The conversation had taken place, and Jie Ling no longer covertly guarded against others; instead, she placed her items out in the open.
In addition to combat-related items, many of them resembled small accessories, such as rings, bracelets, and buttons. Xu Huo fiddled with the "Homologous Locator." Most of the items that subsequently appeared on Jie Ling were Level D, with only three being Rank-C.
Xiao Ling’s approach was much more covert; at least on the surface, it wasn’t apparent that she wore any items.
Jie Ling kept her distance from everyone, including Xu Huo, who had saved her.
"Why hasn’t Yu Guangnan come back yet?" Xu Ruosi looked outside and then asked Xiao Ling, "Do you know his background?"
The implied meaning was that more than ten players had arrived in the instance, and Yu Guangnan might be seeking new partners.
"He probably won’t." Xiao Ling said, "We met on the car over, and I already saved him once there. Last night at the Beheaded Cemetery, he nearly died..."
Before she could finish speaking, they felt several players rushing over from not far away. Xu Huo kicked through the door and charged out of the shop, followed immediately by Xu Ruosi and the other two, who, despite not sensing the approaching danger, kept up with him. They exited in rapid succession, and the fairly large shop was chopped into tofu cubes by six slashing beams of light!
Their assailants had come to kill and naturally didn’t bother with a warning; after all, killing in the game required no justification.
"Watch out for the red light!" A voice up ahead stopped Xu Huo and the others in their tracks. A large red light turned on, forcing them to halt mid-step, unable to move forward even half a step!
"There are more coming from behind!" Xiao Ling warned, tossing out a Metallic Eagle which, upon taking to the sky, threw several smoke bombs toward the people chasing from behind—ordinary Poison Gas Bombs were generally ineffective in real combat, not as useful as smoke bombs that could obscure vision.
Before the smoke had even cleared, Xu Huo swung the "Crimson Sword" forward in a feint. Although the Crimson Sword could wound from a distance, its killing power was limited and it couldn’t destroy items. He then leaped onto the rooftop beside them.
The effective range of items tended to be limited. Once he was on the roof, the red light’s obstruction effect vanished, and at the same time, another player was rapidly closing in on him. Using "Concentrated Air," he blinked to the other person’s side in a second, with the sword in his hand becoming the "Eye of the Deceased."
The opposing player was somewhat surprised by his sudden approach but quickly adjusted, producing a sword as well!
The barrier created by "Concentrated Air" disappeared, and as the swords collided, the other player’s sword snapped cleanly in half. At the moment of the break, Xu Huo punched at his face!
At such a close distance, the player had no chance to dodge, so a floating Metal Shield appeared in front of him. But Xu Huo’s fist didn’t stop there—it smashed right through the shield and grabbed at the player’s throat!
"Smooth Skin Lotion!" The opponent slipped free by using an item and extended another hand!
He seemed to have another item hidden in his sleeve, but Xu Huo didn’t retreat; he formed a barrier in front of him and rammed it forward. Accelerating with "Straight-Line Distance," he crashed into the player, sending him flying into a nearby shop.
Because of the Air Barrier’s obstruction, the player who had been thrown into the house tried several items to no avail, until he pressed a thumb-sized, cone-shaped spike against the barrier.
"Crack crack!" The Air Barrier showed cracks, and the player sneered coldly. Suddenly, several spider-like legs emerged from his back, ostensibly to prevent Xu Huo from escaping and to trap them both together.
Xu Huo didn’t disappoint him, having no intention of fleeing. He grasped one of the metal spider legs, and subsequently, those spider limbs turned to powder in the air!
"A bowshot away!" With his prop destroyed, the player quickly widened the gap between himself and Xu Huo, while a slender arrow shadow appeared on the ground between the two. As they moved, the shadow’s head and tail swung accordingly, always keeping the two apart.
Four eyes met, and the player suddenly took out a whistle and blew it. The next second, he disappeared from his spot and reappeared in the street behind the wall, just a window away from Xu Huo. They looked at each other from a distance, and the player flipped onto a building and fled.
At the same time, the players entangled with Xiao Ling and the others outside were retreating as well. Both sides had sustained some wear, but the cautious fighting had resulted in no casualties, including Yu Guangnan who had come back to help Xiao Ling. At the sound of the whistle, these players retreated without hesitation, showing not the slightest doubt.
"What kind of people are these..." Yu Guangnan hadn’t finished speaking when he was knocked to the ground by Xiao Ling, the sharp tip of a sword pointed directly at his throat, "Did you bring them?!"
Yu Guangnan was stunned for a second but didn’t fight back, instead saying, "Absolutely not! I was just checking out where those dummies had gone and got a bit too far away. I rushed back as soon as I heard the commotion. If it was my doing, why would I have stayed?"
"It’s too much of a coincidence. No sooner had you left than they arrived. Those people are well-trained and came straight for us. Do you think I can trust you?" Xiao Ling didn’t let up, pressing the sword down even further as Yu Guangnan’s neck started to bleed, yet he still didn’t fight back, continuing to explain himself.
Xu Huo and the two others watched with cold indifference, waiting for a while until Xu Ruosi finally said, "Cut it out, if you wanted to kill him, you would have done it already. Stop with this pretentious interrogation."
Not only Yu Guangnan was under suspicion, but now Xiao Ling as well was tagged as questionable.
At this point, Xiao Ling stopped bickering with Yu Guangnan and turned to look at Xu Huo — clearly, he was the decision-maker among the three of them, "Does this mean we can’t walk the same path any longer?"
They couldn’t walk the same path any longer.
The appearance of those players earlier indicated that there were more players than expected teaming up to venture into Zone 009’s instance. Whether they were after the instance rewards or the likely Perfect Potion that could appear in Museum City, based on the rules of this instance, more and more players would enter, and some might even be members of well-trained organizations.
The number of people aware of the instance’s one-day limit would only increase. It was impossible to kill all the informed players, so forming different factions was currently the best way to ensure one’s safety. Being alone or in a small group could make one an easy target for others.
The players earlier had indeed attempted to kill, testing the waters to see how deep they were. Upon realizing that they couldn’t succeed in a short time, they decisively retreated to avoid expending too much of their strength.
With this, they had mostly encountered all the players who arrived during the day, from the Cannibal Players they first killed to the observing Tattooed Player and others, as well as those who had just come to ambush, with only one or two possibly overlooked.
This was not a good sign. The ability to coordinate actions proved that these people had swiftly reached cooperation either before entering or shortly after entering the instance.
"If you want us to trust you, you have to provide proof." Xu Huo’s gaze settled on Xiao Ling.