Chapter 920: Second Wave
In the dim light, the spray of blood wasn't visible, but Ding Wei's collapse was clear. After her body hit the ground, a figure quickly slipped away from a nearby pillar and headed straight into the lane leading to the fourth floor.
After he left, Xu Huo stepped out from the shadows in the distance.
After his Spatial Super Evolution, his mental control range had expanded accordingly. It wasn't enough to cover the entire underground parking lot, but over a hundred meters was no problem.
He had placed his Spiritual Realm at the parking lot entrance. Light affected people's judgment, and anyone entering this range would unknowingly fall into an illusion. For example, Ding Wei and Zhao Jiahuai, who had just passed through, had actually been circling in place. Whether it was Ding Wei, who was killed, or Zhao Jiahuai, who later fled, neither had reached the upward or downward lanes.
As for the tattooed man who had chased him in, Xu Huo placed the "Mini Mushroom Cloud" ahead of the blood trail he was following. Estimating the time was almost up, he passed through space back to the parking lot entrance and then used "Destination Arrival" to put distance between himself and the building.
With a deafening roar, the parking garage rapidly collapsed. The violent shockwave and dust instantly surged outward. Since the surrounding buildings were already dilapidated and weathered by years of erosion, the shockwave caused the city within a kilometer radius to dissolve like a layer soaked in water. Buildings closer to the explosion's center were blasted into rubble!
Xu Huo stood high above, overlooking the blast zone. Two seconds later, he raised an eyebrow. "Still alive."
Only Zhao Jiahuai had died in this explosion. The inheritance information on the game panel showed one of his items was a prop.
But his real purpose in going to the underground parking lot wasn't to kill a player. The car's location had been showing there all along, but as soon as he went down, he immediately realized it was just a diversion. No one was inside—the player who had stolen the off-road vehicle had blurred the effect of the tracking item.
Looking around, Xu Huo didn't see the car. Instead, he spotted the Baby Face player and Shangguan Xi approaching the south gate.
Changing direction, he headed for the south gate.
Shangguan Xi carried Teacher Ai through the streets, saying, "Brother Xu has it handled. No one's chasing us."
Teacher Ai's face darkened. "Without the car, how are we supposed to get to W37? He didn't blow it up too, did he!"
"So what if he did?" Shangguan Xi said. "With so many props, there's always a way."
"Carrying a living sample through the uninhabited zone on foot is nearly impossible!" Teacher Ai said. "You might survive yourselves, but can you guarantee the sample's survival?"
Shangguan Xi chuckled. "Whether we clear the instance is our business. Why do you care so much?"
Teacher Ai didn't mince words. "Whether you clear it or not has nothing to do with me, but I need to get to W37. Without a car, would you even take me?"
"Definitely not," Shangguan Xi answered casually.
Teacher Ai ground his teeth audibly, twisting around to search for Xu Huo's figure, but instead spotted the Baby Face player. He warned Shangguan Xi, "Someone's catching up."
"He's not chasing us," Shangguan Xi said. "If he wanted to fight, he would have come up by now."
As he spoke, he stopped and turned to the Baby Face. "If the living sample dies, it dies. You guys clinging to Brother Xu is just mutually assured destruction. It's not worth it!"
The Baby Face gave him a stern look and was about to say something when he suddenly glanced in another direction and immediately changed course, looking alarmed.
Xu Huo descended from the sky and said, "The player who stole the car should have come this way. Where's the sample?"
"See that building with the lightning rod-like thing on top? The living sample should be over there," Shangguan Xi said. "I ran into two players on my way here and heard them talking. But there's a very strong player nearby. No one's been able to get close to the sample."
"I don't know the specifics... Brother Xu, does this feel like they're waiting for something?"
"Waiting for what?" Xu Huo responded.
"Either waiting for a car or waiting for someone," Shangguan Xi said. "Either that player is injured and can't move, or the prop has restrictions and can only be used in a fixed location. Leaving or moving around would make it useless. Either way, they're looking for someone to cooperate with."
"Two problems," Xu Huo said. "First, are you sure they don't have partners? The car thief might be their teammate. Second, even if your theory holds, why would they hide and not show themselves?"
Right now, the player who stole the car was staying quiet, and the living sample side was also still. Everything was stalled.
Xu Huo glanced to the side. "Let's find someone to ask."
"Who do you want to—" Before Shangguan Xi could finish, Xu Huo was already gone, heading in some unknown direction. So he had no choice but to continue carrying Teacher Ai toward the south gate. "Maybe Brother Xu will get lucky and grab the sample. Let's go wait over there first."
Teacher Ai's lips moved as if to say something, but he held back. His expression was somewhat mocking, though it was unclear whether he was mocking Shangguan Xi's wishful thinking or his willingness to push all the risk onto his teammate.
Xu Huo easily found an injured female player in the corner of a building. He stopped about ten meters away and spoke first. "You've been here a while, haven't you? I'd like to ask you something."
He tossed her a bottle of antidote. "Try this."
The female player caught the antidote and looked at him suspiciously. "What do you want to know?"
Xu Huo pointed toward the living sample's location.
The female player snorted. "You want to grab the living sample too? I'd advise you to drop that idea."
"That living sample is bait, luring players into a trap."
"The prop above that building is probably not held by a C-grade player."
"Evidence," Xu Huo said, expression unchanged.
"Players outside can't even get into the building," the female player said. "It's not people stopping them—it's the building itself. As soon as you get close, the streets and houses automatically extend outward, infinitely stretching the distance between you and the building."
"Could it be an illusion?" Xu Huo asked.
The female player gave him a cold look. "True or false, you can go see for yourself."
Xu Huo raised a hand to calm her down. "According to you, the living sample is just bait. If they want to hunt players, they shouldn't be preventing them from getting close."
The female player shut her mouth, refusing to say more.
Xu Huo thanked her and left, then found two more players to ask.
Perhaps because they were all stunned by the player controlling the living sample's tactics, a temporary peace had settled among the other players. Some were even willing to share information, since several had been waiting for a day with no progress. Everyone was hoping someone would break the deadlock.
Their descriptions of the prop's effects were similar to the female player's, though their theories about the motive varied.
But when it came down to it, two facts were clear.
(Chapter End)