Chapter 2543: We've Been Waiting for You
"You can speak more truthfully, that would save me the trouble of guessing," Xu Huo said, looking at the other person with a half-smile.
However, the young man simply maintained his smile and said with some difficulty, "To be honest, after the outer zone forces intervened, the portal space underwent drastic changes. We're also starting from scratch. It's not that we're deliberately hiding important information. The things we know may not be more than what you know. You're a Temporal Evolver. With those mixed powers in the stronghold, so many of us couldn't find a way to handle them, but you might understand what's going on with just one look."
That was a good flattery, much more eloquent than people like Qiu Xiangming.
"Your surname?" Xu Huo suddenly asked.
"My surname is Chang." The young man nodded to him. "Chang Yu."
Xu Huo didn't say anything more, instead focusing on the situation near the stronghold.
Clearly, the claim from District 001 was modest. The areas occupied by outer zone players weren't completely inaccessible to them. On the contrary, they had not only entered but also explored some relatively safe routes, hence the mention of "ten total assaults."
He didn't know how they had explored those routes, but it seemed that even without a Temporal Super Evolver, District 001 still had other means to test and make mistakes. Of course, whether District 001 actually had a Temporal Super Evolver was hard to say.
"Brother Xu, I'll follow you," Bubble Bean said, sticking close to him and emphasizing.
"You stay here for now," Xu Huo said. "You're not fully mobile yet."
By this time, Bubble Bean had already installed the metal prosthetic limbs he had prepared, but he still needed some time to get used to them. However, compared to staying with the District 001 players and becoming cannon fodder, he would rather take the risk and follow Xu Huo.
"Sir, you should stay," Chang Yu said. "Mr. Xu's mission is very important. You won't be of help."
The implication was that if he couldn't help, he shouldn't hold them back. This wasn't a suggestion but a warning.
Two players came over and stood on either side of Bubble Bean, watching him.
Bubble Bean was furious but helpless. He couldn't help but look at the Painting Woman.
The Painting Woman didn't care at all about what these District 001 people thought. She cheerfully showed Xu Huo her achievements—her notebook was already covered with several pages of patterns, all stamps from Qiu Xiangming's seal.
Xu Huo pushed the notebook aside and instructed, "Be careful later."
The Painting Woman naturally put the seal into her backpack and nodded seriously.
When the time agreed upon by the first squad arrived, the District 001 players scattered near the stronghold began advancing from different directions, coordinating to penetrate deeper into the stronghold ahead.
Since the stronghold was surrounded by hills and the canyon passage was impassable, they had to go over the mountains. The surrounding mountains were all within the coverage of time power, leaving very little space for players to move. Although District 001 had many people, they had to enter in batches to be effective, and the outer zone forces would intercept them along the way.
Xu Huo and the twenty people protecting him entered the mountains ten minutes after the total assault began—at the combat intensity of A-rank players, ten minutes was quite a long time. When Xu Huo's group entered later, although they didn't encounter any interception, they could see players who had died in the forest at every interval. Some were riddled with holes, stuck in space power; others had been dried out; and some had left behind only their clothes and personal belongings.
Because these bodies were covered by time power or space power, they couldn't be retrieved, and they happened to serve as safety markers.
"Did you find your routes this way?" Xu Huo couldn't help but marvel at the determination of the people from District 001. To inherit the Super Instance, the most elite and talented individuals from the entire district must have been concentrated here. Whether or not these people succeeded, they would surely become the backbone of District 001 in the future. Without absolute consensus, they wouldn't have been able to make sacrifices of this magnitude.
"The situation is critical. Compared to the entire District 001, we are nothing," said a team leader walking ahead of him. "As long as District 001 still exists, there will naturally be thousands more like us in the future."
No sooner had she finished speaking than she suddenly raised her hand to signal those behind her to stop. Then, she swiftly drew a concealed weapon from her waist and shot it toward a certain spot ahead!
With two sharp clinks, the concealed weapon was clearly knocked down. The bushes parted, and judging by the height and shape, it should have been a person. However, the figure blended perfectly with the surrounding scenery, almost indistinguishable to the naked eye. The reason he could evade the players' perception was that he was hiding in a corner of time power.
The spacetime power in the stronghold was relatively chaotic. Many areas occupied by space power were also covered by time power. Invisible space barriers and Space Ray Blades were everywhere, but the time power wasn't as dense. It was relatively stable but would change over time. Areas not covered by time power were relatively safe for players. This invisible player was hiding behind the corner, using space power to avoid detection and using it as a protective layer to prevent others from approaching easily.
Now that he could step out of the time power, it was clear he knew which areas were safe and which were dangerous.
Xu Huo didn't lower his voice deliberately. "Is there a Temporal Super Evolver on the other side?"
"Absolutely not!" The team leader in front of him said firmly. "Are Temporal Super Evolvers like vegetables in the ground that can be pulled out anywhere?"
"They're using a monitoring device." As she spoke, she took one out. "This device can roughly detect the general distribution of time power."
Xu Huo glanced at it. It was a very simple device, with only a single needle. When approaching time power, the needle would rotate and change length to indicate the distance.
"Hahaha!" The invisible figure ahead suddenly laughed. It was a rough male voice. He said smugly, "I knew that fierce attack earlier was just a diversion. And here you are—we've been waiting for you!"
As he spoke, the leaves around him and the space power began to shift slightly. The Super Evolver on the District 001 side immediately stepped forward to activate space power, forming a defensive barrier, and warned Xu Huo and the others, "Be careful. The Holy Sword Society is best at using chaotic space power to ambush. They came prepared. Ordinary space power attacks are hard to penetrate their defensive suits."
Sure enough, the invisible figure's movements were triggering space power. The surrounding space power reacted in a chain reaction, and countless Space Ray Blades immediately launched indiscriminate attacks on everything around them. Large amounts of already damaged vegetation were torn up again. However, this didn't last long. After a few seconds, the chaotic space power was combined and formed into rows of space entities. These space entities connected and arranged themselves into a square space barrier, trapping the District 001 players and the invisible figure inside.