Xu Huo had never expected the Anthropomorphic Doll to spit at the Black Bracelet, and of course, the Black Bracelet hadn’t seen it coming either. After a whirlwind of shock, astonishment, disgust, and rage flashed across his face, he aimed a "Raindrop Stone Piercing" right at the Anthropomorphic Doll.
The fierce attack from Raindrop Stone Piercing tore the doll’s clothes to shreds and its body began to distort and shrink, seemingly dying rapidly under the assault. But the Black Bracelet didn’t let up, throwing out another balloon and continuing the barrage while controlling the doll.
Up close, the camera was blurry, but Xu Huo could barely make out that the balloon was being blown from a ring on the Black Bracelet’s middle finger, which must be an item.
The balloon item could make a person float, but the floating duration was very short, hence the Black Bracelet’s repeated use of it.
"Raindrop Stone Piercing" must be his trait, and a rough estimate suggested that the trait could last over twenty seconds.
He also possessed another ability to control objects, though it was uncertain whether it was a trait or an item.
It could also be a Super Evolution outside of these two possibilities.
Super Evolution has two major directions, one being the control over oneself, and the other, control over objects. Spirit Evolution probably falls under the former category and is somewhat inconspicuous because it’s difficult to apply in actual combat, whereas the latter, control over objects, obviously differs, with a sharply escalating lethality.
If the Black Bracelet had the latter, killing him would become a difficult task.
Super Evolution comes without particularly obvious restrictions and is solely dependent on the Evolver’s strengths and weaknesses, unlike traits and items that have conditions such as usage frequency and time. Assuming it is the Super Evolution, just with object control to kill, he could eliminate most of the White Bracelets.
After using the balloon item three times, the Raindrop Stone Piercing trait finally ceased. Seeing the Anthropomorphic Doll recover from being battered and torn was disbelief-inducing for the Black Bracelet, yet that disbelief was fleeting, and the next second he blew another balloon while simultaneously pulling out a brand new Energy Gun!
Xu Huo had witnessed the power of the Energy Gun; traits might not destroy a miniature surveillance device, but this gun definitely could, so he quickly maneuvered another surveillance device to fly into the balloon!
The balloon was unexpectedly fragile, popping upon contact with the miniature surveillance and releasing a burst of gas, the next second the Black Bracelet was automatically hovering a meter above the ground.
The Anthropomorphic Doll impersonating Xu Huo, now freed from its restraints, naturally chose to charge forward and continue drawing aggro. However, before it could get close, the Black Bracelet’s right index finger shot out a ray. With a mere swipe on the ground, the doll’s extended leg was severed!
Being close, Xu Huo saw it all clearly. Although the ray appeared as just an innocuous line on the ground, it turned at least three square meters of air into a cutting plane, severing anything that passed through it. If the doll had run fast enough, its body might have been bisected.
The Anthropomorphic Doll, now with a leg cut off, fell to the ground wounded, but it was resilient. It picked up its severed leg, jammed it back in place, and surprisingly, continued to run.
The Black Bracelet landed and belatedly realized something was amiss with this "Xu Huo," glanced at the miniature surveillance that had crashed into the wall corner, and with a cold smile, didn’t chase after the doll but instead turned back to the room where the fight had taken place.
The Anthropomorphic Doll looked back and threw something else in an attempt to hit the person, but unfortunately, it failed to draw the Black Bracelet’s attention back.
The dazed Anthropomorphic Doll, having lost its target, reluctantly wandered off elsewhere.
After watching the live surveillance, Xu Huo packed up his shelter and set fire to the seaweed outside the fourth-floor window, leaving behind the burning traces before climbing up to the sixth floor.
When Black Bracelet was nearing, he distanced the mini surveillance devices a bit further and relied on his senses to determine the opponent’s location.
Black Bracelet arrived at the spot where Xu Huo had started the fire, swept aside the seaweed, and went down to the fourth floor.
It wasn’t until he was sure Black Bracelet had gone far that Xu Huo emerged from the room, stumbling into Selin, whom he had parted with not long before, now accompanied by several other players.
"It’s you!" one of the White Bracelets exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Xu Huo, "You’re actually still alive!"
He was the one who had jeered at Xu Huo for being a kept man in the restaurant during the day, yet still caring about his pride.
Xu Huo didn’t bother with him but instead looked meaningfully at Selin, "You seem to have quite some leisure."
Clutching a scripture, Selin replied earnestly, "God will not abandon anyone, and of course, neither will I. As long as someone asks for my help, I will protect them with all my might."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow; this didn’t seem quite like a normal person.
But whatever his purpose was, it had nothing to do with Xu Huo.
Selin was also an experienced player; he must have some items for concealing his tracks, or else Xu Huo wouldn’t have failed to sense his presence from such a close distance.
With a nod of acknowledgment, Xu Huo prepared to leave.
"Wouldn’t it be better for us to watch out for each other?" Selin called out to him. "You... probably don’t need me to come to your rescue, but in case you encounter danger, you can still call out for my help. I promise I will respond to your call."
Xu Huo turned back and looked at him "surprisedly," "Those guys downstairs are probably dying with their eyes wide open now."
Selin sighed, "My personal power is always limited."
"I won’t bother you any longer," Xu Huo said, and then he left.
Selin didn’t stop him, but those few white bracelet players sneered a few times, implying that Xu Huo had no real skills and yet dared to refuse the kind offer of help from others. They said he was lucky not to have encountered other bracelet players, or else he would have certainly been dead.
Selin looked at them with pity in his eyes.
Xu Huo walked alone on the sixth floor, taking the chance to observe the fighting styles of a few Red Bracelets and Black Bracelets. The Anthropomorphic Doll was really attracting hatred; it didn’t know how to avoid people and even intentionally provoked the Red Bracelets who were gathered together.
Probably everyone wanted to beat it to death.
It did indeed die many times, with two mini surveillance devices lost. Xu Huo could still see the images afterward solely because he kept his distance.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t without gains. He noticed that one of the Red Bracelet players had a very interesting item.
After a moment of contemplation, he changed direction and began to set up a "Number Grid" not far from this group.
The "Number Grid" looked like a map; it could only be successfully set up when no one was within its coverage area. The item’s owner could carry it with them, and similarly, they couldn’t stay within the range of the grid when setting it up, but they could enter it afterwards and would not be bound by the item’s rules.
He had used this item once on the train back to Zone 011 to avoid fighting; though in the end, it only trapped an Alien.
He chose a relatively open resting area. White Bracelet players wouldn’t hide there, and no one was nearby, so setting it up went smoothly. However, as he was planning how to lure people over, a figure appeared in the surveillance image.