Chapter 2610: Disintegration in Space
Still time does not mean time has stopped; rather, it refers to a new temporal force that flows more slowly relative to the current space's time, causing the area covered by this new temporal force to appear as if the pause button has been pressed... As time trickled by slowly, Xu Huo, along with the entire night parade procession, seemed to enter a space with a peculiar state. The spatial forces around them exhibited an unusual fluidity, like a slowed-down spatial storm. However, unlike the teaching scenarios displayed in previous super instances, these spatial forces were not structured as some kind of spatial entity; instead, they resembled flowing objects. Their slowness was not due to the influence of temporal forces but because the space itself was inherently this slow.
The night parade procession was stuck in this peculiar space, but instinct told Xu Huo it was not dangerous. Perhaps it was because the spatial forces flowed so sluggishly, or perhaps because they caused no harm as they passed by him. In any case, this place felt like another space independent of both the restricted zone and District 001—unique, yet unlike the chaotic disorder of a space where spatial forces were overly concentrated...
If he had to describe it, its state was very much like the Water Cube—another kind of stability that did not feel overwhelmingly powerful.
Of course, just because the spatial forces here differed from those in the game districts did not mean this was not a stable space. On the contrary, it might very well be a space, but its state was distinctly different from others. The spatial forces here operated in exactly this manner.
If that were the case, did it mean there was a special space sandwiched between the restricted zone and the instance grounds? That would explain why ordinary cross-space teleportation tools could not accurately locate the restricted zone, and why people within the restricted area, unless sucked into an instance, could never open a channel connecting the two spaces through other means.
A special space existed, with a special state of spatial forces. Could a living person survive for long in such a spatial state?
No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than the ghostly figure ahead, which had suddenly deflated, gave him the answer.
The person supporting the ghost costume had suddenly vanished!
Before Xu Huo could figure out what had happened, the ghost costumes on him and around him began to disintegrate. They did not age or powderize at a visible rate like objects undergoing the passage of time; instead, they dissolved in place like gas, vanishing from the space in an instant... No, not vanishing—they transformed into another state!
At that moment, he felt the shadow of death brought by spatial forces envelop his entire body. Although he had witnessed spatial storms on the train and knew the scale of destruction spatial forces could cause, this silent dissolution was the true fangs of spatial power. It was not the lingering aftermath of some coincidental collision, nor did it appear and disappear erratically. Instead, it lingered slowly and persistently in a certain place, like time at the dawn of the universe.
"Go!" Fortunately, the temporal force did not last long, and the night parade costume, as a prop attached to his body, bought him a fleeting moment. Xu Huo grabbed the Painting Woman, who had reverted to a paper-like form, and, protected by the Water Cube, charged violently toward the vortex ahead!
Instinct told him that was the exit, and indeed it was the exit for the night parade procession. He passed through it with ease, and as he and the Painting Woman tumbled to the ground, they came face to face with the armed robots and District 001 players gathering from around the building!
Compared to his surprise, everyone on the District 001 side changed color instantly. However, the props and instruments they had used in the first place could not be retrieved. In the blink of an eye, the building at the restricted zone exit was completely obliterated. But before the dust could even rise into the sky, several figures had already burst out from the spatial blockade one after another!
The first to emerge were, of course, Xu Huo and the Painting Woman, who had not stopped fleeing. Then came the District 001 players, who had reacted a beat later. A short-haired older man leading them shouted an order, "Stop him!"
As a force pressed down from the sky, Xu Huo and the Painting Woman seemed to be caught by something invisible and fell toward the ground. However, before the District 001 people could surround them, they vanished from the ground again. At the same time, the city blockade barrier of Blue Water City also disappeared.
Of course, the city blockade barrier only disappeared for an instant before reactivating, but that meant Xu Huo had already left Blue Water City.
The gathered players looked grim, especially the short-haired man who had just given the order.
"I miscalculated the opponent's strength. I will request punishment afterward," he said. "For now, announce the opponent's characteristics to all instance city governments and verify their identity. This person is most likely not a player from District 001. Submit a suggestion to the district government: since the opponent has not immediately left District 001, they are either a ticket player or have another purpose. Use benefits to lure them and make sure they reveal the method to leave the restricted zone."
After quickly conveying his instructions, he promptly checked the information transmitted by the armed robots from the ruins. "The detection wave peak has disappeared. It seems there will be no night parade procession here. Leave a small team to guard this area. The rest of you, follow me to the B3 predicted zone."
The player team responsible for this interception mission began to move again, but the small incident that had just occurred sent shockwaves through the entire instance grounds and even the district. No one could have imagined that someone would appear in the restricted zone, and at the exact location where the instruments had detected a power wave peak. Throughout the entire instance grounds, only the places where the night parade procession appeared would produce such power wave peaks. The players who had witnessed Xu Huo and the Painting Woman emerge from the ambush site could hardly believe the implications. Even after leaving the ambush site, they could not help but wonder: had he really come out of the instance restricted zone?
However, within half a minute, the district government's information channel had already disclosed Xu Huo's identity to all the players involved in the rescue operation, confirming that he had arrived in District 001 only a few days ago, had visited the writer Jing Shi, had been to the cultural street, and was the only outer-zone player who had voluntarily entered the restricted zone claiming to rescue people. Naturally, some of his performance within the restricted zone had also been reported to the government by metal badge players and others.
This was a technologically advanced district. Even if Xu Huo had not changed his appearance, and even if he frequently changed his face, there was a certain probability that he would be identified. So it was not surprising that District 001 had locked onto him without any preparation.
The fact that he and the Painting Woman had run into District 001 players as soon as they came out could only mean one thing: District 001 must have grasped some pattern of the night parade procession's appearance. If the night parade procession had not disintegrated in that special space, it should have appeared smoothly within Blue Water City.
Sitting by the river, Xu Huo carefully examined his body, even checking the Water Cube multiple times. Only after confirming that the spatial crisis had not caused any adverse effects did he ask the Painting Woman, "Why did you change back just now?"