Chapter 2356: "Seal the Door" Debut
This item's effect was quite good, but its flaw was that it was really only one meter long, at most enough to trip one person. Still, it was much better than those other worthless little items.
The Painting Woman had little interest in items she couldn't use. After searching around, she finally asked, "Isn't there any equipment?"
"It might only be available on the higher floors," Xu Huo said. Although there were many items in the room, even if they gathered them all up, they wouldn't sell for much. The more valuable things should be upstairs.
"Then should we go out and look now?" the Painting Woman asked.
Xu Huo had no intention of lingering in the room either. As newcomers, the best course was to figure out the rules here. Besides, with so many people around, it was hard to say whether the Food Guest was even here. But for a strong person, this place was indeed a good spot for a long stay.
He hoped to find clues about the Food Guest here.
The two of them came out of the room and happened to run into three players who were searching the room across the hall. Seeing them emerge from a room that showed no signs of battle, one of them, ignoring his fear, darted over in a single stride. Gripping the doorframe, he forced a smile and said to Xu Huo and the Painting Woman, "Could you let us have this room?"
Before Xu Huo could respond, the other player hastily pulled out items. "We can give you all of these. We just need a place to stay!"
Xu Huo glanced at the corridor, where the light had already dimmed, and calmly gave up the room.
"Thank you! Thank you!" The player shoved the items into the Painting Woman's hands and hurriedly slipped into the room, his two companions following closely behind.
As the door closed, a piranha mask leaning against the corner of the corridor let out a sneer, then turned and walked away.
"Is he mocking us?" the Painting Woman asked, turning back to Xu Huo.
"Probably," Xu Huo said indifferently, already stepping toward the stairs.
"Why would he mock us? Because we gave up the room?" the Painting Woman pressed on.
"Not necessarily. Maybe he came too late and didn't get a room, so he's jealous of others," Xu Huo replied seriously.
The Painting Woman nodded. "He's really petty."
The player hadn't gone far. Hearing this, he actually turned back, his gaze dark and menacing as he stared at them. "What did you say?!"
Xu Huo and the Painting Woman, who had already reached the corner at the other end, both turned around. Their eyes fixed on him calmly, waiting for him to continue.
Facing a potential enemy, even an advanced player would take measures—whether to be on guard or to attack, the key was to strike first. No player would ever face another player without any reaction, as if waiting for them to make a move before deciding how to respond... Such a thought would never occur in a player's confrontation, unless...
The piranha mask's expression changed instantly, and the next second, he turned and fled without hesitation.
"People here aren't so easy to fool anymore," Xu Huo remarked.
The Painting Woman nodded. "Then let's go upstairs. There must be easier people to fool up there."
The two walked from the first floor to the fourth, then from the fourth to the eighth. On the lower floors, groups of players who saw his octopus mask wisely gave him a wide berth. The corridors were interconnected, with more than two staircases and elevators interspersed, making it easy to avoid him.
But when they reached the eighth floor, two players who had set up an ambush attacked. Both wore octopus masks, their goal clear: to kill and seize the invitation.
Ten piranha invitations could be combined into one octopus, and perhaps an octopus could be merged into an even higher-level mask.
These two were very cautious. Even on the narrow corridor, they kept a certain distance from Xu Huo, testing his items and probing his strength.
This time, Xu Huo didn't activate his Spiritual Realm or use the Water Cube Barrier. Instead, he used a B-grade item he rarely brought out, combined with a few commonly used A-grade items, to spar with them. After a few exchanges, both sides roughly understood each other's level.
Compared to Xu Huo, who could use items in creative ways, these two were more focused on the Painting Woman. Long-range restraining items had no effect on her at all, and up close, she could tear apart defensive barriers with ease, making her very troublesome.
But this also meant she must have excellent defensive items; otherwise, she wouldn't be so reckless.
The two players exchanged glances, then bypassed Xu Huo, who was charging ahead, and flanked the Painting Woman from behind.
As they passed by, Xu Huo reached out and stopped one of them. The Water Cube Barrier not only blocked the opponent's attack but also covered his fist. With one punch, he shattered the opponent's defensive barrier. Then came a high-intensity assault using Tangent and Materialized Objects as the main attacks, supplemented by the Black Blade.
Against the relentless attacks of Materialized Objects, the best defense was to use defensive items. But such items had a drawback: if the barrier was too large, preventing others from attacking, the holder couldn't attack through the barrier either—unless it was a defensive item that clung tightly to the body without hindering combat.
However, such items had another problem: if the barrier wasn't sturdy enough, it could easily injure the holder when broken.
Tangent and the Black Blade were both high-quality A-grade items, capable of even destroying items of the same grade. But since these were also B-grade players, they wouldn't be without a good item or two. A little injury wasn't fatal.
Of course, this player soon paid for his confidence, because Xu Huo brought out "Seal the Door."
"Seal the Door" was a high-level device Xu Huo had obtained by killing an outer zone player who had entered Area 014. It was mainly used to destroy space teleportation channels and could even directly destroy items. Using it to break barriers was a complete dimensionality reduction strike. It couldn't break the Water Cube Barrier, but ordinary item barriers were easy pickings.
So, from a few meters away, Xu Huo drove a nail into that player.
A force pierced through the opponent's three layers of defensive barriers, even penetrating a passive item meant to save his life. It tore through his heart and left a deep hole in the wall across the corridor. Of course, the player then flew backward and slammed into it, sealing the hole with his own blood.
The man wasn't dead yet, but escaping wouldn't be easy. Xu Huo stepped up to him and used Tangent to wrap him up.
"Take the invitation and the mask, just spare my life." The player, with his heart pierced, spat blood as he pulled out items—invitations, masks, and some other equipment.
But just as Xu Huo's gaze shifted to the items, the player suddenly lunged, using a defensive item to break free from Tangent and slashing a short blade at Xu Huo's throat!
His speed was fast, and the blade was sharp, but it couldn't break through the Water Cube Barrier. The next second, Tangent sliced off his head.