Chapter 313: Efficient Methods
"There was an incident at the hospital, so I left early," Xu Huo explained briefly.
"We thought it was strange too," Liu Jia said. "As soon as we entered Fresh Flower City, the sky suddenly went pitch black with no light at all, and there were no instance prompts. The phone lines were intermittent. Is this a new game mode?"
"It should be the game space overlapping with ours," Xu Huo said. "There are related papers on the Vanguard Player forum."
"I've seen them," Shen Xin interjected. "Experts in Jing City speculate that this kind of space is unstable and might disappear on its own."
"But I heard a lot of people have gone missing. Will they come back on their own?" Hu Wenhu asked.
Shen Xin shook his head. "I don't know."
"What do we do now?" Zhou Ning looked at Xu Huo. "Those players are coming for you. The best option is to leave Fresh Flower City, but the Special Defense Department will definitely clash with them."
Xu Huo nodded. "Among the players who went to the hospital, there were a few wearing masks with triangular patterns. Have you heard of them?"
"Those guys mentioned it earlier," Liu Jia said. "Dai Wenqian called them the Iron Triangle. They're here to kill you."
"Brother Xu, how about we take this chance to deal with them?" Hu Wenhu cracked his knuckles. "We're in the dark, they're in the light, and we have the Special Defense Department helping. It'll be easy to sneak up and hit them from behind."
Xu Huo had the same intention, so the five of them returned to the hospital together.
When they were still some distance from the hospital, a dense burst of gunfire erupted from inside. Although it quickly died down, it meant the Special Defense Department was already engaging the players.
The group exchanged knowing glances, concealed themselves in the darkness, and avoided the attention of all three factions as they silently approached the building.
Meanwhile, inside the hospital building, players from both the Triangle Mask group and the Hoodie group had broken through the Special Defense Department's defense line and reached the inpatient ward. But finding a hidden person in such a large building wasn't easy, especially with limited time. So both sides adopted a simple and efficient method—taking hostages.
The darkness was the perfect cover. Team Leader Wu, who was in command, seemed completely unaware that any personnel had gone missing, allowing two hostages to lead them to the third and fourth floors respectively.
Several Hoodie players were on the third floor, while several Triangle Mask players were on the fourth. Both sides eliminated the special forces guarding the doors almost simultaneously. But when they kicked the doors open, they were greeted by over a dozen pitch-black gun muzzles!
"Watch out!" The Hoodie woman pushed another player beside her and tossed out something like a flash grenade. After a brief flash of light, all the guns in the room malfunctioned!
But at the same time, a player from the Special Defense Department took out a paper-folded boat and threw it on the ground. The floor immediately softened like mud.
Several Hoodie players tried to turn and run, but the Special Defense Department personnel they had taken hostage had already slipped away. They tapped the doorframe, and barbed wire bristling with spikes automatically grew across the door!
One Hoodie player sank into the ground and couldn't escape. The others quickly jumped onto the furniture in the room. Although the cabinets and other items were also sinking, it bought them a few seconds. A tall, slender man crawled across the wall and lunged at the player who had used the paper boat!
He moved across the wall like a gecko, successfully dodging several attacks. Just as he was about to take down the paper boat player, his target suddenly retreated. Two other Special Defense Department members wearing gloves slapped their wrists, and a net with a pungent odor spread out, catching him perfectly!
Under the momentum, this player rolled to the ground with the net. But before he could get up, a Special Defense Department player pulled out a stun baton and jabbed it hard into his neck!
The unconscious player was quickly dragged to the rear. The room space was cleared again, and another player stepped forward, clapping his hands twice in the air. Chains and handcuffs materialized on the walls and cabinets, snaking toward the remaining Hoodie players like living things.
These people reacted quickly, dodging the cuffs in time. Only one had his hand caught, but he forcibly broke the chains and escaped.
"Let's go!" The Hoodie woman grabbed an axe and chopped through the iron net on the door, running out first. But she didn't expect Special Defense Department personnel waiting outside. The moment she stepped into the corridor, she was hit by three shots, her body went numb, and she collapsed, only to be dragged aside again.
The Special Defense Department's efficient methods made the remaining three Hoodie players think twice. One of them conjured a fire extinguisher, sprayed the room's occupants, and forcefully crashed out the window. But downstairs, more Special Defense Department personnel had appeared from nowhere!
"Damn it!" the player cursed, throwing out three flying discs. He stepped through the air, dodging the incoming electrodes, and fled the hospital at high speed.
But his companions weren't so lucky. None of them made it out.
With several Hoodie players successfully captured, Team Leader Wu received the report and ordered the remaining forces to support the fourth floor. But at that moment, a earth-shattering explosion erupted from the fourth floor, and several Special Defense Department members were blown out of the windows!
"Go rescue them!" Team Leader Wu directed his men while simultaneously giving orders to the snipers from a distance. But no one expected that the Triangle Mask player who had blown up the room wouldn't leave. Instead, he jumped out brazenly, lifted his clothes to reveal a dense array of explosive devices clearly not from Zone 014, and declared publicly, "That was just an appetizer. The firepower of these new bombs on me is enough to cover the entire hospital. If you don't want to die, hand over Xu Huo!"
"Bang!" A sniper bullet blasted a hole in the grass beside him.
Team Leader Wu and the others' expressions changed drastically. They ordered the snipers to continue attacking, but five snipers fired over a dozen shots, and every single bullet curved away at the last moment, unable to hit the target!
"I'll give you three minutes to think it over!" The Triangle Mask player raised the detonator in his hand high.
"Everyone evacuate the hospital!" Team Leader Song shouted from the command room.
Special Defense Department members stationed at various positions around the hospital poured out, including three ambulances that sped off in different directions.
The players waiting outside the hospital immediately gave chase. In the blink of an eye, two of the ambulances were overturned by an unknown force, and the Special Defense Department personnel inside were all thrown out.
"Bait is useless against these players!" Team Leader Wu and the others had already moved outside the hospital. Three minutes was enough time for the Special Defense Department to retreat, but Professor Lan and Xu Huo had disappeared inside the hospital. Blowing it up might affect them... However, in less than three minutes, the bait had been seen through, and there was no way to lure these people away!
Just as they were panicking, the Triangle Mask player tilted his head to the right and then threw a smoke grenade to the ground!