Chapter 561: Burying the Whole City
With the explosion, the airborne building began to shake as well.
The Grand Archon roared in fury, "Do you think blowing up the pillar bridge will drag me down with you? I'm telling you, don't even think about releasing those things from the underground nest! Kill them!"
He said the last words to the players beside him, and as soon as he finished, two players immediately rushed toward Lang Lang and Xin Hui. Xin Hui shoved Lang Lang behind her, but was sent flying by a prop chain flying toward her. The chain then swung at Lang Lang, and Xin Hui, along with 179 who was nearby, unhesitatingly threw themselves in front of her to block it. At the same time, another player threw a carpet-like object onto the ground, freezing the three huddled together in place!
The other hostage-takers had already been killed, and Lang Lang's group seemed like it could be wrapped up quickly. However, just as the iron chain was about to land on the three, it was caught by someone who suddenly appeared. The C-grade prop turned to dust in his hand in an instant, and at the same time, a cutting plane materialized out of thin air, slicing the player charging from the side cleanly in half!
The corpse hit the ground, blood gushed out, and Xu Huo stood in the pool of blood, smiling as he looked at the group of players opposite him. "Bullying the weak with numbers and strength—isn't that a bit dishonorable?"
The next second, over a dozen guns aimed at him simultaneously. Xu Huo's eyes darkened, and he waved his hand to place the "Door of Broken Grace and Severed Righteousness" in front of him. Then, using the Crimson Sword, he cut through the front and back. The floor of the building, already weakened by his "Life Core" destroying the supporting metal, suddenly collapsed. He, Lang Lang, and the other two, along with the players opposite, all fell downward.
The airborne building was built atop the pillar bridge, with enough support for its main structure. Xu Huo hadn't intended to destroy the entire pillar bridge; he had only opened a gap in the floor. Fortunately, there was a hollow section below, enough for them to fall through.
Luckily, Yuan Cun's prop didn't seem to seal the floor, so he didn't have to use a Super prop. The moment they fell out, he didn't use any prop to slow their descent. Instead, he killed three players as quickly as possible, then caught Lang Lang and used the Kite String to pull 179 up.
But in that gap, 179, who was flying in the air, suddenly flipped backward, folded in half, and then hung limply in the air.
Xu Huo's expression darkened. He placed "101 Emergency Shelter" above his head, opened the door, and pulled Xin Hui, who was nearby, inside as well.
The shelter descended rapidly, hitting the ground in seconds. But as long as they created enough distance, the effects of traits and props would be greatly diminished. So, just before landing, Xu Huo retracted the shelter and switched to "Chair Facing Upward." This prop could ensure a safe landing under any circumstances. He brought Lang Lang along, and to be safe, he also used the String. For Xin Hui, he used "Floating Balloon," making her float weightlessly before landing.
The three landed safely, but immediately, Xu Huo felt an abnormal force slam into his "Absolute Safe Distance." Turning around, he saw that Yuan Cun had followed them down!
"Absolute Safe Distance" had a time limit. After a quick assessment, Xu Huo placed the "Door of Broken Grace and Severed Righteousness" in front of him and then swung his sword through the air toward the front!
This Yuan Cun's evolution rate far exceeded Xu Huo's, and his speed was abnormally fast. He effortlessly dodged the sword energy and closed in on Xu Huo in the blink of an eye!
With no room to retreat, Xu Huo threw down the "Desert Windmill." As the sandstorm suddenly rose, he hurled the "Unstoppable Straight Ball" and then dismantled the nearby building to buy time.
However, to his surprise, as the building collapsed, a large depression appeared on the ground. As the building pressed down, the surrounding ground began to cave in. After the surface sank, a deep, long ravine was revealed beneath—except for a layer of metal structure on top, the underground in this area had been completely hollowed out!
What happened next was beyond Xu Huo's control. As the building fell, the ground became unbalanced. Tilting, the nearby buildings, along with the pillar bridge, began to lean toward the center. The overlapping collapse successfully blocked Yuan Cun, who was chasing them!
Unfortunately, the time they gained was too limited. Just as Xu Huo turned to leave, Yuan Cun flashed a few times and blocked his path. As he raised his hand, Xin Hui suddenly rushed out from the side, colliding with Xu Huo, and they both jumped into the ground fissure!
Hidden by the sandstorm earlier, they hadn't been able to see clearly. It turned out that beneath this fissure, all kinds of fungi were growing, completely different from the large white mycelium under the fog forest in the Cleanup Zone. The fungi here were of various colors, constantly spewing bright powder, which, swept up by the sandstorm, quickly spread to the surroundings!
Xu Huo and Xin Hui fell into the fissure and were immediately covered by the oncoming mycelium. Yuan Cun chased to the edge of the fissure. Seeing a red light flashing on his watch, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately backed away from the edge!
At that moment, his communicator flashed. He answered, and the Grand Archon asked, "Are they dead?"
Yuan Cun's voice was harsh. "You didn't mention beforehand that the underground of Clown City was full of A-grade fungi. These things—if you so much as inhale a bit or even touch them, you'll get infected, and it's incurable. Before I came, we agreed that I'm only helping you catch people, not that I'm willing to take such a huge risk."
The Grand Archon probably already knew about the ground collapse and immediately said, "Clown City has a countermeasure. Someone will be there soon. The places that exploded earlier must have Xin Lang's people. You need to catch them all and stop them from destroying the ground any further!"
Yuan Cun looked at another place where powder was surging. "I think it's too late."
"Then hurry up and act!" the Grand Archon urged anxiously. "Is a senior player from the Holy Sword Society only capable of this? The price is negotiable..."
Before he could finish, Yuan Cun hung up. He stared at the fissure for two seconds before turning and leaving.
At that moment, Xu Huo and Xin Hui were hanging on a rock ledge more than twenty meters above the ground. The situation was urgent; Xu Huo only had time to put on the "Oxygen Supply," and his hand had inevitably gotten some powder on it.
"Don't worry, Lang Lang can save you," Xin Hui said. "I've lived underground since I was a child. I've been infected by fungi countless times and I'm still alive."
Xu Huo was silent. "No side effects from the transformation?"
Xin Hui's face fell, and she gritted her teeth. "My mother looks like this. It's a genetic problem, not a fungal infection!"
"I'll take your word for it." Xu Huo jumped onto a nearby rock. Hearing the commotion above ground, he asked, "Your plan was to blow up the ground and bring the underground nest into Clown City? Everyone in Clown City is already dead. Doing this now is meaningless, isn't it?"
"These fungi have created a perfect underground world," Lang Lang said, appearing in a nearby tunnel. "A single type of fungus might be deadly, but when they grow together, they balance each other out. They can make people suffer greatly without killing them quickly."