Chapter 2391: Pop Pop Pop
"What's the rush," Shi Shuai waved a hand. "We'll get out when it's time to get out."
The implication seemed to be that he was already certain they would make it out safely, but before the other two could feel relieved, Shi Shuai added, "Whether you live or not depends half on luck and half on fate. Rushing won't help."
The smiles on their faces froze before they could fully spread.
But this tense situation didn't last long. The prop fish, when it passed through space again, actually returned directly to the Fish Feast Building. Just as they were about to celebrate their good fortune, the prop fish spat them out, flicked its tail, and vanished back into space!
The group of five found themselves standing right in the middle of someone else's conference table.
Given the current technology in the game, holding a meeting didn't require people to physically gather together—holographic simulation technology was almost indistinguishable from reality. So the conference table was only decorated with ornaments, but the seats around it were filled with masked individuals. The only unmasked person stood in the center of the table, exactly where they had landed.
This person was also a holographic projection. Because of their interruption, his image flickered unsteadily, but his voice continued:
"...The information on the attacker of Archon Zhai has been updated. It's confirmed that the target has begun Time Evolution and is equipped with a Spatial Super Device..."
The unmasked figure walked out from their position, his lower half blocked by the conference table, leaving only his upper body visible on the surface. Like the eight people seated around the table, he scrutinized Xu Huo's group without a word. The next second, over a dozen players appeared in the conference room!
As the players split into two groups, all the doors and windows around the conference room slammed shut. Heavy metal clanged with a dull collision, and then three layers of Blockade Barriers activated simultaneously. The first layer clung tightly to the walls, the second layer cut off about twenty meters, and when it formed, the corresponding floor panels in the conference room sprang open, releasing thick toxic gas from the exposed holes.
The third layer had no toxic gas, but it contained a group of Fish Feast players. As they set up their props and instruments, the ceiling above the innermost area—where the conference table and Xu Huo's group were trapped—slid open, and twelve Spider Locks descended. On top of these Spider Locks, they also had to face seven players!
As this formation unfolded, Xu Huo and the others were already seeking a way out. The place they had emerged was clearly wrong. The best option was, of course, to use a ticket to leave, but the game channel was still disconnected. Forget tickets—they couldn't even take out props. The instruments they carried, whether spatial or otherwise, all failed under the effect of the jammers—when it came to the completeness and grade of jamming instruments, they were absolutely no match for Fish Feast!
All their props and instruments were locked down. They were left with only one option: hand-to-hand combat!
The high-speed, silent Spider Locks sprang into motion. Xu Huo and the others not only had to dodge them but also guard against the occasional sneak attacks and interference from the Fish Feast players. It seemed the strategy was to first use the Spider Locks to solve the problem, with the first wave of players only providing support. If all the Spider Locks were destroyed and the first barrier breached, then the second wave of players and the toxic gas attack would follow. In short, without tickets, props, or instruments, and without any means of self-defense, even if they could defeat the Fish Feast players, there was absolutely no way they could survive the subsequent toxic gas!
"Bang!" The male player traveling with them smashed an incoming Spider Lock against the Blockade Barrier, then turned to call the others, "Come help!"
The ring on his finger could be twisted open, revealing a thin, short needle. He simply hammered it against the Blockade Barrier, and the layer began to crack from the ring's point of impact!
"Are you stupid!" Shi Shuai moved closer. "If you break this barrier, won't we just have seven more players to deal with?"
Between the second and third barriers, the second wave of players was sandwiched. They weren't currently in combat, but if this barrier broke, they would face a siege from fourteen players. Even though no one could use props or instruments, five against fourteen was not in their favor!
"Then what do you suggest?" the male player shouted. "Just wait here to die?"
"Hey, can you get out?" Shi Shuai turned to ask Xu Huo.
Xu Huo understood what he meant. He was asking if his Spiritual Power could penetrate the metal floor and ceiling. But unfortunately, this place was also equipped with jamming instruments targeting Mental Evolvers. Not only could they destabilize the Spiritual Realm, but they also placed immense pressure on the Evolver. Yet this interference had little effect on the other players.
"I can't get out." He grabbed an ornament from the conference table and accurately smashed an incoming Spider Lock, not looking back as he said, "Don't count on me. You think of something."
"Without props or instruments, what can I think of?" Shi Shuai's voice rose. "Unless that fish comes back to pick us up..."
Before he finished speaking, a massive fish eye appeared right in front of them:
"Pop pop pop."
The details of the prop fish were a bit rough, so this unrefined fish eye stared at them with no expression, making it hard to tell if it was alive or just a dead thing...
"Pop pop pop." Without a tentacle prop holding its mouth open, it was quite busy.
"We're saved!" the female player shouted. This time, she didn't need the fish to swallow her—she could actively cooperate.
Unfortunately, the prop fish didn't seem interested. It pulled its head back into space.
Hope came and went quickly. Just as the female player was about to curse, it reappeared—but this time between the second and third barriers, and it swallowed three Fish Feast players in one gulp!
"Good job!" Shi Shuai clapped.
The elusive prop fish then swallowed four more players in quick succession. The Fish Feast players had little room to resist. The Blockade Barriers hadn't just trapped Xu Huo's group—they had also trapped them!
Realizing that continuing this blockade wouldn't achieve their goal, the man by the conference table raised his hand, and the Fish Feast players trapped inside the barriers began to leave one after another.
"Why can they get out?!" the female player exclaimed in disbelief. The game channel had been cut off when they entered, and it still wasn't open, yet they could use a spatial passage?!
"Follow them!" Xu Huo dashed past her, smashing through the third barrier as he went, and tailed one of the Fish Feast players. There was no visible spatial portal inside the barrier, but the fluctuation of Space Power couldn't be faked. The reason they had divided the conference room into layers and separated the players was to conceal and isolate the fluctuations of Space Power, leaving an escape route for their own people.
Xu Huo led the way, pulling the Painting Woman behind him. Behind her was Shi Shuai, and finally the male and female players. The five of them passed through the spatial passage and emerged in a corridor on one of the Fish Feast Building's floors. They didn't know which floor it was, but once out, their props and instruments became usable again. Without a moment's hesitation, they scattered in different directions!