Chapter 2382: The Mermaid
"What's happening upstairs?" a player who didn't know the situation asked someone running down from the upper floors. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, most of the people they questioned were waitstaff from the Fish Feast Building.
However, most of the waitstaff didn't actually know what was going on either. Those who worked in the Fish Feast Building and managed to live long were all sharp-witted. Whether it was a large-scale brawl among high-level players, a duel between super-powerful players, the building's own players punishing someone who didn't obey, or even instance props escaping from rooms, any of these could cause mass casualties. Those who weren't strong enough were right to run fast. Those who wanted to watch the excitement were either long dead or the kind who couldn't die no matter what. Obviously, the waitstaff working here didn't fall into that category.
People with self-awareness wouldn't join in the fun.
But there were still quite a few who liked to join in the fun. Probably because the people nearby weren't running away very enthusiastically, some misjudged the situation. On the lower floors, a few individuals wanted to follow the shark mask to watch the excitement.
Once the distance was far enough, and he hadn't seen any trace of that black shadow on the upper floors, nor felt any surge of space power, Xu Huo felt much safer and began to walk down the stairs.
That "Miss Zhai" he had seen earlier was clearly just an agent. There were quite a few players around her, but they lacked a sense of crisis. If the real boss of the Fish Feast Building didn't even have that much vigilance, how could they have lasted this long? The floor he had come out on also proved this point—Miss Zhai had met him on the 49th floor.
He didn't know what was happening upstairs, but if the "Food Guest" was wandering around inside the Fish Feast Building, he should be able to pick up some clues by now. Even if he didn't know about the Perfect Potion, a major event inside the building would still pique his interest.
Just as he reached the 30th floor, a disheveled woman rushed out from a nearby emergency exit. As they came face to face, Xu Huo immediately recognized her as the female player who had used her beauty to fish for prey in Chunyi City.
"Working like a beast of burden?" he called out to her.
The female player had already reached the corner of the stairs, but she turned back at his words. "It's you!"
Xu Huo had changed his appearance several times, so it was normal that she couldn't recognize him. But the phrase was familiar to both of them. When the woman saw the "Green Poison Stinger" mask on his head, she gritted her teeth and stopped, pleading, "Save me..."
The mermaid mask on her forehead had already fallen off, tangled in her hair. But unlike other masks, it hadn't faded. This meant her mask was the same as the one the Painting Woman had gotten when she first entered—obtained through "backdoor" means.
Two players had already chased her to the door, but they abruptly stopped when they saw Xu Huo, keeping their distance and saying, "Friend, are you meddling?"
Xu Huo's gaze shifted from the woman's panicked, desperate face to the two men. "Who's your boss?"
The two players exchanged a glance. "May I ask who you are?"
"This lady is a friend of mine. She doesn't have an invitation, and I'm very curious how she ended up here." Xu Huo walked toward them. "I'd like you to take me to see your boss."
The two players' expressions changed slightly, but before they could make a move, one of them had his temple pierced and fell to the ground.
"Kneel!" With Xu Huo's command, the other living player instinctively bent his knees, but caught himself halfway through.
Losing the initiative in the exchange, even if he reacted, he had no chance to escape safely.
A Tangent and a Materialized Object were crossed against his neck, especially the Materialized Object, which was pressed directly against the player's skin, rendering most defensive items useless.
"How strange. Why didn't you escape into the game?" Xu Huo said sarcastically, stopping in front of him. "Don't have a ticket?"
The man said coldly, "If you're going to kill me, just do it. Why all the nonsense? I'll never tell you anything you want to know!"
Xu Huo took out a Truth Serum. "Do you have a chip implanted? If not, you can still kill yourself."
The man's expression changed when he saw the potion in his hand, and he couldn't help but tremble. He used a safer method—flicking a business card out of his sleeve.
As the card hit the ground, he vanished.
"Ran pretty fast." Xu Huo picked up the card. It had the words "Da Rong Group" printed on it, along with a job title and contact information.
"Da Rong Group, right in District 001."
He had seen advertisements for this company in Chunyi City. They had quite a few business interests.
"Do you know this person?" He held up the card.
By now, the female player had dug a chip out of her arm. Having recovered somewhat, she had changed her clothes and appearance. Leaning against the corridor wall, she said, "I just met him today. I only found out that the eldest young master of the Da Rong Group is a regular at the Fish Feast Building."
"Some of the rooms in this building correspond to special spaces, but not every room can block the game entirely. Besides, you've already escaped." Xu Huo glanced at the chip on the ground. "What's this?"
"A microchip that continuously releases an electric current," the female player said. "It emits a special current that renders a person immobile. The cruelest method is to implant it directly on a vital organ, so the slave can't escape until the customer is satisfied."
"Even if someone takes the risk to enter a station, they can't dig out the chip in time, making them easy prey."
"You were captured and brought here." Xu Huo gestured for her to follow him. "Are there pimps in the Fish Feast Building too?"
"That woman I told you about before," the female player said. "The one who brings in wealth."
Xu Huo nodded slightly and didn't press further. Instead, he asked, "Since you were brought in, how do you plan to get out?"
"The Fish Feast Building is located in a special space. Unless the staff helps, most people can only leave by using a ticket." The female player paused. "I don't know what happened upstairs just now, but the room I was in had its game channels sealed. When the room shook, my defense item activated automatically, allowing me to escape."
"That eldest young master of the Da Rong Group sure values his life," Xu Huo remarked. Sealing the game channels and implanting an electric chip on top of that.
The female player said with contempt and anger, "The more those people lack the guts to enter the game, the more they rely on these despicable methods to torment and trample on players, satisfying their twisted minds."
"Are there many players like you who end up in the Fish Feast Building?" Xu Huo asked casually.
The female player was silent for a moment before answering, "A lot."
"More than seventy percent are women. They usually die within three days. There are many ways to weaken their combat ability. For those who resist fiercely, they use drugs or other means to damage parts of their nervous system before sending them to the customers, or simply drug them until they're delirious..."