Chapter 2710: He Had a Little Scheme

Xu Huo was poisoned in Circus City, and by the time he emerged from the upright’s belly, he was already affected by the toxins, which decreased his responsiveness. However, after being seriously injured and unconscious upon entering the mobile zone, the toxicity was suppressed. Although he’s now vomiting toxin-laden liquid, this is a sign that his body is recovering.

It seems this zone’s environment is truly suitable for mutant species growth. Even without the Nüwa Stone, the King Fungus’s reproduction speed has increased.

Wiping away the bloodstains, he casually placed the handkerchief into the luggage compartment, then turned his gaze toward Pu Yu who walked over.

The other clearly had something to say, and Xu Huo got up and walked outside.

"Since I need your help, I should indeed share information with you." Returning to the prop area, Pu Yu said, "My purpose here is genuine. My aunt did indeed die here, but she came seeking underground ruins."

"This zone was once inhabited, long before evolution, it was very prosperous. But for some unknown reason, it suddenly perished. Overnight, the entire zone became covered by mutant plants, and by the time outsiders discovered it, it had already become the domain of mutant plants."

"My aunt was a scholar in the relevant field. She defied her family’s objections to come here on her own and ultimately died here."

"Before her actions, she revealed to a friend the approximate location she was headed. From her conversations with her friend, it appeared she successfully found the ruins. However, there was no further news afterward."

"There must have been a sudden incident, leaving her no chance to send word."

Yan Ping and others listened, only to find the place far more dangerous than imagined. Why else would the scientific expedition of the Rank-A Wormhole Point die here? Could it be they were inadequately prepared?

Furthermore, this zone hardly has any outside news; it absolutely couldn’t have been completely forgotten.

Either the successors investigating it all died, or the information here was sealed, known only to the Game Government.

No matter the case, it’s clearly beyond their limit.

Yan Ping and others went aside to deliberate, while Pu Yu looked at Xu Huo, "I wonder if you’re willing to accompany me."

"Friends should help each other," Xu Huo said, "Besides, I’m also curious about this zone, why it possesses such strong spiritual energy. Furthermore, even if I wanted to leave now, I couldn’t."

Pu Yu turned the water bottle in her hands, slowly saying, "Without tickets, no one can leave. Until tickets are usable again, moving together is safest."

Yan Ping and the others finished deliberating and proposed two plans.

One plan was to continue protecting Pu Yu until tickets were usable again, but Pu Yu needs to pay half the promised compensation upfront. If they withdraw halfway, they won’t ask for the remaining compensation, but if they safely escort Pu Yu to the destination, the remaining half must be paid in full.

The second plan was that they’d first collect half the compensation and escort Pu Yu and company to the destination. After entering the underground ruins, aside from the compensation, Pu Yu and company cannot interfere with their actions, meaning if there are unexpected gains, they’d get a share too.

Pu Yu’s not short on money, so naturally, there’s no objection. But speaking again, "This isn’t the first time you’ve increased the price along the way. A little money paid upfront is no problem. As for the underground ruins, if there really is anything good, one or two people can’t take it all; it’s common practice to share."

"But let me say beforehand, this is the last time."

Pu Yu has always been easygoing, which made Yan Ping and others overlook her background from a Rank-A Wormhole Point. With countless props and instruments at her disposal, if truly angered, she might have ways to leave without tickets, while others without tickets can only stare helplessly.

"Agreed!" Yan Ping said.

Pu Yu nodded, then turned to Xu Huo again, "If we truly find the underground ruins, I’ll need your help exploring. The energy here is chaotic; instruments underground might fail. Your Spirit Evolution is the strongest among us, with the widest observation range, and unlikely to attract mutant plants’ attention."

"No problem," Xu Huo agreed, and after resting a while, went over to Yan Jiayu’s side.

Yan Jiayu hadn’t awakened yet; he took out paper, using the characteristic "Home Field View".

Words quickly wrote themselves on the pristine pages, preceding details about the instance lacked anything for patching up, but upon reaching Circus City, characteristics supplemented overlooked details he saw, like the features of the Stilted Man and Swallowing Wall, and the abyss suddenly appearing outside the castle.

When it arrived at facing off with the Suitcase Man, the speed of word appearance slowed.

"...Knowing he wasn’t a match for the Super Player, Xu Huo’s first choice was to flee with his companions. Using the Super Prop’s Time Reversal, he tricked the Suitcase Man twice before luckily escaping the third time..."

"The reason why it was deemed lucky was because he felt the Suitcase Man had the ability to kill him before he fully entered the space channel, and his guess was correct. When the Superdimensional Space Power Silk appeared, all of the Suitcase Man’s attention was on it, not caring about the fate of this ant, and left a tracking characteristic on him. But the instability of the Water Rubik’s Cube and Superdimensional Space Power rendered the characteristic ineffective..."

"It’s a shame, despite evolving so many times, Xu Huo still didn’t recognize the black space opened by the Suitcase Man when he appeared and the castle’s exterior abyss as one and the same; although they appeared as actual spaces, the true essence capable of swallowing people and objects was a certain invisible substance within the black space, a substance never seen by Xu Huo..."

"The combination of the Inversion Ring, Three Seconds of a Lifetime, and a strand of Superdimensional Space Power birthed the miracle of a Rank-B Player confronting and successfully escaping a Super Player, but this miracle somewhat muddled Xu Huo’s thinking; he overlooked the traces left on the Black Blade abandoned in Zone 039. A Super Player is entirely capable of tracking those traces back to where he had been, thereby deducing his long-term stay in that zone..."

"...Inadvertently, the Puppet Wall imparted a significant psychological shadow on Xu Huo; perhaps one day he’ll also become part of the Puppet Wall..."

Upon reading this, Xu Huo let out a low chuckle.

The text jumped to the mobile zone.

"...The suitable environment enabled King Fungus to grow joyfully, gradually suppressing Xu Huo’s internal toxins; the area seemed to share an aura akin to the Nüwa Stone..."

"Of course, a similar aura lingered obscurely on Pu Yu, the player from the Rank-A Wormhole Point, which slightly intrigued Xu Huo, perhaps thinking of recovering some losses from this person or this zone..."

"But he underestimated the two players accompanying Pu Yu, their deliberately restrained skills implying their strength; they are top-tier Rank-A Players."