Chapter 913: Life and Death
"Tripped." Shangguan Xi blocked in front of the female player and shouted. The female player who was running indeed stumbled forward a step. At this moment, she had Shangguan Xi's three people in front of her and Xu Huo behind her—four against one. Running seemed pointless, so she stopped to negotiate:
"Friends, no past grievances and no recent grudges, no need to go all out, right?"
Her gaze was uncertain, but Shangguan Xi's trio was also unclear on the situation.
Xu Huo's attack was too sudden. Of course, they were all teammates, so regardless of the reason, they had to help. But by the time they reacted, he had already exchanged two rounds with the bald man. The speed was too fast, and like the bald man's group, they were a bit slow to keep up. By the time they came to their senses, he had already killed someone.
This was actually just over ten seconds. Seeing there wasn't much room to help, they simply watched from the side, planning to join in when the fight got more intense.
Unfortunately, Xu Huo didn't give them that chance. The female player and the bald man's attacks and defenses were as fragile as paper, hardly effective. It wasn't that their items and traits were useless—the restrictions of the item space, defenses, and visual interference from traits were all practical in battle. But clearly, whether it was space restrictions or mental interference, Xu Huo's side was a level higher. Without an absolute advantage in speed and combat power, the outcome was inevitable.
Seeing that he seemed to want to keep one alive, Shangguan Xi and the others made a show of blocking her.
Xu Huo pointed to his neck: "Where did you get that sunshade cloth?"
The female player remained composed: "Just a piece of sunshade cloth, stripped from a corpse."
Ding Wei recognized the cloth: "That looks like Gao Chunling's."
Shangguan Xi turned to the female player: "Are Gao Chunfeng and the others dead?"
"So you know them?" The female player looked at them in surprise. "What a pity. When we ran into them, they were already dead..."
She paused before looking at Xu Huo: "You suspect..."
Before she could finish, a cold sword pressed against her face. A trickle of blood flowed down the blade. The female player looked up, meeting the man's eyes devoid of any goodwill. "Think carefully before you speak. How did they die?"
Cold sweat broke out on the female player's forehead, and her pupils began to tremble. She opened and closed her mouth several times, finally her fear turning into ruthlessness. But she didn't make a move, because Xu Huo stepped back.
The female player was trapped inside a transparent space item. As the space contracted, the oxygen inside gradually decreased. Of course, she could forcefully break out of this item space, but unfortunately, she was now heavily poisoned, and her limbs were no longer under her control.
"How did they die?" Xu Huo asked from outside.
After holding on for two minutes, the female player finally confessed.
They had indeed killed them.
Because they had no transportation, Gao Chunfeng had bought a simple floating item from Shangguan Xi, which Gao Chunling carried as they left. The three children followed on foot, heading toward W37 Base City.
The bald man's group came from another direction. After walking some distance, the bearded man wanted to find the little girl for some amusement, so he turned back and surrounded them.
Dealing with a few players missing limbs was simple for them. Gao Chunfeng had a chance to escape into the game, but he gave it up for his family. He knelt and begged for mercy, only to have his feet cut off for their amusement. Gao Chunling was killed on the spot, and the two little girls didn't escape their cruel fate.
The bald man wanted to sell them to another base city, so he didn't kill them immediately. But when the female player was searching them, she was bitten and killed them in anger.
Gao Chunfeng was also beheaded.
"I didn't want to kill them..." the female player tried to defend herself. "I just took a lollipop... and she dared to bite me..."
The deeply poisoned woman convulsed and rambled incoherently, basically confessing the whole process.
No one present spoke. They silently watched the female player breathe her last in agony.
"I knew it would be like this," Ding Wei said after a long while. "You can save them for a moment, but not forever. Given their situation, even if they didn't die in the desert today, they would die somewhere else tomorrow in some other way. The game world is just that cruel."
Shangguan Xi clenched his fists: "Aren't players fighting tooth and nail in the game precisely to keep their families from ever ending up in such a situation?"
"Too bad about Gao Chunfeng. If he had endured a little longer, until he was a bit stronger, he might have made it to W37," Zhao Jiahuai sighed.
"Should we go back and check?" Shangguan Xi asked Xu Huo. At least they could collect the bodies.
"Killing these people is enough." Xu Huo took the items from the corpses and poured a bottle of potion over them.
The vehicle started again. The radar sounded an alarm of approaching mutants. In just a few dozen seconds, over a dozen mutants rushed from different directions, charging into the slag heap and tearing into the bodies.
Watching the flying limbs, the expressions of those in the vehicle carried a hint of satisfaction.
"The district's power is too weak. People living here can only become prey for outer zone players," Teacher Ai said calmly.
If W37 Base City weren't in such a dilapidated state today, outer zone players wouldn't dare to kill for fun so brazenly. In some large game districts, even advanced players have to keep their heads down!
"Actually, all districts are pretty much the same," Shangguan Xi said cryptically. "I once went to a district where human trafficking was legal. Some children are commodities from the embryo stage, possibly sent to hospitals, restaurants, or auction houses."
"Ridiculously, this even goes through genetic screening, with specialized custom packages."
"Whether an ordinary person in a district can live like a human depends on the strength and conscience of the players," Zhao Jiahuai said. "Only strong players can settle in those districts everyone dreams of. We're still far off."
"Is the vehicle malfunctioning?" Xu Huo suddenly looked at Teacher Ai. "We've been circling the same spot for five minutes."
Teacher Ai paused. The old man quickly checked the control panel: "The instruments aren't showing anything. The navigation says it's normal."
"An ambush?" Shangguan Xi, by the window, opened the door and dropped a marker. "Let's drive a bit more and see."
The vehicle sped up for a while before returning to the marker.
"It's probably a location item," Shangguan Xi frowned. "Can't see the boundary. Is it visual interference?"
Ding Wei held up an item: "The item says there's no boundary."
"Is even the item affected?" Zhao Jiahuai also released a mechanical bug. "If it can interfere with the vehicle's instruments, using this basic machine is best. Follow it."
Teacher Ai looked at Xu Huo. Only after he nodded did she increase the energy source and slowly follow the mechanical bug.
Xu Huo estimated the general range of the vehicle's circling. When the vehicle reached a suitable distance, he said, "I'll go out and take a look."
Update Paused
The author has some family matters recently, so there won't be any updates for now. Updates will likely resume next month.