Chapter 2856: Skillful and Bold
Xu Huo's words sounded absurd—reduce the number of players, and to just over a dozen? How could that be possible?
Even if no more players entered from outside starting now, for the instance to reach a state with only ten people remaining, almost everyone here would have to die. After all, they had no idea how many spaces the instance contained or how many people were scattered across those other spaces!
Forcibly breaking doors violated the rules, and if other players couldn't fight back, couldn't they just hide in the small compartments?
During the day, the spaces were almost completely isolated from each other, so how could they shuttle between other spaces to kill people?
To meet the requirement, the people here would have to die first!
After a moment of silence, the Bearded Man let out a laugh, his sharp gaze locking onto Xu Huo. "So you're saying you have a way to kill off the vast majority of people?"
The longer they stayed in the instance, the more players would die—that was undeniable. But to achieve what Xu Huo described, they would have to ensure no one entered from outside, which meant killing a large number of players in a very short time. With so many people present, who dared to claim they could do that?
"Of course I can't," Xu Huo said. "But I believe I'm not the only one who can enter other spaces."
He looked at the Hundred Forest Society members. "Since the items picked up in the instance can cross spaces, and you came specifically for this instance, there's no way you didn't prepare items with similar effects. Since there's only one instance boss, if it comes here, it naturally can't appear in other spaces at the same time. Exploiting that time difference is possible—it just requires sacrificing some people."
Naturally, no one agreed to this proposal. The Purple Life Research Institute side was a temporary gathering, but a considerable portion of the Hundred Forest Society were companions who knew each other well. How could they possibly agree to such a method?
"Reducing the numbers doesn't necessarily have to reach ten or fewer," Xu Huo said with a slight smile. "It's just that the instance's player count has remained high, making it impossible to test more rules."
"You can consider my proposal. Right now, the Hundred Forest Society has about twenty people as the majority. As time goes on, your numbers will dwindle, and when other player organizations enter later, the advantage of having more people will be lost."
With that, he glanced around the building. "It should be relatively safe during the day. Don't you want to look for items?"
The few people who had gone missing on the first day hadn't been encountered by anyone yet, their fates unknown. Who would dare to wander recklessly?
"You're coming with me," Xu Huo said, turning back to the Sparrow.
The Sparrow had thought he was going alone and was caught off guard by being singled out. After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Should we call two more people?"
Yesterday, Xing Xiaoyu had gone into the basement with him and disappeared.
Xu Huo looked at the Bearded Man again. "You can follow too."
The Bearded Man said nothing, but several of his subordinate players immediately surrounded Xu Huo, making it clear they wouldn't let him leave.
Xu Huo didn't stop walking. With the help of the "Cube Space," he passed straight through them and entered the central courtyard building.
Fighting was possible, but blocking him from leaving was not.
Seeing his figure about to disappear at the stairwell, Wang Xin and Yue Yanei exchanged a glance and immediately followed.
This made the hesitant Sparrow no longer hesitate.
"Just kill him," a player from the Hundred Forest Society suggested.
"Not yet," the Bearded Man said, appearing tough but actually very cautious. The Purple Life Research Institute players were all thrown together randomly, so Xu Huo had no cooperative allies. Yet he dared to say those things in front of dozens of players, making it clear he didn't even intend to win over the Purple Life Research Institute people. If he wasn't afraid of becoming a target by incurring public wrath, he must have some confidence.
The gap between the upper and lower limits of A-rank players was huge...
He nodded to the Silver Armor Woman, who then led two people into the building.
As for the others, they would have to search the other buildings again. After all, they had come for items, and the Hundred Forest Society indeed carried instruments similar to the finger covers that could open space passages.
After entering the central courtyard building, Xu Huo first checked several places where space power was concentrated. Sure enough, they were different from yesterday.
The robot Yue Yanei had released yesterday had already been picked up by someone, along with the glass bead item.
The Silver Armor Woman and her two companions kept a moderate distance, while Yue Yanei and Wang Xin moved closer, asking Xu Huo if he really intended to reduce the instance's player count.
"Even if it's possible, what if it still doesn't allow us to clear the instance?"
"Then we'll find another way," Xu Huo replied lightly.
Yue Yanei and Wang Xin's expressions shifted slightly. They had seen ruthless people before, but rarely anyone this ruthless. There were nearly fifty players in this instance, and he wanted to kill off the vast majority based on a guess with no factual support?
Their gazes involuntarily swept over Xu Huo's finger covers.
The Sparrow, following behind, secretly curled the corner of her mouth at this scene, but at that moment, Xu Huo suddenly turned around and said, "Do you know why I called you along?"
The Sparrow's body immediately tensed.
"Relax, we have no grudges. Besides, you gave me a timely help. Do you think I'd specifically call you out to kill you?" Xu Huo looked at her with a half-smile, then paused before adding, "I also find that old man quite unpleasant. On that point, we're allies."
The Sparrow acknowledged this. She knew the main reason Xu Huo had called her was to avoid revealing that he was a Mental Evolver. Given the strength he had displayed on the train, entering the instance without using it meant he must have ulterior motives.
Since their goals aligned, there was no need to fall out for now.
"Do you have any small tools that can make noise? Smoke bombs, firecrackers, or colored powder?" Xu Huo asked Yue Yanei.
Other players wouldn't carry such trivial items, but Yue Yanei had plenty. "Firecrackers, okay? And paint."
"Either works," Xu Huo said. "The instance boss can be attracted by sound. Setting up some small props in advance might be useful."
Similarly, paint and other items could be used to break the "maintain cleanliness" rule.
"I also have two invisible door mats." Yue Yanei pulled out two flashy mats. "They become invisible when laid down, but they make noise when stepped on."
Xu Huo nodded. "We'll try them on the old man later."
"Using these things could easily make you a target," Wang Xin worried about being singled out. "After all, the Hundred Forest Society has about twenty people."
"Setting them up in empty, uninhabited places to attract the instance boss might not necessarily kill anyone," the Sparrow said. "But if someone breaks the rules, that's a different story."
"And we can take the opportunity to test something. If the boss is attracted but no one breaks the rules, will it still kill the people in the small compartments?" Yue Yanei added. "It would be good to know the approximate time limit."
She then comforted the worried Wang Xin. "Don't worry too much. Even if we don't find a way to clear the instance now, it will eventually reach the situation Old Yu described."
Too many players were trapped inside. Outsiders wouldn't be foolish enough to keep sending people in, and the players already in the instance wouldn't stop killing each other. It was only a matter of time before Xu Huo's predicted scenario came to pass.