Chapter 583: Mysterious Organization
Xu Huo was not a polite person, so after knocking, he directly sliced the door in half and walked in, only to find someone stuck in the window.
Their eyes met, and the young man in a hoodie and cap unhesitatingly jumped out the window.
Xu Huo took a few steps to the window, and the young man was already sprinting down the street at no small speed.
A second later, Xu Huo grabbed the strings and flew out, but he didn't rush to chase. Instead, he pulled out the water blade gun and aimed at the wall two or three houses away, pulling the trigger.
The water blade easily pierced through the wall. Hearing the sound of someone falling inside, Xu Huo landed and accelerated, judging the fleeing player's route based on his direction.
With the "straight-line distance" acceleration, he didn't have much trouble catching up. A face-to-face kick sent the opponent flying, rolling across a row of trash cans before tumbling to the intersection.
However, this didn't cause severe injury. The man took the opportunity to leap to the opposite side, jumping into a densely wooded park.
As soon as Xu Huo stepped inside, the scenery suddenly changed. The trees on both sides rapidly receded into the distance, the path beneath his feet stretched infinitely, and a thick fog surged ahead, with figures flickering and eerie sounds echoing. Limbs and hands kept reaching out from the edge of the mist, all stretching toward his position.
Equipping "Oxygen Supply," Xu Huo tossed "Desert Windmill" to the ground. A sandstorm swept through, and the fog and shadows ahead vanished completely. Three seconds later, he put away the item and lunged forward, slashing twice at different spots in the woods with his long sword. As the trees collapsed, two players leaped out from the forest.
They were clearly in league with the previous man, dressed identically with only their eyes exposed.
"Don't bother hiding anymore. Come out together," Xu Huo said, pointing his chin toward another spot where four more were concealed.
The two across from him exchanged glances, then one nodded. The other four emerged from behind the trees. Cautiously, they didn't get too close, and even the front two kept a certain distance.
"People from the Twin Serpents organization?" Xu Huo asked. While chasing the earlier player, he had spotted a black envelope in the room where the man was hiding.
"We're not from Twin Serpents," the player who had nodded spoke up. "We were following a Twin Serpents member here. We only stayed to watch a bit longer because we saw them delivering an invitation to you. If we offended you, I apologize."
"So, among those watching me, there are Twin Serpents members," Xu Huo said. He had killed one while chasing earlier. "The one next door to you?"
He asked the young man.
The young man at the back nodded and glanced forward.
The speaking player continued, "That person was Twin Serpents' messenger. That invitation... you'd better not go. Those people aren't kind-hearted."
With that, the group prepared to leave. But Xu Huo slashed his sword, cutting off their path ahead. "If you were just following the messenger, you wouldn't have settled in that spot. The man is dead now—no witnesses left. I can't tell if you're in league with them... Bad luck for you today."
As his words fell, he vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of the speaking player, swinging his long sword toward his throat!
To his surprise, the man reacted quickly, ducking low to dodge the strike, only losing his cap. He then swiftly reached for Xu Huo's waist!
Xu Huo used "Same-Sex Repulsion." Before the opponent could touch his clothes, an invisible force knocked him three meters away. Raising his left hand, the power of "Writing" forced all the players present to focus their gaze on him.
Buying himself time to delay the simultaneous use of items or traits by several players, he took two steps and tossed out the item "Star-Binding Sphere," pulling all six people into his spiritual realm.
The park vanished, replaced by pure darkness. The six players panicked, looking back at where Xu Huo had stood—there was no one there!
"Brother Liang, what's going on?" the young man asked the player who had spoken with Xu Huo.
"Don't panic. This might be an item effect. Be careful—don't be fooled by the scene. We're still in the park. The enemy must be nearby. Stay on guard!" Brother Liang shouted loudly, simultaneously pulling out a defense item to protect his vital points.
The other five did the same. They could see each other but not Xu Huo. For safety, they huddled together, randomly attacking the surroundings with items and weapons.
"What's happening? There's no one," the young man said. "If it's an illusion, he should be attacking us by now, right? Liang..."
Before he could finish, the young man suddenly vanished. Brother Liang turned around and immediately shouted nervously, "Watch out..."
Before his voice even died down, another player next to him disappeared. This time, he watched it happen with his own eyes. He rushed over, shouting and grabbing, but the person was truly gone.
"Brother Liang, Xiao Zhang and Big Head are probably done for," another player said urgently. "You need to find a way to escape! Don't worry about us!"
"If we go, we go together!" Brother Liang was saying this when he watched the companion who had urged him to flee disappear right before his eyes, as if swallowed by the darkness. The other two reached out to grab him, but they were taken along as well.
"Li Qun! Jin Yong!" Brother Liang charged forward, only to crash straight into Xu Huo. His eyes blazed with fury. "Where did you take them? Did you kill them? We have no grudge against you—why kill them!"
Hearing this, Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "You came to me."
Brother Liang gritted his teeth. "I already explained—we were following the messenger here."
Xu Huo studied him for two seconds. "You were following the messenger to find the Twin Serpents organization? Why?"
Brother Liang stared at him silently, but Xu Huo gave a faint smile. "I'm not from Twin Serpents. On the contrary, I'm also interested in this organization."
He was interested because the Special Defense Department had sent people to investigate but found nothing unusual—which was clearly abnormal.
If it were an ordinary player organization, there would be no need to use such covert methods for gatherings or recruitment. In this case, the more mysterious they were, the more they had to hide. Hosting a tea party didn't need to be so formal, and the posts on the Vanguard Player Forum seemed almost deliberately designed to attract the Special Defense Department's attention.
The tactic of having a whole group play along with one person wasn't uncommon. The Special Defense Department had checked twice and then let it go. But this organization was still selecting targets and sending invitations. He had just returned, traveling from Ting City to Yang City, and the organization had found him so quickly. This showed they had extensive information channels—far from being just a group of low-level players exchanging trivial gossip.
(Chapter End)