Shangguan Xi, who was ridiculed, laughed off the disdain, "Don’t be so serious at such a young age. As you grow, you’ll realize that optimism is good for you."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he heard a "crack" under his feet, and a second later, an explosion erupted from the ground, sending him flying!
Xu Huo caught him from behind and used an Air Barrier to block the sparks flying towards them. The explosion wasn’t very powerful; it just created a hole in the passage. A person without protection might have lost a leg.
Shangguan Xi was wearing Prop shoes, and his clothes were also protective. First angry then puzzled, he exclaimed, "Why don’t these people just destroy the passage instead of going to the trouble of setting traps?"
Xu Huo examined the broken part of the passage. "These metal materials aren’t easy to destroy. To actually obliterate the passage, it would likely blast through the ground too, making the underground passage pointless."
W37 Base Station was once a well-developed gaming area, so it made sense that out of the vast territory, only thirty-seven cities remained as the last bastions of survival and reproduction.
"A bother indeed to lure the Alien here," Shangguan Xi looked ahead, "How much farther to the exit?"
"Not much longer," the young man said.
After about fifteen more minutes, the young man signaled them to keep quiet, then they climbed up a rising passage for at least fifty meters before turning a corner and finally seeing a small iron door ahead.
The small iron door was presumably at a higher section of the city’s defensive wall. Opening the door revealed a sandy expanse, a stormy area that could cover any tracks in a short time, not to mention a few who might have already left.
"Everyone’s gone; where do we chase them?" Shangguan Xi sounded disappointed.
"They couldn’t have gone far," the youth asserted confidently. "Entering the desert at night is asking for death. It seems calm here, but just ahead is a multi-storm area with no place to hide, easy to be buried like a fool. Even if Teacher Ai wanted to perish along with them, they would have returned themselves!"
Shangguan Xi was about to say more when Xu Huo patted his shoulder and pointed below.
Indeed, the people hadn’t gone far—they were hiding right beneath their feet, a total of four people.
"I’ll go down and talk to them." Xu Huo gestured for Shangguan Xi and the young man to stay above.
The four were hiding in a small Prop space, mostly buried by sand, essentially under the ground, with only a palm-sized glass seal visible from the outside.
After descending, Xu Huo knocked on the seal, "If you folks are also heading to W19 Base City, why not join us?"
There was no response from underground, but two seconds later, the bulging sand suddenly collapsed and several figures leaped out, one seizing a thin middle-aged man and retreating, while two others charged directly at Xu Huo!
Facing this scenario, it was clear that neither side had intentions of cooperation, so Xu Huo sidestepped the two charging directly at him, instantly moved to the retreating player’s back, grabbed his returning Sword, melted it with the "Life Core," and using "Like Repels Like," repelled the man.
The player’s first response to seeing the Prop melt was surprise, but as he was repelled by the Prop, he quickly retreated to his allies, crying out, "This man is tough to deal with! If he reaches W19 City, he’ll surely become a formidable foe. Even if we have to kill, we won’t let him have this guide!"
The other two seeing him pantomiming ’holding hostage’ in the air, instantly realized, "Careful! The opponent is a Spirit Evolution Player!"
The one Xu Huo clashed with also realized, and seeing he held nothing, then noticed the person already in Xu Huo’s grasp.
"Teacher Ai?" Xu Huo asked the middle-aged man.
The man had seen the youth wave from above and hoarsely responded, "Thanks for saving me. I can take you to W19 Base."
Teacher Ai was a smart man, and he directly addressed the core of the matter.
Xu Huo nodded and threw the "Desert Pinwheel" onto the ground, and a dense sandstorm instantly engulfed the area outside the protective wall.
Being already sandstorm Prop, combined with the local special climate, the storm created by the Prop was bigger than any before, obscuring senses and hampering movement.
As Xu Huo was taking Teacher Ai up, one of the three players intercepted them from above and dropped a transparent, thin Prop, unaffected by the storm, which directly wrapped around their faces!
Xu Huo didn’t alter his course but swung his sword early. However, as the thin membrane split in two, he instantly realized that breaking the Prop wouldn’t nullify its effect, perhaps even doubling it, so he placed the "Sticky as Glue" protective gear in front, casually catching the two split pieces of the membrane.
"Sticky as Glue" is a protective garment that could secrete adhesive fluid, sticking to any object, but once stuck, it required a special solvent to dissolve. He had always found it inconvenient to use, but now it was perfectly suited—the two pieces of the membrane, with automatic positioning and wrap features, touched the garment and began to swirl around it, finally twisting together. Xu Huo casually tossed them into the luggage compartment and equipped the "Important Call" and "Eternal Brand."
The opponent likely had a defensive Prop as well; "Important Call" didn’t work, but the "Eternal Brand" was six automatically tracking beams of light. While the player dodged, Xu Huo moved above him and directly dropped 101—this was a very heavy Prop, the player stressed under gravity smashed towards the ground, during which the beams caught up and branded a fresh mark on his face!
While Xu Huo had already escorted Teacher Ai up, when he returned, he used "This Way is Blocked" toward the ground, and the fifty-square laser not only cut through the storm but also sliced the player who had just crawled out from under 101 into two halves.
Blood seeped into the sand and kicked up, leaving the remaining two instinctively retreating as one knocked a glass bottle, pausing the wild flying sandstorm, after which it quickly fell: the Desert Pinwheel lost its effect, and the area reverted to how it was before Xu Huo descended.
Amid the fierce winds, the player holding Teacher Ai widened his eyes and exclaimed, "See who doesn’t blink!"
In an instant, Xu Huo felt his eyelids locked in place, unable to close, as another player aimed a bright light at him!
The eyelids couldn’t close, but Xu Huo still had hands; he covered his eyes with them.
The two opposite seized this opportunity, one appearing three meters in front of him, and then a small storm formed around Xu Huo, placing him right at the center of the storm!