Chapter 2400: The Moving Castle
The castle walls were made of special materials, and ordinary items couldn't leave any marks on them, but the old man's device could cut through them directly. This somewhat intimidated the players who harbored their own schemes. After all, possessing such a device meant his background might be even more formidable—they might not be a match for him, and they could face unknown pursuits afterward. This made a few people behave themselves a bit.
Once the wall panel was cut open, the people inside came out. To everyone's astonishment, there was no scene of the young scion being coerced and interrogated as the players had anticipated. Instead, the player who had pulled someone inside was standing against the wall with blood at the corner of his mouth, while the young scion remained standing in place, merely looking nervous—he was covered by several layers of defensive barriers.
"Uncle Ma!" The young man's face lit up when he saw the old man, and he quickly jumped out. After the old man surnamed Ma pulled him out, his cold, sharp gaze fell on the person still in the secret room.
Meeting the eyes outside—some filled with killing intent, others eager to watch the spectacle—the player in the room twitched the corner of his mouth. "It was pitch black in there. I thought someone was ambushing me. I didn't hurt this young master, did I?"
No one was foolish enough to believe his excuse, but they couldn't let the old man kill him on the spot either. So some players sided with him, insisting that he had merely misjudged in panic, or that something had actually attacked him—after all, this secret room was abnormal.
The secret room was indeed very abnormal, because the far side from the hidden door was piled high with bones.
Players' skeletons also evolved, becoming tougher or thickening a second time. A careful look could distinguish them from ordinary people's bones. So those who died here weren't ordinary people—they were players.
"This is the first time I've seen someone die so cleanly, not even a piece of clothing left," Xu Huo said, leaning by the hidden door.
If these were players who had wandered into the castle by mistake, what could cause such a situation? Something here was eating people—whether an animal or an object, handling things so cleanly meant it had some degree of intelligence.
If the bodies hadn't died here, it meant this might be a dumping ground for certain people, or perhaps a dumping ground for the Fish Feast. Considering the corpses had no clothes, and outside players couldn't access the channels, it was likely the work of insiders from the Fish Feast.
Compared to the former, the players were more inclined to believe the latter.
"What's the point? It's not like the Fish Feast is being run to raise a bunch of cannibal players, is it?" someone couldn't help but say.
"So what if it is? So what if it isn't?" The injured player walked out. "Are you planning to leave immediately, or go find the boss of the Fish Feast to reason things out?"
That was true—since they were already here, they couldn't leave empty-handed.
This little incident was quickly glossed over, and the atmosphere returned to before. However, both the young scion's group and the players were talking among themselves.
Xu Huo naturally stayed with the players. Later, he learned that the injured player hadn't even exchanged blows with the young scion—he had only been injured by the shockwave from the other's defensive barrier.
This was somewhat speechless, and two people openly laughed at him. The player wasn't annoyed. "If you don't believe me, feel free to try. Their defensive barriers can reflect damage to a certain extent. The stronger you are, the stronger they become."
"Besides, instead of laughing at me here, you should think about why they brought us in if they have such strong defenses." Everyone knew the truth—people die for wealth. They didn't want to miss this opportunity either, but they subtly distanced themselves from the young scion's group.
Xu Huo didn't want to play guessing games with them. He directly asked the old man surnamed Ma, "This castle is clearly not a place for exploration. What exactly are you looking for by coming in? Why not tell us, and we can search together. You achieve your goal, and we earn some extra cash. Mutual suspicion and wariness only drain us internally—it's bad for everyone."
"Brother, you're really straightforward," the fat player said, giving a thumbs-up.
The other players remained silent, all staring at the old man and his group.
The one who spoke was still the man with the gem earrings. He only spoke after receiving a nod from the old man. "Actually, we don't know what we're looking for either. We just heard from the Fish Feast's manager that there might be a good item here. What exactly it is, we're not sure. But since the Fish Feast's manager said it's a good thing, it's probably definitely a good thing."
The small spaces within the Fish Feast building were often equipped with items. Some items looked high-grade just by sight, likely naturally born from instances, and there were quite a few of them. Among these, a good item that stood out would indeed be enough to tempt the young scion's group.
"Still, even if we can't get it, just seeing it would be an eye-opener," the gem earring man added. "If you find any good items or devices, you can trade with us. The prices we offer will definitely not be lower than what you'd get outside."
"Easy, easy," the fat player said, stepping forward to shake hands with the opponent. But the young man didn't extend his hand like he did, giving him a faint glance instead.
The fat player didn't feel embarrassed either. He withdrew his hand cleanly and turned to the other players. "We came in to get rich. Doing business with anyone is the same. Don't overthink it. In life, it's just about living and living well. Harmony brings wealth, right?"
"Even if we bring you ordinary stuff, you probably wouldn't want it," a player spoke up. "We need some direction. What if we don't recognize something valuable and miss the big catch?"
This was meant to get the young scion's group to reveal more details about the item they were searching for. As for whether it was a good item, they would judge for themselves.
Good items—everyone wanted them.
The gem earring man and his group, even if they knew the appearance of the item, wouldn't leak it to these people.
"Unfortunately, we really don't know," the gem earring man said with a smile. After a pause, he added, "If it's convenient, everyone can search separately. But don't go too far. If you encounter danger, you have to protect us as promised."
The players didn't take his words seriously, but of course, they couldn't go too far, lest someone find the item and leave first.
However, it soon became out of their control. When they reached the highest floor of the castle, someone accidentally triggered something, and the entire castle began to move. All the rooms, corridors, doors, and windows shifted positions as if alive. This forced the players who had scattered through the corridors and rooms searching for items to be separated. Often, a room that was right in front of them one second would sink to the next floor the next. And when a player tried to jump out a window to the floor below, they would land back in another room on the highest floor.
"The castle's space is in chaos! Everyone gather together!" a player shouted loudly.
The young scion's group was carried far away by a moving corridor. When the players tried to chase, the entire corridor suddenly flipped over, forcing them to step onto the ceiling of the floor below—the floor had turned over, but the movement hadn't stopped!