Players, Please Board the Train

Chapter 497: Weak vs Strong

Xu Huo never expected the Mimicry Doll would even spit at the black wristband player. Of course, the black wristband player himself didn't expect it either. After a rapid succession of shock, bewilderment, disgust, and anger flashed across his face, he directly unleashed "Raindrop Pierces Stone" at the Mimicry Doll.

The Mimicry Doll's clothes were shredded by the torrential rain, and its body began to deform and shrink, seemingly dying rapidly under the storm's assault. However, the black wristband player wasn't done with it. He threw out another balloon, continuing to control the doll while subjecting it to another downpour.

The distance was relatively close. Although the camera feed was blurry, Xu Huo could just barely make out that the balloon was blown out from a ring on the black wristband player's middle finger. That was likely an item.

The balloon item could make people levitate, but the suspension time was very short, which was why the black wristband player used it multiple times.

"Raindrop Pierces Stone" was likely his characteristic, and a simple estimate put its duration at at least over twenty seconds.

Furthermore, he had another move for controlling objects. It was hard to tell if that was a characteristic or an item.

It could also be a Super Evolution beyond those two categories.

Super Evolution had two major directions: one was controlling oneself, and the other was controlling objects. Mental evolution probably belonged to the less conspicuous category of the former, as it was difficult to apply in actual combat. Controlling objects, however, was clearly different, with lethality skyrocketing.

If the black wristband player belonged to the latter category, then killing him would be difficult.

Super Evolution didn't have particularly obvious restrictions; it only depended on the strength of the Evolver. Unlike characteristics or items, which had usage limits, time constraints, and other conditions during activation. Assuming it was a Super Evolution, just by using object control to kill, he could eliminate most of the white wristband players.He used the balloon three times in a row before the "Raindrop Pierces Stone" characteristic finally ended. Seeing the battered and tattered Mimicry Doll could actually recover, an expression of disbelief surfaced on the black wristband player's face, but it only lasted for a very brief moment. The next second, he blew out another balloon while simultaneously drawing a brand-new energy gun with his right hand!

Xu Huo had witnessed the power of energy guns. A characteristic might not be able to destroy a micro-camera, but this gun absolutely could. So, he immediately controlled another micro-camera to fly over and crash into the balloon!

That balloon was unexpectedly fragile. Just a touch from the micro-camera caused it to burst, releasing a puff of gas. The next second, the black wristband player automatically levitated one meter off the ground.

Now free from its restraints, the Mimicry Doll impersonating Xu Huo naturally chose to charge forward again to continue drawing aggro. However, before it could get close, a ray shot out from the black wristband player's right index finger. He simply drew a line on the ground, and the leg the Mimicry Doll had stepped forward with was severed!

Due to the close proximity, Xu Huo saw it clearly. Although that ray only drew a seemingly inconsequential line on the ground, it turned at least three square meters of air into a cutting plane. Anything crossing that line was directly cut. If the Mimicry Doll had run fast enough just now, its body might have been split in two.

The Mimicry Doll, having lost a leg, fell wounded. However, it was quite tenacious. It picked up its severed leg, stuck it back on, stood up, and could still run.

The black wristband player landed, belatedly realizing that the "Xu Huo" before him wasn't quite right. He glanced at the micro-camera crashed into the corner of the wall, gave a cold laugh, and instead of chasing the Mimicry Doll, turned back and walked towards the room where they had fought earlier.

The Mimicry Doll turned to look and even threw some things over to hit him, but unfortunately, this also failed to lure the black wristband player back.

With its mind empty and its mission target gone, the Mimicry Doll turned and slowly wandered off elsewhere.

After watching the live feed, Xu Huo put away his shelter, set fire to the seaweed outside the fourth-floor window, left behind traces of burning, and then climbed up to the sixth floor.

He waited until the black wristband player approached before moving the micro-cameras further away, relying on his own senses to determine the other's position.

The black wristband player reached the spot where he had set the fire, cleared away the seaweed, and descended back to the fourth floor.

Xu Huo, on the sixth floor, waited until he was sure the other had gone far away before emerging from the room, only to unexpectedly run into Serin, whom he had parted from not long ago. And now, Serin had several more players behind him.

"It's you!" one of the white wristband players exclaimed in surprise, looking at Xu Huo. "You're actually still alive!"

He was the one who had mocked Xu Huo in the restaurant during the day for being a freeloader who still cared about face.

Xu Huo ignored him, instead looking meaningfully at Serin. "You certainly have a lot of free time."

Serin held his religious book, speaking with grave seriousness. "God will not abandon any person, and of course, I will not either. As long as someone calls out to me for help, I will spare no effort to protect them."

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. This didn't seem quite normal either.

But whatever his motives were, it had nothing to do with him.

Serin was also an experienced player. He likely had an item to conceal his presence; otherwise, at such a close distance, Xu Huo shouldn't have been unable to sense his existence.

Nodding in acknowledgment, he prepared to leave.

"Why not stay together for mutual support?" Serin called out to stop him. "You... probably don't need my rescue, but if you encounter danger, you can still call out to me for help. I promise you, I will definitely respond to your call for help."

Xu Huo turned back and gave him a "surprised" look. "Those few people downstairs earlier are probably going to die with their eyes wide open."

Serin sighed. "My personal strength is always limited."

"I won't delay you any longer," Xu Huo said and left.

Serin didn't try to stop him. Instead, those few white wristband players sneered a few remarks, the gist being that Xu Huo, lacking any real ability, actually dared to refuse others' friendly help. Now he was just lucky not to have run into other wristband players, otherwise he'd be dead for sure.

Serin looked at them with eyes full of sympathy.

Xu Huo walked alone on the sixth floor, taking the opportunity to observe the fighting styles of a few red and black wristband players. The Mimicry Doll was really too good at drawing aggro. It didn't even know to avoid people; it even went to places where red wristband players were gathered to deliberately provoke them.

Probably anyone would want to kill it.

And it did indeed die many times. Two micro-cameras were lost. The subsequent footage Xu Huo could still see relied entirely on maintaining distance.

However, it wasn't all for nothing. He discovered that one red wristband player had a very interesting item.

After a moment's thought, he changed direction and began setting up "Counting Squares" not far from this group of people.

The "Counting Squares" item took the form of a map. It could only be successfully deployed within a covered area if no one was present within that area. The item holder could carry the item on their person. When deploying the squares, they similarly could not be within the square's range, but they could enter afterward and were not restricted by the item's rules.

He had used this item on the train returning to District 011. At that time, it was to avoid a fight, but later it only trapped one Mutant.

He chose a relatively open rest area. This place wouldn't have white wristband players hiding, and there was no one nearby, so the setup went smoothly. However, just as he was planning how to lure people over, a person appeared on the surveillance feed.