Chapter 2521: Metal Strangulation
The middle-aged man seemed to hear something amusing, silently revealing a sneer before closing his eyes, looking as if he had no intention of speaking further.
Bubble Bean was furious and moved to attack, but Xu Huo stopped him with a single look and said, "From now on, don't say a word."
Bubble Bean didn't understand what Xu Huo meant by this attitude, but he had ample reason to suspect that Xu Huo wanted to cooperate with the players from Zone 001.
Xu Huo didn't bother explaining to him. Regarding the matter of the Relic Area, what Valen had said was half-truths and half-lies at best, and it was obvious that he had concealed a lot of basic information.
In this metal forest, one could use items and also contact the outside world. This meant that players from Zone 001 could actually communicate with the outside, yet Valen claimed that everyone who entered had lost contact. This was clearly a lie told to hide other information.
The Relic Area might have some places where contact with the outside was impossible, but not everywhere. The middle-aged man thought they belonged to an outside zone faction, which meant that quite a few outside zone players had entered here as well. In this situation, there was no need to rush to clarify their identity. Sometimes, the more chaotic the situation, the more information could be revealed.
The middle-aged man showed no fear of the truth serum in Xu Huo's hand. Either he had been trained to resist it, or he had already prepared for the worst given the severity of his injuries.
"I heard that the local players and outside zone players of Zone 001 have already started fighting," Xu Huo said with a smile. "It's normal for you to hate outside zone players, but the few of us have nothing to do with your political struggles. We just stumbled into this place by accident. We can't get out, and I imagine you can't either. Instead of fighting each other, why not cooperate? Maybe we'll be lucky enough to obtain the ownership of the Super Instance."
Instance authorization letters weren't so easy to obtain, nor could anyone who got one directly own an instance. For example, Xu Huo's Seventeenth Hospital required encountering someone highly compatible with the instance at the exact moment it took shape and had no owner to become its holder. As far as he knew, the situation was similar for other instances.
Regardless of whether the Super Player of Zone 001 died of old age or an accident, it would be very difficult for him to let someone else in Zone 001 control the Super Instance. Most likely, they would only be able to hand over the instance authorization letter. Although Zone 001 couldn't control the Super Instance for the time being, having the Super Instance exist in the district could continue to protect the district from the threat of random instances.
Therefore, the players entering Zone 001 were more likely there to screen suitable candidates to fully take control of the Super Instance. This was a Super Instance, after all—anyone would be tempted by it, let alone the fact that outside zone forces were eyeing it covetously. Of course, Zone 001 would send wave after wave of people to solve this problem.
The instance authorization letter was most likely on the players from Zone 001. Of course, judging from the metal forest, the Super Player's usual moves might be related to metal. This wasn't Xu Huo's strong suit, but the Relic Area might contain not only the Super Instance but also many good items.
"Facing a mortal enemy, choosing death over submission is certainly commendable. If you die, Zone 001 might even award you a medal," Xu Huo said as he injected the middle-aged man with a healing potion. "But if you waste your life out of spite against someone completely unrelated, wouldn't that be a rather unjust death?"
"Your companions might be fighting for their lives right now. Do you really want to die here meaninglessly?"
The middle-aged man, who had originally planned to ignore them, finally opened his eyes after his breathing steadied a bit. "You're just B-rank players. What makes you think you can snatch the instance ownership from A-rank players?"
"How do you know without trying?" Xu Huo replied. "You're trapped here, unaware that the situation outside is already reaching a boiling point. Maybe by the time you finally control the instance and get out, the world outside will have already changed."
"Since things are already like this, why not treat a dead horse as if it were still alive?"
These words seemed to strike a nerve with the middle-aged man. His expression twisted in struggle for a moment before he finally said, "Fine, I'll take you out. I want to see if you really have what it takes!"
Painting Woman and Bubble Bean were visibly overjoyed. Anywhere was better than staying here waiting to die!
"Free one of his arms," Xu Huo said to Bubble Bean. To be safe, he had used an item to lock the four of them together earlier.
Bubble Bean coldly controlled the item to release the middle-aged man's good arm and warned him with a look to behave.
The middle-aged man's expression was calm. After moving his arm, he grabbed an item out of thin air. Because his hand blocked the view, Xu Huo couldn't see exactly what kind of item it was. But in the next second, the space around the four of them twisted into an arc-like shape, as if the space had inexplicably bulged into a ring. With Xu Huo and the others right inside this ring, a contraction and expansion pulled them in with some force, and they vanished from the metal forest in an instant!
In less than the blink of an eye, Xu Huo and the others had changed locations. But before they could even steady their feet, a massive metal ball came flying straight at their faces. None of the four, tied together on a single rope, could escape. Even though they used defense items immediately, the tremendous impact still shook them, making their blood and qi surge.
The four then scattered, but ahead of them, a rain of arrows came flying from all directions, so dense that it nearly filled their entire field of vision!
The place they had emerged from was a city. On both sides of the street were unused buildings, many of which were made of metal. As a result, Xu Huo and the others each hid in different structures after scattering.
Painting Woman and Bubble Bean chose the nearest shops along the street, using the metal tables and chairs inside as shields at the entrance. Meanwhile, Xu Huo and the middle-aged man, who had already broken free of his restraints, opted for the taller buildings with better visibility. The two went up commercial buildings on opposite sides. After locking eyes across the distance, the middle-aged man struck first:
"Fall to the ground!"
Xu Huo, who was still climbing upward, inexplicably slipped and fell straight out of a window. As he descended, not only was the arrow rain still ongoing, but two attacks shot up from the ground, heading straight for his back!
A "Space Sphere" enveloped Xu Huo, absorbing the force of the attacks. He then grabbed onto the window ledge of a nearby floor and leaped back into the building.
By now, the middle-aged man had reached the top floor. This distance was still within Xu Huo's sensing range. He saw the man enter a room on the top floor, hide inside a wooden cabinet, and remove all metal items from his body.
Xu Huo immediately understood what was happening. He quickly stowed away his metal items and leaped out of the building window again. In the next second, the metal building behind him seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand. The entire structure began to be crushed from the floor he had jumped from. A building dozens of stories high twisted and deformed like an empty soda can!