# Chapter 314: Harvesting Players
The smoke hadn't dissipated yet, but the figure in the strong light had disappeared. Team Leader Wu's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he called out to Sima Xiao'er and the others, "Quick, we've been tricked. Back to the hospital—Xu Huo is still there!"
These people had come for Xu Huo, yet they showed no mercy in their attacks, not caring at all whether Xu Huo lived or died. If they really could level the hospital, they would have just done it directly. There was no need to go to the trouble of threatening the Special Defense Department—giving a three-minute time limit was merely an attempt to lure Xu Huo out!
The Special Defense Department's bait had failed, and the triangular mask player had left on his own. The only possibility was that they had actually found Xu Huo!
This was also something Team Leader Wu and his people couldn't confirm—perhaps Xu Huo and his group had returned to the hospital while they were retreating!
But when the Special Defense Department personnel re-entered the hospital, they discovered that the triangular mask players had withdrawn. There was still no sign of Professor Lan and the others appearing at the warehouse.
"What's going on?"
"What's going on?!" At the same time, the triangular mask players were asking the same question.
After the Special Defense Department personnel had been lured out of the hospital, some of them had used props to scan the inpatient building. There were no signs of life—meaning if Xu Huo hadn't hidden in an ambulance to escape, nor continued to stay hidden in the hospital, then he should have already left this place long ago. But what caught them off guard was that when they were about to withdraw from the hospital, they unexpectedly discovered Xu Huo appearing alone less than five hundred meters away from the hospital!
Without much hesitation, they followed him. Xu Huo seemed to be injured, moving slowly, which only further spurred them on. Several players spread out to surround him, cornering him into a shopping mall.
Before entering, it was indeed a shopping mall. But after entering, it turned into a snake pit. Countless snakes crowded the sky and ground, frantically biting and coiling around their limbs. Screams erupted everywhere.
Someone pulled out a grenade and threw it at the snake wall, but instead of blasting open an opening, it awakened an enormous python!
The giant python raised its head, flicking its forked tongue, and swallowed the players one by one!
Watching their companions die one after another, the remaining few players' spirits began to crack. They used every prop they had, but facing the massive swarm of snakes, a few items couldn't turn the tide. With no escape, two players vanished from the spot.
"They escaped into an instance," Xu Huo said, standing nearby. His gaze shifted from the giant python's head to the rear. Under his influence, the giant snake illusion originally created by Zhou Ning's trait had not only become more realistic but had also grown in size. However, illusions couldn't kill people. The players swallowed by the python only briefly lost consciousness before being dropped to the ground, where Shen Xin and the other two were responsible for harvesting them.
The battle against the triangular mask players was unusually smooth. It ended in just over ten minutes. Hu Wenhu exclaimed in surprise to Zhou Ning, "Sister Ning, your trait has improved so much!"
"It should be due to the influence of the game space," Zhou Ning said, also surprised. "I didn't expect my trait to have double the effect here."
"If only we could carry this space around with us," Hu Wenhu said gleefully. "Then clearing instances would be a piece of cake!"
Xu Huo didn't speak. This space was indeed unusual, but not because of Zhou Ning—it was because of him.
Earlier in the mist zone hospital, he had been able to control the hospital's gate to bring players out because everyone's consciousness was trapped. The strength of his evolved spiritual world was enough to affect other players, which was why he succeeded. But that was limited to the spiritual realm. Now, he had appeared outside the hospital and was affecting people in reality.
This suddenly descending dark space seemed tailor-made for him, serving as a good medium for him to successfully externalize his spiritual power.
He wouldn't delve into the reasons for now. He was seizing the time to explore and control this power. Cooperating with Zhou Ning was a successful attempt, with good results, but not as good as he had imagined.
Xu Huo stood at the mall entrance, looking up at the twelfth floor of a building a kilometer away: at the very least, the range of his spiritual power wasn't large enough.
The hooded man standing on the twelfth floor instinctively paused when he met Xu Huo's eyes through the telescope, then said incredulously, "How could he have found me!"
"Who are you?" A voice sounded from behind. The hooded man and his companions quickly turned around, only to see Xu Huo standing just a few meters away, looking at them calmly.
"How could this be..." The hooded man immediately raised his telescope to look back, but in his field of vision, there was still a Xu Huo standing at the mall entrance, maintaining the posture of looking toward him.
He blinked hard, and the Xu Huo in his vision finally disappeared.
He turned around, pulled down his mask to reveal an androgynous face, and said, "We mean no harm."
Xu Huo only glanced at him briefly before his gaze fell on the person beside him. "Huang Junjie?"
The scar-faced man pulled off his hat and mask, smiling as he said, "Xu Huo, long time no see. Let me introduce you—this is our Player Association's Vice President, Tan Yang. The others are our companions."
"Have civilian players established a unified association?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"Not exactly," Huang Junjie said. "Right now, apart from the Special Defense Department, other player organizations are scattered. There are small groups of ten to twenty people, and large organizations of dozens to hundreds... Let's sit down and talk."
Xu Huo and Tan Yang sat down facing each other, with Huang Junjie sitting to one side. The other players either sat or stood behind Tan Yang.
"You don't mind if I call my other companions back, do you?" Tan Yang asked.
Xu Huo nodded, and one of the players behind him walked away with a phone.
"You might not be fully aware of the current situation with domestic players," Huang Junjie said after the person had left. "In just a few months, the number of players has grown rapidly. Most have joined the Special Defense Department, but a considerable number don't want to work for the government. These people have spontaneously formed teams."
"Having many teams has both advantages and disadvantages. You just clashed with the Iron Triangle group. Those people have backing from someone, and they're hunting players everywhere, stirring up trouble. Their ranks are constantly growing. Such internal attrition does no good for new players who have weak foundations..."
"You want to integrate new players and establish an authoritative association. You came to me hoping I would join your association," Xu Huo said, laying out his intentions.
Since his evolution, Xu Huo had spent most of his time in instances, and when he came out, he was mostly training. Occasionally, he checked online news. Player organizations were springing up endlessly. Those with money and power all wanted to ride the wave and gather more people, which had caused some adverse consequences—not to mention some unknown forces mixed in.
However, the environment in Ting City was still relatively good. No player organizations were fighting in the streets. He had seen these news items and let them go, never expecting that this time, so many players would be drawn because of him, almost triggering a confrontation between forces.
Huang Junjie couldn't read his attitude, so he turned to Tan Yang.
Tan Yang took over the conversation. "We came to you because we want to invite you to be the president of the Player Association."
"Mr. Xu, you're very powerful, and you're willing to stand up for players. If you become the president, you'll definitely attract more players to join the association. Once the association is established, it will be a good thing for both players and ordinary people."
"Many players don't want to listen to the Special Defense Department, but the Special Defense Department has its rules. We players also need to establish order among ourselves—both to protect ourselves and to protect our families."
He spoke with passion, but Xu Huo's gaze fell on the players behind him.
They were positioned at varying distances, perfectly guarding Tan Yang, and when facing him, they subtly assumed a posture of negotiation and confrontation.
"I don't think you need me as your president," Xu Huo said with a faint smile.