# Chapter 497: Weak Against Strong
Xu Huo hadn't expected the imitation doll to spit at the Black Bracelet. Of course, the Black Bracelet hadn't expected it either. Shock, disbelief, disgust, and anger flashed across his face in rapid succession before he directly unleashed "Raindrop Wears Through Stone" on the imitation doll.
The imitation doll's clothes were torn apart by the torrential rain, and its body began to deform and shrink, seemingly dying quickly under the assault. However, the Black Bracelet didn't let it go. He threw out another balloon, controlling the imitation doll while continuing to bombard it with rain.
The distance was close, and though the footage was blurry, Xu Huo barely managed to see that the balloon came from a ring on the Black Bracelet's middle finger. It was likely an item.
The balloon item could make someone float, but the floating time was very short, which was why the Black Bracelet used it multiple times.
"Raindrop Wears Through Stone" was probably his trait, and a rough estimate of its duration was at least over twenty seconds.
Additionally, he had a telekinesis move—hard to tell if it was a trait or an item.
It could also be a Super Evolution beyond these two.
Super Evolution had two major directions: one was controlling oneself, and the other was controlling objects. Mental Evolution probably fell into the former category, a relatively inconspicuous type because it was difficult to apply in combat. Controlling objects was clearly different, with lethality skyrocketing.
If the Black Bracelet was the latter, killing him would be difficult.
Super Evolution didn't have particularly obvious restrictions; it only depended on the strength of the Evolver. Unlike traits or items, which had constraints like usage count and time, if it was Super Evolution, he could kill most White Bracelets just by using telekinesis.
After using the balloon three times in a row, the "Raindrop Wears Through Stone" trait finally ended. Seeing that the imitation doll, despite being battered and broken, could still recover, disbelief appeared on the Black Bracelet's face. But it only lasted a very short time. In the next second, he blew out another balloon while pulling out a brand new energy gun from his right hand!
Xu Huo had seen the power of energy guns before. A trait might not be able to destroy the micro-monitor, but this gun definitely could. So he immediately manipulated another micro-monitor to fly over and crash into the balloon!
That balloon was unexpectedly fragile. The micro-monitor's touch alone made it pop, releasing a burst of gas. In the next second, the Black Bracelet automatically floated a meter off the ground.
Meanwhile, the imitation doll playing Xu Huo, now free from its restraints, naturally chose to charge forward and continue drawing aggro. But before it could get close, a ray shot from the Black Bracelet's right index finger. He merely drew a line on the ground, and the leg the imitation doll had stepped forward with was severed!
Because of the close distance, Xu Huo saw it very clearly. Though the ray only drew what seemed like an insignificant line on the ground, it turned at least three square meters of air into a cutting plane. Anything that crossed this line was directly severed. If the imitation doll had been running faster, its body might have been split in two.
The imitation doll, having lost a leg, stumbled from the injury. But it was tough. It picked up its severed leg, stuck it back on, stood up, and could still run.
The Black Bracelet landed, belatedly realizing that this "Xu Huo" in front of him was wrong. He glanced at the micro-monitor that had crashed into the corner of the wall, gave a cold smile, and instead of chasing the imitation doll, turned back toward the room where the earlier fight had occurred.
The imitation doll turned to look, then threw a few more things to hit him, but it couldn't draw the Black Bracelet back.
With its mind blank, the imitation doll lost its mission objective and slowly wandered off elsewhere.
Xu Huo, having finished watching the real-time surveillance, put away the shelter, set fire to the seaweed outside the fourth-floor window, and after leaving traces of burning, climbed up to the sixth floor.
When the Black Bracelet got close, he moved the micro-monitors further away, relying on his senses to judge the other's position.
The Black Bracelet reached the place where Xu Huo had set the fire, swept aside the seaweed, and went down to the fourth floor.
On the sixth floor, Xu Huo confirmed he had gone far before coming out of the room. He unexpectedly ran into Selin, whom he had parted with not long ago, and now there were several more players behind him.
"It's you!" one of the White Bracelets exclaimed in surprise, looking at Xu Huo. "You're still alive!"
He was the one who had mocked Xu Huo in the restaurant during the day for freeloading while still caring about face.
Xu Huo ignored him, instead looking meaningfully at Selin. "You sure have a lot of free time."
Selin held his scripture book and said solemnly, "God will not abandon anyone, and neither will I. As long as someone asks me for help, I will protect them with all my might."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. This didn't seem like a normal person either.
But whatever his motives, it had nothing to do with him.
Selin was also an experienced player. He probably had an item to conceal his tracks; otherwise, at such a close distance, Xu Huo wouldn't have been unable to sense his presence.
Xu Huo nodded in acknowledgment and prepared to leave.
"How about we stick together for mutual support?" Selin called out to him. "You... probably don't need me to save you, but if you encounter danger, you can still ask me for help. I promise you, I will respond to your call for help."
Xu Huo turned back and gave him a "surprised" look. "Those few people downstairs probably died with their eyes open."
Selin sighed. "My personal power is ultimately limited."
"Won't keep you." Xu Huo said and left.
Selin didn't stop him, but those White Bracelet players made a few sarcastic remarks, essentially saying that Xu Huo had no ability yet dared to refuse others' kind help, and he was lucky not to have encountered other Bracelet players, otherwise he would surely die.
Selin looked at them with pity in his eyes.
Xu Huo walked alone on the sixth floor, taking the time to observe the combat styles of a few Red Bracelets and Black Bracelets. The imitation doll was just too good at drawing aggro. It didn't know how to avoid people and even went right into groups of Red Bracelets to provoke them deliberately.
Probably everyone wanted to kill it.
And it did die many times. Two micro-monitors were lost, and Xu Huo could still see the footage afterward only by maintaining distance.
But it wasn't entirely without gain. He discovered that one Red Bracelet player had a very interesting item.
After a moment's thought, he changed direction and began setting up "Counting Grids" not far from this group.
"Counting Grids" appeared as a map. It could only be successfully deployed when there were no people within its coverage area. The item holder could carry the item with them, but when setting up the grids, they also couldn't stay within the grid range. However, they could enter afterward and were not restricted by the item's rules.
He had used this item on the train returning to Zone 011, back then to avoid fighting, though it only ended up trapping a Xenomorph.
He chose a relatively open rest area. This place wouldn't have White Bracelet players hiding nearby, and there was no one around, so the setup went smoothly. But just as he was planning how to lure people over, a figure appeared in the surveillance feed.
(Chapter End)