# Chapter 3056: Mid-Range Zone Breach
With an instrument in hand, killing a mutated beast wasn't too difficult. In less than half a minute, the giant tiger was disemboweled, but during this process, Xu Huo and Ding Xiang had already fled without a trace.
"They run pretty fast." The player carrying a human head walked over, glanced at the giant tiger's corpse on the ground, "Skin it and take it back to Little Bear City along with those two bodies."
Xu Huo and Ding Xiang had gotten separated. The temperature dropped sharply at night, and heavy rain began to fall. He found a cave to take shelter from the rain, then checked the points above his head, which had basically stabilized at four hundred.
Before coming to Zone 025, he had already purchased detailed information about Challenge Island from the bookworm. This was a place where it was hard to survive once you entered.
Although it wasn't an instance venue, Non-Game Area Simulators had been set up in the sea near the island, so the entire Challenge Island couldn't use items or traits. Instruments could be unsealed as effective items, but their numbers were limited.
Areas like Snake Tooth Zone and Bear Hug Zone, where players were forced to kill each other to accumulate points, were just appetizers for Challenge Island. Only after surviving through Bear Hug Zone did one enter the real Challenge Island. Here, off-site audiences could directly decide a player's life or death.
That's why the bookworm's advice to him was to breach zones from the middle range.
Scores that were too high or too low could attract some special audiences. Once you crossed the minimum threshold, any player would only face death. If energy weapons couldn't kill them, hyperdimensional instruments would appear next.
That's right. The real killing move on Challenge Island was the hyperdimensional space instruments. Many people only knew about the instruments outside the island that restricted game channels, but in fact, there were also hyperdimensional instruments. Any player who landed on the island, whether they tried to escape or followed Challenge Island's rules to the end, couldn't successfully leave the island.
To enter the core area of Challenge Island, one had to breach zones layer by layer. Only this way could the risk be minimized.
But there were too many players landing on the island.
Aside from those like him who were "forced" onto the island, there should also be people from corporations or Zone 025 mixed in. Otherwise, it couldn't explain why batches of players who were abnormally strong and showed no signs of degeneration were appearing.
Those forced onto the island were fighting for a chance to live, but the mission of the people sent in by Zone 025 was to cut off that chance.
After entering Zone 025, Xu Huo had hidden part of his strength. Naturally, he couldn't reveal everything after landing on the island, or he would soon be targeted by Challenge Island and wouldn't even make it to the core area.
But the further forward he went, the more powerful players there were. Going it alone definitely wouldn't work. He needed to screen some reliable companions.
After resting for a while, he didn't wait for the rain to stop before leaving the cave and finding Ding Xiang.
After separating from him, Ding Xiang had been attacked several more times. If she hadn't understood some of the mutated animals' habits, she wouldn't have survived. When she saw Xu Huo again, she couldn't help but smile, "You're not deliberately following me, are you? If you're not going to kill me, I'll really misunderstand that you have ulterior motives."
"I feel like Challenge Island doesn't intend to let anyone who lands on it leave alive." Xu Huo cut straight to the point.
The smile on Ding Xiang's face slowly faded. After a moment, she said, "I don't plan to leave alive."
"I plan to leave alive." Xu Huo said, "I came to Zone 025 to retire, not to die. Since Challenge Island has an audience, as long as we successfully reach the island's center, Challenge Island will have no choice but to let us go, right?"
"Otherwise, what's the point of this show? They might as well lock everyone up and kill them all."
Ding Xiang looked at him hesitantly, "You think we can survive to reach the island's center?"
"Just the two of us definitely can't. We need to find more companions." Xu Huo seemed very confident as he laid out his plan, "Whether entering Bear Hug Zone or continuing to breach zones, we need at least eight people traveling together to be safe, and we can't split up."
"Also, the companions we find must each have their own strengths."
"There are many effective instruments in Bear Hug Zone, but there are also plenty of jamming devices. During combat, instruments will occasionally break down, so personal strength is most important. Besides, we can't guarantee that effective items won't suddenly fail during the zone breach."
"I'm a Spatial Evolver. You understand xenomorphs. Along the way, we've seen quite a few Super Evolvers. If we can find another Spatial Evolver, or even better, a Mental Evolver player."
"Don't take this the wrong way," Ding Xiang said, "But players who end up on this island are probably average in terms of Super Evolution. Otherwise, they could live well outside, sharing and teaching their experiences, or participating in government experimental projects to get full benefits. They wouldn't end up on Challenge Island."
Xu Huo didn't mind, "Having something others don't is an advantage. Besides Super Evolvers, we also need players skilled in combat."
"You want to cooperate with Cannibal Players?" Ding Xiang asked.
"It depends on the situation," Xu Huo didn't commit, "Everyone's just trying to survive."
Ding Xiang didn't continue this topic but instead brought up healing potions.
Once on the island, they got injured too frequently. Ordinary knowledge of plants was no longer enough. The best approach was to recruit someone who could make potions. This wasn't just a safety guarantee—it could also show their sincerity. With healing potions, at least they wouldn't harvest their companions when they got injured.
Xu Huo nodded. Most players only had a superficial understanding. "Professionals" like this were rare. He had encountered two before, but they were already dead. The people who killed them hadn't even bothered to pick up their potions.
"Actually, Old Gao is pretty impressive," Ding Xiang added, "He's very foresighted, just not very good at combat."
Don't underestimate him.
Anyone who could survive on Challenge Island definitely had more than just a sharp mind.
"If we run into him again, we can travel together," Xu Huo said.
"The Mental Evolver you mentioned—I actually encountered one before," Ding Xiang said, "Also a female player. She could already interfere with others' actions. I saw her heading in that direction."
She pointed to the left.
"That area is a swamp," Xu Huo said with surprise. "Why go there?"
The swamp on Challenge Island wasn't just difficult to traverse and filled with toxic gas. It was also home to many xenomorphs. Some large beasts had evolved to the point where they could blend into the environment and were good at playing dead. Many players fell victim after being dizzy from the fumes.
"She has a gas mask. She probably thinks it's safer inside," Ding Xiang looked at her own gas mask. She had only obtained it recently, but it already had two holes punched in it. Now she could only patch it up with some materials and keep using it.
"Let's go check it out." Xu Huo took out a gas mask from his backpack.
Ding Xiang glanced at the contents of the backpack and couldn't help but flicker her gaze. Aside from food and water bottles, most of it was actually items!
Players landing on the island would definitely bring their commonly used items with them, even if they couldn't use them. But generally, the quantity wouldn't be too large. His points weren't that high either—where did he get so many items?