Chapter 3063: Try Mine
Once their scores reached seven hundred, the eight of them entered Little Bear City again. This time, no one challenged them upon entering, and they successfully purchased some supplies. Considering the situation in the Wasteland Zone, they didn't buy ready-made food this time but stocked up on more nutrient supplements.
They also bought two jamming devices. If they ran into players with many instruments, they could at least ensure no one could use theirs.
Just as he was about to find a place to rest, Xu Huo suddenly received a challenge:
"Player Mitchell challenges Player Xu Zhi."
Xu Huo looked up and saw a bizarre-looking player jumping down from a nearby tall building. The reason he called him bizarre was that the man was covered in various poisonous animals—snakes and insects went without saying, but he even had mushrooms growing on his clothes.
Both the inside and outside of his clothes were bulging, making the scene hard to describe. His three companions, who came with him, were dressed the same way. Whether they themselves had some resistance to poison was unclear, but their faces and lips were at least somewhat discolored.
"I just heard that Little Bear City has another poison-using player." Mitchell stroked the five-colored venomous snake coiled around his arm, sizing up Xu Huo. "You don't look like one."
"What if I am, and what if I'm not?" Xu Huo asked with a smile.
"If you are, that's easy. Since we're kindred spirits, I'll definitely invite you to join my team." Mitchell's slightly bluish eyelids lifted. "If not, then I'll have to send you on your way first."
Xu Huo noticed that the surrounding players watching were keeping a distance greater than the arena's size, and even the ground where Mitchell and his group had walked was almost untouched. Though he didn't know the reason, the scores of these few people were all maintained above fifteen hundred.
For safety, players with scores over fifteen hundred would buy items to lower their points, afraid that exceeding two thousand might trigger some rule. But these people seemed completely unconcerned.
"Kill me, and your score will exceed two thousand," Xu Huo said.
"That's none of your concern." Mitchell made a "please" gesture. "Whenever you're ready, you decide."
Xu Huo turned to look at Love Orange. "Give me two of your antidotes."
Love Orange wanted to say that the herbal concoctions she made probably wouldn't be very effective. A quick glance at the toxins on Mitchell revealed over a dozen varieties. Even the universal antidotes sold by the game might not work on all of them; they'd need specialized antidotes based on the poison types.
That would be fine outside, but on Challenge Island, cautious people might not want to fight someone like Mitchell.
However, her expression didn't change. She handed over the potions very straightforwardly and said, "Don't worry, I can neutralize the poison."
Xu Huo nodded slightly, stepped forward, and entered the arena range.
The arena barrier lit up, enclosing him and Mitchell within.
Mitchell didn't waste words. He pulled a device on his wrist, and a strong wind rose from the ground, quickly turning into a massive tornado. Vision blurred, and standing steady became impossible.
This was Mitchell's tactic. As he unleashed the gale, he threw out all the poisonous insects and snakes on his body. At the same time, a swarm of venomous ants crawled out from his clothes. These tiny creatures mixed into the wind—some could only drift with the current, while others had the strength to move against it. For a moment, the space within a few meters of the ground seemed filled with toxins.
Mitchell wasn't idle either. He dashed through the storm, closing in on Xu Huo with a strange laugh.
His laughter was barely audible in the wind, but the device carried by the wind struck Xu Huo's defense barrier head-on. Though the barrier formed by the device didn't collapse immediately, fine cracks appeared. Mitchell wasn't really trying to fight him head-on; he wanted to break his defenses this way, giving the toxins an opening to work.
Wasn't there also some suspicious poison powder mixed in the wind?
Xu Huo controlled his defense barrier to retreat, watching the flickering figure and said, "With so many toxins, aren't you afraid of getting hit yourself?"
Mitchell grew even more excited at this, but he didn't answer. Instead, he released more toxins from his body. A large swarm of venomous bees flew out from a container strapped to his abdomen, occasionally swept by the wind to crash against the defense barrier.
Xu Huo looked at the poisonous bees and ants, not thinking they could survive long in the wind. So, while dodging Mitchell's attacks, he waited for these little creatures to be killed by the gale.
The wind was too strong, and with the blockade barrier nearby, even larger animals like snakes would die instantly upon impact. Once these things died, they were basically useless.
After several attacks failed to truly break Xu Huo's barrier, Mitchell stopped playing cat and mouse. He drew the twin blades from his back, rode the wind upward, and stabbed them straight through the defense barrier. Bracing his feet against the barrier, he pulled upward with force, and the damaged barrier from the defense instrument finally shattered completely.
"Got you!" Mitchell let out another strange laugh, then lunged forward to embrace Xu Huo head-on with the wind.
Xu Huo saw the few scorpions crawling out from Mitchell's chest and frowned slightly. He immediately pulled up a space barrier in front of him.
"Bang!" But the moment Mitchell stepped on the barrier, he smashed the space rays with the handles of his twin blades, then kicked hard against Xu Huo's crossed arms!
Xu Huo felt something pierce his protective suit, but he had no time to check, as Mitchell's twin blades came slashing in from both sides!
"Bang!" The blades were blocked by space ray blades. Xu Huo smiled at him, then countless space ray blades burst forth from in front of him. Though these ray blades could be blocked by defense instruments, their sheer number forced Mitchell back over ten meters against the wind. As for the snakes, insects, and ants coming his way, they were cut into pieces upon hitting the space blades.
Though Mitchell was pushed back, he still wore a confident smile after steadying himself, pointing proudly at his arm.
Xu Huo looked at his own arm. The protective suit had several tears, and trace amounts of poison had entered his bloodstream through the wounds.
He looked up and patted the antidote at his waist.
Mitchell stood there for a moment, and when he saw no signs of poisoning, he had to believe the antidote was genuinely effective.
He cast a somewhat surprised glance at Love Orange outside the arena.
But in that instant, Xu Huo had already flashed before him, slashing through his defense barrier with a single blade. As he left a wound on Mitchell's arm, he said, "Your poison's used up. Now try mine!"
Mitchell's expression changed slightly, and he immediately retreated.
At that moment, the wind in the arena gradually died down. The dead poisonous insects littered the ground, and a strange powder still hung in the air, causing the players outside the arena to back away further, afraid the barrier might suddenly disappear and release the powder.
Mitchell's wound had changed color. Purple-black patterns were rapidly spreading up his arm!