Chapter 2920: Platinum Eye Attack Incident - Part 3
Xu Huo searched the area around Old Lady Lu's residence and near a shelter discovered the yellow flowers he had seen in the future... the ones he thought were from Rose Castle.
Looking around, he only saw broken streets and some Platinum Eye residents who hadn't been fully evacuated yet. Puppet figures could be seen everywhere, crawling and moving through different buildings, seemingly searching for something.
Six starships hovered far outside Platinum Eye. Most of Platinum Eye's players were involved in rescue operations, shuttling back and forth between the city and the ships. Whenever the battle's shockwaves expanded, the ships had to retreat even further.
The large patch of darkness shrouding the sky hadn't completely sunk into the city, but under the influence of the black power, some of the city's taller buildings were twisting, deforming, and collapsing under the pulling force. The falling debris didn't descend but slowly flew upward into the sky, eventually disappearing into the darkness.
Accompanied by a blinding flash of light, part of the darkness in the sky seemed to be dispelled. Dozens of injured players scattered at varying heights in the air, surrounding the man who emerged from the darkness.
Wearing a tall top hat and a black trench coat that covered half his face, the Box Carrier wasn't holding his iconic box. Instead, he was playing with several black spheres the size of pigeon eggs.
A Super Instance was undoubtedly lethal. If operated properly, no number of A-rank players would matter. But even without carrying a Super Instance, a Super Player's killing power was still formidable. The only difference was that other players had a chance to escape.
Although the District Government hadn't sent many reinforcements, the players besieging the Box Carrier had already changed over twenty batches. Some had died, while others had been forced to enter stations or teleport to other districts due to life-threatening crises. As for the Box Carrier, aside from being forced to relocate a few times by prop selections, he was essentially unharmed.
"Box Carrier, withdraw from Zone 002!" The players from Platinum Eye issued warnings for what felt like the hundredth time. But the next second, the speaker was met with a rapidly flying black sphere. The defense of an A-rank prop was as ineffective as air, offering no resistance. Similarly, the player's evasive speed and the activation speed of their passive defense prop couldn't keep up with the black sphere. With escape and defense both impossible, the player could only flee into the station with the help of companions.
However, the black sphere still reaped several lives before returning to the Box Carrier's hand. Holding the bloodless sphere, the Box Carrier's gaze wasn't on the surrounding players at all. He was surveying all of Platinum Eye, as if examining and judging something.
The black space descended again, pressing back down over the city. A few more players silently vanished into the darkness. Just as the Platinum Eye players were about to use the same method to dispel the darkness again, the Box Carrier's left hand suddenly clenched into a fist. The dozen or so players closest to him—though still several kilometers away—had their flesh churn and were vaporized into nothingness in an instant!
The Platinum Eye side erected another blockade barrier, but as the Box Carrier moved, the black power moved with him. Under the pull of this black force, the barriers were instantly destroyed, unable to stop him at all.
But before he could rush toward his target, he was stopped by several forces. Bai Kou and five other players blocked his path.
The Box Carrier grinned maliciously. "Finally, some real people show up."
"BOOM!!!"
Another violent air explosion shook the entire city. Old Lady Lu's residence was also within the affected range. With the defense devices already destroyed, the outer courtyard and even the house reinforced with special metal were completely deformed. When the second shockwave hit, Xu Huo appeared in the yard. A visible semi-transparent space barrier covered the entire yard, blocking the external impact.
Old Lady Lu wasn't there. The Mechanical Castle had long been empty. The robots on the street and nearby monitoring devices had been damaged before the war explosion, leaving no record of what happened near the shelter. But clinging to a sliver of hope, he still came to the small yard, hoping the two children had hidden here and hadn't gone out.
Standing in front of the tilted door, a device suddenly sounded inside the house. Xu Huo quickly entered and found a self-triggering emergency kit. The sound came from a timer inside the kit. On the timer was an emergency contact method. He sent a message using this method, and surprisingly, Old Lady Lu replied quickly. It turned out that Xiao Yuan and Tan Qi had already been rescued by players from the Mechanical Castle and sent to meet up with her. Both children were injured, but not seriously.
Xu Huo felt a slight relief, but then another message popped up. It was from Old Sir Xi. First came a full screen of "What do I do, what do I do," then he got to the point. He admitted that the blockade layer of the fake Instance Authorization wasn't his work but was done by a friend of his, an Artificer from Platinum Eye. The Box Carrier's attack on Platinum Eye might have followed the clues there... Old Sir Xi was both worried that the Box Carrier would come after him for revenge and warned Xu Huo to find a place to hide recently and not catch the Box Carrier's eye...
Xu Huo hadn't expected such twists and turns. But looking at the puppet figures searching everywhere outside and the Box Carrier who still hadn't left, he figured the attack wasn't just about revenge on some Artificer. Moreover, the Super Player from Zone 002 seemed to have washed their hands of the matter, and another Super Player appeared in coordination, further proving this point.
After dealing with the puppet figures active nearby, Xu Huo headed toward Xin Rong's house while keeping an eye on the battle in the sky. At the same time, he opened his Spiritual Realm and Hypercube Space, moving some trapped people to more open areas.
After further evolution, observing the Box Carrier's dark power up close again, he found it indeed closer to Huahan's description. The forces pulled and tugged at each other, more like a chaotic force field. The power came from all directions and also had the ability to devour objects. It was broader than the dark space of "Darkened Heart" and had fewer restrictions.
However, although the Box Carrier's dark power covered the entire city and could effectively act over such a large range, it was clear that the closer to him, the stronger the dark power's gravitational pull and devouring ability.
Behind this dark power, like "Darkened Heart," there was likely a connection to an unknown space, and it might be constantly open. This meant the boundary between the two spaces might not be very stable. Thus, entering the dark space of "Darkened Heart" could no longer be guaranteed safe.
Additionally, the Box Carrier's frequent use of vaporization appeared three times, each interval exceeding one minute. The black spheres also killed at a high frequency and incredible speed, making them difficult for players to dodge. But after this while, although the Box Carrier was still spinning those spheres, their number had noticeably decreased.