Chapter 526: Never Seen Such Weak Players
The task Yi Mao and his group had taken was to clear the area marked on the map issued by the government. This was their basic mission; only after completing the clearance could they return or voluntarily expand the task area.
Turning back now was impossible. They were wearing glasses, and perhaps everything that had just happened was being transmitted in real-time to the logistics supervision department. If they wanted to go back, they would have to follow the original plan to complete the mission and remain silent upon their return.
"This is the only way." Liang Song agreed, glancing at Xu Huo. "Fortunately, we now have two D-rank players."
Two D-rank players meant two luggage compartments, and the water and food they carried should be enough to sustain them until the mission was complete.
Xu Huo nodded slightly in agreement with his words.
"What about him?" Yi Mao referred to Jin Dong.
Jin Dong absolutely had no chance of returning to Clown City. Moreover, he had already begun to xenomorphize and could lose his sanity at any moment, attacking others. If they were bitten or scratched, they too would face the desperate situation of being unable to return to the city.
Killing him was the best choice.
Jin Dong seemed to realize this as well and involuntarily took a step back.
"Let me say something fair," Xu Huo said, stepping in front of him to face the others. "He's a living person. We can't kill him just because he might turn into a xenomorph. Even if it means taking some risks, we must maintain our bottom line as human beings. If we can't even do that, then don't talk about protecting our homeland or our families."
Liang Song and Yue Weiping were both players and could leave the Cleanup Zone at any time, but they didn't dare. Their families were all in Clown City. If they left like this, the next time someone entered the Cleanup Zone, it might be their parents or children.
Not yet pushed to that extreme, Yi Mao and Wan Xiao remained silent. Only Yue Weiping issued a preemptive warning: "We can spare him, but we can't take him with us."
"Come on, just stand by and do nothing?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow in feigned surprise. "Before leaving the city, I heard all of you talking about reclaiming your homeland. If you can discard your own compatriots at any moment, I don't see what difference it makes whether you reclaim it or not... Then again, maybe the entire Cleanup Zone is filled with your compatriots."
"You—!" Yue Weiping erupted in rage, but Liang Song stopped him. Liang Song said, "You don't need to use provocation. We'll take him along."
"Brother Liang!" Yue Weiping couldn't help but speak out.
Liang Song motioned for him to calm down. "He's been deep into the Cleanup Zone and knows what's inside. Bringing him along might help us avoid some dangers."
Jin Dong seized the opportunity to write: "Past the swamp area is the jungle. Most of the clearance missions are in the jungle, with many areas densely populated by mutated species."
After reading this, Yue Weiping hesitated for two seconds before finally nodding.
The six of them set off again, with Jin Dong voluntarily walking ahead, maintaining a certain distance from the others.
Unlike the previous Gobi area, they hadn't gone far before they were attacked a second time. This time, the attackers weren't xenomorphs but warriors also participating in the clearance mission.
A player surfing on a skateboard across the swamp let out a loud, strange yell. As he swooped over Xu Huo and the others, he fired a few random shots and said, "Hand over your food and water, and I'll spare your lives!"
Then, five or six others on skateboards began weaving around them.
"These are all players!" Liang Song shielded Yi Mao behind him. "Everyone, be careful!"
"And there's a xenomorph!" One of the skateboard players spotted Jin Dong crouching ahead. He flicked his skateboard and charged forward. "Haha! Ten thousand White Notes!"
Jin Dong's gun had already been confiscated by Yue Weiping. Exhausted, he struggled to his feet and ran forward a couple of steps, but there was no way he could outrun a player using items. Seeing the other raise his gun, he lunged forward, rolling into the mud. Then, something warm splashed over his head. Wiping his face, he saw that the player chasing him had fallen off the skateboard, his head separated from his body!
Apart from the killed player and Jin Dong, everyone else present had clearly seen it—a thin beam of light streaked through the air, directly severing the player's head. The one who had acted was Xu Huo, standing not far away!
Without looking at the dead man, Xu Huo turned and killed another skateboard player passing in front of him. He used the Kite String to snag a third person, yanking him off the skateboard and throwing him into the swamp.
In what seemed like just a few blinks, three players had been killed. Both sides were stunned speechless. The remaining four skateboard players, instead of avenging their companions, turned and fled without a second word.
Unfortunately, Xu Huo had no intention of letting them go. He took out the item "Plant's Lament," and the piercing, sharp noise attack caused two of them to fall off their skateboards. One was unlucky enough to land headfirst in the swamp, his upper body buried instantly. The other, not daring to rescue his companion, grabbed his skateboard to run, but then a voice came from behind.
"I still need a skateboard."
The player glanced back at Xu Huo, abandoned his skateboard, and fled.
This time, Xu Huo didn't give chase. He picked up a nearby skateboard. "With this, we should be able to cross the swamp area smoothly."
Yi Mao and the others didn't know what expression to wear. After a long, awkward silence, they spontaneously went to pick up skateboards.
Jin Dong retrieved the two skateboards from earlier. Xu Huo signaled him to give them to Yue Weiping.
Yue Weiping didn't want to get close to Jin Dong, so he told him to drop the skateboards on the ground and step back.
Jin Dong's face showed anger, but he didn't dwell on the matter.
"Five skateboards." Yi Mao looked at Xu Huo, who then took out another skateboard and tossed it to Jin Dong. "The player I killed had a spare."
Jin Dong quickly thanked him, his eyes filled with envy as he looked at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo glanced at him. "Want to become a player?"
Jin Dong nodded first, then shook his head.
Xu Huo understood but said, "Even becoming a player doesn't mean you're strong. You saw those guys just now. I've done many instances, and I've never encountered such weak E-rank players."
Indeed, killing several players in one breath without giving them a chance to fight back made those players seem pretty weak.
Yi Mao was very interested and pressed further, "Brother Five, have you been to many game zones? Are those places very different from Clown City?"
Xu Huo paused briefly, his tone ambiguous. "Actually, not that different. You can ask Liang Song."
Liang Song had only just completed a D-rank instance, and it had been a narrow escape. But he had the insight to recognize that Xu Huo was showing off his strength.
"There's nothing to look forward to in instances," he said. "The death rate is high. It's not uncommon for an instance to end with everyone dead."
Yi Mao wasn't a player, so he didn't have a real sense of this.
Xu Huo told him, "The Cleanup Zone is also an instance. It's the same here."
(Chapter End)