Chapter 2676: Welcome to the Box Carrier's Joyful Circus City
At the mention of combat puppets, the faces of those present turned unpleasant. Xu Huo raised his voice and asked, "Did you chase the combat puppets here?"
The middle-aged man who had spoken earlier took out a miniature device, glanced at it, then slapped his forehead. "We chased too far—the puppet is still behind us..."
Before he could finish, a combat puppet suddenly appeared less than five hundred meters away from them. The middle-aged man immediately turned to chase it, but instead of fleeing, the puppet advanced toward them.
Xu Huo sensed something was wrong. He signaled to the Painting Woman and Dai He beside him, then immediately retreated with Qi Cong. However, before they could get far, a faint white light bloomed from the direction of the Eternal Tower. With a powerful surge of spatial energy, the group was abruptly transported to a bustling, lively city.
Rows of toy balloons painted with various cartoon characters floated past their eyes. The rich scents of food and flowers relentlessly filled their nostrils. As the balloons rose, a vibrantly colored street came into view.
A wide stone staircase wound upward, flanked by shops of varying heights. Although the architectural styles were not uniform, every store was drenched in intense colors—from the roofs and decorations down to the tables, chairs, and counters, even the interior and exterior ornaments used bright, bold hues.
Matching this cheerful and lively atmosphere, the music playing in the shops was light and joyful. Various tunes rose and fell in succession, accompanied by the constant laughter and chatter on the streets. Every inch of the air here seemed infused with a peculiar kind of amusement...
In fact, it wasn't just this street. Every road radiating from where Xu Huo and the others stood exuded the same amusement park vibe. Besides the pedestrians wearing different masks and cartoon costumes, some streets even had dedicated parade troupes, with adults and children dancing and celebrating together, as if the world contained nothing but happiness.
But Xu Huo's group, as well as the people from the Eternal Tower Nation, all stood frozen in place.
Suddenly being teleported from a forest to this space was already confusing enough. This seemingly lively place was riddled with an uncanny sense of wrongness, so they instinctively stopped.
Qi Cong's forehead was drenched in sweat. He subtly nudged Xu Huo's arm. It was a small movement, but it caused a person in a costume walking past them to abruptly turn its head—since they had arrived, the people on the street had acted as if they didn't see them, as if they were completely unaware of their existence. But when one person turned around, the nearby costumed figures began turning their heads one after another to stare at them. Their once fluid movements became stiff and mechanical, spreading layer by layer, creating an eerie and horrifying scene!
It wasn't just the pedestrians and shop staff ignoring them. Although the streets were filled with the aroma of food, many shops displayed fake plastic items. The sellers treated them as real, and the buyers did too. Customers would bite into these fake foods, chewing and swallowing them as if they were delicious meals, completely unaware of anything wrong. Laughter mixed with strange crunching sounds, making it impossible to tell whether those eating were actually real people.
But now was not the time to dwell on that, because every "person" on the street had locked onto them. Occasionally, a "gulp" of swallowing could be heard. Those once calm and peaceful eyes suddenly brimmed with desire, scanning every part of their bodies!
When people savor delicious food, they often prioritize their favorite parts, their gaze sweeping over the meal quickly and naturally... just like these costumed people now!
"Run!" Xu Huo grabbed Qi Cong and, before the costumed figures could act, dashed out of the street. Kicking aside a shop assistant who tried to block him, he smashed through the back door of a store and emerged onto the opposite street. But his commotion was too loud. The joyful atmosphere on the street came to an abrupt halt, and the costumed figures, like spasming puppets, turned their gazes toward him one after another.
"Are they real or fake? They're not really going to eat people, are they?" Qi Cong saw a costumed figure open its mouth wide and lunge at him, his voice twisting in terror. "Run, run! They really want to eat people!"
The game's personal panel could not be summoned. It was almost certain they had entered the same instance that had trapped Yan Jiayu, but the lack of instance prompts was at least a good sign.
Xu Huo activated "Soaked Seaweed." A massive, colorful defensive shield floated lightly around him, blocking all the costumed figures trying to pounce on them.
The costumed figures' attack methods were limited, relying mainly on their limbs and whatever weapons they could grab. Some of them held props, but since they couldn't activate them, they were no different from ordinary items. They clung to the "Soaked Seaweed" with both hands and feet, trying to drag it to the ground, while others took advantage of the prop being suspended to jump in through the gaps, attacking them repeatedly.
After testing a few times and finding that these people felt no pain, Xu Huo killed two with his Black Blade. However, when the costumed figures were cut open, they were not filled with people as he had expected—they were empty.
The empty costumes fell to the ground and quickly deflated. Unlike the combat puppets he had seen before, their main component was just fabric.
But without a doubt, these costumed figures, or rather the costumes themselves, were props.
Seeing the crowd on the street surging toward them, Xu Huo grabbed Qi Cong and leaped to the next street. Passing by a shop, he noticed a warehouse filled with decorative fabric drapes. He kicked a working costume figure out of the way, tore down a drape, wrapped it around Qi Cong, roughly poked two holes for eyes, and then pushed him onto the street.
Qi Cong stumbled two steps and nearly collided with a large and a small costumed figure passing by. After barely steadying himself, he lowered his head and met their gaze.
These two costumed figures neither attacked him nor ignored him. Instead, they nodded at him like ordinary people and then walked past normally.
The other costumed figures around them did the same. It was as if Qi Cong was one of them, a person who had always been on this street.
Qi Cong felt both relieved and terrified. He crept back, met up with Xu Huo, who had also draped himself in fabric, and cautiously used the communicator to ask, "If we wear these things, will we turn into people here too?"
Logically, this space couldn't connect to the game, and even container props wouldn't work. But these freely walking figures were a different matter.
Xu Huo was wearing his metal suit and hadn't felt anything unusual yet, so he lowered his voice and said, "Just wear it for now. Let's find the others first."
"So we can talk," Qi Cong said, putting away the communicator. As he followed Xu Huo forward, he accidentally brushed against a decorative rabbit hanging by a shop door. The fluffy rabbit hopped in place twice, then spoke in human language:
"Welcome to the Box Carrier's Joyful Circus City!"