Chapter 3053: All Kinds of Tricks
The hunters held their guns, unaware that they too were someone else's prey.
Just as Old Gao and the others were looking around with grim expressions, a huge explosion came from nearby. The adjacent low mountain completely collapsed, and broken stones and chaotic wood rumbled and rolled toward them!
In panic, the four of them could only scatter and flee, but they had barely run a hundred meters when three blockade barriers appeared in succession nearby, completely blocking their path!
Old Gao had a space device on him. He took the lead and used a space tangent to tear through the barrier. However, that brief delay allowed the falling rocks from behind to catch up. Their defense barriers had just risen when they were destroyed by players lying in ambush in the distance. The four couldn't dodge in time and were inevitably hit by the stones. Old Gao, in particular, was sent flying over ten meters even with a small shield, and he couldn't help but spit blood!
"Someone is controlling these rocks!" he realized and immediately shouted a warning.
But it was already too late. More rocks targeted them with precision!
"Boom!" Scarface stepped in front of Old Gao first. His whole body tensed, his feet digging deep into the ground. With a series of explosive sounds from his muscles and bones, he punched the rolling stone in front of him to pieces, then leaped into a tree with Old Gao and fled in the opposite direction.
During this process, both were injured. Those surrounding them didn't seem to want to kill them; they took turns attacking, snatching 20 points from each, and then immediately withdrew.
Xu Huo was also hit twice. Only Old Fu managed to escape unscathed thanks to his speed advantage.
But the four of them inevitably got separated.
Xu Huo watched 189 and 174 approach him, then turned and ran toward the nearby barrier forest.
189 and 174, wearing masks, entered the forest. When they lost track of Xu Huo, they exchanged a glance.
The Bear Hug Zone didn't interfere with players' perception. Had the guy actually gotten away?
The two circled the forest twice but couldn't find him. 174 said, "This kid might be playing the fool. He vanished as soon as he entered the forest. Does he have some special invisibility device?"
"Unlikely." 189 checked his detection device. "No matter how strong he is, he can't just disappear unless he left this area."
"What bad luck. Thought we picked a soft target, but he's a slippery eel." 174 scratched his head. "I was planning to kill this guy and enter Little Bear City."
"Entering costs 100 points. Two hundred isn't nearly enough. You need at least three hundred to dare go there. Those players who entered Little Bear City early aren't pushovers either..." Before 189 could finish, he heard a voice beside him, "Since he ran off, I'll have to take you instead."
He spun around abruptly, only to see 174 looking at him, reaching for something behind his back. 189 immediately retreated, tossing out his space device at the same time!
On Challenge Island, companions could turn on each other at any moment. 174 was only momentarily surprised before striking without mercy.
The two tangled in combat, with occasional deduction notifications sounding. But before long, a cold light pierced through 189's chest. He stumbled back, cursed "Despicable!" and turned to flee.
174 immediately gave chase.
The two clashed twice more, and the commotion naturally attracted nearby players. However, the barrier forest was thick with poison gas, and some players came and went.
Without an antidote, even the slightest risk of poisoning could mean life or death, so most players were unwilling to take that risk.
It wasn't until 189 was severely wounded again that Xu Huo diverted 174's attention, playing the role of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, and reaped 189's life.
After repeating the ritual of hanging the trophy and the flower ceremony, he collected two devices from 189's body.
One was a small explosive device that could serve as a hidden weapon, and the other was a weapon that could release space power for a short time and maintain a blade-like state.
As for the player points plus kill reward, it increased by 251 points in one go.
The kill reward was surprisingly low, which caught Xu Huo off guard. But even so, his points increased to 464. This operation also earned him some favor from the audience, adding another 12 points on top of that.
Additionally, he found a simple map on 189. The map had likely changed hands many times, with different handwriting and ink colors. It recorded an arc-shaped area, starting from the Tooth Snake Zone and extending to near Little Bear City in the Bear Hug Zone.
Near Little Bear City, cross-zone barrier markers were noted, indicating that other areas couldn't be crossed. To move between zones, one had to go through Little Bear City.
Based on the river distribution, Xu Huo judged his position to be near Little Bear City. However, from the limits of his perception, the entire Bear Hug Zone was at least five times larger than the Tooth Snake Zone. This longitudinal distance was comparable to a small country.
He didn't know the situation in Little Bear City, but with so many players lingering outside the Bear Hug Zone, the city was likely freely accessible, or perhaps it was a designated safe zone.
But getting close to Little Bear City was indeed difficult.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Clearly, he wasn't the final oriole. After leaving the barrier forest, he faced continuous pursuit. For the next half hour, there was almost no respite, and his points dropped to 360 due to multiple injuries.
Xu Huo had restricted his space evolution power and rarely used his mental power, but the deeper he went, the stronger the nearby players became.
They were strong in the truest sense. These people were skilled in combat, and many were super evolvers. Moreover, they had effective instruments obtained through relentless hunting. With just two or three such instruments, their strength could far surpass other players.
Thus, players with 100-200 points were concentrated at the edge of the Tooth Snake Zone. A bit deeper into the Bear Hug Zone, players had 200-400 points. The further forward one went, the stronger the players and the higher their scores.
Furthermore, around the 400-point mark, the audience's influence on points increased significantly. Every player, including Xu Huo, was no longer ignored as in the Tooth Snake Zone. Points fluctuating up and down were common.
After prolonged continuous combat, Xu Huo had to find a place to rest. The closer he got to Little Bear City, the more the players' combat level approached that of the game. The number of effective instruments in players' hands also showed that this area had become a meat grinder. A massive number of players had died here with effective instruments... and the methods of killing were increasingly varied.
He glanced at the dried corpse hanging not far away, took off the string of trophies hanging from his wrist, and tied them to his belt instead.
Of course, he had also obtained quite a few effective instruments, and even some healing medicine.
It seemed to be made on the spot by a player knowledgeable in pharmacology, and it worked well for stopping bleeding.
Taking off his coat, he applied the medicinal juice to his wounds, and the pain quickly subsided.
At the same time, the points above his head began to fluctuate.
While waiting for the medicine to absorb, he leaned against a tree branch, chewing on dried meat, and watched the slowly climbing numbers.