden places, will you take responsibility for the consequences?"
Team Leader Wu's face turned bright red. He choked for a long time before saying, "You killed a few of them, didn't you get any clues?"
"Those were corpses, not live captures. The information is limited." Team Leader Ming stood up. "I can give you ten minutes to consider whether to use this plan. If you oppose it, I will leave here with my team in ten minutes. You can handle the follow-up yourselves."
"I'll be waiting in the next room."