Chapter 925: The Unexpected Holder
The response was met with silence. Of course, one couldn't exactly call the other party shameless—what was taken by force certainly wouldn't be returned willingly. "Hitching a ride" was merely a tactful way of putting it.
"I can see you have no intention of returning it!" Shangguan Xi said. "Your companion is still in our hands. Why not come out and talk face to face? Hiding shows no sincerity at all."
"I have an ugly appearance and don't particularly like meeting people," the other party replied. "But if you two agree, you could release my companion, and I will certainly keep my word, allowing you to authenticate the bracelet."
Shangguan Xi instinctively glanced at Xu Huo. "Don't trust him!"
"I've seen the metal cages used for living samples. One cage can only have five authentications. With your companion included, one living sample probably won't be enough," Xu Huo said, turning his head to look at the snowy ground to his left.
Clearly, Shangguan Xi was the only one present who hadn't noticed the player who had entered mid-game. He squinted, searching through the wind and snow, and only after a few seconds did he make out something like a white cloth fluttering in the air.
Since he had been discovered, the hidden player simply removed his disguise prop and nodded at them with a smile.
"That clown," Shangguan Xi snorted coldly. "He got here fast enough."
"He's been following us since we left the city," Xu Huo said briefly, then addressed the person in the woods. "There's one more person."
The tent placed on the ground had an abnormal fluctuation. The player controlling space quickly said, "Destroying the bracelet means he loses his clearance qualification. Considering we're about to cooperate, I hope you'll spare his life."
"Alright," Xu Huo agreed. "Bring out the car first."
Two seconds later, the ground beneath Xu Huo's feet began to shift. Then, the off-road vehicle appeared beside the tent as if through a spatial teleportation. The car body was damaged, and the last compartment was completely gone, but it was indeed the one Xu Huo and his group had lost.
Shangguan Xi immediately tried to seize the initiative. However, the moment he moved, the baby-faced clown also acted. A massive boulder fell from the sky, directly cutting off his path. As he leaped into the air, the boulder on the ground and the snowflakes in the sky were all pushed backward by an invisible wall. The baby-faced clown was also caught in this range.
Although he had quickly moved to the side of the car while blocking Shangguan Xi, the moment he pulled open the car door, a suddenly generated space directly sliced the door in half. In an instant, the two spaces separated simultaneously. The car and the tent collided, while the baby-faced clown, like Shangguan Xi, was sent flying ten meters away!
From the very beginning, none of the three parties had been sincere. Xu Huo, of course, hadn't been idle either. Dropping the person in his hand, he flashed into the woods where the two players were hiding and first threw out "Light Sandwich."
After a faint flash of light, only the swaying shadows of the trees remained behind. He stepped forward, retrieved the "Light Sandwich" and the pre-placed "Box of Life and Death." Neither prop had caught anyone. Xu Huo tilted his head, glanced at the tent that hadn't been taken away yet, thought briefly, and then threw "Only Entrance" outside the forest.
"Only Entrance" was a location prop. When released, it took the form of a large archway, causing people or vehicles passing nearby to involuntarily correct their direction and walk toward it. Although this prop was a D-grade prop, it had a large coverage area and was also a prop suitable for the current scene, aside from "Seventeenth Hospital."
But unexpectedly, the opponent's space prop was so strong that not only did it forcibly push the large archway of "Only Entrance" farther away when it landed, but it also pushed it nearly ten meters after it had touched the ground.
Xu Huo immediately looked at the tent. Using the cut-off car door as the boundary, the space was expanding outward while also contracting inward. However, the inner and outer distances were different—the inward contraction was much shorter than the outward expansion. Judging by the car that was almost embedded in the tent, when this space prop was operated, the outward expansion also caused an inward contraction, but the ratio between inside and outside was different, and it seemed to be limited by the central position.
Moreover, compared to the previous time in W19, the range of this space push was noticeably smaller this time.
Aside from that, if there was another difference between the two instances, it was the tent placed at the center.
The car could appear with the spatial movement, but this player still needed his companion to take the living sample away first. This proved that this space prop could not control living things. Buildings, the ground, and the placed car could all be moved with the space, but living things could not.
Additionally, it seemed that the prop's range was divided into inner and outer circles, with a circle as the boundary. The inner circle appeared to restrict the performance of the outer circle.
"Vroom!" As the tent disappeared, the off-road vehicle's engine roared. Shangguan Xi and the baby-faced clown, who had been nearby, were instantly pushed dozens of meters away. Xu Huo, who was in front of the car, was also shifted three meters to the right by an invisible force!
Even on the snowy ground, the off-road vehicle wasn't slow. However, due to the car's damage, some wiring was hanging outside. Xu Huo estimated the distance, bent down, and used "Schrödinger's Knife" to make a cut. This prop was also a random prop—it didn't always work, but this time it did.
Putting the knife away, he stepped forward to catch up with the car, leaped onto its hood, and said to the driver inside, "If you really think you can just drive away, then it's better if none of us get what we want."
As he finished speaking, he raised "Eye of the Dead." The player inside the car tried to organize a defense, but at that moment, the broken wire took effect. The car swerved uncontrollably and crashed into the nearby woods!
Having anticipated this, Xu Huo flipped to the side of the car in advance. Simultaneously activating "Truth Transcends All" and his special trait "Please Sit," he yanked open the back door and jumped inside!
"Truth Transcends All" could negate trait and prop attacks for three seconds, so he didn't even pay attention to the person sitting in the back seat. Instead, he aimed his bracelet at the metal cage!
"Beep!" After the indicator light on the edge of the hexagonal buckle rotated a full circle and lit up, the authentication was successful. Xu Huo then retreated from the car, creating a five-meter distance.
The two people inside the car were unsurprisingly locked in their seats. The player driving was no longer a threat. Xu Huo carefully examined the person in the back seat.
She was a very frail-looking little girl. She was dressed warmly, with her hands, feet, and neck tightly wrapped. Her exposed face was bloodless and sallow, her eyebrows and hair completely gone, and even her lips showed an unhealthy pale pink.
With just one glance, Xu Huo warned the "driver" in the front seat, "It wouldn't be hard for me to kill your companion right now. You'd better not move rashly."
Without giving them any chance to maneuver, he looked at the little girl. "Your space prop is quite impressive. Could I borrow it for a look?"
The moment he finished speaking, the little girl, who had seemed fragile enough to be crushed a second ago, had eyes as sharp as knives. She raised her hand and waved, and the snowy ground surged up from beneath Xu Huo's feet!
(Chapter End)