Chapter 2869: High Mortality Rate
"My status within the Holy Sword Society isn't high, but I believe someone can definitely give you a satisfactory answer." Xiong Xiaoxin spoke with great confidence, as if saying that within the Holy Sword Society, no matter one's identity, everyone held twelve percent trust in the organization, to the point that although she couldn't make the final decision, she dared to boast so boldly.
But this held no appeal for Xu Huo.
Seeming to see that his attitude hadn't changed at all, Xiong Xiaoxin added, "Since Mr. Yu has already come to this district, why not take some time to meet with our Vice President?"
A49-033 was the Holy Sword Society's territory. The important places in this district, especially where the main members of the Holy Sword Society frequented, were likely already as solid as iron. Game items like "Darkened Heart" and "Pure Heart" were rare, but it couldn't be confirmed that the Holy Sword Society didn't possess them.
"No need." Xu Huo said flatly. "After I clear the instance, I'll leave this place."
Xiong Xiaoxin looked somewhat disappointed, but she still returned the "Puppy Bell" to him and added, "I understand you have reservations about the Holy Sword Society, but I truly extended the invitation with the intention of forming a connection. You might take another look; perhaps after deeper understanding, your attitude toward the Holy Sword Society will change."
Xu Huo said nothing more.
The instance continued. For the next five consecutive days, players were consumed daily. Even though the losses from the first two days had caused some restraint, to ensure their own survival, players facing higher personal risks still chose to strike first.
Moreover, it wasn't just about making others break the rules. As the number of casualties increased, conflicts between player groups became irreconcilable. In places out of everyone's sight, players fought and killed each other numerous times. In the following days, most of the people who went missing had been killed by others, not vanished into suddenly appearing spatial gaps.
Strangely enough, aside from the first day when Xu Huo and the others entered, they basically didn't encounter players being suddenly swallowed by spatial gaps afterward. The few players who had been swallowed at the very beginning never reappeared.
It was unclear whether the instance had changed, or if it hadn't been stable before and only gradually stabilized as more players entered.
During this time, Xu Huo had been studying. But as time passed, he noticed that the places within the instance field where spatial power was concentrated and fluctuated strongly gradually decreased. Additionally, the spatial interactions at night began to follow a certain pattern.
Logically, since the instance had already taken shape and players had entered with tickets, the instance rules should be hard to change. But as things stood now, the instance's changes seemed to never stop, yet it hadn't upgraded.
However, this field, combined with the "Cube Space," had deepened his understanding of spatial structures.
The "Cube Space" had the effect of rapidly integrating new space rays. The state of space rays within a space was relatively uniform, but if a spatial item was suddenly used, releasing a barrier or tangent, it created a new state of space rays. If within its coverage range, the "Cube Space" could easily generate similar rays internally. These rays could interact with the space rays originally inside the instrument, so under the "Cube Space's" coverage, spatial power could more easily break through and alter the state of spatial power released by spatial items.
However, as Xu Huo's spatial evolution level increased, he gradually used this instrument less. One reason was that its coverage range wasn't large. Another was that assimilating space rays also required a certain amount of time. Although the overall time wasn't long, in the midst of rapidly changing combat, this instrument's usefulness diminished. After all, if the goal was just to break through defense barriers or interfere with spatial power attacks, other readily available items could also do the job.
Of course, another reason was that Xu Huo didn't fully understand this instrument.
According to the moth technique, the "Cube Space" originally belonged to the Magician, but had been lost. Whether the Magician had searched for it or not was unknown, but when Xu Huo encountered him, he hadn't proactively brought up this instrument, so there was no way to truly understand its usage.
As a cutting-edge instrument from an A-level wormhole point, its effects should be more than this.
Additionally, early on when he obtained this instrument, Xu Huo discovered that because it had fused many different space rays, when the "Cube Space" was activated, there were always some places where rays intertwined complexly. These places were like unknown angles, and he dared not touch them lightly. Moreover, it could only be compressed to minimize its coverage range, not truly turned off.
These past few days, placing it in the instance field had originally been to better understand the structure of the instance's spatial walls. But over time, at the places where space rays intersected within the instrument's coverage, a kind of "sense of activity" appeared.
This feeling was like a concentration point of spatial power that could open a spatial gate, giving a sensation of rays from two spaces testing or repelling each other.
This inevitably reminded Xu Huo of the players who were intermittently swallowed by space during the high-risk instance. Perhaps it was precisely because the instrument had been activated for a long time that the spatial gaps appeared.
Xu Huo didn't dare to try such gaps lightly, so he picked a player who had suddenly attacked him and threw them in. After swallowing the person, the intersection point of these complex rays stabilized, no longer having that sense of connection between two spaces.
It was roughly similar to the state during the high-risk instance, but this was somewhat strange. He had never heard of a spatial gap that could be stabilized by filling it with a person.
For spatial evolution effects, this instrument could indeed add the finishing touch.
But that was all for now.
He would still need to find an opportunity to ask the Magician clearly.
The number of people in the instance was decreasing. After prolonged mental tension, coupled with some deliberately disrupting others' rest, almost everyone was now exhausted. At this point, splitting up to focus solely on self-preservation was no longer feasible. So Wang Xin, the Sparrow, and others gathered near Xu Huo, hoping at least to rest well during the day.
Cong Lei had long reached his limit. He slept recklessly for half a day. They were lucky; with Xu Huo present, the remaining members of the Hundred Forest Society didn't make a move.
By now, from the original Purple Life Research Institute side, only Xu Huo, Wang Xin, Yue Yan'er, Shen Ling'er, and the purple-haired man remained. As for the crew-cut middle-aged man and the ruby necklace woman, they had long died in the confrontations with the Hundred Forest Society.
The Hundred Forest Society wasn't much better off. Counting the bearded man, only seven of them remained.
Additionally, the Sparrow was still alive. Of the three other players who had come over with the nose-ring woman earlier, only the bearded man remained. From the start, this player had kept a moderate distance from both factions, always paying attention to their movements without interfering in others' actions.
As for the players who had entered the instance earlier, whom Xu Huo had sought out, only Cong Lei remained.
Finally, there was the player organization that had entered later. Unexpectedly, they had lost more than half of their members.