The effect of not being able to close his eyes had not yet subsided when his vision was crazily blocked again. Xu Huo shouted, "I’m going to make a cut," and was first met with two long knives, one in front and one behind.
He had already tried using the Crimson Sword. When it encountered the wind, it would be pushed back. It seemed that this kind of wind only allowed attacks from the outside and did not permit the trapped person to counterattack.
Of course, being trapped in such a narrow place indeed made it difficult to dodge. The Air Barrier seemed to also conflict with the properties of this prop, and he failed to condense it into a barrier twice.
"Concentrated Air" had space-time properties, Xu Huo guessed that this prop likely had similar properties, so after the "Moving Metal" blocked the attacks from front and back, he reached out in the space, grabbed directly through the storm, and arrived fifty meters away.
This storm prop seemed to have some notion of "Compressed Space." Having experienced compressed space in the botanical garden at Sea World, this wasn’t difficult for Xu Huo without any obstructions.
After coming out, he quickly doubled back, taking less than a second to appear behind one of the men. With a swift motion, he cleanly sliced through his neck.
The effect of the storm prop had disappeared. Xu Huo looked up and saw another player kneeling in front of Shangguan Xi with his hands tied behind his back, his head laid flat as if on a chopping block, and then he was bisected by an invisible force.
Shangguan Xi himself had not anticipated the bisection. He was originally prepared to dodge the splattering blood but ended up getting covered by the internal organs from inside the corpse’s abdomen.
"Damn that’s disgusting!" He immediately shook his feet and retreated, then said to Xu Huo, "Brother Xu, you’re done too. Let’s get ready to leave."
Above, the teenager and Teacher Ai were prying a slit in the iron door to look down. Xu Huo kicked the sand off his shoes and floated up, saying, "We need a vehicle to go to W19."
"A vehicle?" Shangguan Xi also used a suction-cup prop to climb up along the protective wall and squeezed through the iron door before continuing, "With such strong winds, flying vehicles definitely can’t be used. Cars in the city can’t get out either. The engines would gather aliens around us. I’ve already checked; W37 Base Station has no silent vehicles."
Props were out of the question too. Firstly, their range was limited and secondly, there wasn’t enough time.
"Walking through this desert area will be difficult," Xu Huo said. "Having a vehicle would be better, especially since we’ll need one when we leave W19."
"Wouldn’t it be better to find one when we go to W19?" Shangguan Xi continued, "Even if we drive there, there will be many variables upon arrival. It won’t necessarily be usable. Traveling from W18 also requires protecting the vehicle."
His point made sense. Xu Huo shared his own thoughts, "We need to transport people. Using a vehicle from W18 is more convenient. The situation in W19 is uncertain, and we will have to transport goods too. By then, we might not have the energy to look for new cars or flying vehicles. Having a vehicle outside is like being prepared on both fronts."
If he were traveling alone, it would indeed be convenient for him to walk.
"What’s the situation like in W19?" Shangguan Xi looked at Teacher Ai. "You came from there."
The middle-aged man pressed on his shriveled legs. "W19 is worse than here. It’s best to do as Mr. Xu suggests if you decide to take me with you."
"Where in the city are there vehicles?" Shangguan Xi asked again.
However, Xu Huo was staring at Teacher Ai, "How did you come to W18?"
Teacher Ai calmly replied, "I drove. You all know about Base W37 City; almost every base city has manually operated off-road vehicles. These vehicles are made from the same material as the protective walls. They aren’t easily corroded or damaged. They also have a pre-warning system for sinkholes and a defense system. They can adapt to complex environments, but the only drawback is that they consume a lot of resources."
Shangguan Xi furrowed his eyebrows, gradually picking up on what he was implying. "Do you know where there are vehicles?"
I had actually already found out about the overall situation inside the city yesterday during my passage through the base, Teacher Ai explained. Vehicles like the off-road vehicles he described were surely in short supply. Most of the visible vehicles were more suitable for running on flat ground. If such vehicles were to be found, they’d likely be at a manufacturing plant or the residences of the original W18 Base City’s management. But as you would expect, these people probably fled during the outbreak.
"W18’s gate-opening device has been destroyed," Xu Huo said. "If you escaped here in a vehicle, it must have been left outside then."
Shangguan Xi looked forward across the rolling sands. "Not likely."
"That vehicle of mine has long been buried in the sand. However, I know where there are vehicles," Teacher Ai said. "But I have a demand."
"Tell us," Xu Huo said.
"You have to take me to W37 Base," Teacher Ai spoke flatly. "Only I know where the vehicles are in W18. Torturing me won’t work."
"Is that so? I don’t believe it," Shangguan Xi fiddled with the prop on his wrist but listened as he continued, "Those three people earlier used props and potions on me. I only told them where the vehicles were in the city, and upon hearing that, they gave up on the idea of driving out."
"Feel free to try," Teacher Ai raised his head in the darkness, looking at Xu Huo. "And don’t think of using the safety of the people in the city to coerce me. They have nothing to do with me."
After finishing speaking, he gestured for the teenager to step forward. The teen, not understanding why, stood in front of him but was then knocked aside by his outstretched hand!
"Teacher Ai!" The teen’s body reaction let him catch the nearby iron door in the moment of falling backward. The door emitted a muffled noise, and the teen incredulously looked at the person sitting on the ground.
In the outside daylight, Teacher Ai’s gaunt face showed no sign of emotion.
"Were you a player before?" Xu Huo was slightly surprised.
Individuals with strong minds might resist the effects of props, but potions acted directly on the body; mere willpower was futile unless the person had undergone bodily modifications.
Ordinary Evolvers didn’t reach that extent.
"Whether or not I was a player has no impact on you," Teacher Ai patted his leg. "I can’t stand up and I have no props."
"Then aren’t you afraid we’ll kill you after achieving our goal?" Shangguan Xi was clearly disdainful of his ruthless behavior in pushing the teenager toward the wall, speaking harshly.
"Once you go to W19, don’t you need to go to W37?" Teacher Ai countered.
"It seems those idiots earlier almost blew their cover completely," Xu Huo said. "But there’s still one issue. You’ve been in W18 for a while. The external climate has changed, and the terrain has likely also changed. How will you prove your value in the latter half of the journey?"
In other words, bringing him along was fine, but not without reason.
"I was an engineer who was responsible for the prop engineering design between bases," Teacher Ai said. "I know every path on the map, be they marked or unmarked."
That was a significant declaration, almost too good to be true, making Shangguan Xi the first to disbelieve, "You’re boasting quite a bit, aren’t you afraid of blowing yourself up with lies?"