Chapter 2793: Watching the Battle
The white-haired old man seemed already accustomed to the hatred other players held for the Holy Sword Society. His expression calm as he looked at Ms. Ruo, "With the strength of District 022, it shouldn't be difficult to investigate the internal divisions within the Holy Sword Society. The Old Holy Sword Society has long withdrawn from the center of power. Whether you're encircling and slaughtering districts to intercept a small number of Old Holy Sword Society members for revenge or to plunder resources, only you know the truth."
"The Game Government Base is not permitted to interfere in district affairs, let alone conduct district-wide slaughters. The base personnel who facilitated multiple bloody incidents have already been purged. Do you think you can stand aloof by waving the banner of self-righteous justice?"
"Even if we die here today, more people will come for revenge in the future. Those innocent victims whose families were destroyed because of you will seek vengeance day after day, year after year. If you don't pay the price, your descendants will!"
These words, which sounded like the prayers of the weak, did not sway the Enforcement Team or Ms. Ruo. Ms. Ruo responded with a cold sneer, "Spare me these threatening words. Since we've made our move, we naturally aren't afraid of the Holy Sword Society's retaliation. No matter how many of you come, we'll kill that many!"
"Kill!!!" The Enforcement Team players spoke in unison.
The white-haired old man's face was cold and grim. A small sword-shaped device slid from his sleeve. As soon as the device activated, a powerful force in the shape of a long sword shot straight toward the blockade barrier. With overwhelming force, it pierced through several layers of barriers at once, even penetrating the barrier of the Non-Game Area Simulator.
But before Gong Ying and the others could rejoice, they realized the restrictions on their items had not been lifted. Looking around, they spotted Enforcement Team players stationed even further away. Judging by the deployment, it seemed a larger-scale simulator had been set up.
"Two layers stacked on top of each other? How insidious!" Gong Ying couldn't help but say.
"Can you compare to us?" Ms. Ruo replied. "Changing identities in all sorts of ways to worm your way close to me—you've really gone to some trouble."
As she spoke, she slashed her hand through the air, and Gong Ying and the others were instantly separated by several spatial barriers. Half of them were teleported directly to the Enforcement Team members, while the remaining group, including the white-haired old man, were left for her to handle personally.
Even with items and traits restricted, Ms. Ruo held her own against multiple opponents. Her combat experience was extremely rich, and her use of various devices was seamless. The white-haired old man's side was inferior in both speed and device coordination. After several exchanges, the remaining members were forcibly separated. Once Gong Ying and the others were distanced from the white-haired old man, the Enforcement Team immediately surrounded them.
The Enforcement Team's orders seemed to be to capture alive. Any player who was subdued was controlled with Spider Locks and quickly removed from the battlefield.
"Mr. Xu, help us!" Gong Ying spat blood as she was sent flying backward. Her peripheral vision caught sight of Xu Huo standing alone to the side, and she couldn't help but call out for help. "You know Ms. Gong, so you should understand that we're definitely not from the New Society..."
Before she could finish, two Enforcement Team members flanked her, pressing a Spider Lock against the back of her neck. She immediately went limp.
Xu Huo had been under the watchful eye of the Enforcement Team players the entire time. They had maintained some distance before, but Gong Ying's shout made them even more vigilant. Using eye contact and hand signals, they began to tighten the encirclement. Just as they were about to make their move, the white-haired old man released a thumb-sized jamming device. Instantly, all the Spider Locks failed. Gong Ying and the others, who had been dragged to the edge of the battlefield, struggled free and quickly pressed their own devices against the blockade barrier.
The moment the simulator barrier collapsed, the white-haired old man activated the button-shaped item he had used earlier. The instant he pressed it, Ms. Ruo and all the surrounding Enforcement Team members were pierced by spatial lines. Some players died on the spot. Others, whose vital points were protected by defensive items, were still alive but couldn't easily free themselves from the spatial lines.
This was an indiscriminate attack, and Xu Huo was also within its range. However, under the interference of "Time-Space Hand," the attack power of the spatial lines was significantly reduced. Blocked further by the Space Entity barrier and his own timely dodging, only a few spatial lines grazed his body. Even so, he was startled—the spatial lines had appeared too quickly. Even for weapons formed from spatial power, their formation speed and direction were nearly impossible to track...
Although this item was powerful, it didn't kill everyone present instantly. Ms. Ruo, in particular, managed to completely avoid the second wave. In the blink of an eye, she teleported behind the white-haired old man and grabbed his cervical vertebrae with one hand!
His defensive item blocked this attack, but Ms. Ruo's other hand pierced through his back without any resistance. Unlike with Gong Ying, this time she didn't manage to pull out his internal organs—she only crushed a small part of his bones.
"Boom!" A powerful burst of air erupted from the white-haired old man's body, forcibly pushing Ms. Ruo back. He spun in midair and activated the button item again. This time, the distance was too close, and Ms. Ruo couldn't escape completely. Half her body was pierced by spatial lines. But she didn't give him a chance to attack again. She forcibly pulled her body free from the spatial lines, ignoring the bloody holes all over her, and manipulated the flowing blood into ice spikes that shot outward.
The ice spikes collided with the defensive barriers. After creating some distance, the white-haired old man rushed toward Gong Ying and the others, freed a few companions, and then fired a signal into the sky.
Several flashes streaked across the air, and explosions erupted one after another around the island. Alarms screamed into the sky, plunging the entire island into chaos. Cries and screams followed immediately.
"Looking for death!" Ms. Ruo shouted coldly. Several blockade barriers converged again, and multiple compressed space spheres appeared in the air. After a series of dense explosions, she overpowered the white-haired old man single-handedly, driving him straight into the ground.
Some members of the Holy Sword Society had already escaped using their tickets. The simulator failed to form another blockade barrier, and other parts of the island seemed to have more attackers appearing. The Enforcement Team members had to scatter in all directions.
"Stop him!" Just as Xu Huo was about to move, the players who had been watching him finally made their move.
Not intending to confront them head-on, Xu Huo blocked these people and headed straight through a spatial passage toward Ms. Ruo and the white-haired old man, who were still locked in combat. On the way, he grabbed the severely injured Gong Ying.
Gong Ying was badly hurt—half her face was burned—but she could still speak. Knowing the situation was unfavorable, she begged Xu Huo for help again.
"You've deployed quite a few people. If you're fighting this hard and still not leaving, it can't be just for Ms. Ruo. There must be another plan?" Xu Huo didn't intervene directly but instead dodged the Enforcement Team's attacks while carrying her.
Gong Ying hesitated for a moment before saying, "Dealing with Ms. Ruo is only one of our plans."