Chapter 2386: Prey and Predator
Shi Shuai turned his head back and lowered his voice, saying, "Why are you shouting so loud? You scared me to death!"
"What are you doing?" Xu Huo couldn't stay in one place for long, so he simply ran straight toward him. "That fish is chasing us!"
Shi Shuai, who had been crouching on the ground observing, immediately reached out and grabbed the feather when he saw half a fish head suddenly emerge from behind Xu Huo. The next moment, he vanished from the spot, and the feather floated back up into the air!
"Get in!" Xu Huo first tossed the Painting Woman over, then used the Water Cube Barrier to block an attack from a tentacle. Taking advantage of the momentum, he flew backward. The moment he touched the feather, his vision blurred, and he found himself standing inside a banquet hall.
The decorations in this banquet hall were even more luxurious than those outside. Quite a few people had appeared here just as abruptly as he had, so no one paid him much attention.
The Painting Woman was not far away. She had grabbed Shi Shuai, who was trying to run, and was dragging him toward Xu Huo. At the same time, Xu Huo unexpectedly spotted a familiar face—the formally dressed player with strange eating habits he had seen earlier in the restaurant. That player was now surrounded by three or five other players, engaged in an enthusiastic conversation.
"Bad, bad, this is not a good place at all." Pulled into a corner, Shi Shuai said, "Look at this mess. I was just thinking about whether to come in or not... Now, no one's getting out of here."
"What's the situation?" Xu Huo asked.
"What else could it be? A player gathering." Shi Shuai replied. "But unlike the public lottery gatherings outside, this kind of secretive, private gathering usually means nothing good..."
Before he could finish speaking, two players approached them with wine glasses in hand. They glanced at the mask on Xu Huo's face, raised their hands in a casual greeting, and then naturally struck up a conversation, probing Xu Huo about his expectations.
Clearly, everyone who had entered this place came with a specific purpose. After arriving, they engaged in small talk, saying very little about the banquet itself.
"And you?" Before Xu Huo could speak, the Painting Woman took the lead, tapping her communicator and turning the tables on them.
Although the two were somewhat displeased, they didn't argue with her. Instead, they teased Xu Huo. "Your hobby is quite peculiar. Can't talk... do you have other talents?"
The smile faded from Xu Huo's face. He said flatly, "What talents do you think I might have?"
Seeing that he couldn't take a joke, the two left with cold expressions.
Xu Huo didn't attract much attention. Even if someone wanted to talk to him because of the mask on his head, they would be deterred by his aloof attitude and turn to other targets.
The masks worn by the people in this venue were at least the Giant Eye Fish level. After the Giant Eye Fish came the Belly Hole Fish, then the Green Poison Sting, the Biting Tooth, and the Whale. The Whale was the highest-level guest mask Xu Huo had encountered so far, high enough to represent the Fish Feast in hosting some lottery banquets, and it was said to be a reserved spot.
Today's banquet was prepared for guests with higher-ranking masks.
No one knew what would happen next, but every guest was extremely excited.
Xu Huo and his two companions had already made their way to a door at the edge of the banquet hall. They tried it, but the door wouldn't open, and they couldn't perceive the space outside.
"How do we get out?" He turned his head slightly to ask Shi Shuai.
Shi Shuai, hiding his hand still on the doorknob, said, "I only know how to get in."
Just as the Painting Woman was about to step forward and help, several nearby players suddenly turned toward them. "What are you doing?"
The moderately loud voice attracted quite a few people. Like terrifying entities in a horror movie, they turned their heads one after another, staring at them with an oppressive gaze.
"I don't think they're normal," Shi Shuai said in a low voice.
"I think they want to eat people," Xu Huo corrected.
Just as the atmosphere was growing increasingly tense, a bell rang from the other end of the banquet hall. The formally dressed player announced in a clear voice, "So far, the ratio of players who have entered the banquet hall has reached 7 to 3. The banquet hall is now closed and will not reopen until the banquet is over... Next, please enjoy yourselves to the fullest!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he teleported behind a player a few meters away. Grabbing the player's head and shoulders with both hands, he opened his mouth and bit into his neck!
Spurting blood stained the formally dressed player's mask and face. The attacked player twitched a couple of times but lacked the strength to break free. The wine glass slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor as he gasped out, "Wine... wine..."
Xu Huo guessed he was trying to say the wine was drugged. Many guests became alert, staring at the formally dressed player as he lifted his head, revealing an expression of ecstasy and madness that was the complete opposite of his previous gentle and refined demeanor.
The formally dressed player licked his index finger, like a master standing in his own backyard. After taking a deep breath, he declared, "Let the hunt begin!"
That was the signal. One by one, the players shed their disguises, becoming ferocious and bloodthirsty, constantly attacking those around them. Those under attack were slow to react, struggling even to distinguish friend from foe.
The 7-to-3 ratio was no joke. This banquet hall was a hunting ground for Cannibal Players.
Xu Huo and his two companions, who were supposed to attack others but showed no aggression, also became targets. But as luck would have it, just as several players openly tore open their shirts to reveal the numbers on their backs, as if fully unleashing their suppressed instincts here, the prop fish appeared again. This time, it had grown abnormally large—its head alone was over ten meters tall. When its mouth burst into the banquet hall, it naturally swallowed two players, not to mention the tentacles spewing from its mouth...
The role reversal between hunter and prey was seamless. The Cannibal Players' banquet had only just begun, and they themselves had become the meal. Moreover, anyone caught had no chance to resist, two-thirds of them!
But these seasoned killers were not about to go down without a fight. Realizing that the tentacles were difficult to injure, they quickly shifted their targets, trying to seal the prop fish within its own space to prevent it from entering the banquet hall. They had no choice—against a prop fish that could freely enter and exit spaces, their own space items were insufficient to seal or defend against it. They could only interfere repeatedly, attempting to drive it back.
It had some effect. After being attacked multiple times, the prop fish became reluctant to enter. Sometimes it would just poke its head in, see someone, and retreat.
But this was only a temporary fix. Someone called out for the formally dressed player to open the space containing the banquet hall so they could leave.
The formally dressed player had already notified the Fish Feast Building. Before the people from the Fish Feast Building arrived, he had to control the situation. So, ignoring everyone else, he nailed several large nets into the air, positioning them in front, behind, and on both sides of himself.