Chapter 629: Treatment in the Isolation Ward
Cleared the instance?!
Zheng Liang and the others who came down later were stunned for a moment, but seeing the "zombies" swarming toward them, they immediately realized climbing upstairs was impossible. Regardless of whether these people had been cannibal players before, they might eat people now!
"Let's risk it!" Zheng Liang kicked over the cannibal player gnawing at Gu Yu, then rushed to the door and rubbed it vigorously with his sleeve. "Heaven help us!"
Behind him were Wen Xuelin and Guan Zuhong. Seeing his desperate, misguided actions, they felt a pang of despair, but then watched him disappear from the spot. After a moment of stunned disbelief, they too lunged forward, practically trying to scrub the door glass clean with their bodies!
The two succeeded in clearing the instance.
"We cleared it! We actually cleared it!" After coming out, Wen Xuelin rushed over and hugged Gu Yu. "Sister Gu Yu, you're amazing!"
Gu Yu patted her back, then looked at Zheng Liang sitting on the ground. "Are you okay?"
Zheng Liang shook his head, stood up, and brushed off his pants with a laugh. "I never thought clearing the instance would be this simple."
"Just lucky," Gu Yu said with a relieved expression, gazing at the thick fog ahead. "Step back a bit. This instance might not end anytime soon."
"I never want to go back to that hellhole anyway." Zheng Liang pulled out a prop gun. "Come on, let's go find the Special Defense Department!"
The Special Defense Department personnel were nearby and surrounded them before they could walk out. "Hands up!"
"We're from the Spring Rain Association. We need to speak with your team leader. Is Team Leader Wu here?" Zheng Liang shouted loudly.
Nie Xuan was waiting for them, so he ordered them brought to the temporary command post.
Once there, Zheng Liang eagerly recounted the situation inside the instance. "This is a golden opportunity. I doubt many of the players who went in will come out alive. Even if they do, their minds will be messed up."
Nie Xuan smiled. "The Special Defense Department has been waiting near the instance for a long time. So far, aside from a pair of siblings, only you few have come out alive. What about Xu Huo?"
"Brother Xu hasn't come out yet?" Guan Zuhong asked in surprise. "We didn't see him in the hospital today. We thought he cleared the instance last night."
"The instance has only been around for less than three hours," Nie Xuan said.
"I actually cleared it before Xu Huo?" Zheng Liang was exceptionally thrilled. "I guess he's all talk usually."
Gu Yu shot him a glare and said to Nie Xuan, "He is indeed in the instance. We don't know if he's come out. He might have gone deeper into the hospital. His game scores have always been high, so he's probably exploring the instance."
Nie Xuan made no comment but asked, "Why did you disguise yourselves as Xu Huo to lure people into the instance?"
"That wasn't our original plan," Gu Yu said. "The intended combat zone wasn't near this instance. Xu Huo accidentally stumbled into it, so we went over. We didn't expect the instance to be this powerful."
Nie Xuan asked a few more questions, and Gu Yu answered them all. With nothing further for them, he offered to arrange a special vehicle to take them away.
Gu Yu declined. After they left the temporary command post, she quietly said to Zheng Liang and the others, "If the Special Defense Department asks again, all of you must say that Xu Huo's location signal disappeared at the instance entrance, and we went to rescue him, thus accidentally entering the instance."
In reality, they had gone because they received a clear signal. Xu Huo must have sent the signal before entering the instance. This raised a problem: if he had accidentally stepped into the instance, it would be hard to send a signal in an instant, especially since this random instance gave no sensation upon entry. But if he had discovered the instance in advance, he wouldn't have needed to enter it himself to lure players in.
So whether he had learned of this instance through some method in advance or had some other purpose for entering, they needed to keep it secret.
"I think that Team Leader Nie's tone was off," Zheng Liang said, not being stupid. Compared to the instance, Nie Xuan seemed more interested in Xu Huo.
"I've heard of this Nie Xuan," Guan Zuhong said. "He's a formidable figure. One of the earliest players in the Special Defense Department to be promoted to D-rank. He might rank among the top few in District 014."
The group didn't know much about the details, but they sensed Xu Huo had come prepared, and the Special Defense Department was likely very interested in his secrets.
"Maybe we should go guard the instance entrance first," Wen Xuelin suggested. "When he comes out, we'll tell him immediately."
"You go," Gu Yu said. "I'll find Li Chun. Xu Huo has been in the game for so long and never teamed up with anyone. Li Chun has always been by his side; she's definitely better than us. I'll get her help."
As they split up, Xu Huo had already locked the ten foreign players into the isolation ward of Building Three.
People who could lurk in another country for over a decade were no simple characters. For such individuals to sink into hallucinations was harder, so he had to use some extra effort to bring them in.
He first selected the youngest among them, a brown-haired player.
Inside the old, mottled ward, the player tied to the upright bed stared with bloodshot eyes, fixed on the person sitting before him. His mouth wasn't gagged, but his lips were pressed tightly shut, as if he had no intention of communicating with anyone.
Xu Huo tapped the medical chart. "You haven't slept for three days and three nights. Do you feel tired?"
The brown-haired player's expression showed no change. Xu Huo waited three seconds, then stood up, picking up a syringe and a vial from the nearby operating table. "If this continues, your body won't hold up. I'll give you a nutrient injection."
The brown-haired player's eyes trembled as he stared at the item in Xu Huo's hand, because the small glass bottle read "Muscle Relaxant."
Xu Huo filled the syringe in front of him, then walked over and injected it directly into his arm through his clothes. "Hospital medication has strict rules. Aside from the most basic drugs, I can't give you anything else. Don't worry—though this agent is newly developed, it won't harm your body or damage your nerves."
The brown-haired player wasn't listening at all; his eyes were fixed sideways on the syringe. As the agent was fully injected, his body involuntarily relaxed.
Xu Huo casually tossed the syringe into the trash, sat back down, and tapped the medical chart again. Once he had the other's attention, he said, "I am your attending physician. You can tell me anything. Properly expressing your inner thoughts will help with your condition."
Then he shifted gears. "When you were admitted, you said you were born in Country Y, but according to the records, your parents never left Jing City. You grew up here and attended university here. Do you remember your name? Hao Zheng?"
"My name isn't Hao Zheng. My name is David Pierce," the brown-haired player said slowly.
Xu Huo picked up a mirror and placed it in front of him. "Look at your hair color and eye color."
The brown-haired player stared at the black-haired, black-eyed person in the mirror for a few seconds, then let out a hysterical scream: "That's not me!!!"