Chapter 2499: Medicine Field Flying Fluff
That group of people, including Miss Yi, had all run away. Of course, Wen Xin and the others had also broken free from the control of the time power. They were a bit unclear about what exactly was happening, but before they could ask, they saw Xu Huo quickly walk up to Bubble Bean, slap him awake with a single blow, and then say, "We can leave the city now."
Wen Xin and the others vaguely understood that they had been dragged into some other incident, but seeing the fierce momentum of those few players just now, they could only temporarily leave first.
As luck would have it, just as they left the city, they ran into those few players involved in the gambling game who had earlier gone out to look for Xu Huo and the others. Those people had probably chased all the way without finding any trace, so they thought the targets might still be in the Medicine City and came back to search.
Although Bubble Bean had been slapped, he couldn't even figure out when he had been hit, so he didn't blame Xu Huo. He suggested they split up and run, with him drawing the fire.
"No need." Xu Huo handed Old Lady Gui over to Wen Xin and the others, then took out several sets of Enforcement Team equipment he had bought earlier and had the Painting Woman and Bubble Bean put them on. "In a moment, Wen Xin and the others will be in front, and we'll be behind."
The people present immediately understood his intention, but Wen Xin frowned. "This isn't what we agreed on."
"If you're going to screw someone over, screw them big." Xu Huo smiled faintly. "Trust me on this."
After saying that, he instructed the old lady, "Act a bit scared later. No need to overdo it, just go through the motions."
Considering that the time prop Xu Huo had was of a very high level, and ordinary A-grade space props couldn't interfere at all, Wen Xin and the others suppressed their tempers and decided to listen to him one more time.
Xu Huo then staged a scene of the Enforcement Team chasing after players from other zones. They brushed past those gambling players and ran off in the completely opposite direction.
Once they were far enough away, Wen Xin and the others wanted to slow down and board the next train passing by.
"Can't stop," Xu Huo said. "They'll catch on quickly. You need to use this time to get to the next station."
He sped up and continued, "You're not players in this instance, so coming and going won't affect the clearance. There's a very large medicinal field past the tunnel. In ten minutes, I'll set fire to the field. You need to find a way to lure the Enforcement Team players over."
"You want to use the Enforcement Team to deal with the gambling people?" Wen Xin asked. "You prepared this act for that?"
First, disguise themselves as Enforcement Team members, deliberately reveal flaws to make the gambling participants chase them again, then lure the Enforcement Team over. If neither side knows the situation, they'll easily start fighting.
"Sounds good, but it's hard to pull off," Bubble Bean said. "Those players definitely have a way to identify real Enforcement Team members. And the Enforcement Team won't just start fighting with someone without knowing who they are. They'll probably identify themselves more than once before any fight."
Xu Huo nodded. "So we need to kill a few people first."
Hearing this, Wen Xin and the others perked up. "Leave the Enforcement Team to us!"
Xu Huo's chosen targets were the people from the gambling side. The Enforcement Team wasn't the main focus, but if Wen Xin and the others wanted to act, he couldn't stop them.
After agreeing on the time, Wen Xin and the others used a teleportation prop to go directly to the next station. Xu Huo and his two companions took the old lady along the dedicated line through the tunnel toward the medicinal field ahead.
"I'm worried those people aren't that smart," Bubble Bean said after a long time without noticing anyone chasing them.
"Even if they don't come, their companions will," Xu Huo said. "As long as we lure people into the medicinal field, half the battle is won."
Sure enough, less than three minutes after he said this, pursuers appeared behind them. Whether or not they were companions of the previous group, they were definitely chasing them.
Xu Huo wasted no more time and used a space teleportation prop to directly enter the medicinal field.
The so-called medicinal field was actually a vast fertile area spanning mountains and water. Most of it was planted with medicinal plants, including trees and vines. Probably because they had mutated, these plants were especially tall and dense. Breaking in felt like entering a forest park. The only difference was that at least half of these plants were artificially cultivated, so the spacing was orderly. Some herbs that required special harvesting had bags placed underneath them from the start, waiting for the fruits to ripen and fall off on their own.
Besides the defensive barriers and armed robots arranged around the perimeter of the medicinal field, the field itself was filled with sensors everywhere. Some medicinal herbs had high environmental requirements, so equipment was buried all over the place. Changes in temperature and humidity, as well as machine malfunctions, would trigger various levels of alarms. Once an alarm sounded, if the automatic equipment didn't resolve it and clear the alarm within three minutes, armed robots would rush over.
Xu Huo and his group didn't enter discreetly. Not only did they deliberately damage the outer barrier, but they also triggered alarms all along the way. When the alarms sounded, the lighting equipment in the medicinal field also lit up. A snake-shaped path of lights followed them all the way into the belly of the field.
"It's not yet time to meet Wen Xin and the others," Bubble Bean suddenly stopped, frowning at a patch of medicinal plants ahead. "This stuff... seems to be a variant of a fluff-producing plant."
"What kind of fluff-producing plant?" Xu Huo also stopped.
"I can't remember the name, but I know that after mutation, these plants have a mutual resonance. As long as one plant's seeds start flying, all the surrounding plants will release their seeds together," Bubble Bean said cautiously, not moving much. "And when this fluff flies, it usually blocks out the sky and covers the sun. It's not like fog or sand that can be blown away with airflow props. The stronger the wind, the finer it splits, with some light and some heavy. People standing inside can't see anything."
"Look at this area. Unless a hurricane comes from one direction, once it starts moving, it won't stop for a short time."
"It's planted in the medicinal field. No defensive measures?" Xu Huo looked around but suddenly heard a "snap" from the Painting Woman's direction. Turning around, he saw her snapping a sensor off the ground.
The alarm sounded, and seeing Xu Huo and Bubble Bean staring at her, the Painting Woman casually threw the broken sensor into the medicinal field.
"Don't—" Bubble Bean's voice got stuck halfway in his throat, and then he saw fluff spring up from where the sensor landed. The next second, this seemingly endless medicinal field toppled over like dominoes—plant touching plant, patch touching patch—countless fluff rose into the air like falling snow!
The view was suddenly filled with white. On this scale, using barrier props was pointless. To prevent getting covered in fluff, Xu Huo and Bubble Bean both put on protective suits.
The Painting Woman didn't care at all. Standing nearby, she first looked at the sky full of fluff in surprise, then excitedly plunged into the medicinal field. Her backpack fell to the ground, and the scattered notebook pages, along with herself, were all swept into the fluff.