Chapter 2354: Ten-in-One Mask
Although it was unclear what problems losing the invitation would cause, considering that the Painting Woman's mask also lacked a corresponding invitation, the issue was probably not significant. The player was mostly angry, turning around to attack Xu Huo the moment the invitation disappeared.
Defense items took turns blocking the opponent's item attacks. Given his position, Xu Huo didn't use "Dimension Fog" to defend against traits but instead used "Life Flashback." However, "Life Flashback" had limited uses against traits. Under the pincer attack of two players, it was quickly exhausted, and then he was pulled by the trait effect to the ceiling, firmly stuck there.
The two Octopus Masks worked in perfect coordination—one released poison and sharp weapons, while the other completely sealed off the surroundings, leaving him no chance to escape.
At this moment, the mechanical suit he had purchased came in handy. Normally shrunk to the size of an accessory, the suit spat out a film-like metal that quickly covered his entire body, not only blocking item attacks but also completely sealing out the poison gas.
"Still a fat sheep!" the two said, though wariness had already appeared in their eyes. But at that moment, the Painting Woman, whom they had briefly ignored, pounced forward and broke through their defense barrier just as before. In that instant, the Materialized Object followed up, wrapping around and seizing the opportunity to pierce through one player's body.
Although the defense barrier was broken, that didn't mean the player had no other defense items to replace it. Even at close range, the opponent's defense items still protected the more vital parts of the body. The Materialized Object only pierced through both shoulders and injured one thigh.
A surge of power suddenly erupted from this player, repelling the Materialized Object and also knocking the Painting Woman back. However, at that moment, the Painting Woman pulled out a large pile of paper animals. They might not have had a very obvious effect on the corridor, but they were still good at breaking defense barriers, especially in large numbers.
The player retreated toward one side of the corridor, inevitably leaving some openings in his defense. These openings were opportunities for the Materialized Object and Tangent. Although they didn't kill the player immediately, the continuous injuries were enough to force him back.
The other Octopus Mask who had been attacking them together had already run away long ago. The remaining one, unable to hold out alone, also found a staircase and fled upstairs.
"Don't chase," Xu Huo called out to the Painting Woman. Even though there were only three floors below, the two Mermaid Masks from earlier had unhesitatingly run downward, indicating that there were people and things upstairs they wanted to avoid even more.
He took out the invitation he had snatched. It was slightly different from the invitations he had seen before—the Octopus player's invitation was a bit thicker and heavier. But as soon as he opened it, the invitation suddenly turned into a stack.
"What is this?" the Painting Woman curiously leaned in.
There were ten in total. Xu Huo looked at the tiny pattern differences on the invitations. From the designs, they were similar to his own invitation. These should correspond to the Piranha Masks.
He took out his own invitation and stacked it on top. These invitations quickly merged together, eventually becoming two invitations. One was slightly heavier, while the remaining one was no different from the previous Piranha Mask invitation.
"I see. Gather ten and merge them into one." The Painting Woman took that invitation from his hand, and then the Mermaid Mask on her head turned into an Octopus.
"Ten Piranha invitations can turn into one Octopus Mask." Xu Huo gestured for the Painting Woman to give him the invitation. When she did as instructed, the mask on her head didn't become blurry like that player's had, but instead reverted to a Mermaid as before.
His and the Painting Woman's masks were brought by the Fish Feast staff. Was it because the masks themselves were special, or did the upgraded masks differ from ordinary ones in this regard?
To verify his idea, he randomly chose a Clownfish player and took his invitation. With the invitation lost but the person still alive, the pattern on the opponent's mask became slightly blurry. But when he got the invitation back, whether his own or someone else's, the pattern returned to normal.
This was essentially a special identifier.
Xu Huo had the Painting Woman put on the Clownfish Mask. After removing the invitation, the mask on her head became slightly blurry. The difference wasn't too obvious—in dim light, one might not even notice it.
He stored the Mermaid Mask in the luggage compartment and placed the remaining Piranha invitation back on this player. The invitation was there, but no new mask was generated.
It seemed that the number of masks corresponded to the number of people, not identities. Changing the invitation could change the mask pattern accordingly. Without a mask, simply obtaining an invitation wouldn't generate a new mask—one could only seize someone else's mask. For now, the characteristics of various fish masks were mostly similar. Only masks for players without invitations and the service staff's masks served as identity indicators.
The Painting Woman pointed at the Octopus Mask on his head.
"I won't change my mask for now." Xu Huo left the Piranha invitation for the Clownfish player and led her away.
He didn't go upstairs but prepared to return to the first floor.
By now, it was almost dark. The number of people in the banquet hall had decreased. The players, having eaten and drunk their fill, were about to start the evening's entertainment.
Fighting traces were hard to leave in the corridor. Every so often, service staff would come to replace damaged carpets and decorations, and also do some cleaning. So the venue was very tidy, making it difficult to tell what had just happened where.
From the fourth floor to the first floor, Xu Huo didn't see any more Mermaid Masks. Instead, many people were walking together in groups, lingering outside the rooms.
According to what that female player had said earlier, except for those who drew fish masks through the lottery, everyone else could open any room from outside the door, but they couldn't avoid the dangers inside the rooms.
Naturally, even if what that player said was true, it must have been a truth with parts cut off. If the fish masks drawn through the lottery could find safe empty rooms without risk, then how could other players give them time to search for rooms?
There were certainly rules they didn't know about, and the main purpose of that female player seeking their cooperation was likely trial and error—during the door-opening process, she didn't open each door in sequence like the Painting Woman did, but only pretended to turn each door handle.
Guesswork was one thing, but evidence was needed. Xu Huo's first thought was naturally the service staff. Compared to players with incomplete information, they would definitely know best. However, he quickly dismissed this idea because there were too many service staff, and they had mandatory restrictions, potentially losing their lives at any moment. Not that revealing information about the Fish Feast would necessarily get them killed, but spreading false information would be far too easy.