Chapter 2842: "Please Knock Before Entering"
Xu Huo also stood within the defense barrier, showing no reaction to the black-haired woman's ambiguous plea for help. However, this person was clever enough to follow up with another line: "I'll give you the prop I found—it's a space prop!"
Regardless of who she was pleading with, she was on the Purple Life Research Institute's side. The player who had set up the defense barrier let her in, blocking the ruby necklace and the tall, burly white-haired man outside.
"What are you doing? We're all on the same side!" the ruby necklace said angrily.
"What's the rush? Let's see how things play out. It's not like she can run away," said the square-faced man with a buzz cut.
Seeing this, the black-haired woman didn't waste any time. She looked again at the unmoved Xu Huo. "Brother, don't you remember? We just met on the train. I know you're a Spatial Evolver, so you must like space props. Help me out, and I'll give you this A-rank prop."
She pulled out a finger cot, hoping to trade it for Xu Huo's support.
"Don't let her get away with it!" the blond man, who was pinned down, said with hatred. "That space prop can break open multiple spaces. That's how she and I got out!"
Now everyone was on high alert.
"Bullshit!" the black-haired woman couldn't help but retort. "We got out because the instance setting changed. How could a single space prop connect two different spaces? If that were the case, why didn't so many others who went in come out? I don't believe I'm the only one who found a prop in there!"
The blond man sneered. "I found the finger cot first, so I know better."
He wasn't in good shape—his lips were pale, and he had likely been injured fighting the black-haired woman earlier, which was why he was captured so quickly.
"You say so, so it must be true?" the black-haired woman sneered back. "The prop is right here. Want to try it?"
With that, she tossed the prop toward Xu Huo.
Xu Huo reached out to catch it, but at that moment, another Spatial Evolver in the group, Xing Xiaoyu, made a grab for it. The finger cot changed direction mid-air and flew toward her.
However, the moment she grabbed it, her arm was seized by Shen Ling'er, who was beside her. The seemingly delicate woman's hand veins bulged as she firmly gripped Xing Xiaoyu, not giving her a chance to break free.
"The prop hasn't changed owners yet. Even if you hold it, you can't use it. What's the point of snatching it?" Shen Ling'er said. "Since he's on our side, what difference does it make whether he tries it or you do?"
Xing Xiaoyu felt the pressure but couldn't shake off Shen Ling'er. Seeing that no one else reacted, she had no choice but to let go.
Shen Ling'er handed the finger cot to Xu Huo. "Try it in front of everyone. If it's just an ordinary prop, it's not worth fighting over until heads roll."
The black-haired woman had previously tricked and killed eleven players on the train. Shen Ling'er had also witnessed Xu Huo's evolved power and knew he was much stronger than he appeared, which was why she deliberately passed the prop to him.
After receiving the prop, Xu Huo glanced at her, then at the blond man in the distance.
The blond man was pinned down by the Hundred Forest Society players. His expression showed he didn't want to give up the prop. At that moment, the silver-armored woman stepped forward and said to Xu Huo and the others, "Our ultimate goal is still to clear the instance. It's just one prop. Why lose harmony over it?"
She lifted her foot and pressed it onto the blond man's back, slowly applying pressure until he groaned in pain. "Give up the prop."
The blond man understood that if he didn't agree, he would die. So he reluctantly gave up the prop he had just obtained and lost.
After confirming the prop was ownerless, Xu Huo slipped the finger cot onto his left hand.
[Please Knock Before Entering: This prop was made by an Artificer of noble birth. He believed that basic social etiquette should be maintained between people. To enter another space, knocking is, of course, a necessary courtesy. Naturally, wearing the finger cot greatly increases the success rate, as it doubles the holder's sincerity.]
[Please note: This prop can only be used in spaces that are not absolutely stable. The holder's upper limit determines the prop's upper limit.]
Simply put, this prop converts spatial evolution power. When a player manipulates spatial power, the finger cot can double the destructive force. However, it can only knock open channels between different spaces, and only in places where such channels might already exist.
For example, in this instance setting, there were multiple unstable channels. Sometimes, two spaces would interact without any power interference. But it was absolutely impossible to knock a door open from a sealed area.
Xu Huo wasn't sure what form the finger cot would manifest the spatial power in. So he simply tried to condense a small space body and knocked it against the air.
The moment the prop activated, the space body automatically disintegrated and recombined, forming a space body with greater explosive force. Although the sudden deconstruction of this space body caused some impact on the surrounding space, that was all.
"It seems to be just a space prop that enhances lethality," Yue Yan'er said.
"Would it perform better in the hands of someone with stronger spatial evolution?" Xing Xiaoyu suggested.
"Is your spatial evolution that strong?" Yue Yan'er raised an eyebrow. "I saw you struggling just to pull up a few layers of space barriers. It's hardly your turn, is it?"
Xing Xiaoyu and the Purple Life Research Institute players weren't the main focus. Xu Huo looked at the silver-armored woman. "Want to let your Super Evolver give it a try?"
The silver-armored woman squinted at Xu Huo, then turned to look at her companion in the distance. The bearded man from her team said loudly, "We don't have such a strong Super Evolver here. You keep the prop. But since we've shown our sincerity, I hope we can all act together tonight."
Although Xu Huo had held back during the test, the bearded man and his group didn't dare underestimate him. After all, who would go all out when testing a prop in front of so many people?
Since they were all together, there was no need to fight to the death from the start.
But the blond man wasn't so lucky. The bearded man signaled to his companion, and the silver-armored woman directly crushed his ribs and shattered his heart.
With a polite smile at Xu Huo and the others, the silver-armored woman led her team back to the building on the east side.
"Some people sure are lucky, picking up a prop for free," Xing Xiaoyu said, still unwilling to let it go. She gathered with the equally dissatisfied ruby necklace and tall, burly white-haired man, though the latter two remained silent.
"Let's talk about the instance situation," Xu Huo said, looking at the black-haired woman. "When did you enter the instance? What's the other space like?"
The Hundred Forest Society had shown their sincerity, so the Purple Life Research Institute couldn't avoid asking about the instance in front of them.
The black-haired woman sighed. "I came in half a day early. If I hadn't passed through the space portal, I wouldn't have known there were so many people behind me. The other space is exactly the same as this one, and the time is probably about the same."
"So you haven't seen the small compartments yet?" Xu Huo narrowed his eyes slightly.