Chapter 2357: Little Flower, She Wants It Too
Now the invitation, mask, props, and other items all belonged to Xu Huo.
Only then did he turn back to look at the other player.
One-on-one was no match, and two-on-one was even less of a chance, so that player found an opportunity to shake off the Painting Woman and fled.
The Painting Woman didn't chase him; instead, she went to pick up the props he had dropped, then took the invitation she had stolen and handed it over to Xu Huo.
This haul was substantial, but it also attracted the attention of many players.
The higher the floor, the more space players seemed to have for free movement. Some of the rooms on the lower floors had been replaced by open lounges or small gardens, offering a broader view. Naturally, players could observe more—like this fight just now, where at least four groups had watched them from different directions.
The players gathered here were all looking to get rich, and there were many strong individuals. Getting a preview of others' props and combat habits ahead of time was beneficial and harmless.
Of course, after Xu Huo and the Painting Woman displayed their strength, someone took the initiative to approach them for cooperation.
This time, it was a Giant Eye Fish mask.
Seeing the Painting Woman staring at his mask, the other party kindly explained, "It takes ten Octopus masks to stack into one Giant Eye Fish mask."
The Painting Woman was much more straightforward. She asked, "Can I trade three Octopus masks for it?"
She meant she wanted his mask.
The Giant Eye Fish player's expression turned cold. He had only mentioned the mask to intimidate them, but these two didn't take the bait—or rather, they deliberately ignored it.
Xu Huo smiled and patted the Painting Woman on the shoulder, signaling her to step back while he handled the negotiation.
"I don't know much about the rules of the Fish Feast, but I know enough. Cooperation is possible, but who's going to open the door?"
There was no way they would act as guinea pigs to open doors.
"Besides, even in the rooms, how many good props can there really be?"
Not enough to split.
The Giant Eye Fish laughed. "You just came up from below, so you don't know the value of the rooms up here. The players who can seize the right to use and live in these rooms are no pushovers. They're a rich asset in themselves, and empty rooms that haven't been looted are even more so. To kick the people out of a room, we need to have the capital for it."
Xu Huo deliberately sized him up upon hearing this. "Looks like you were kicked out of a room?"
When it came to occupied rooms, it wasn't always a matter of kill or be killed. Escaping when things got tough was also an option.
As if struck on a sore spot, the Giant Eye Fish's smile vanished again, and his tone turned icy. "I invited you because I thought highly of you. You think you're strong, but in the Fish Feast, even the strongest can be eaten by the big fish. Without forming a group, you won't survive tonight!"
Xu Huo didn't take his threat seriously at all. Instead, he said, "Then I'll just go downstairs and find a place to hide."
The other party snorted coldly. "Won't the people upstairs come down?"
With that, he flicked his sleeve and left. When his companions filed out, Xu Huo seemed to notice that among them was a Mermaid player.
What a coincidence—that Mermaid player was the same female player who had led them to open the door earlier.
She had been caught, and when she saw Xu Huo and the Painting Woman, she immediately lowered her head.
With a Mermaid mask, the chances of opening a safe room were greatly increased, and the risks were lower.
But Xu Huo didn't call out to the Giant Eye Fish player to try to join in. With a fifty-fifty chance, who knew if there were other traps inside?
He and the Painting Woman went up to the ninth floor and randomly chose a door to open.
This time, they encountered an occupied room. Two players were seriously injured, and the room had just been through a fierce battle. The tables, chairs, and beds were almost completely dismantled.
Seeing them enter, the two were already preparing to bolt out the door.
Xu Huo stopped them. "If you don't mind, we'd like to stay and rest for a while."
Even though he seemed easygoing, the two didn't relax. Instead, they moved closer to the door.
Xu Huo and the Painting Woman chose a spot near the balcony.
"You two should treat your wounds first. If I wanted to fight, I would have done it when I came in." There was no food left in the room, so Xu Huo took out his own supplies, shared some with the Painting Woman, and casually asked the two across from them, "Do you want some?"
How could they accept? They cautiously declined and thanked him.
While eating, the Painting Woman kept staring at the two, even managing to free one hand to press her communicator. "Your wounds are really beautiful. They're actually in the shape of little flowers."
The two couldn't tell if she was genuinely complimenting them or mocking them, and their expressions soured.
But the Painting Woman turned back, propped her arm out to Xu Huo, and signaled with her eyes that she wanted one too.
Xu Huo took out a pen and drew two flowers on her arm.
"They're really ugly," the Painting Woman immediately complained.
Xu Huo waved his hand, telling her to go away.
The Painting Woman paced around the room before finally walking up to the two players and asking how they got their wounds.
"A player with the nickname 'Tattoo Master' did it," one of them replied. Seeing that she genuinely wanted to know, he briefly explained. The flower-shaped wounds were old injuries from three days ago, but the Tattoo Master's props had a special potion on it, causing the wounds to keep recurring. Even with a player's strong self-healing ability, they couldn't be repaired in a short time.
"Where is he?" the Painting Woman pressed. "Is he still alive?"
"He should have gone to the tenth floor," the two said uncertainly. They didn't bother asking why she was so interested. Of course, they weren't stupid enough to think anyone would actually find such wounds beautiful.
The Painting Woman immediately declared she wanted to find this Tattoo Master.
"Was it a prop or a trait?" Xu Huo asked the two. "If it's just poison on the prop, the antidote and treatment potion bought from the game should be enough."
"I'm sure it's a prop. A flower-shaped prop that can launch random attacks at very high speed," one of them answered. "And it doesn't require the holder to maintain control. It can coordinate with the player's attacks."
"I see." Xu Huo then focused back on his late-night snack.
The Painting Woman stared at their wounds for a long time, then asked for some of the blood that had flowed out. She smeared it on her paper animal, and when the frog turned red, she looked at Xu Huo with sparkling eyes.
"Don't even think about it," Xu Huo refused her wishful thinking without looking up.
The Painting Woman had no choice but to turn her gaze to the two at the door.
"Are you kidding?!" The two players weren't fools. There was no way they would let her experiment on them. They gripped their defense props and pressed themselves against the door.
Unexpectedly, the door opened from the outside!
The Painting Woman was quick. She hurled her red frog, but it was blocked by a defense barrier. After a brief explosion, five players squeezed inside.
The two injured players were forced back to the center of the room. The newcomers' eyes lit up at the sight of the wounded, their gazes quickly shifting between them and the Painting Woman before sweeping across the room. When their line of sight moved back, they finally noticed that someone was sitting on the tattered sofa!