Chapter 2948: The Instance Is About to Collapse
The Special Defense Department personnel were busy rescuing people, while Xu Huo was equally occupied with destroying all the wisteria in the forest. The wisteria served as a major support for the instance venue, and perhaps once these vines vanished, the instance's order would naturally collapse as well.
Perhaps because the instance's clearance process had been completely disrupted, more and more people were waking up in the venue, and the scope of information transmission was expanding. Through the Special Defense Department, he learned of several locations in the forest where the wisteria was more concentrated, which could save him considerable time.
As time passed, the Hyperdimensional Space Power destroyed more and more areas. Although the players who had entered the instance didn't know what was happening, the forest was visibly becoming riddled with holes, and the vines that released hypnotic pollen were gradually disappearing.
Just when everyone thought this peace would last until the rescue was complete, the game suddenly issued a notification:
[A-grade Random Instance "Hunting" venue is collapsing!]
Everyone was startled. What was going on? The instance was about to disappear?
"Don't just stand there, save people!" The players, who were already somewhat fatigued, accelerated their efforts once again. The instance venue collapsing? They had never experienced this before, and they had no idea what would happen after the instance venue collapsed. What if the instance's collapse meant everyone was doomed?
Better to save as many people as possible while they still could!
Some were racing against time to rescue others, while others hurriedly hid in container items to wait for teleportation. Whether they had a plan or not, everyone was panicking, fearing they would be buried with the instance in the next second!
[A-grade Random Instance "Hunting" venue is collapsing!]
Xu Huo paused as he looked at this notification on his personal panel, then turned his gaze to the bold, flashing red mandatory warning beside it:
[Detected that player Passerby A is destroying the instance venue. The "Hunting" instance faces collapse. The game reminds the player that destroying an instance may result in multi-wormhole-point wanted status and loss of access to ticket acquisition channels. Please stop immediately!]
Ignoring the warning, Xu Huo closed his personal panel.
Once awakened from the dream, it would be very difficult to clear the instance again. He couldn't allow himself to fall back into unconsciousness, and since this was an unlimited-time random instance, waiting for the instance to spit him out was simply impossible.
Moreover, he had mentally prepared himself for this before entering. He hadn't come here for clearance in the first place.
The invisible Hyperdimensional Space Power rampaged through the space. Everywhere Xu Huo's fingers touched, a void inevitably appeared. Destroying the wisteria was effective, so this time he expanded his attack range, indiscriminately annihilating everything in the forest!
Mutant plants and a large number of mutant animals began to flee. Using their keen instincts to identify the source of danger, they escaped in the direction opposite to Xu Huo, gradually forming a wave of animal migration.
After some time, Xu Huo noticed that whether animals or plants, even in their desperate flight, they never ran toward the northwest. Moreover, some mutant animals that were originally to his northwest actually defied their instincts and first ran south.
He didn't linger. Heading northwest, he used space power to travel quickly. About an hour later, an invisible energy barrier suddenly appeared ahead.
To the naked eye, it looked like normal forest ahead, but this barrier stood like an insurmountable chasm, leaving no gaps.
Xu Huo didn't waste time. He touched the barrier with his index finger, and the forest in his vision disappeared, replaced by a massive white metal castle. The fully enclosed metal walls were hundreds of meters high, like a giant ship towering in the deep green ocean.
It seemed that destroying areas and exterminating species wasn't the end. Using places permanently as killing instance venues was also a way for the districts to utilize them.
Xu Huo circled halfway around and found the building's entrance at the top. This place seemed to have been abandoned. The entrance mechanism showed signs of self-destruction, and he could enter through a gap on the side.
Below was a huge elevator platform, surrounded by some docking mechanisms. Judging by the scale, it was at least the level of a medium-sized starship. Of course, there was no starship here.
Not only was there no starship, but aside from some items directly connected to the building, there was nothing of value—just a few tables, chairs, and beds.
It would be too much trouble to even sell it as scrap, let alone find any directional information.
The terminal instruments had been cleared out completely. Whether chairs, beds, or office spaces, everything was spotless, not even a single strand of hair left behind.
Xu Huo walked and stopped, looking at the gleaming walls and floors. He couldn't even determine what this facility was used for. After searching every possible place, he found no symbols that resembled text.
His footsteps echoed through the interconnected and unusually spacious corridors. His shadow was reflected on the overly bright floor. His gaze shifted from the ground to the walls above. His spiritual power only managed to traverse two or three rooms before it could go no further.
No surveillance-like devices were placed here. Inside the walls, only thoroughly cleaned pipes and wiring remained. These items, including the building materials themselves, were indeed expensive but bore no special markings.
He didn't know if this place had been emptied because it had fulfilled its function as a testing venue or because it was vacated after the instance was born... Xu Huo pondered as he dismantled some wall panels, door panels, and pipes, picking and choosing a few items to store in his luggage compartment. Then, with a single finger, he directly destroyed this massive building he hadn't even fully explored.
Since it wasn't a hasty evacuation, it was unlikely any valuable clues had been left behind. But he could try to see if the Instance Authorization was here.
Starting from under his hand, the intact metal walls began to dissolve. The void spread from the building's center, silently and swiftly devouring everything around it—[A-grade Random Instance "Hunting" has collapsed. Players and non-players in this instance will be forcibly ejected!]
The next second, Xu Huo stood on the streets of He City.
At first, the streets were very quiet. A few seconds later, startled exclamations arose, followed by disbelief and joy, and then loud crying as people ran to tell each other. It was as if the dead city had come back to life at this moment.
"There are still people sleeping here. Hurry and get the potion!" Players shuttled through the streets, wearing grateful smiles as they repeatedly pulled up those sleeping on the ground, sending them to safe areas for centralized checks.
"Mr. Xu." Xiang Yao and Xiang Mi, the brother and sister, appeared behind him, looking at him with disbelief in their eyes. Although the military and Special Defense Department's player training had long used the Skinner instance he had destroyed as a case study.
But having been in the game for so long, everyone knew that destroying either the venue or the Instance Authorization wasn't easy. As time passed, people naturally lost the ambition they had when first encountering the case study. They didn't even consider it anymore. Who would have thought they could witness it today!