Chapter 2938: Unexpected Subclass Stone
The deaths of several players made the remaining ordinary people even more terrified and restless. They huddled together, some crying, some shouting, calling out for help to any name they could think of.
These people were clearly not from Zone 014. Xu Huo asked where they came from.
"We're from the E25 wormhole," an elderly man quickly answered, then pleaded, "Young man, please don't kill these young ones. They're still young—it would be a pity for them to die. I'm old, I can cooperate with you."
As he spoke, he reached for a knife on the ground.
"No need," Xu Huo said. "I came in to find someone. Have you seen any other ordinary people since you entered?"
Everyone shook their heads. In truth, they hadn't gathered together from the start. After barely surviving attacks from various mutated creatures, they were soon captured by players. Those players forced them to fight and then killed them, claiming it was necessary to clear the instance.
This forest was far too vast.
Originally, one-third of Sea City's population was already considerable, plus the people who had entered from other zones. But no one expected that so many people thrown into the forest wouldn't even make a sound.
Additionally, it was strange that the Special Defense Department couldn't contact the players swallowed by the instance. Xu Huo's personal panel wasn't blocked—he could still log into the Under Dimension and contact the outside world. Moreover, there wasn't any strong spiritual power fluctuation in the forest. Could it be that all those players had lost consciousness after entering?
These ordinary people from E25 had all remained clear-headed.
Xu Huo carefully asked them for details about their entry. He learned that they had also seen the wisteria when they entered, but their zone had long prepared countermeasures for such instances. Every household was equipped with protective masks. However, when the pollen became thick, the city seemed submerged in heavy fog. As they walked on the streets or inside their homes, they suddenly found themselves in the forest.
That should be the difference.
Xu Huo turned back to ask the player who had ambushed him, "You've lost two hunting rifles. Is your clearance task still one hundred?"
The man was silent for a moment before saying, "So far, I haven't killed a single person."
He had bad luck. Every person he encountered was a player, and many looked formidable. The "soft target" he picked turned out not to be as soft as he imagined.
Both players and ordinary people wore hunter masks upon entering. Players' masks had three hunting rifles, while ordinary people's had only one. This meant players had three chances to fail, while ordinary people had only one.
Attacking someone counted as one attempt. How killing a hunter was calculated was unclear, but failing to kill meant losing one hunting rifle.
Players had three chances, ordinary people only one, after which they would become "prey."
Under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible for ordinary people to kill players. So their attacks would only turn them into prey. Given the situation in Sea City, the number of ordinary people should far exceed that of players. Hunting one hundred times to clear the instance shouldn't be difficult for players.
Since killing prey was so easy and prey was abundant, the difficulty of this instance should lie in finding the prey.
No wonder those few people had insisted on forcing these ordinary people to act. Within Xu Huo's perception range, there wasn't even a ghost in the nearby forest. The ground was packed solid with various mutated plant roots—no place to hide...
Just how big was this forest?
Xu Huo frowned slightly and was about to turn and leave when the elderly man who had spoken earlier quickly said, "Young man, can you help us? Take us out, and we can pay you money or instruments!"
"My family has some assets. If you can guarantee our lives, I'll give you three-quarters of my wealth. If you're worried I won't follow through, we can sign a contract—a game contract. As soon as I return to my zone, the assets will automatically transfer to your account."
Seeing that Xu Huo was unmoved, the old man quickly signaled the others to promise benefits as well.
These people originally lived in a relatively prosperous zone. If not for the sudden appearance of the instance, they could have lived comfortably for a lifetime. But now, what was money compared to life? They all expressed willingness to trade their wealth for survival.
At that moment, a child who had been protected by the adults squeezed to the front and held up his coin purse. "I found a stone in the woods. I want to trade this stone with you."
The so-called coin purse was actually a small metal box. This special metal could block energy, commonly used in game transportation to avoid detection or other energy interference. Of course, ordinary people also used it to store instruments and such.
When the lid opened, Xu Huo raised an eyebrow slightly. It was actually a light purple subclass stone.
"I found it in a groundhog hole. I've seen these at auctions before—they're subclass stones, used to craft instruments and tools," the child said, trying to appear calm and knowledgeable.
Xu Huo smiled and reached out to take the subclass stone. "Deal."
The child couldn't help but grin happily, but then Xu Huo added, "But you can't leave yet."
His game panel wasn't closed, so he could contact their families and send them back through container instruments or the Under Dimension. But with the instance's situation unclear, reducing numbers wasn't wise.
"I still need to find someone. If you leave, it might affect the instance," Xu Huo said. "I'll put you in a container instrument first. When I get out, I'll definitely send you back."
What else could these people from E25 say? Compared to the players who wanted to kill them to clear the instance, Xu Huo was already being kind even if he was just deceiving them.
Instead of rushing them into the container instrument, Xu Huo first got them some water.
The forest naturally wasn't short of water, but they didn't dare drink it casually.
"Brother," the player who had ambushed him earlier said cautiously, "you're here to rescue people, right? I can tell you're a good person. Actually, I have some fellow townsmen who came in too. Maybe I should look around for them?"
He had just killed a few hunters, but Xu Huo received no prompts. Seeing the man hesitating and trying to play clever, Xu Huo said, "Go ahead."
The man was taken aback by how easily Xu Huo agreed. He steeled himself and said, "Brother, you won't kill me when I turn my back, will you..."
"I don't need you to turn your back to kill you," Xu Huo said. "Go on. Don't wander too far. With your strength, it'll be hard to clear the instance on your own. Getting caught up in this is your bad luck. If you can help me, I'll take you out when I leave."
What a tempting offer... The man knew his own weakness—that's why he had been avoiding other players. After a moment's thought, he slapped his chest and said, "Brother, rest assured. I'm pretty good at escaping. I'll definitely be of help!"
Xu Huo didn't care whether the man would actually return. He waved his hand, signaling him to leave.
The man walked away slowly, but only when he was far enough did he dare to sprint, thanking the heavens as he ran.
Xu Huo smirked slightly, then extended his perception again to observe the surrounding forest: With such a vast area, wouldn't new hunters appear?