Players, Please Board the Train

Player 18’s expression didn’t change. He raised his hand and chose the black ball first.

The countdown hadn’t arrived yet, and Number 95 was still pleading endlessly. The key to this round was who got randomly selected. The only one with the power to influence the outcome was Player 18 on the opposite side.

But no matter whether he kowtowed with tears or wailed and begged, Player 18 said not a single word. Finally, at the Host’s prompting, he had no choice but to crawl over and choose the black ball.

Immediately after, the projection balls on both sides began flashing in turn. Five seconds later, they stopped on the black ball on Number 95’s side!

”Congratulations, Guest Number 95, you’ve obtained the black ball task!”

The glass door behind Number 95 and the peach-heart octopus glass tank on the opposite side opened simultaneously. The moment seawater rushed in, it was already too late for Number 95 to dig out the diving gear from his backpack. He was slammed against the large screen in the center, and without any suspense, was covered by the peach-heart octopus, which was the size of a grown man. A few seconds later, blood spilled out, and the man lost all vitality. When the peach-heart octopus dragged him out, there was a peach-heart-shaped hole at the position of his heart, his heart had already been gouged out.

The large screen returned to the Plaza. Player 18 was completely unharmed, but bloodstains still remained on the ground on the other side.

”So cold-blooded!” someone whispered.

But most people kept silent. What could they do? Looking at the ground of the Plaza, they knew how hard those glass walls were to break. Players were locked in a narrow, elongated space with nowhere to hide. If they couldn’t kill the piranhas within a short time, wouldn’t they die all the same?

Player 18, however, smiled and said, ”Players are a bit stronger than ordinary people, but that doesn’t mean players have to bear risks on behalf of others, does it? The players here were all forced to come, while you ordinary people came willingly to risk your lives for the sake of settling in Sea World, to pursue a better life. And now you want to shift all the risk onto others?”

His words were harsh, but there was no way to refute them. When these people had come, how could they have known it would be this dangerous here?

Next came two more groups. Both were players. The first group randomly drew the white ball, and that player killed the piranhas and returned safely. The second group chose to jointly complete the yellow ball task. As a result, both sides’ activity areas shrank simultaneously. However, the large screen in the center was not withdrawn, so each of them killed a man-eating shark.

Although they survived successfully, no one felt relaxed.

Judging by this show’s meaning, it wanted everyone to kill until the very end. This round had no result, and the next round’s difficulty would increase further. There were over seventy people in total. Never mind another round, even two more rounds would be fine. The real problem was their physical exhaustion and item consumption.

”And now it’s our Guest Number 313’s turn again!” The Host picked out Xu Huo’s number and said cheerfully, ”So let’s see, how many people are willing to become his teammate?”

When Xu Huo stood before the large screen, almost all the non-players voluntarily chose to team up with him. They even shoved each other, fighting over the spot.

”Brother Yu, pick me!” someone shouted at him. ”This time you help me, next time I’ll help you. I’m an upright person, I absolutely won’t go back on my word!”

”Bullshit! The person you got killed last round still hasn’t closed his eyes!” Another person pushed him aside. ”I swear on my mother’s name, I’ll do the next task!”

Not just non-players, even some players were tempted.

This was of course not because Xu Huo’s character was so trustworthy, but because his ability was obvious to all, and he also had the ”glorious achievement” of poisoning twelve piranhas to death. When he did a task, no matter what level it was, or how many fish there were, there was no risk. Since he had no risk, he naturally wouldn’t make things difficult for others.

”So many people want to develop a friendship with Guest Number 313, truly enviable. Guest Number 313, please select one of them as soon as possible,” the Host urged.

”During the previous rounds of tasks, I was injured. Both my items and potions have been consumed,” Xu Huo only said at this moment. ”I want to find a friend who can share the risk with me.”

What he meant was that he couldn’t guarantee one hundred percent safety, so he wouldn’t choose the white ball, but instead wanted a partner to do the yellow ball task together.

At this point, his performance from the earlier rounds came into play. Even with him saying it outright, most people were still equally willing.

Of course, among them there was no shortage of those with petty calculations. There were also several players who, after hearing his request, instead voluntarily wanted to cooperate. Among them, a Burly Man said bluntly, ”If I let you choose the white ball, it’d look like I’m taking advantage of you. I, Old Zhou, am not that thick-skinned. Sharing hardships together is what makes a real man!”

Another female player also said, ”My losses aren’t small. Consider it me hitching a ride on your coattails.”

Among those who thought he would choose the white ball and not step forward, but when he proposed choosing the yellow ball, wanted to team up, those three players were slightly more sincere than the other non-players.

”And there’s me too, Old Yu.” Shajia waved with a smile. He and You Si had no objections.

”Next round,” Xu Huo said with a smile. His gaze fell on Xiaoxiao, who had been pushed to the outside. ”I need a friend.”

The girl was in poor spirits. Being suddenly called out surprised her somewhat, but she quickly understood what this meant. She wiped her tears and walked over without hesitation, saying, ”On the bus, you were the first person to care about me. Thank you.”

An ordinary person with no ability to resist, willing to take this risk with a player, meant she was willing to sacrifice her life for this person. Perhaps this was just a good deed she did casually after losing her will to survive, but in the eyes of others, it represented that she had offered friendship, and it was Xu Huo’s chance to clear the dungeon!

A wind rose out of nowhere in the Plaza. Zhuang Mengtian, Gan Yi, and also Player 18 and Player 27, approached the large screen from different directions. Their target was Xiaoxiao!

”Shameless!” You Si spat out the grass stalk in his mouth and immediately stepped forward to intercept.

”I’ll block 18, you block 27!” Shajia, following right behind, said.

The two quickly split apart, but even if they could intercept the people, it would still be hard to block the power of their items, not to mention there were also Zhuang Mengtian and Gan Yi!

Their speeds were all fast. Before some players could even react, all six of them had already closed in on Xiaoxiao!

With the players’ speed, Xiaoxiao, as the target, felt nothing at all. Only a corner of her vision caught that someone had suddenly appeared beside her, and she abruptly turned her head, just in time to see Xu Huo standing two meters in front of her!

At this moment, Xu Huo had already borrowed the power of space to make a round trip across the Plaza. He first kicked Gan Yi away, then returned to the large screen and used an air barrier to block the items of Number 18 and Number 27. At the same time as he released the Mental World, he flung out ”Extreme Fatigue,” ”Progress Bar Disappearance,” ”Standardized Weightlessness,” and ”Murmuring Sphere” all at once, first slowing down the speed of Zhuang Mengtian and the others. Taking advantage of the brief moment when they were suspended, he drew ”Eye of the Dead,” first severing one of Zhuang Mengtian’s hands, then used ”Mobile Metal” to block the two hidden weapons that Number 18 had sent around Shajia. With a movement of his feet, a spiraling staircase appeared out of thin air, lifting him and Xiaoxiao upward!