Chapter 532: Sudden High Temperature
From this perspective, identifying the enemy side is the key to clearing the instance.
Moreover, once the enemy side is confirmed, it's even possible to deduce the previous tasks backward. Finding the enemy side means there will be an enemy camp, contaminating their water source, killing their members, occupying their positions... The method of clearing the instance is simple and straightforward.
"We should leave this place first," Zhuo Wangsun said again. "Being endlessly pestered is quite troublesome."
Xu Huo could sense that Kang Yongjie and his companion were keeping a certain distance from them, but they hadn't gone too far either. These two didn't seem to have any intention of finding their own way; they were probably waiting for the outcome here.
"They seem to be carrying quite a bit of food and water," he said after a pause.
Zhuo Wangsun gave him a surprised look. "I don't think there's any need to confront them head-on. The stone forest is full of branching paths anyway; we can just shake them off."
Even if they could be tracked, as long as they picked up the pace, Kang Yongjie and his companion might not be able to traverse the stone forest.
But Xu Huo had already made up his mind. He pointed ahead to indicate he was going to scout the path, then accelerated away.
Once he had put some distance between himself and the two, Xu Huo used the special item "Universal Lubricant" he had obtained from Jiang Feng to remove any possible item effects on himself, then laid a trap on the path shared by the "Counting Grids" item.
Over there, Kang Yongjie discovered it almost as soon as Xu Huo washed away his item's power, but the mark on Zhuo Wangsun hadn't been removed. He had some brains; the item could only mark two people at most, so not knowing whether Jin Dong and Xu Huo were traveling with Zhuo Wangsun, he didn't chase after them immediately. Instead, he waited until Zhuo Wangsun had been wandering through the stone forest for nearly twenty minutes before following.
With Xu Huo's current sensory perception, finding the right path wasn't difficult. However, to lure Kang Yongjie over, he still led Zhuo Wangsun in circles among the stone pillars, deliberately placing two stones on a branch path covered by "Counting Grids" before circling back ahead.
Kang Yongjie and Hao Mei soon caught up to this point. Faced with two paths, they first chose the one without the stones. But just as they were about to step in, Hao Mei paused. "Lao Wu can eliminate item effects. Why didn't he eliminate the one on Zhuo Wangsun too? He's definitely trying to lure us over."
"Let's test it," Kang Yongjie nodded. He took out a toy gun and sprayed the ground. The toy bullets that landed exploded like firecrackers a few seconds later. Although dust flew everywhere, there was indeed no problem.
"Some traits and items might not be detectable this way," Hao Mei looked at the other branch path. "It looks like something is buried down there."
Kang Yongjie was cautious and didn't approach. He used the toy gun to sweep the area again, but only turned up a few small stones.
"Using stones to fake bombs?" He put away the toy gun and immediately strode in. But the next second, a numbered grid appeared under his feet, and soon he couldn't move his legs either.
Hao Mei, who was a few steps behind, saw this and quickly retreated. However, before she could back away a few steps, a hand pressed down on her shoulder, and another hand clamped onto her head!
"Don't kill me! I can be useful to you..."
"Crack!"
Before she could finish speaking, her head lolled to the side on her neck.
Pushing Hao Mei's corpse aside, Xu Huo didn't give Kang Yongjie a chance to draw his gun either. He pierced his heart with a single sword strike. Watching the man fall, he signaled Jin Dong to take his backpack.
When the pack was opened, it was mostly filled with dry rations.
"Her backpack is the same," Zhuo Wangsun took Hao Mei's pack, lifting the canteen tied underneath it. "They've killed quite a few people. The food and water are plentiful."
To carry more weapons, the dry rations and water allocated to each soldier by Clown City weren't much. Most people weren't willing to carry more, thinking they could find food in the Cleanup Zone. To have nearly filled a pack showed that these two didn't even want to waste time looking for food themselves, preferring to kill and steal directly.
Retrieving the "Counting Grids," Xu Huo took some food and put it into his own pack. He said to Zhuo Wangsun and the other, "According to the map, there should be a water source in this area. I'm not sure if it's completely dried up. Let's go check it out first."
Their luck wasn't too bad. They found a small puddle at the location marked on the map. This place had probably been a lake originally, but as the terrain changed, the lake was gone, leaving only this bit at the foot of a stone pillar.
"Should we contaminate this pond?" Zhuo Wangsun asked. "It looks like there's a small spring underneath, which is why the water hasn't dried up."
So this might be one of the few remaining sources of fresh water. It would be a shame to contaminate it.
"Nothing in the Cleanup Zone can be ingested," Jin Dong typed. "Otherwise, you'll go mute."
Xu Huo crouched by the water and looked at it for a while. He looked up and asked Zhuo Wangsun, "Can you test the water's composition?"
"I can only make a simple risk assessment," Zhuo Wangsun took out something like a thermometer and inserted it into the water. The reading bar quickly turned brown. He sighed. "The water has already been contaminated."
"Probably by the people ahead of us," Xu Huo took out the powder issued by Clown City and sprinkled a little in. After confirming there was no game notification, he stood up. "Let's keep moving."
The three continued to weave through the stone forest. As time passed, the clean water in their canteens decreased faster. After walking for several hours, it was completely dark, but the temperature hadn't dropped. Instead, it was getting hotter.
"This is too abnormal. We're in the same area, so why is the temperature so high here?" Zhuo Wangsun couldn't even stand wearing his protective suit anymore, constantly tugging at his collar.
"Is it trying to force everyone to take off their protective suits?" The light screen of the communicator Jin Dong was holding was exceptionally bright in the darkness. "Can the toxins in the air enter the body through the skin?"
"That's probably it," Zhuo Wangsun couldn't help but curse. "What bullshit 'reclaim our homeland' is this? What's the use of taking back a homeland like this? Even the air is problematic!"
Although Xu Huo was wearing an oxygen supply, his forehead was also covered in sweat. He leaned against a stone pillar to rest. "If the air in the Cleanup Zone is problematic, then Clown City won't be safe either."
Clown City had only built a very high protective wall, with no other protective measures.
"This isn't right," Zhuo Wangsun lay sprawled on the ground. "Air circulates; it will definitely enter Clown City too. Even if they don't care about the soldiers, they wouldn't risk the entire city's population. Besides, I didn't see any large-scale air purifiers installed in Clown City's public areas... Could I be wrong? Maybe it's just because of the jungle soil and plants. As long as you're far enough away, it's fine?"
Xu Huo couldn't say for sure. When Yi Mao and Wan Xiao were affected, he, Liang Song, and the others hadn't changed. Perhaps only those two had come into contact with a special gas. Or maybe it was because players had better constitutions and were unaffected. But if that were the case, then what about the person who had been slaughtering and dismembering soldiers in the jungle?
(Chapter End)