Chapter 2848: Meeting Again
After saying that, the other person left with a companion, apparently planning to take the opportunity to search the building.
Yue Yan'er controlled the instrument and stealthily followed them. The two were magnanimous enough not to turn back and destroy the instrument, but no one expected that when they passed through the security door on the fourth floor, they accidentally entered another space.
Seeing this, Yue Yan'er quickly flew over, but unfortunately, before the instrument could reach the door, it was completely destroyed by the interference of spatial power.
Xu Huo and the others, who also saw this through the projection screen, fell silent for a moment. Instruments are easily damaged when an instance boss appears or when spatial power fluctuates, meaning ordinary recording instruments cannot safely pass through spatial portals. To confirm the situation in other spaces, players have to go in person.
"Could it be like this?" Wang Xin said. "Actually, after eight o'clock at night, the portals between different spaces open. Before midnight, the instance boss shuttles through the spaces. After midnight, the spatial portals don't close, and players can also pass through."
"Before midnight, we could only hear footsteps. That doesn't mean the space is completely sealed during that time period."
"What if the instance boss's movement doesn't rely on the rules of spatial portals at all?" Que Niao said.
"That makes sense too," Wang Xin pondered. "If that's the case, then people staying in the small compartments before midnight can only rely on luck to survive."
"Why not try your item?" Yue Yan'er looked at Xu Huo. "We just saw the players who came in earlier. If they entered our space, wouldn't that prove that the spatial portals are open before midnight?"
"If we see their space instead, even better. Whether the spatial portals are open or not, we have a way to directly go to other spaces. Even if we're stuck in a small compartment, we still have a chance to escape!"
"There's no suitable place anymore." Xu Huo poured cold water on the idea. "The prerequisite for opening a spatial portal is that the spatial power in that area is unstable. In our small compartment, aside from the previous spot, there's no place to open one."
"As for the spatial portals outside, from what just happened, they appear and disappear in an instant. Those should be very stable portals, only a matter of being open or closed."
He then looked at Que Niao. "How did you get out after obtaining the item?"
"You all know that I wasn't the one who initially got the item," Que Niao said. "Actually, there was another person at the time, a spatial evolver. He probably discovered something and opened a portal, but was immediately ambushed and killed by someone else. I was nearby and used a speed-boosting item to follow him out."
"It was similar to the portal you just opened. It disappeared quickly, but not as fast as the ones outside... like a flash?"
"Then we need to find a suitable small compartment." Yue Yan'er thought for a moment. "Not every small compartment has a place suitable for opening a door. During the day, we can't see the small compartments, so it looks like we'll have to go out and search tomorrow night."
"Even if we do find one, it might not stay the same the next day," Wang Xin added.
That one sentence silenced everyone. After a moment, Xu Huo said, "Maybe other players have found something. We can ask around when we go out tomorrow."
Two hours before dawn, at four in the morning, the doors of the small compartments closed again. This time, Xu Huo and the others heard nothing until six in the morning, when the flickering lights in the building finally went out.
"It's dawn." As soon as it hit six, Xu Huo immediately opened the door and stepped out.
The moment he stepped out of the room, he was standing on the ground floor of the west building. He fully released his spiritual realm, observing every player emerging from the small compartments as much as possible.
Yesterday, when the small compartments opened, he had noted the players entering. Today, when the compartments reopened, there were actually empty rooms—meaning that after the sealing barrier of the small compartments disappeared, there was no one inside.
Additionally, several small compartments no longer held members of the Purple Life Research Institute or the Hundred Forest Society, but instead had unfamiliar faces.
The middle-aged buzz-cut man and his companion, as well as two other players from the Purple Life Research Institute, were present, but the three from the Hundred Forest Society were nowhere to be seen.
Xu Huo and the others had personally witnessed the middle-aged buzz-cut man go to another space, but they didn't know whether the other five had died or entered other spaces.
Seven people missing in one night made both the Purple Life Research Institute and the Hundred Forest Society feel uneasy. When they came out to clean up, they found at least six piles of dust suspected to be the remains of dead players, which made them even more uncomfortable.
This was just what they could see. It was impossible that no one died in the other spaces, and it was unlikely that all the bodies would end up here. So, conservatively estimating, the instance boss had killed at least ten players last night.
With four unfamiliar faces, both sides shifted their attention to them after sweeping the building.
The Hundred Forest Society had more people and was more aggressive. They were the first to recruit two of them, retreating to the east building to talk. The Purple Life Research Institute also wanted to get information from the other two. One of them, a burly bearded man, looked displeased with everyone. He activated a defensive barrier, enclosing an entire floor for himself, showing no intention of communicating with others.
As for the other, coincidentally, it was the short, old man Xu Huo had kicked away last night.
When faced with Shen Ling'er and the others' attempts to talk, the old man said meaningfully, "I only arrived half a day earlier. I didn't find any useful clues. You should ask them."
He pointed at Xu Huo and his group. "Yesterday, I was still trapped in another space when they opened a spatial portal. Unfortunately, they didn't let me through. I only managed to get to your side by chance after leaving my small compartment in the dead of night."
Since it was the first day, most people had been "well-behaved" yesterday, staying in their rooms and not going out, so everyone was still mostly present.
Those who were displeased with Xu Huo's easy acquisition of the "Knock If You Need Something" item naturally turned their spearhead towards him.
It was simple: anyone with a quick mind could figure out that if the finger cot could open the small compartment in the first half of the night, the risk of staying in the small compartment afterward would be greatly reduced.
"This old bastard loves to sow discord the most." Que Niao sneered. "Saying he arrived half a day earlier—he actually came the day before yesterday. When I arrived yesterday, I happened to see him causing two teams of players to fall out. He's a mental evolver. You'd better be careful not to fall into his trap."
At the A-rank level, most players would have items and instruments to guard against mental interference. Even if the defense wasn't strong, they could at least detect it. When they came out just now, the instruments did react, but because too many players emerged at once, and the other party's mental power likely covered the entire instance venue, the strength difference caused by distance wasn't obvious, making it hard to determine who it was. However, this also indicated that the other party's mental evolution was very strong, which fit Que Niao's description of someone capable of turning two player teams against each other.