Chapter 2943: Genes Have Memory
No matter how much the internet raged, reality remained unchanged. Elite players in multiple locations across X Country were once again locked in bitter combat. The personnel stationed in Zone 014 were limited, but players from outer zones continued to flood in. The prolonged war had left everyone exhausted.
And at this moment, Nie Xuan finally tracked down a trace of Bai Tiao Yi from the Eerie Sound Knights.
Bai Tiao Yi, like Dou Shengnan, was a core member of the Eerie Sound Knights. Both of them acted as enforcers. During the Super Item incident, Bai Tiao Yi had killed no fewer people than Dou Shengnan.
Dou Shengnan specialized in Mental Assault, with relatively crude methods, while Bai Tiao Yi was more adept at scheming and manipulating hearts.
The reason Nie Xuan's team managed to find his trail was mainly due to the Instance that appeared in Ting City.
That's right—the entire city of Ting City was trapped inside an Instance, isolated from the inside and outside. This Instance had suddenly emerged, and beforehand, the detection instruments in Ting City had not detected the energy wave peak that typically precedes an Instance's appearance. In other words, this Instance was highly likely man-made.
With the outbreak of Random Instances, their variety had also increased compared to before. Instances that directly swallowed an entire city were not unheard of, but they were extremely rare.
For it to appear so coincidentally in Ting City was certainly not a random choice of target. And Ting City was Xu Huo's residence. The only ones who would deliberately choose to strike here were likely the Eerie Sound Knights, hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate.
The wave of wanted criminals they had brought was repelled. The Special Defense Department and the military, having learned from previous experiences, had already arranged for personnel to guard key water sources in advance. If anyone made a move, at least the Special Defense Department would receive word. Yet they never expected that, with the Eerie Sound Knights' methods, they wouldn't tamper with the water sources in secret. Instead, they quietly moved through X Country.
Although people went missing wherever they went, the numbers were small. Those suspected of disappearing due to Bai Tiao Yi were just ordinary people with no particularly special identities, making it hard to guess what they were really up to.
Nie Xuan tracked Bai Tiao Yi to a small city in the southwest. There, he unexpectedly discovered a mutant plant growing at an alarming rate. He originally planned to follow procedure and notify professionals from the nearby provincial capital to handle it. However, one of his team members, during a search, found that the roots of this plant were wrapped around a corpse.
Even though the corpse had been devoured beyond recognition by the plant, the victim carried identification. A quick check revealed it was one of the missing persons they had recorded while tracking Bai Tiao Yi.
Nie Xuan immediately led his team to dig through the mutant plant's root system, simultaneously sending the data back to headquarters to have them verify the plant's information.
They unearthed many corpses of missing persons, realizing this was definitely not a whim of the Eerie Sound Knights. Ignoring the risk of exposing their identities, they immediately prepared to destroy this patch of mutant plants.
"Genes have memory." A voice came from behind them. Nie Xuan and his team spun around sharply to see Bai Tiao Yi, dressed in mourning attire, standing on a tree branch not far away. Looking down at them, he spoke in a calm tone: "A person's genes are not set in stone. Every experience in a person's life is written into their genes. While a person is alive, genetic memory may not be obvious, but it will be passed down to the next generation. In the next generation, this genetic memory will manifest concretely—for example, in personality or disease."
Nie Xuan's gaze swept over the half-burned mutant plants nearby. "You want to plant defects in the genes of Zone 014's people?"
If it were before the start of evolution, this might have been difficult to achieve. But facing the vast game world, he even suspected that this operation wouldn't need two or three generations to show results!
"Not Zone 014—your entire X Country." Bai Tiao Yi adjusted the white flower on his chest. "It's only fitting that your people pay with the lives of your entire nation for killing my good friend."
Nie Xuan had no intention of wasting time here. He hurled out all the Blockade Items and Spatial Explosion Items on him, while simultaneously a transparent spatial sphere appeared at Bai Tiao Yi's location. However, in the next second, Bai Tiao Yi's figure vanished from the spot.
Where is he?!
Nie Xuan's eyes searched rapidly, but in the next moment, he felt a chilling presence behind him. A Space Barrier surged up from the ground, instantly blocking the attack from behind. Yet as he turned, a small knife sliced through the Space Barrier, followed by several white petals flying over!
The barrier forged by items was as fragile as air. The moment it touched those white petals, it rapidly dissolved. And the petals piercing through the barrier multiplied, turning into a rain of flowers blowing toward Nie Xuan and his team in an instant!
The ability to instantly dismantle a Defense Barrier meant that ordinary items were utterly useless against these petals!
"Use the Ticket!" Nie Xuan shouted to the others. Then, clasping his hands together, a transparent spatial sphere appeared again, directly enveloping the mass of petals inside. As the spatial sphere was cut into dozens of pieces, the petals inside were also shredded. Seeing the severed petals lose their luster, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Bai Tiao Yi watched this scene with extreme calm. "Sending off my good friend—how could I not bring a few player heads? Spatial Evolution... Did you appear in Zone 008?"
Nie Xuan's brows furrowed, his eyes cold. "A blood debt must be paid in blood. When the Eerie Sound Knights killed people everywhere, didn't they think they would one day be killed themselves?"
"That's true. The Eerie Sound Knights change members frequently. I suppose when one or two companions die, replacements quickly fill in... Using such a righteous excuse as avenging a friend—coming from your mouth, it's only laughable!"
Bai Tiao Yi was not provoked. He was silent for a second before saying, "When the time comes, I'll cut off your mouth and take it to mourn my friend."
"Ha!" Nie Xuan laughed, making an inviting gesture. "Let's see who ends up dead today!"
---
Xu Huo opened his eyes.
His vision was filled with purple-pink. Hanging vines swayed gently from above, occasionally shaking down pollen.
The mask that should have been on his face was gone. He sneezed and sat up from a sea of flowers.
Tearing off the vines wrapped around him, skin and flesh included, he found that their roots had already burrowed into his skin. Fortunately, it hadn't been long, and these thread-like root systems hadn't yet invaded his bones and internal organs.
The forest looked exactly as he had seen before, but this time, the missing people had all appeared. Under the big tree in front of him, buried in the purple vines, were far more than just him.
Among them were the ambushing players he had encountered earlier, the adults and children from E25, the "killed" players, and some ordinary people. Though they were dead, unlike what Xu Huo had "seen" before, they had not died at the hands of others. Instead, they had completely become nourishment for the mutant purple vines.
There were no signs of mutant beasts nearby. Xu Huo looked around, spotted the players from Zone 014, and first pulled them out.