Players, Please Board the Train

”The hospital had an incident, so I left early,” Xu Huo explained briefly.

”We thought it was strange too,” Liu Jia said. ”As soon as we entered Flower City, the sky suddenly went completely dark. There was no dungeon prompt, and phone signals kept cutting in and out. Is this a new game mode?”

”It looks like the game space overlapped with our world,” Xu Huo replied. ”There are related papers on the Vanguard Players forum.”

”I read them,” Shen Xin added, ”experts in Capital City speculate that this kind of space is unstable and might disappear on its own.”

”But I heard many people went missing. Will those people return on their own?” Hu Wenhu asked.

Shen Xin shook her head. ”I don’t know.”

”What do we do now?” Zhou Ning looked at Xu Huo. ”Those players are coming for you. The best move is to leave Flower City, but the Special Defense Department will definitely engage them.”

Xu Huo nodded. ”Among the players who went to the hospital, several were wearing faceless masks painted with triangle symbols. Have you heard who they are?”

”They were mentioned earlier,” Liu Jia said. ”Dai Wenqian called them the Iron Triangle. They’re the ones out to kill you.”

”Brother Xu, why not use this chance to finish them off?” Hu Wenhu pinched his fingers. ”We’re in stealth while they’re exposed, and the Special Defense Department is helping. It would be easy to strike them from the shadows.”Xu Huo was thinking the same. The five of them headed back toward the hospital together.

When they were still some distance away, a burst of dense gunfire echoed from inside the hospital. Although it stopped quickly, it meant the Special Defense Department had already engaged the players.

They exchanged knowing looks, stayed hidden in the darkness, avoided the attention of all three factions, and silently approached the building.

Inside the hospital, both the triangle-masked players and the hooded-shirt group had broken through the Special Defense Department’s defenses and reached the inpatient wards. But finding one hidden person inside such a large building wasn’t easy, and time was limited, so both sides used a straightforward, efficient tactic: taking hostages.

Darkness is the best camouflage. Team Leader Wu, who was in charge of command, apparently hadn’t noticed anyone was missing, allowing the two hostages to be led off to the third and fourth floors respectively.

Several of the hooded-shirt players were on the third floor, several triangle-masked players were on the fourth. Both groups almost simultaneously cleared the special forces guarding the doors, but when they kicked in, they were greeted by a dozen gun muzzles pointed into the dark!

”Watch out!” The hooded woman shoved another player aside and tossed a flashbang or something similar ahead. The light flashed, and all the firearms in the room malfunctioned!

Just as the guns jammed, a Special Defense Department member produced a paper folded into a boat and threw it on the ground. The floor of the room immediately melted like muddy water.

A few hooded-shirt players turned to run, but the Special Defense Department personnel they had been holding had already escaped. With a knock on the doorframe, a web of iron wire covered in sharp spikes sprouted across the door!

One hooded-shirt player became trapped in the floor and couldn’t break free. The others jumped onto furniture in the room; though cabinets and the like were sinking too, they bought a few seconds. A tall, lean man seized the chance, crawled along the wall, and lunged at the paper-boat-wielding player!

Like a gecko he moved along the wall, dodging several attacks. Just as he was about to take down the paper-boat player, the opponent suddenly backed away. Two gloved Special Defense Department operatives clapped their wrists, and a stinging-smelling rope net launched open and caught him perfectly!

From the momentum, the player and the net tumbled onto the floor. Before he could get up, a Special Defense Department member produced a stun baton and jabbed it deep into his neck!

The unconscious player was quickly dragged away, freeing space in the room. Another player stepped forward and snapped his palms twice in the air. Chains with handcuffs materialized on the walls and cabinets, moving like living things toward the hooded-shirt players.

Those people reacted quickly and avoided the cuffs. Only one got his hands bound before he forcibly snapped the chain and escaped.

”Let’s go!” The hooded woman grabbed an axe and split the iron web on the door, charging out first. She didn’t expect Special Defense Department operatives outside. As soon as she stepped into the corridor she took three shots, went numb, and collapsed, then was dragged aside.

The Special Defense Department’s efficient measures made the remaining three hooded-shirt players hesitate. One produced a fire extinguisher, sprayed everyone inside, then forcefully smashed through a window to escape. But downstairs, more Special Defense Department personnel mysteriously appeared!

”Damn!” he swore, flinging three flying discs as he ran. He leaped to avoid incoming electrodes and sprinted out of the hospital.

His companions didn’t have his luck; none of them made it out.

Several hooded-shirt players were captured alive. After Team Leader Wu received the report, he ordered the remaining forces to head to the fourth floor, but then an earth-shattering explosion came from the fourth floor and several Special Defense Department members were blasted out of a window!

”Save them!” Team Leader Wu organized personnel and issued orders to the snipers. But no one expected the triangle-masked player who detonated the room not to flee. Instead he climbed out triumphantly, lifted his shirt to reveal a dense array of explosive devices obviously not belonging to Zone 014, and declared, ”That was just an appetizer. The new-style bombs on me can cover the entire hospital. If you don’t want to die, hand Xu Huo over!”

Bang! A sniper round blasted a hole in the grass beside him.

Team Leader Wu and the others turned pale, then ordered continuous sniper fire. But the five snipers fired over a dozen shots and every bullet curved at the last instant, unable to hit the target!

”I’ll give you three minutes to decide!” the triangle-masked player shouted, brandishing a detonator.

”Everyone evacuate the hospital!” Team Leader Song immediately shouted from the command room.

Special Defense Department members ambushing around the hospital flooded out, including three ambulances. They sped off in different directions.

The players outside the hospital followed. In no time, two of the ambulances were flipped by an unknown force, and the Special Defense Department personnel hidden inside were all thrown out.

”Using a decoy won’t work on these players!” Team Leader Wu and the others had already moved outside. Three minutes would be enough for the Special Defense Department to retreat, but Professor Lan and Xu Huo had vanished inside the hospital. Blowing up the hospital could affect them... Yet in less than three minutes, the decoy was seen through and couldn’t lure these players away!

While they were in a panic, the triangle-masked player shifted slightly to the right and then threw a smoke grenade onto the ground!