Free Web NovelChapter 2401: Chapter 2401: Seven Doors and Windows
The players were continuously repositioned with the moving rooms and corridors. Despite their efforts to stay together or maintain balance, they ultimately failed amidst dozens, if not hundreds, of spins. The players were forced to disperse, including the Ma Family Elder and the young men he had with him.
As for Xu Huo’s side, the Girl in the painting jumped onto his back to avoid being thrown off. As the room turned over, she seemed to have noticed something, constantly patting his shoulder to urge him to jump into a certain moving space.
Xu Huo looked towards the location multiple times, but all he saw were rapidly shifting floors and walls. The excessive speed of change and the intricate overlapping patterns exceeded the human eye’s limits, making prolonged observation impossible.
"Let’s try to get in." With the Girl in the painting on his back, he leaped forward with force, only to collide directly with the Gemstone Earring Man, who suddenly appeared mid-way.
Both sides couldn’t avoid each other, but the collision activated the passive defense device on the Gemstone Earring Man, causing a shield to suddenly spring out and knock Xu Huo several meters away. Limited by the space, Xu Huo collided with a fast-approaching wall after being pushed back a few meters. He noticed a small recess appearing after a nearby window moved and grabbed onto it, using the momentum to jump to the position the Girl in the painting indicated. That spot formed a square entrance by the corridor, doors, and windows, layered like the mouth of a deep well.
Just as he jumped in, the Gemstone Earring Man followed. He turned off the device on him and barely caught the edge of the well’s mouth, but was heavily hit by a wall moving from the side. The man’s body and arm device got wedged in the well’s entrance. Luckily, the wall didn’t go all the way through but changed direction, flipping past his feet, preventing the risk of losing an arm.
Xu Huo turned back to pull him up, and after lifting him, the three of them slid deep into the well.
About ten seconds later, the spatial change suddenly stopped, and they found themselves in a room—more precisely, in several rooms.
The spot where they landed seemed to be a fusion of multiple spaces. The gaps on the floor appeared stable, but in reality, they were flowing like quicksand along the seams. However, the ground didn’t feel particularly fluid. Several gaps divided this area into segments, with doors or windows across each sector. These doors and windows were still slowly flowing at the joints with the walls, their actual destination unknown.
"Incredible." Gemstone Earring Man remarked after standing up from observing the gaps on the floor, "The spatial artifact can achieve such precision. It’s probably more sophisticated than a device; otherwise, there wouldn’t be any chaos with such rapid spatial changes."
"Is the castle itself a spatial artifact?" Xu Huo asked, "Since it’s an artifact, you probably can’t take it away easily."
The Gemstone Earring Man smiled, "Falling in together is fate, so I won’t hide it from you. My companions and I aren’t here for the artifact. If an artifact belongs to the Fish Banquet, no ordinary person can take it. But naturally-born artifacts like this often come with similar ones."
"You can see how quickly the space changes here, indicating a considerable amount of spatial energy accumulation. Naturally-born artifacts are serendipitous but also inevitable. If one such artifact can appear, a second one could too."
Xu Huo understood, "As you said, this place is full of space. Even if there are other spatial artifacts, they would be hard to find."
"That’s why we’re trying our luck." The Gemstone Earring Man said, "Finding one is good, not finding one is fine too."
"To us, we’ve seen all kinds of high-level props and devices. Even super props we often play with, so it doesn’t matter much."
He proudly spoke of his family’s background, subtly telling Xu Huo that it wasn’t necessary to target him or kill over a single prop.
Xu Huo glanced at him with a half-smile, then looked at the surrounding doors and windows, "There are seven in total, seven entrances. I estimate the likelihood of any hiding props is low, and carelessness might cost you your life. Do you have any tools for elimination testing?"
The Gemstone Earring Man nodded slightly, taking out a detector. Its appearance was similar to the one Shi Sanjiu took out in the Water Rubik’s Cube instance. The flowing metal could detect spatial power levels, but only roughly.
The castle was filled with chaotic spatial power, and without clear comparison, it was impossible to determine which door or window was more reliable.
"No more reliable methods?" Xu Huo waited a moment before saying, "The strength of spatial power doesn’t represent what’s behind doors. Can’t you directly open a space portal for a peek?"
The Gemstone Earring Man was somewhat irritated that his device was of no use, saying, "If I had known, I would have brought better equipment."
"Isn’t the game channel still open? There’s still time to ask your family." Xu Huo suggested.
The Gemstone Earring Man pretended not to hear him and jumped back to the previous issue, "Most cross-space instruments are consumable. Here, we don’t know how many spaces were partitioned, and they can’t be precisely positioned—using them would be wasteful."
"And can you guarantee a clear path out?" Xu Huo skeptically asked.
"No need to worry about that. We’ve already pinpointed the Fish Banquet’s location, and the device is pocket-sized. Even if the game channel closes, it won’t be an issue." The Gemstone Earring Man felt more assured, "Besides, this castle won’t stay in a state of displacement for long. Once it stabilizes, there’ll be time to get out."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow and said nothing more, circling around the doors and windows before returning to the center to start "Counting Soldiers and Generals." He finally selected a door embedded with large patches of various shades of green gemstones.
"Is it really that hasty?" The Gemstone Earring Man was surprised, "Shouldn’t we think it over carefully?"
"Unless I can see through space, thinking it over is pointless." Xu Huo shrugged, "Grab your teleportation prop. If there’s danger behind the door, just escape back to the Fish Banquet."
The Gemstone Earring Man’s expression stiffened, "The device is with Uncle Ma."
"Then what’s your use here?" The Girl in the painting, having stayed silent, took the opportunity to pose a soul-searching question.
The Gemstone Earring Man did not get annoyed even when being mocked by the Girl in the painting. Instead, he smiled, "When Uncle Ma comes looking for me, I’ll make sure to take you along."
The two present weren’t impressed by his assurance and proceeded to study the door.
The Girl in the painting listened closely at the door, tapped on the door panel, then gripped the doorknob with the demeanor of opening a safe, and twisted it forcefully: fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"Click!" The doorknob fell off completely!
