Chapter 2927: Informing All Players
"There are no conditions to be negotiated with evil people." Yan Jiayu didn't even consider it. "But you've underestimated my companions."
The moment she finished speaking, the threads connecting the dozens of ordinary people in Ting City were severed. As the elite players within Ting City appeared inside the defensive barrier, the two pursuit squads tracking the wanted criminals also arrived.
Several blockade barriers snapped open, encircling the wanted criminals together. Then, the pre-placed explosive devices detonated all at once, completely covering the entire blockade range!
Yan Jiayu had retreated as soon as the squads approached, but she kept her eyes fixed on the wanted criminals' direction. The explosion partially obscured her vision, but perception was sharper than sight—she clearly sensed that the wanted criminal not only remained uninjured but was rapidly closing in on the squad members!
Her figure vanished from its spot, and the next second, she was blocking the path of that squad member. The light bursting from the blockade barrier collided with her fan-shaped barrier, the sheer impact force even producing a sonic boom. Under this immense pressure, she was pushed backward, but before she could steady herself, several flying needles guided by fine threads flew past her, seemingly trying to bypass the defensive barrier and attack from behind!
Yan Jiayu spread her arms wide, a faint white light enveloping her body. She directly grabbed several of the threads, spinning swiftly in the air to use them to pull back the other flying needles. But these weren't real threads—they were lethal weapons condensed from special power. As the threads whirled rapidly in her hands, the defensive barrier covering her was sliced open with gashes.
However, thanks to her intervention, those flying needles returned fruitlessly, heading back toward the wanted criminal.
"Boom! Boom!" Another series of collisions from props. The wanted criminal began throwing flying needles continuously, dense threads surging out almost instantly, forcing Yan Jiayu and the two elite squads to make way. Then, these flying needles pierced through the ground and appeared inside Ting City's defensive barrier!
A third of the players guarding near the barrier died in an instant. Following that, the flying needles shot straight into the sky, stabbing into the top of the barrier while a pale golden halo burst outward, directly sealing off half the city!
"Not good!" The elite squads outside the city changed expressions upon seeing this. Just as they moved to stop the wanted criminal, the man directly passed through the defensive barrier and teleported into Ting City. The moment he entered, hundreds of people were dragged out of their homes and suspended a hundred meters in the air!
"What are they trying to do?" Yan Jiayu asked the elite squads. "They can't be hanging people to threaten the Special Defense Department into suicide, can they?"
"These wanted criminals are all psychologically twisted. They don't care how many people they kill to achieve their goals," Zhao Jin said. "The squads that chased them earlier suffered heavy casualties trying to save people, and even lost several elite players from player organizations."
Previously, the Special Defense Department had distributed some advanced props to certain elite players—a good number with decent quality. This greatly improved their survival rate in battle, but unexpectedly, it made them targets. Robbing national resource warehouses was too risky, and some were even traps set specifically for outer-zone players. Killing isolated high-level players was much easier, occasionally yielding some very good props...
Not only was it a worthwhile trip, but it also satisfied their twisted psychological needs.
Sure enough, the next second, Ting City's internal communication channel was hijacked, and the wanted criminal's face appeared on screens across the city.
"Now comes the crowd-pleasing hero segment. I welcome any player from Zone 014 to challenge me and save your compatriots. Of course, it's best if you bring good props. Killing small fry wastes my time."
"But you can also choose another method—a trade. Fifty lives for one A-grade prop."
The wanted criminal smiled and added, "You now have ten minutes. I'll sit right here and wait."
The screen didn't close. The man occasionally twitched his fingers, plucking at the fine threads wrapped around his hands, causing the people suspended by those threads to sway.
Since the needles and threads were pierced through the victims' bodies, any movement caused these trapped people immense pain. Hundreds hung in the air, not daring to struggle, instead trying to minimize their body movements to prevent the threads from cutting straight through them...
But bodies had weight, and most people showed wounds where the threads had sliced into them.
Some players couldn't help but try to rescue them, but whether they succeeded or not, the wanted criminal would kill some people as a deterrent. Watching the innocent victims being sliced into pieces by the threads, Team Leader Wu and the others, as well as the other players in Ting City, all gritted their teeth in fury.
"Find him! Find him!" Team Leader Wu shouted, slamming the table.
The threads had emerged from underground, and the central area was already blocked by people hanging at various heights. Whether rescuing people or cutting the threads, a new wave of threads would spray out, affecting even more people. The best solution was to find the wanted criminal and kill him!
"The signal source has been located..." A staff member hurried over, but his expression was grim. "There are over a dozen. It's probably the wanted criminal's companions setting up decoys."
"Divide into groups and surround them," Team Leader Wu ordered. "If we can't kill them, force them out!"
This was war—there was no guarantee of zero casualties. But the Special Defense Department couldn't just watch so many ordinary people be killed, even if it meant using their own lives to buy time!
Although the players acting with this wanted criminal weren't famous in the game, their methods were far from benign. The Special Defense Department could only chase after them, causing collateral damage and casualties in many places.
And while the wanted criminal stayed hidden, he was well-informed about Ting City's situation. Wherever the Special Defense Department made a move, he would kill people in that direction—no verbal threats, just direct killing to force the Special Defense Department back!
Five minutes passed, and Ting City had descended into chaos. Fortunately, by then, the elite squads had locked onto the wanted criminal's location. The two teams evacuated the surrounding people as quickly as possible, planning to level the nearby residential buildings entirely!
But before they could act, explosions rang out continuously from different parts of Ting City. Intense light and shockwaves surged from various directions. The wanted criminal on the screen burst out laughing, "The most beautiful fireworks use people as materials!"
The players all ground their teeth in fury. Zhao Jin, who was nearby, snatched an explosive device from a companion and roared, "Everyone fall back!"
With that, she charged straight toward the nearby government building with the prop in hand!
"Wait!" Bai Xiaohua held her back, staring at the screen. "Someone new has appeared!"
"Tap, tap, tap." Footsteps echoed from the screen. A figure walked out from the side and stood behind the wanted criminal. Due to the angle, the screen didn't show the person's face, but careful observers noticed that the wanted criminal had stopped moving, frozen in place as if stuck, the curve of his smile unchanged...
The person behind him simply stood there, not showing their face, and spoke to the screen, "Players, go rescue the people. Team Leader Wu, connect me to the national communication network."
Others couldn't recognize the voice, but Team Leader Wu and his team knew it well. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Team Leader Wu, tears in his eyes, said, "Finally back, finally back!"
"My Brother Xu is mighty! A mere wanted criminal, taken down in one go!" Yuan Yao told Team Leader Wu to stop crying and get to business.
Although Team Leader Wu didn't know what Xu Huo planned to do, he immediately reported upward.
By the time the Ting City players rescued the trapped residents, Team Leader Wu's request had been approved. The moment the communication connected, the image that had only appeared in Ting City now showed up in every city across Country X.
Xu Huo still didn't show his face. Only his upper body appeared on screen, not as conspicuous as the wanted criminal sitting in front. But soon, no one could ignore him.
"Informing all players who have entered our country from other zones and nations: From now on, I will systematically eliminate invaders who engage in indiscriminate killing and looting. Please use this as a benchmark to measure your own actions."
As he finished speaking, he lightly raised his finger and swept it through the air. A red line appeared across the neck of the wanted criminal sitting in front, followed by a torrent of blood flowing down along that line.
The next second, the figure behind the corpse vanished, and the game platform immediately issued an announcement:
[A-grade wanted criminal "Tailor" has died.]
Whether local players or outer-zone players, before they could even process the sudden live broadcast, the "notification," and the death of "Tailor," a series of consecutive announcements stunned them:
[A-grade wanted criminal "Bloodthirsty Killer" has died.]
[A-grade wanted criminal "Shark" has died.]
[A-grade wanted criminal "Bone Eater" has died.]
[A-grade wanted criminal "Family Annihilator" has died.]
[A-grade wanted criminal "Flower Picker Leaf Flicker" has died.]
[A-grade wanted criminal "Fox Eyes" has died.]
...
These were all A-grade wanted criminals with some reputation in the game and high bounties on their heads. Even if not everyone had heard of them, the fact that the game broadcasted their deaths meant they were formidable among wanted criminals. But this string of announcements... The intervals between their deaths were very short, and they couldn't all have been gathered together, so someone must have dealt with them in a very short time!
This was Zone 014, a zone that had only recently begun integrating with the game. Even after two or three years of development, it couldn't have produced so many experts capable of making A-grade wanted criminals helpless...
Outer-zone players—whether they had other intentions or had simply cleared the instance and hadn't left yet—all turned to look at the nearby communication screens:
Was it this person?!
"No way. No matter how talented someone is in a new zone, they can't be this strong..."
This speculation was hard to believe. But soon, the person who had just disappeared from the screen reappeared. He looked as if he had just gone for a casual stroll, with no new bloodstains on his clothes. Yet his next words were both unbelievable and chilling: "This batch of wanted criminals has been dealt with. Special Defense Department, release the locations of the outer-zone players who have caused mass casualties."
Xu Huo: All small fry.