Chapter 2743: The Honey Trap
"A bottle cap, what kind of clue could that be?" Levi couldn't imagine what kind of NPC would want a bottle cap.
Zhou Juanjuan laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Items obtained from clearing instances have different grades. Usually, the higher the value of the item, the harder it is to obtain, the rarer it is, and the better the final clearance rating. You've already laid that foundation."
Levi laughed heartily. "Better than nothing, I suppose."
"That's true." Zhou Juanjuan stopped laughing and hurried off to look for her own souvenir.
However, during their search, three more players obtained souvenirs. Two of them immediately left the area after getting their items, while the remaining one was unlucky enough to be watched, and his souvenir was snatched away.
Xu Huo took a look—it was just a very ordinary handicraft, the kind that could be seen everywhere here. So souvenirs at the starting point of the tour weren't hard to obtain, and the chance of getting one randomly was quite high.
That meant the difficulty of the instance should be in the middle to later stages. Aside from a few fixed locations, there were also fixed tasks and fixed souvenirs. With many people and few items, player conflicts would likely be quite intense.
By nightfall, neither Zhou Juanjuan nor Zhan Erliu had found anything. Since things had come to this, they felt too embarrassed to insist on staying with Xu Huo and the others, so they let them go ahead to the next scenic spot.
After all, their routes wouldn't completely overlap from here on.
Although Zhan Erliu's route was the same as Xu Huo's, he was intimidated by Xu Huo's strength and worried about becoming a competitor along the way, so he also intentionally staggered their schedules.
"If specific souvenirs appear later, we must exchange information," Xu Huo said.
"No problem." Levi agreed readily, but lacking patience, he simply used a teleportation item to go directly to the next scenic spot, not wanting to waste time on the road.
Xu Huo still took the sightseeing aircraft. Some of the places they passed had nighttime scenery. Under the glow of the lights, mountains and rivers were faintly visible, possessing a hazy beauty unique to the night.
The terminal recorded these few seconds of light and shadow changes, and he still posted a travel log.
On the aircraft, someone was selling mutated butterflies. With just a bit of special honey, the butterflies would stay on a person until they died.
Xu Huo waved the seller over. "Are these butterflies always in pairs?"
The seller smiled and nodded. "These butterflies are loyal insects. They only have one mate in their lifetime. If one dies, the other will soon die as well."
"Buy me a pair." Xu Huo picked a pair of red ones. The fine scales reflected a delicate light. After landing on the honey-smeared spot on his glove, they fluttered their wings and didn't leave. The two butterflies faced each other, their antennae occasionally touching.
Many people bought butterflies. Some even asked if the butterflies could survive if released, or if they could be kept alive at home.
Unfortunately, this type of butterfly had a naturally short lifespan. Even with good care, they wouldn't live long.
When the aircraft docked, Xu Huo released the butterflies from his hand and wiped the honey off his glove. He merged with the crowd and flowed into the bustling city.
The dance was in full swing. People were dancing everywhere on the streets. Crowds would spontaneously gather around the dancers, and more people kept joining in.
When the crowd surged, Xu Huo was pushed to the front. A woman wearing a mask and a red dance dress twirled over and extended an invitation to him.
"Go on!" someone pushed him from behind.
Xu Huo stepped forward. The woman pulled him into the middle of the dancers and guided him into a couple's dance.
Xu Huo didn't need to do much; he just had to follow the woman's movements and turn. Halfway through the dance, the woman giggled and put a mask on him. Her hand then slowly slid down his shoulder before gripping his palm.
The dance movements didn't stop, but the woman tried several times to pull her hand back. Failing to do so, she leaned close to Xu Huo and lowered her voice. "Believe me, if I shout, a dozen enforcement team members will jump out of here and beat you up."
Xu Huo pushed her away. "I heard the laws in District 022 are strict. I wonder what the sentence is for theft and robbery?"
The woman's swirling skirt drew loud cheers. She spoke with impunity. "Here, outsiders are always beneath locals."
"Oh?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "So that means there are different classes among the locals themselves?"
The woman chuckled softly. Her right hand lightly brushed under his nose, and then she retreated under the cover of the dancers.
Xu Huo glanced at these people who were deliberately stalling for time. With a single step, he moved out of the crowd and chased in the direction the woman had left.
He followed unhurriedly, soon leaving the noisy, bustling area and entering a park garden. As the people around him dwindled, the lights grew dimmer. When he was almost completely submerged in darkness, those who had been lying in ambush nearby surrounded him one after another.
The woman in the red dress was among them. Her wide skirt was now tied around her waist. She held an energy gun and stepped forward two paces. "Just two small items, distant guest. Don't take this so seriously, or you might lose your life."
Xu Huo was quite surprised. "I posted a log this morning saying everyone here was good people, and now I'm being robbed at night, and they want to kill me? Don't the enforcement team care about you?"
"Of course, we take care of our own. Besides, you outsiders are nothing but trouble." The woman aimed the gun at him. "Be smart and count your losses. There's an enforcement team rest stop not far away. They have item-restricting devices. If they really come, you won't even have a place to run, and you might even get thrown in jail. Why bother?"
"Is that so?" Xu Huo's voice suddenly shifted behind her. Before the woman could react, he grabbed her shoulder. "There is a rest stop, but there's no one inside. Are you sure they'll come to save you?"
"Let her go!" The few players coordinating the attack closed in. However, their shock guns and electric capture nets were nothing high-grade and were easily blocked. But their goal wasn't to capture him; it was to force Xu Huo to leave. So someone directly lunged at him, looking as if they were willing to pay any price.
They were only wearing simple protective suits. With such a disparity in equipment and strength, their fearless attitude was hard not to find suspicious.
Xu Huo didn't attack them. He just kept them at bay. When the woman in the red dress saw her companions' repeated charges fail, she suddenly untied the skirt from her waist!
Several blades shot out. Xu Huo let her go in time, creating distance before looking at her bleeding wound. "Was that necessary?"
"Very necessary!" The woman smiled and pressed the alarm on her wrist terminal. "You were driven by lust, and I was injured while resisting. In District 022, that's a jail-worthy offense."
The enforcement team arrived quickly. Without even a routine inquiry, they surrounded Xu Huo and shouted, "This is District 022! Outsiders don't get to do whatever they want here! Drop your weapon and surrender peacefully, or we'll execute you on the spot!"
Xu Huo stood still. "Shouldn't you ask about the cause and effect before arresting someone? Isn't that a bit unfair?"
"Less nonsense! What do you think this place is? Do you think it's one of those second-rate districts where players can do whatever they want?" One of the enforcement team members threw out an automatic ankle shackle.
Watching the device fly toward him, Xu Huo crushed it under his foot. This seemed to anger the enforcement team. Someone called for backup on the enforcement communicator, while someone else applied for an on-the-spot execution. At the same time, each of them activated their jamming devices. A wave of energy—difficult to identify but capable of impacting the brain—converged from all sides toward the center. Even the woman in the red dress and her companions, who were outside the attack range, couldn't help but retreat.
"Captain Ding, he hasn't succeeded yet. Maybe he can pay a fine instead..." the woman in the red dress couldn't help saying.
Captain Ding, who had a big beard, turned around and slapped her through the air. He coldly watched her roll several meters away. "Obstructing law enforcement, do you want to taste the food in the prison city? Get lost!"
"Then I'll pay the fine," Xu Huo said, holding his head.
Captain Ding sneered and ignored him. He raised his hand to signal his companions to attack. Under the influence of the jamming device, other spatial instruments were difficult to use, and controlling spatial evolution power was also troublesome. This move was mainly aimed at evolvers. There were many methods to control players, like shockwaves and sound waves—convenient and effective. This was also a common method used by technologically advanced districts to deal with players.
Combined with sealing items and non-game area simulators, they could strip away most of a player's power.
"How poor does District 022 have to be for the enforcement team to resort to honey traps?" Xu Huo reached into the air and grabbed something. From what had been empty space, a miniature flying recorder appeared. He turned to face Captain Ding. "Look here. Say hello to the friends on the message collection terminal."
Captain Ding abruptly looked at the person beside him. The latter said in a flustered voice, "The message collection terminal has been cut off for a long time. There's absolutely no way..."
"It's just a recording. Don't be nervous." Xu Huo put the recorder away and flicked his finger. The jamming devices on these people were all sliced into pieces at the same time. As the item took effect, every single one of them was strung up by the neck and suspended in mid-air.
"I don't think District 022 is short of money. I wonder if you're after my items or my person? Let's talk it over."