Chapter 2858: Suffocating Q&A
The man wrapped himself in layers of defensive items, but he didn't try to break through the space blockade. He looked warily at Xu Huo. "What exactly do you want?"
"Just a few questions." Xu Huo said, "How many days have you been in here?"
"Twelve days," the other replied.
Xu Huo narrowed his eyes. "I don't have much patience. If we can't communicate smoothly, I'll have to find someone else."
The man sensed the killing intent and his expression shifted slightly. "Fifteen days."
"You shouldn't be among the first batch of players to enter." Xu Huo said, "Are any of the earliest players still alive?"
"The first batch came in on the tenth day after the instance was generated. It's been twenty days now—do you think anyone's still alive?" the man retorted.
Xu Huo thought for a moment, then turned to ask the person hiding upstairs, "Does anyone know if any of the first batch of players are still alive?"
Silence answered him.
"Fine." Xu Huo brought all the buildings where players were hiding under his spatial control, instantly pulling up large swaths of spatial body bands.
The suddenly active spatial power made it hard for the players present to tell whether this was affecting the spatial power within the instance grounds. And if such concentrated spatial power collapsed, it would certainly cause unpredictable consequences—what if it dragged the instance grounds down with it?
"Are you insane?" A player immediately jumped out, releasing an item that sent several layers of iron cages descending toward Xu Huo from different directions!
"Don't kill him!" Another person emerged from a building on the opposite side, more worried that Xu Huo's sudden death would cause his spatial power to spiral out of control, so he leaned toward partially restraining him.
But before they could close in, new spatial body bands formed around Xu Huo. As a third person attacked from behind, he released the spatial bodies without hesitation. The immense kinetic energy from their instant deconstruction sent that player flying back into the building. Though the scale and intensity couldn't match the "Explosion Maniac" item, breaking through several layers of defensive barriers was no problem.
When the attacking player walked out of the building again, his body was covered in wounds of various sizes, as if he'd been scraped by knives.
"Can we talk properly now?" Xu Huo looked around at the group. "Since the instance grounds have formed, they won't be that easy to destroy. My spatial evolution isn't anything special."
"Even if I can't destroy the instance, I can definitely blow up a few people."
"Can we have a proper conversation now?"
The players had no choice but to come out of the buildings. There were six in total, and their condition wasn't much better than the player Xu Huo had first encountered.
Among them, the one who had been in the longest was also fifteen days. They had only met players who entered earlier during the first week, and hadn't seen them since.
From their attitudes, it was easy to see that the longer someone stayed, the more likely they were to be targeted by the instance boss. This space currently only had the six of them. At night, there would definitely be extra small compartments, yet the death rate was still that high. Clearly, over time, even being alone in a room was dangerous.
"After the numbers drop sharply, the instance boss should kill fewer people each day, right?" Xu Huo watched their expressions, then continued, "Or rather, when only a few are left, it gets attracted to other spaces?"
"So it does get attracted to other spaces." He made the judgment directly. "That means rule-breaking takes priority over time spent."
But if that were the case, the first batch of players should still have survivors. As long as new players kept coming in, it would be hard to have a moment when no one was breaking the rules.
"Hiding in the small compartments doesn't prevent you from entering other spaces. Over time, players in different spaces interact more frequently, right?"
He directed this at one of the more exhausted and emotionally volatile players. The man, realizing he'd been singled out as the weak link, immediately said, "You can enter this space—don't you know that yourself?"
Given Xu Huo's strength and his understanding of the instance, using him to break rules and distract the instance boss was clearly impossible. Tonight, the instance boss would definitely pick someone to kill. The six of them had survived this long through caution and care. If not for Xu Huo, they wouldn't have gathered this close. If they got caught, the one who died tonight might be themselves!
But being this close also made it a good opportunity to trip each other up.
Just as the six were thinking of ways to sabotage one another, Xu Huo spoke again. "Why not hide in other spaces?"
"Newcomers will actively break rules to test the instance boss's activity patterns—isn't that good for you?"
The group remained silent. Xu Huo immediately understood. In the latter half of the night, when the instance boss's attention was on the small compartments, players who had been in longer were easily targeted. And compared to others hiding in compartments who broke rules—like having too many people or not closing the door—it was hard to determine priority. Besides, the number of spaces in the instance was unknown, so they weren't about to risk their lives testing it.
"During this time, you must have traveled through different spaces. Can you confirm how many there are?"
The one who had answered earlier said irritably, "If we knew that, would we be in such a mess?"
"Not even a single clue for clearing the instance?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"There is one." Another tall, gaunt man with dark circles under his eyes said, "Just kill everyone, right?"
This statement left the other five breathless. They had been happy when earlier players died, watching the numbers dwindle. But the next day, twenty or thirty new players would flood in—the numbers never went down!
Killing everyone who entered the small compartments was impossible. Their only hope was to gamble on the instance shutting down after a sharp drop in numbers. After nearly half a month with no progress, with players just being killed, if it went on much longer, even blowing up the building was worth a try!
As they spoke, players began filing into the research institute's main gate.
Watching the growing crowd, the six players' expressions darkened to the extreme, but they quickly relaxed.
The incoming group belonged to another player organization from the district. Like the Hundred Forest Society, they had come prepared with many items and instruments, immediately setting up equipment to detect spatial power fluctuations in the instance grounds.
"You're Cong Lei from the Dawn Star player organization, right?" One of them recognized the player who had clashed with Xu Huo, walking over with a smile. "You've been in here at least half a month. How's the situation? Care to share?"
"Dawn Star is just a civilian organization. We can't afford all those high-end instruments. We're barely surviving by the skin of our teeth. You'd better figure out the instance rules yourselves, so my wrong information doesn't mislead you." Cong Lei said expressionlessly.
The other didn't mind his attitude and even took the initiative to invite him. "This operation has local government support. You can join us too—it's safer than being alone."
Before he could finish, someone had already used a spatial item to knock open a spatial portal. "Found a second-layer space! Send five people in to investigate!"