# Chapter 2907: Mei Zheng's Calculation
Except for a few main city archons who couldn't contain their impatience, Lou Fei, Mei Zheng, and the others remained calm, quietly watching Xu Huo sit down on the king's throne, seemingly confident that he still couldn't clear the instance for now.
However, the moment Xu Huo settled, a light curtain suddenly appeared before the king's throne. As the light curtain flickered and disappeared, the person originally on the throne vanished. At the same time, Mei Zheng, Gem Man, and the others frantically threw out their items.
First, a multi-faceted light curtain resembling a space barrier appeared around the throne, but before it could close, it was devoured by something like black water suddenly surging from the ground. Yet this black water couldn't fully spread either. Another mass resembling swamp mud erupted from beneath the king's throne, not only swallowing the black water but also rapidly spreading across the hall, then quickly climbing along the walls, sealing doors, windows, and all exits.
"Huff!" Just before the hall's main door completely closed, Mei Zheng blew a puff of black smoke toward the interior.
Lou Fei and Chan Juan were the first to retreat. They knew what Mei Zheng and the others wanted to do but didn't stop them.
"Old Mei, this is going too far!" Gem Man, who had fallen behind, gritted his teeth and said, "Hogging everything for yourself, aren't you afraid of choking to death!"
Mei Zheng, smug and satisfied, could barely hide his smile. "If your skills are inferior, admitting defeat is fine. Don't lose your composure."
Gem Man was so angry his beard bristled. The Hedgehog Head looked around and suddenly realized, "What do you mean? You knew all along that becoming king wouldn't clear the instance?"
Neither Mei Zheng nor Gem Man spoke. Lou Fei's expression was calm, her thoughts unknown. It was Chan Juan who couldn't help saying, "Otherwise, why do you think they agreed so easily to elect a king? They set up the trap long ago, waiting for this Yu guy to jump in!"
The Hedgehog Head was furious. "If you want to kill him, at least wait until he opens the teleportation device! Once he's dead, who can open it? Won't everyone else's efforts be wasted?"
The players gathered near the castle still didn't know what had happened inside the hall. Hearing this, they immediately erupted. Most of them still wanted to leave Zone 031 and were waiting for Xu Huo to fulfill his promise. Now they were being told it was hopeless?
In that case, don't blame them for flipping the table!
Mei Zheng turned to look at the furious players and smiled soothingly. "Everyone, calm down. The instruments are all right there. Opening them isn't difficult."
He took out a terminal device he had prepared and handed it to a nearby player. "Acquiring permissions isn't hard—just takes some time. You've waited this long, can't you wait a few more days?"
"After all, the new king is an outsider player. Who knows if he'll truly fulfill his promises after clearing the instance? The interests of the twelve main cities are aligned. Anyone who wants to leave, I absolutely won't stop."
"Lady Lou Fei and the archons of other main cities are all here. Each city can send people to supervise, ensuring fairness and justice!"
With things having come this far, what else could the others say? At least the teleportation instruments were still sitting there. Looking at the massive machines nearly crushing the building, the stranded players shifted their focus and gathered outside the blockade barrier.
After the instruments were arranged, Xu Huo had withdrawn the "Sky Light Domain." Now, only ordinary A-grade instruments protected them. Breaking through wasn't too difficult, but the core players of the twelve main cities guarded them, and no one wanted to accidentally damage the instruments.
After calming the players who wanted to leave, Mei Zheng, Lou Fei, and their teams of players skilled in decoding instruments all mobilized, drawing away the vast majority of players. The main city archons all remained outside the castle.
Xu Huo had burst onto the scene, forcing the twelve main cities to tuck their tails between their legs. Not only did he possess immense treasures, but even if he didn't, Mei Zheng and the others had to find a way to take revenge.
"Trapping him in a container item... are you sure he won't just leave directly after clearing?" the old man, Master Xiaoyao, asked. "He might clear the instance from the hiding place of the king's treasure."
Mei Zheng smiled and looked at Lou Fei. "I'm afraid Lady Lou Fei knows better than I do about this."
Lou Fei gave a sarcastic cold laugh. "If you have something to say, say it. What's with the posturing? You also came from King's City. Don't you know the situation of the players who cleared ten years ago?"
Among the group of archons, Mei Zheng had been stranded the longest. He had arrived at King's City earlier than Lou Fei. When Lou Fei arrived, she happened to catch the tail end of the previous batch of players clearing the instance. That was when she witnessed Mei Zheng using a container item to kill a player who had already cleared.
Because after sitting on the king's throne, the new king would be directly teleported to the location of the king's treasure—this was the only way for them to find the king's treasure. But the player who entered would return the same way, meaning they had to come back to the king's castle to truly clear the instance.
This left plenty of room for manipulation. Of course, ordinary items would struggle to restrain powerful players, but container items were different. Once inside a container item, the player's personal panel would close, and it was a separate space. Even the most powerful player would find it hard to escape.
However, ordinary container items could hardly achieve this effect. But Mei Zheng had one. His container item was very special, allowing him to release and seal it in advance. Before the container item sealed the castle, he had also released poison, aiming to first control Xu Huo, preventing him from dying inside the container item and having his personal panel items directly reclaimed by the game.
Ten years ago, Mei Zheng used this method to kill another player who cleared the instance with him. A year later, he killed a second player who cleared.
These two incidents made Lou Fei and Mei Zheng certain that becoming king didn't clear the instance. Only by obtaining the king's treasure and returning to the king's castle could the instance truly end.
"We have no objection to you killing and robbing," the Hedgehog Head said at this point. "But how do you plan to handle the aftermath?"
He didn't plan to leave Zone 031, so he was worried someone would come looking for trouble.
"Don't tell me you're planning to just walk away."
Not only him, but Gem Man and the archons of several other main cities also had grim expressions.
"That Yu guy practically slapped your faces swollen, and you still want to help him?" Hate Feather said at this point. "Haven't you seen the legal code he wrote? It was prepared for us. Do you think he'll just wash his hands of things after clearing? He wants to be a savior!"
"Those staying in Zone 031 are just people who don't want to bow down in other districts. But if that Yu guy can actually implement what he wrote, will we still be comfortable in Zone 031 from now on?"
"Regardless, we can't eliminate the crisis his death might bring." Master Xiaoyao stepped forward and looked at Mei Zheng. "You've arranged for local zone players to wait in other districts. You're probably thinking that even if the teleportation instrument doesn't work, you can escape through the container item. Want to pull off one big job and retire comfortably?"
"The twelve main cities won't pay for your greed!"
As his words fell, Master Xiaoyao's cane stomped the ground. The floor beneath him surged like a giant serpent, roaring toward Mei Zheng!