Free Web NovelChapter 2489: Chapter 2489: Seizing Control
"Do you know what you’re doing?" The players who had been silently attacking did not launch a second wave of attacks immediately, but instead pointed at the old lady and asked Xu Huo, "Do you know what she’s doing?"
"Stop talking in riddles," Xu Huo said. "If the old lady has committed any wrongdoing, you can follow the legal procedures. You neither dare to go through the legal procedures nor can you provide a legitimate reason, and yet you hope such vague statements will make us lower our weapons?"
"You’ve been in the game for so long, you shouldn’t be that naive."
Of course, they didn’t expect to "subdue" them with words. In that brief moment, the pink paper strips that had appeared earlier suddenly swept in from all directions!
They had run over from the bustling downtown area. Due to the player conflict, the enforcement robots had already notified surrounding citizens to return home or find shelter. So, where they were fighting, ordinary people had already entered buildings, with doors and windows closed and the protective barrier devices triggered. Therefore, although these papers were numerous, they wouldn’t spread to them.
And once ordinary people were isolated, dealing with Xu Huo and the others was no longer restricted; hence, when the papers appeared, those players also chose to retreat.
The power of the pink paper strips was something Xu Huo and the others had witnessed before. One of the Wan Family members who had been delaying previously had already turned into a pile of paper strips halfway through. Xu Huo, Bubble Bean, the old lady, and the remaining Wan Family members were surrounded, with the pink paper flying fiercely around them and continuously attacking the defensive barrier.
Although that thing hadn’t managed to break through the defense for now, it had completely trapped Xu Huo and the others. If they released the barrier and went out, they couldn’t predict how the paper might stick to them!
"This is bad. How do we get out of this?" Bubble Bean asked with deep apprehension. "These paper strips don’t seem capable of destroying the defensive barrier, but it doesn’t mean they can’t. If it’s a trap and they attack suddenly when we step out or use a smaller defensive barrier, we might not know how we died!"
Indeed, they were using a defensive barrier with a relatively large coverage area, blocking the paper strips while maintaining a distance from them.
"There’s one more thing I don’t understand, why do people turn into paper strips? Are they really dead?"
"They should be dead," Xu Huo replied. When the two players disappeared earlier, he clearly felt they were sucked away by spatial power, possibly due to a special effect brought by a prop. However, it was evident that they both exploded from within, so the likelihood of survival was very small.
He observed the old lady’s state. The tracker had intentionally avoided her when making the move earlier, so she was only a bit startled. Now, with the papers flying around, the tracker hadn’t come close, so she was safe until the defensive barrier was breached.
Xu Huo took out the communicator and tried to contact the Long-haired Player, but he didn’t answer.
"Still not done?"
The Long-haired Player’s prop was obviously a kind of restrictive prop, and it wouldn’t lose its effect without a clear victory or defeat. However, such props couldn’t leave the game, so in an emergency, they could use tickets to escape. Now that he hadn’t returned, and there was no reinforcement from the tracker team, it was clear both sides were still engaged in battle.
Putting down the communicator, he waved his hand to the distance, then pointed at the paper strips outside.
In a second, the paper strips flying around the two defensive barriers swiftly converged, forming a flow and rushing toward where a few trackers stood!
The group didn’t expect this change. After the initial shock, they quickly opened their defensive barriers. However, unlike the previously harmless paper strips, this pink whirlwind included the Girl in the Painting’s papers and Xu Huo’s long-range attack, and even though they wisely pulled back and distributed their targets, two of their defensive barriers were still breached.
One of them was unlucky, getting a pink paper strip stuck on his back before he could activate the barrier a second time, and he promptly turned into a pile of paper strips.
Another was smarter, directly hiding in the station.
The control over those deadly paper strips had already been stolen. The trackers had no choice but to retreat. Once they left, the paper strips burned up completely, turning into ashes in an instant.
The crisis was temporarily resolved.
Xu Huo quickly came to the old lady’s side and took the group out of the city.
The Long-haired Player joined halfway through, and with four people lost, they could only flee outward.
"The Enforcement Department hasn’t appeared for so long; either they’ve condoned their murderous behavior, or they got wind of this early on and don’t want to get involved," explained the Long-haired Player quickly. "If it’s the former, we’re likely on the wanted list and will be hunted by officials."
"What if it’s the latter?" Bubble Bean asked.
"We’d still be hunted, but from overt to covert," the Long-haired Player said. "However, the latter provides some room for maneuver."
"The people who surrounded us today should be a private enforcement group kept by politicians. Though not in the open, they’re tacitly understood by the District Government. Unlike the players funded by big families, these Player Organizations sponsored by politicians participate in politics, influencing district government appointments."
"We’ve been dragged into a political struggle."
After speaking, he looked at the Old Lady Gui, "Old lady, because of your affair, so many of our people have died. It’s obvious you can’t hand over the goods personally to the contact. As agreed, I can continue to help, but the Wan Family will certainly hold you accountable afterward!"
The old lady’s expression was wooden. "I’m all alone. What difference does it make if you kill me? I’m not afraid of death."
"Did her grandson die?" Xu Huo quickly realized the old lady might not know the details of the whole affair and was merely helping out someone.
"Did you investigate her grandson before coming?"
"Not much," the Long-haired Player said. "Died of a typical genetic disease, belonging to a type of gene mutation, nothing unusual."
"He was killed!" the old lady shouted agitatedly. "He looked at me once before he fled back to die. He wasn’t sick, yet within a few days, I received news of his death! He was silenced by them!"
The Long-haired Player frowned. He was already contacting the Wan family to clear up the old lady’s grandson’s interpersonal relations.
"The direction you indicated earlier was probably wrong," Xu Huo said again. "Who are you really trying to find?"
The old lady fell silent again.
"Old crone, are you going to talk or not!" Bubble Bean walked over and slapped her. "You don’t even know whether your grandson was a good person or not. I see even the local government tacitly allowed those people to act. Nine out of ten, he wasn’t a decent person. I don’t want to lose my life for you!"
Xu Huo did not intervene. Of the six Wan Family members who came, only two remained now, and the other one, full of resentment, turned a blind eye. The Long-haired Player, still calm, stepped in to stop Bubble Bean from pulling the old lady and said, "Speak, if you still want to get the goods delivered."
