Chapter 2688: Know What's What
After these words were spoken, both of them fell silent.
They had both heard of the Box Carrier's deeds. Though everything in the Clown City was concealed beneath laughter and cheer, every person trapped in a puppet suit, the piles of human bones stacked in the warehouses, and the human skin used to make lifelike puppets...
Everything indicated that the Box Carrier was a madman capable of putting his delusions into action.
The two turned the conversation back to how to escape.
Yan Jiayu agreed with Xu Huo's thoughts. She and a few other players had scouted many places in the Clown City during the carnival event. They had not witnessed the battle puppets entering or leaving the instance. As for the opening of the instance entrance... honestly, trapped in their puppet suits, they could no longer use items, so they weren't sure whether the Clown City would connect to the game when the instance opened.
However, she had observed that many battle puppets came and went from the castle.
From the Clown City's perspective, it made more sense for the instance entrance to be in the castle. First, the castle would certainly have very few puppet people coming and going, making it absolutely safe. Second, if the battle puppets could regularly open the instance entrance, and this happened within the Clown City, then it would be impossible to completely prevent puppet people from escaping.
"How exactly did you end up in this instance?" Xu Huo asked. If she had accidentally stepped into the instance, the likelihood of leaving clues was very low.
Yan Jiayu chuckled. "I came in on my own. I thought it would be a fun instance, but who knew it was a super instance?"
Xu Huo was momentarily speechless. After a pause, he said, "Then you can only leave by maintaining your item state."
There was absolutely no hope of clearing it.
"After analyzing it with a few others, the Box Carrier's instance can't possibly disconnect from the game once it's opened. It should rely on a special device or be hidden in an unusual space. The former is more likely."
"Over this period, the instance has moved to many different places. It's unlikely to find a space unrelated to the game every time. But if it's a super device, it can be used at will."
Yan Jiayu was very confident in her judgment. This was also the main reason she and a few other players tried to enter the castle.
"Catch the ringleader first. Take down that little boss in the castle, and we'll definitely find a way out!"
Yan Jiayu seemed to act on a whim, but she was actually both sharp and intelligent. Otherwise, she wouldn't have treated the instance as a playground. Besides having a good mindset, the key was that she had the strength.
"Have you seen the Box Carrier since entering the instance?" Xu Huo continued. "Does he have a regular schedule for returning to the instance?"
"Since Qi Congming said I haven't changed places in two months, it's likely that the Box Carrier hasn't returned since I arrived in Zone 039. None of us have seen the Box Carrier before. When we asked other puppet people, some could say a few things, but they don't know the Box Carrier's activity patterns either. I also captured a few battle puppets, but the puppets don't have data records, so I can't figure out when the Box Carrier will return or what he usually does." Yan Jiayu sighed regretfully. "It would have been great if I could have gotten a feel for his background."
Her emotions came and went quickly. "The Clown City is more dangerous at night. You hide in the transfer station and wait until dawn to move. I'll go talk to Big Beard and the others first. In the morning, the Clown City will ring the morning bell. Fifteen minutes after the first bell, we'll meet in front of the puppet wall south of the castle."
After speaking, she straightened her kangaroo suit, flicked off the dust on the fur, and swaggered out.
After confirming there was no danger around, a kangaroo began sprinting down the street.
Xu Huo watched her hop away, disappearing in a few bounds, clearly very familiar with the surroundings.
Though trapped in an item, her condition was much better than he had initially imagined. It seemed she also knew what she was doing.
Xu Huo didn't plan to hide here until dawn. He walked out of the transfer station and returned to the carnival grounds. The performers who had run out because of the Painting Woman had all gone back. Without the carnival parade, the other puppet people had returned to their positions, and the small venues became lively again.
Along the way, the instance items he encountered could be roughly divided into three types. The first type only moved within their own venue. Perhaps when the instance officially opened, they would have other changes, but in night mode, they wouldn't leave their venue or seal it off.
The second type could freely change venues. These instance items were smaller in scale and easier to move, like the Magician and the Invisible Man he had encountered earlier. They usually wouldn't relentlessly pursue a single target and were easily distracted by nearby puppet people.
The behavior patterns of these two types of instance items were relatively fixed. Their commonly used items and abilities were quite simple. Once you figured out their patterns, dealing with them wasn't difficult.
The third type was the performers of the carnival parade.
Their range of activity was very broad. They could go almost anywhere in the Clown City. Moreover, judging by their behavior patterns, they seemed more like intelligent beings who could adapt on the fly and choose attack targets with purpose... The difference between them and the first two types of instance items was probably like the difference between the Painting Woman and Mr. Dong.
The Painting Woman had a broad mind, closer to a human, with independent thinking. Mr. Dong could also think to some extent, but his thinking was relatively simple. His hobby of raising spiders made him seem more human, but in reality, most of his actions were very rigid.
Most of the instance items in the Clown City were like this.
Special items with thinking abilities were rare in other instances, but the main combat force in the Clown City was composed of such items. They had autonomy, could actively attack, and were not weak. Even advanced items and advanced devices had very limited effects on them.
Moreover, this was a super instance venue. Ordinary energy weapons and space items had little effect. It could be said that unless another super player came, it would be difficult for anyone to escape from here.
Additionally, many of the items in the instance were not made of metal, so they couldn't be destroyed by destroying the raw materials. Although time power was effective, these living items with thinking abilities would not age as quickly as humans. Temporarily restricting their movement could only be used as a stopgap measure.
Thinking of the Night Tour instance in the previous district, Xu Huo lowered his head slightly. If it were that kind of hyperdimensional space power, breaking down these items would not be difficult.
Of course, moving the Night Tour instance here was impossible. And when the Box Carrier chose a location for his instance venue, he must have screened the environment in advance. He didn't even go to better-developed districts, so it was clear he wouldn't take risks.
Although these problems couldn't be solved for now, the pressure brought by super players and super instances was not as suffocating as when he knew nothing. There were still forces that could contend with super players and super instances, and these forces weren't limited to A-level wormhole points.
A team of battle puppets flew out from the city center direction on aircraft, each dragging a large box marked "Celebration Supplies."
Xu Huo paused briefly, then turned and followed them.