Chapter 2525: Small Reversal Ring
The middle-aged man listened in silence, then said after a moment, "Even if you have a silver tongue, you won't get anything from me."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't continue persuading him.
The Painting Woman turned back to ask him, "Want to beat him up?"
"Beating him up won't relieve the frustration," Xu Huo said. "Besides, if we accidentally kill him, how will we leave this place?"
Hearing how certain he sounded, the middle-aged man closed his eyes, adopting a posture of absolute non-cooperation.
They hid inside the wooden cabinet for a while longer. Suddenly, a few balloons drifted out from a street several hundred meters away. Metal fragments hung beneath the balloons, but as the balloons moved, these fragments were shot down before they could rise high.
A few more balloons emerged moments later—half of them tied with metal fragments, half without. Within seconds, all the balloons were punctured one after another, but the primary targets were those carrying metal fragments. The others were merely collateral damage from the metal attacks.
The third time, none of the released balloons carried anything. They emerged from a shop, hugging the edges of the buildings as they slowly ascended. This time, they faced no metal attacks, drifting safely out of the street and even rising into the high sky.
Xu Huo located where Bubble Bean was hiding. The one releasing the balloons was him. He was currently busy handling a batch of specially purchased balloons, with several bottles of chemical agents placed beside him.
"You plan to use these chemical agents to melt the metal?" Xu Huo crouched down beside him.
Bubble Bean, who had been fully focused, was startled and said somewhat speechlessly, "Could you give me a heads-up next time you appear?"
"Can't you sense the fluctuation of power?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Is your attention diminished because of the severity of your injuries?"
Bubble Bean had no retort. After a pause, he said, "As you've seen, any attack or defense items are useless against the metal. But chemical solvents are different—they're naturally suited for dealing with these hard metals. With enough quantity, destroying this metal city isn't a problem!"
The idea was good, but there was one issue: large quantities of chemical solvents weren't easy to buy. Even companies specializing in such business under the Dimension couldn't stockpile that much, and transportation was a huge problem. A player's personal panel couldn't produce several tons of solvent at once.
"I've thought it through carefully. There's no need to target the entire city. As long as these solvents reach the city center, we can destroy it selectively." Bubble Bean pulled out a city map. "I observed when you charged into the city center earlier. The most stable structure is the landmark tower at the central position."
"I also found information about the tower from some travel guides. It was built by an Artificer. Though it can't be moved, its entire body rivals high-level items. The person controlling the metal, or the item born here, is likely hiding there."
"As long as no metal objects are carried, the balloons can fly up without being shot down."
"Your idea is to use balloons to carry chemical solvents into the city center and then destroy the landmark tower?" Xu Huo took over his words.
Bubble Bean nodded. "These specially made balloons can fly at low altitudes. We just need to create a strong wind inside the city, and they'll naturally drift to the city center."
He patted a stack of uninflated item balloons beside him. "I've tested them. These balloons aren't within the metal's attack range."
"As for the chemical solvents, I've bought enough."
To restrict players, container items in the game were usually made very stingy. Some could hold specific people or objects, but container items for storing food and water were not only scarce but also very small—not even comparable to basic luggage compartments.
However, Bubble Bean's target was only the tower, so the scope was small, and implementation wasn't too difficult.
"I have a few glass container items that can be used. The rest can be stored in ordinary bottles." Bubble Bean planned well. "As long as there are enough quantities, destroying the landmark tower won't be a problem."
"This method could work..." Xu Huo paused. "But have you considered that if the person controlling the metal doesn't rely on the tower, doing this will only provoke them."
Bubble Bean clearly understood this too. "Why don't you interrogate that player first?"
Xu Huo returned to the Painting Woman's side and honestly relayed Bubble Bean's plan. "Though it's a clumsy plan and slow to show results, we're trapped here anyway with plenty of time. If destroying the landmark tower doesn't work, we'll move on to destroying other parts of the city center, then the entire city."
"Once all the metal in the city is dissolved, I think we should be able to meet that person."
The middle-aged man's expression gradually darkened. Though he had come with a purpose, he had never considered destroying the city. Destroying parts of a Super Instance to complete a task was putting the cart before the horse. What they wanted was to preserve the Super Instance intact and let the players from Zone 001 inherit it!
"It seems you also think this plan is good." Xu Huo smiled. "Then let's do it."
He said this while opening his Spiritual Gate, preparing to leave, when the middle-aged man spoke up, "You can't do it. Once it detects your intention, it will kill you at all costs without hesitation."
"And you can never kill it."
"So you're saying the opponent is an intelligent item born from this venue." Xu Huo said. "What do you want to get from it?"
The middle-aged man seemed to have compromised. After thinking for a moment, he said, "You guessed right. What I'm looking for is indeed a Space Teleportation Item."
He then took out a transparent, glass-like ring. "This Space Teleportation Item is called the Small Reversal Ring. It's a teleportation tool specially crafted by the Master for entering and exiting Instance spaces. As the name suggests, 'reversal' means swapping the positions of two people in different spaces. But it can only be used within Instance venues and cannot connect to Zone 001."
Xu Huo looked at the unremarkable ring that nonetheless emanated Space Power. The middle-aged man said the "Small Reversal Ring" could only be used within the venue, yet they had entered through a space channel opened by Warren's subordinate players. Even if the District Government had internal conflicts, they wouldn't let their elites all perish in the relic area. So, was the item Warren held similar in function to the "Small Reversal Ring"?
"Is the Small Reversal Ring a replica? Is there an original here?"
The middle-aged man nodded. "Though the Small Reversal Ring is rare, it's ultimately just an ordinary space item. It's restricted by the game—once it enters a space where game channels are blocked, it can no longer be used. Moreover, its space swapping is random. So now, I can only hope for the original item."