Chapter 2931: First Player of Zone 014
While he was busy, the Special Defense Department wasn't idle either. Besides dealing with the endless stream of player incidents, instance events, mutant animal and plant incidents, and rescuing ordinary people, they also dispatched personnel to film the combat zones.
Initially, this was meant to gather intelligence and monitor developments, but after Xu Huo got involved, the nature of these recordings gradually changed. The killed players had no follow-up, naturally making them unremarkable, but their deaths could inspire the players of Zone 014!
So after Xu Huo successively cleared three first-level combat zones, high-definition videos of him appeared on major online platforms. Compared to the scattered snippets captured by others and their equipment, the first-hand materials provided by the Special Defense Department were clear and complete—from his entry into the battlefield, to killing those outer zone advanced players who had caused losses to the military and Special Defense Department without bloodshed, then heading off to the next combat zone without looking back... This wasn't just a talented player's counterattack against outer zone player invasions; it was a shot of adrenaline to boost morale!
"He comes, he kills, he leaves... The same three-step routine, but I only see one word: Cool! I hereby dub him Zone 014's Number One Cool Guy!"
"Those outer zone players thought they were hot stuff because they entered the game early and had plenty of potions and items. Never expected to stumble in a new district! So satisfying!"
"Those people all deserve to die. Look at how they acted when killing our compatriots—now it's their turn!"
"But who is this guy? Based on my understanding of Zone 014 players, do we have someone this strong in our district? Or did they hire outside help?"
"He's definitely from Country X, you can tell by his looks!"
"What do you mean 'Country X'? We're all from Zone 014."
"Which country is the person above from? So shameless—the border combat zone is still fighting!"
"The person above is out of date. The border combat zone has long since ceased fighting. This guy went to the border first, took out a command point from Country Y, and they chickened out, retreating cleanly! But even if they didn't retreat, they couldn't do anything, because most of Country X's territory is covered by items! I have relatives at the border who didn't make it out in time, and they saw it with their own eyes!"
"Is that the barrier that appeared half an hour ago? Could it be this guy's doing? Has any player tried to break it?"
"The person above is talking nonsense without a draft. The ordinary people near the border combat zone were evacuated by the military long ago, and you claim to have 'seen it with your own eyes'!"
The netizen who claimed to have "seen it with their own eyes" wasn't convinced and immediately posted a blurry video. It was unclear what device had secretly recorded it, but after some shaking, a figure could be vaguely seen on a sliced mountain peak. It wasn't very clear, but based on the clothing, it was the same player as the one in the materials released by the Special Defense Department.
"Respect, so your relatives are at another country's border!"
"You're all only looking at how cool he is. Doesn't anyone know what item he's using? It's so powerful—when I get rich, I'll buy one too."
Besides the military and Special Defense Department, player organizations and many unaffiliated players had spontaneously joined this defensive battle. They didn't need to travel thousands of miles to the battlefield; they just had to guard their own doorsteps. Some cities were severely affected by players or mutant species, but many cities hadn't been impacted yet, and the instances that appeared were within controllable limits.
So not only ordinary people, but also the players of Zone 014 were closely watching the war's progress.
"Someone on the Vanguard Forum put together a summary. The items and devices Cool Guy used involve at least two major powers: time and space."
"Not just that! Generally, the more powerful an item, the greater its restrictions. He ran through so many combat zones, using them repeatedly in each one, which means they have no usage limit. Could be Super Evolution Power!"
"It is Super Evolution Power," confirmed a player who had experienced the battlefield firsthand. "And it's a very strong dual time-space evolution. Didn't you see that not a single one of those players escaped? It wasn't that Cool Guy came so suddenly they didn't notice—they noticed, but by then they couldn't escape!"
"Who exactly is Cool Guy? I've never seen him on the player rankings. Is he some secret weapon of the military?"
"The person above is a joke. If the military had trained him, do you think he'd be acting as a bodyguard right now?"
"You're the joke. Who are you slandering? Didn't you see how many military players died in the combat zones? How many people participated in the rescue? If not for them, could you still be online? You'd be fertilizer by now!"
"With this guy's combat power, no one in Zone 014 can match him. Make him a bodyguard? Who would dare?"
"Stop arguing. I can say with 100% certainty that this isn't someone from the military or the Special Defense Department. He first appeared in Ting City, and the wanted criminal Tailor died in Ting City. Don't you all know Ting City? The mysterious big shot X lives in Ting City! Cool Guy is 99% X!"
Thanks to the efforts of some "interested parties," Player X was very famous among player organizations and unaffiliated players. Not only because he had participated in major events, but more importantly because of his talent. Some had long revealed that he was a genius with dual Super Evolution, though it was unclear whether it was space plus time or space plus spirit. There were all kinds of rumors, but few knew the truth.
Of course, with some people's deliberate exaggeration, X was already the undisputed top figure among unaffiliated players in Zone 014. But just how strong he was—the data was too old, so it only existed in people's guesses. Now, those guesses seemed modest—the ones locked in stalemate with the military and Special Defense Department in first-level combat zones were all B-rank or A-rank players!
But from the videos released by the Special Defense Department, whether B-rank or A-rank, none could fight before Xu Huo—all instantly killed!
For ordinary people and small players who hadn't yet encountered Super Evolution, Xu Huo's strength was their hope, the high wall guarding Zone 014, and the sharp blade of revenge against enemies. They had no desire to investigate where Xu Huo's strength came from; his appearance meant that in this protracted war, Zone 014 was no longer the passive side—they had the strength and confidence to counterattack!
As for the players, they inevitably analyzed his combat power.
"He is the undisputed first player of Zone 014!" After watching the battle videos, players on the Vanguard Forum unanimously reached the same conclusion.
Killing A-rank players who had been in the game for a long time without even stopping—his strength had long since left the entire Zone 014 in the dust. In fact, not just Zone 014, even players from many districts that entered the game earlier weren't his match. There was no way around it—if you couldn't dodge Time Rays, you were basically standing there waiting to die. But how many players could truly perceive the fluctuations of Time Power and dodge them?
Time Power doesn't need to be concentrated to a certain degree like Space or Spirit Power to kill; it only depends on the Time Evolver's speed of operation and the target's reaction speed. And a single thread of Time Ray might not even be noticed by a player during intense combat!
Of course, that was for ordinary A-rank players and those below A-rank.
But these were all secondary. What mattered was that Zone 014's counterattack had begun!