Chapter 2862: New Discovery of Darkened Heart
"There usually aren't that many items." Cong Lei said with a hint of envy and jealousy, "Items in new instances aren't this hidden and are easily found by players. If it weren't for this being a space-type instance, with so many players entering before us, we definitely wouldn't have picked up ready-made ones."
Xu Huo nodded, "Too bad there's no A-grade item."
"B-grade items are good too." Cong Lei said, "If we can't use them ourselves, we can sell them outside. They can fetch a good price."
"What do we do with this person?" Dark Circles pointed at the nose-ring woman and asked, "I can see her tendons regrowing. Might as well kill her to save trouble."
"Wait!" The nose-ring woman quickly said, "I can give you items in exchange for my life!"
"Does that sound reasonable to you? If we kill you, the items will still be ours anyway." Cong Lei emphasized the word "ours."
"I don't have many good items on me, otherwise I wouldn't have run into this instance alone. But I can pay you a hefty ransom." The nose-ring woman said rapidly, "Sign a contract enforced by the game, and I'll definitely make up the payment later!"
"Usually only Artificers sign that kind of contract." Dark Circles said, "Are you one too?"
The nose-ring woman nodded repeatedly, "I just registered at the District Government. I'm also an Artificer, just a beginner. As long as we sign the contract, I'll deliver equivalent items by the deadline!"
It sounded good, but there were too many variables. Not worth the risk. The net worth of an A-grade player was enough.
Seeing they were unmoved, the nose-ring woman gritted her teeth and said, "I also know about a player's treasure vault."
"In District 033, there was a powerful A-grade player. Before he died, he didn't leave his legacy to his descendants. Instead, he turned it into a treasure map and put all the items and Subclass Stones he obtained inside. I know where that place is!"
"You know?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, "If such a treasure vault exists, why would you go out of your way to enter this space instance?"
"Because this instance still has a way out, but the treasure vault might not." The nose-ring woman said, "I heard inside information that basically all the players who entered that vault died. No one came out alive."
"Of course I'd rather live."
"But since you're so capable, you probably have a better chance of success than me. Besides, the items carried by the players who died inside won't be bad either. What a huge windfall that would be!"
Xu Huo wasn't particularly interested in this treasure vault for now. He took out the picture frame and said, "I'll let you out when I leave."
The nose-ring woman's expression shifted, but she ultimately had to accept her fate.
After putting the person into the container item, Xu Huo stared at the newly appeared abstract face in the painting for a moment.
The passages inside "Darkened Heart" could ignore the space walls in space-type instances. Could it also pass through the walls of location items and container items?
If so, then the traversal effect of this game item far surpassed the passage transfer ability formed by his mental and space evolution. Ordinary location items, or even general restricted areas, wouldn't be able to stop him.
Hmm, he'd test it with a location item next time.
"You're not interested?" Xu Huo asked the two beside him.
"Nine times out of ten, it's a trap." Dark Circles said, "Some player organizations spread fake news like this to lure people in for profit. Going to a place like that to find items is worse than entering an instance."
Xu Huo nodded, "That's true. We'll talk about it later."
Having taken the items, he wrapped the broken bones in cloth and put them into the luggage compartment along with the box.
Next, they didn't find any new items or other clues in this space. However, five more people from the later player organizations entered here.
"I don't think they're worried about clearing the instance at all." Cong Lei secretly urged Xu Huo, "Maybe they have more clues."
Xu Huo glanced at him, "We'll run into them in every space anyway. No rush. It's getting late. Let's head out first."
Heading out naturally meant returning to the previous space. Although the Hundred Forest Society people were annoying, there was strength in numbers. Compared to the later player organizations, there would definitely be quite a few rule-breakers from the Hundred Forest Society or Purple Life Research Institute tonight.
Originally, he planned to find Yue Yan'er and the Sparrow Bird, but unexpectedly, he ended up finding the buzz-cut middle-aged man who had entered other spaces earlier. The hired players with him were nowhere to be found, and in the space layer he was in, only a few cats and dogs remained—people who had unknowingly wandered here from other spaces. Most of the people in the same layer were dead.
After understanding the situation, Xu Huo invited them to come along, "The instance boss's nighttime activity patterns are irregular. With too few of you, you'll easily become targets."
The buzz-cut middle-aged man had long wanted to leave. He had entered with Xu Huo but looked much more haggard than Yue Yan'er and the others.
Counting Xu Huo's entered space, the space Yue Yan'er and the others had mistakenly entered, Dark Circles and Cong Lei's space, the space where the nose-ring woman and bearded man looked for items, the space where the buzz-cut middle-aged man got lost, and the space where the instance boss lingered—this instance currently had at least six known layers.
Except for the space where the instance boss lingered, players could automatically interact in the other spaces. It was unknown whether the people from the two player organizations had entered that layer, which was most likely the space hiding the Perfect Potion.
When Xu Huo and the others came out, the bearded man was already standing with the Hundred Forest Society people. The silver-armored woman had also returned to this space layer long ago. The various groups gathered together, and the looks they shot over were far from friendly.
Shen Ling'er and the purple-haired man were invigorated to see so many more people. Living longer meant more experience.
Dark Circles and the others had already told Xu Huo everything they could. Aside from forcing and framing others to break the rules to disrupt the instance boss's activity patterns, their survival relied more on caution and a bit of luck. Whether the instance boss would target those who stayed in the small compartments for long periods or those walking outside in the latter half of the night, and whether killing one would lead to killing another, were all unknowns.
However, although Xu Huo could gather people together, new players kept entering from other spaces, making it hard to reduce the numbers anytime soon.
"Can't the people outside be smarter?" Yue Yan'er said, "Haven't they realized the problem yet since no one has cleared the instance? Another twenty come in, planning to wear out all of us who entered earlier?"
Dark Circles, Cong Lei, and the few who followed the buzz-cut middle-aged man out all had grim expressions.
"Instead of worrying about the people outside, you'd better worry about yourselves." The red gem necklace pointed at Dark Circles and the others, "Most of the people who entered earlier are dead. The instance boss's focus must have a time limit. Now that these long-timers have come to us, this place will become a frequent stop for the instance boss. It'll be hard to go out and move around at night."