# Chapter 2971: Tragedy
This was an order from the government, but some of the players sent out to carry out the mission didn't originally belong to the government side, and they didn't respond immediately. When the blockade barriers in other areas disappeared, the three areas they were responsible for became isolated from the city. In just a few seconds of reporting information and receiving instructions, nearly half of the people in two of those areas had suffocated to death!
So many people—on the streets, in residential areas, outside shopping malls—fell one after another, losing all signs of life in less than ten seconds. The city seemed to fall into instant silence. Anyone who witnessed such a scene with their own eyes couldn't snap out of it!
Confusion, bewilderment, shock, fear, guilt, collapse... Countless emotions surged through hearts and across faces. At this moment, everyone wanted to know—they had done this to survive or save more people, so why had they instead caused so many deaths!
The dead weren't all strangers. Some were neighbors, some were relatives and friends, and some were family members. They had moved here precisely to live more safely!
"Thud!" A player's knees gave way as he fell to the ground, wailing miserably beside his family member's corpse.
More and more cries of grief joined in. Such mournful and pitiful screams stunned even those who were in the nearby blockade areas. Soon, drones emerging from various parts of the city honestly revealed the tragic situation in these blockade areas.
For a moment, players and ordinary people even forgot to blame each other. Such a massive tragedy far exceeded any previous random instance, and this tragedy reminded everyone that from beginning to end, they shared the same fate.
"Boom!" Inside the safe zone, a figure crashed through several walls in succession. Wrapped in a defense barrier, they were pinned to the ground by golden light shooting from ahead. Amid flowing electric arcs, the masked Team Leader Ming suddenly appeared above the barrier. As he crushed the barrier, the long blade crackling with electricity in his hand sliced toward the throat of the person on the ground!
"Boom!" However, the long blade was ultimately blocked by an invisible barrier. Then a water ball flew out, and the sudden surge of massive water flow swept Team Leader Ming away. Zong Lanzhi, who had been on the ground, seized the opportunity to rise. Several throwing weapon props followed closely behind, piercing through the water waves toward Team Leader Ming in the rear!
"Clang clang clang!" Nie Xuan appeared beside Team Leader Ming, sweeping away both the throwing weapons and the water flow with a wave of his hand. Holding back the person who still wanted to fight, he looked darkly at Zong Lanzhi and the group of super evolvers who had just gathered around him. His anger was palpable.
Zong Lanzhi flicked the dust off his clothes, showing no sense of wrongdoing for his people not following the government's orders without his confirmation. Instead, he said, "Clearing instances involves sacrifices during the testing process."
"You'd better shut up," Nie Xuan said through gritted teeth. "Otherwise, not a single one of you or your people will leave the safe zone alive!"
Zong Lanzhi's gaze turned cold at these words. "Feel free to try. I'd like to see..."
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes darkening as he looked at Xu Huo appearing at the end of the corridor. Suppressing his anger, he swallowed his words.
"Worthless." Xu Huo looked at these people and evaluated them coldly.
"You..." Someone who came with Zong Lanzhi was unconvinced and wanted to argue, but was stopped. Zong Lanzhi looked at Xu Huo. "The blockade areas were a collective decision. I didn't anticipate the execution being half a beat slow either. You can't put all the blame on us."
"Worthless people still want to shirk responsibility." Xu Huo's words carried a hint of disgust. He released his spiritual realm and directly took these people out of the safe zone.
Above the blockade areas near the safe zone, several spiritual gates appeared in the sky. Zong Lanzhi and his group landed somewhat awkwardly on the ground, setting down amid the corpses scattered everywhere—they had tried to jump onto nearby buildings midway, but Xu Huo had knocked them down. Several attacks hadn't held back much, so they could only follow the original trajectory back to the street.
Corpses with pale faces and wide-open eyes, survivors kneeling and wailing bitterly—seeing this scene for real, the arrogance on Zong Lanzhi and his people's faces finally faded. These people who didn't have to die, or at least didn't have to die here, had fallen because of their mistake. The streets were filled with them... just how many people was that?
The players who had been executing missions nearby had already seen Zong Lanzhi and his group, but they didn't dare approach. Everyone stood rooted to the spot, their legs weak, still unable to believe that so many people had died because of those few seconds they had delayed!
Nie Xuan and Team Leader Ming also brought their people over. The two stopped behind Xu Huo, and seeing this horrifying scene, their hatred for Zong Lanzhi and his group deepened.
"Kill them!" Team Leader Ming said in a low voice.
"You can deal with them later," Xu Huo said. "So many people died suddenly. Are there still cases of suffocation in other areas?"
"Not for now." Three minutes had passed since the mass suffocation deaths erupted, and no new death tolls had been reported from other areas during those three minutes.
"Find a way to evacuate people," Xu Huo said. "Based on the current population age structure and the previously estimated city compliance values, circle the people who can be sent away from each area. Have multiple players equip container props to evacuate simultaneously. Players should also be sent away. Don't waste any more time."
As long as the players weren't cleared out, this instance probably wouldn't disappear. And if too many ordinary people left, players would become the next target.
Nie Xuan and the other person composed themselves and immediately returned to the safe zone to make arrangements.
Realizing that Nie Xuan and his group had come and gone, Zong Lanzhi walked out from among the corpses, staring at Xu Huo's face. "You're not going to kill me?"
"Someone will come to kill you." Xu Huo's gaze fell on the players far and near.
In fact, besides the players originally responsible for the blockade, there were quite a few players from nearby areas and others who had heard the news and come. They had caught wind of what happened, and amid their grief, the way they looked at Zong Lanzhi and his group had already changed.
"Decision-making mistakes can't be blamed on any one person. Everyone still in this city bears the risk of suffocation death. No one can guarantee zero casualties. But the lives of these people have already fallen on your heads." Xu Huo's gaze moved from far to near. "You didn't bring many people. You won't be much help before the instance ends. First, deal with the aftermath for these people. You can't just leave them lying in the streets."
He turned to look at Zong Lanzhi, his eyes as deep as night. "Never forget what happened today."
The people around him had already left. Suddenly, an old woman rushed over and grabbed Zong Lanzhi's leg. She was carrying a child wrapped tightly in clothes on her back, speaking incoherently: "Have you seen my grandson? His parents are both out of town—I don't know if they're dead or alive. I have to raise my grandson... He was just saying he was hungry. Do you have anything to eat? Give me a little. I'm hungry too, but I'm old. Eating one less bite doesn't matter to me. Save it for the child..."
Zong Lanzhi suddenly reached out to pull down the child's hat.