Free Web NovelChapter 2488: Chapter 2488
At the very moment that roar fell, the female Player’s body suddenly blew apart from the inside. Her limbs floated down in ways that defied logic, like a cracked-open Easter egg, and the remaining pieces turned into strips of pink ribbons—no blood, no terrifying mangled limbs, a person just vanished like a toy!
Everyone present was stunned, but before they could recover, the Wan Family member closest to the female Player suddenly stood up straight and turned around. Stuck to his body were several pink paper slips.
"Back off!" The Long-haired Player barked an order to his teammates, then threw up several Defensive Barriers in succession, separately shielding himself and the controlled Player, hoping to cut off the enemy’s Prop effect this way...
Two seconds later, that Player was likewise shot through the heart with a single arrow and then exploded without the slightest chance to resist!
Because the Defensive Barrier was in the way, the Long-haired Player didn’t touch those pink slips, but seeing his teammate vanish before his eyes in such a brutal yet ridiculous way, how could he possibly stay calm? Forcing his fury down, he quickly locked onto the two people who’d come along with the female Player and drew a circle in the air in front of him: "Beast Fighting Platform!"
The invisible circle he traced mid-air turned into a force that covered several thousand meters around them. The two Players he’d locked onto, along with the Long-haired Player himself, were instantly pulled up into the city’s sky. A giant cage faintly appeared there, forcibly trapping the two inside; it seemed impossible for anyone to leave without a decisive outcome.
This didn’t mean the crisis was over. The remaining two Wan Family members immediately escorted the old lady out of the city. Since the Teleportation Prop was restricted, they could only run through the city as fast as possible.
Within a few seconds, several Players switched from lurking in the dark to openly tracking them down.
One Wan Family member used a flying Prop to send his companion ahead. "You go, I’ll buy you some time!"
Xu Huo and Bubble Bean, together with the old lady, were wrapped in the power of a Prop and shot forward at high speed, but they hadn’t gotten far when they slammed straight into an invisible wall. Of the Players who had been tracking them, only two stayed behind to deal with the other Wan Family member; the rest all came this way.
"Who are you people? What do you want?" Xu Huo shielded the old lady and said sharply, "Killing people recklessly inside the city—aren’t you afraid the local government will step in?!"
Yet none of them even twitched an eyelid. One of them snapped his fingers at them. "Fiery Asphyxia!"
Even though they’d been on guard, Xu Huo and the others still felt the air rushing into their noses hit their brains like chili peppers. Even if they immediately held their breath, that sensation made their minds crash for a split second. If it did that to Players, there was no need to mention the old lady, who was a normal person.
As violent coughing sounds came from behind them, two trackers appeared ghostlike at their flanks. Their bodies were covered by a thick layer of Defensive Barriers; it was clear that as long as those defenses weren’t breached, ordinary Props would have a hard time taking effect.
Their target was the old lady. The Wan Family member and Bubble Bean flanking her immediately layered several Defensive Barriers on top of each other, but the glove worn by one tracker was extremely special—just touching it was enough to instantly shatter a Defensive Barrier formed by a Rank A Prop. As a result, the two didn’t gain much time. Bubble Bean was quickly relocated by another Player’s Prop, and another tracker stepped in to fill the gap.
Now the space to the old lady’s left was wide open, the Wan Family member on her right was tied down, and Xu Huo in front was about to face the attacks of two Players—the trackers’ mission seemed about to be completed within just a few seconds!
(Modify later)
*
As for the old lady, she also needed some disguise. It’s hard for a normal person to pass as a Player, and such a disguise would be easy to expose, so the Wan Family members altered her appearance into that of a slightly younger woman, still someone who traded in Cat Whisker Fruit.
Xu Huo only informed Bubble Bean of this, since Bubble Bean had known him longer, and would be able to see through the Wan Family pair’s identities quickly once they set out together.
Bubble Bean came over from the next room. Seeing the changed lineup, his expression tightened. "Is there something I don’t know about?"
"Too lazy to explain the details," Xu Huo said. "You just need to know this trip comes with a lot of trouble. Hurry up and disguise yourself as a local."
Bubble Bean moved fast; in two or three minutes, from facial features to clothing, he’d turned into a thoroughbred native of this district.
The disguised Wan Family pair stayed behind, while Xu Huo’s group of three and the five new Long-haired Player’s group took the old lady and set off first.
To test whether they would still be tracked after changing personnel, they decided to use a flyer as transportation. Before departure, the Long-haired Player used a Prop to check whether they carried any tracking marks, and then confirmed again with a removal Prop.
With everyone wearing new faces, and Ling Ling and the others still staying at the hotel, it really seemed like no one was watching them anymore, and their next stop was completely safe.
This stretch of uneventful travel made the old lady relax a bit, but she still refused to reveal her next destination, even more unwilling to say who she was looking for. Her biggest concession was to say she’d tell them when they were almost there.
Three hours later, they safely arrived at the next stop. The old lady believed they’d already shaken off surveillance and insisted on leading the way herself.
"How about this," the Long-haired Player said. "Why don’t you give us a rough area? I’ll send people in advance, and if we find anything unusual, we’ll think up another solution."
There was no way the old lady would agree. The Long-haired Player could only continue to persuade her. "This is for your own safety. If the person you’re looking for is also under surveillance, once we show up a second time, it’ll be very hard to shake pursuit with disguise alone."
Same trick, people don’t fall for it twice.
The old lady hesitated for quite a while before finally naming a block.
The Long-haired Player sent a man and a woman ahead, giving them prior instructions: "You don’t need to do anything else. Just see whether the number and Level of Players around are out of the ordinary."
The two vanished from sight shortly after, and the rest continued forward under the old lady’s guidance.
"Can we speed it up?" Bubble Bean said. "At this rate we’ll get there in the year of the monkey. Ma’am, if you won’t give us an exact address, can we at least use some Props and move street by street?"
"What’s the rush?" the old lady said steadily. "Didn’t someone already go scout ahead?"
Xu Huo gave her a look, patted the Girl in the painting on the shoulder, and silently signaled her to stay in the vicinity and not go any farther.
The Girl in the painting slipped quietly out from the end of the group. When they were about to enter the area the old lady had indicated, the woman from the pair who’d left earlier came back alone.
Their teammates saw her and were about to go up to her when the Long-haired Player suddenly ordered them to stop. The next second, an invisible force pierced through the female Player’s heart. The female Player, whose face had remained calm, seemed to be jolted awake by the pain; tears welled in her eyes as she shouted, "Don’t come any closer!"
