Players, Please Board the Train

“They’re a suicide squad from Country Y, so it makes sense they’re not afraid of death. I’m just wondering if you’re afraid of pain.” Xu Huo lifted a finger, and the mutant-looking man’s other hand was also severed.

The pain made him scream, and he started cursing Xu Huo’s entire family without holding back.

Xu Huo let him shout. He raised his hand several more times, not only cutting off his feet but also opening several non-lethal, bloody wounds on his body.

In the blink of an eye, the mutant-looking man had become a bloodied mess, his face pale, covered in cold sweat as he knelt on the ground. He didn’t even realize he had been moved to a different place until the light around him dimmed.

Looking around, he exclaimed in shock, “Is this a basement? Wasn’t it just...”

Before he could finish, his head was forced back again. A faint glimmer of light appeared in the dimness, and dangling under it was a tilted bucket of water. A single drop fell precisely between his eyebrows.

His no-longer-bleeding hands and feet were tied to a chair. A few seconds later, the mutant-looking man’s entire body trembled with terror.

Xu Huo stood in front of him, his expression cold and ruthless. “I’m a peace-loving person. I don’t really like bloody methods. I wouldn’t traffic people, nor would I carve out your organs. Doesn’t that make you feel a little relieved?”

The mutant-looking man’s body shook more and more violently. As time passed, the whites of his eyes became bloodshot, his eyeballs bulging as he stared fixedly at the drop of water teetering on the bucket’s edge. Then, unable to control himself, he screamed, “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Just give me a quick death!”

Thirty seconds later, Xu Huo walked out of a bakery next to the street where the car had exploded, holding an address.According to the mutant-looking man, this was the hideout of several players from Country Y, and that was where the kidnapped Tongtong was being held.

Last night, Country Y’s operation had targeted not just the Special Defense Department but also him. Among the hidden players was one who could use a “positional transfer” characteristic, allowing him to teleport seamlessly between two completely unrelated locations without anyone noticing. He just needed to mark a person, and that person would have to stay in a dark place at the destination for a while.

They had used this method to infiltrate the special prison and the Special Defense Department headquarters, causing trouble in both places to kick off the Chaos, which then led to the main event of the black rain invasion.

These were all overt attacks. Under the premise of not finding the antidote fungus at the Special Defense Department, they activated their second backup plan: obtaining the antidote fungus through Xu Huo.

Finding Xu Huo wasn’t easy. They didn’t have enough manpower, and after the Chaos began, multiple “Xu Huos” appeared near the headquarters. Direct capture was impossible, so they settled for taking his relatives instead.

They had been tracking Ms. Fang, Xu Huo’s mother, for a while without success. Finally, last night, they got through a security guard to enter the safe area where Xu Huo’s father’s family was, successfully kidnapping his younger half-brother, Tongtong, born of his stepmother.

The truth of this still needed verification. The safe area’s phone was unreachable, so he called Team Leader Wu directly, getting straight to the point: “Has Tongtong been kidnapped?”

Team Leader Wu had just arrived at the Wenshan reservoir and was in high spirits organizing the transport of water. When he suddenly heard this, his expression immediately darkened. He walked to a quieter spot and chose his words carefully, saying, “We weren’t trying to keep this from you intentionally. Our people have already gone to investigate, and we’ve found some leads. We’ll be able to launch a rescue soon.”

Xu Huo’s tone lost its previous friendliness. “The Special Defense Department isn’t being straightforward with me. I thought our relationship was still friendly, but it seems the Special Defense Department doesn’t see it that way.”

“Xu Huo, don’t do anything rash,” Team Leader Wu said seriously. “Can you search the entire Capital City alone? They’re coming after you. If you go, won’t you be playing right into their hands?”

“Where have you locked down?” Xu Huo had no mood to discuss risk factors with him.

Team Leader Wu sighed helplessly and gave two addresses, then added, “The enemy already knows their location has been exposed, but they’re dragging their feet. I’m afraid they’re waiting for you, Xu Huo. You have to understand: as long as you don’t show up, Tongtong will always be safe.”

Xu Huo hung up the phone and ignored the call that immediately followed. Seeing that Team Leader Wu kept calling relentlessly, he simply tossed his phone into the luggage compartment, grabbed another phone, and sent messages to Gu Yu and Nie Xuan separately, telling Nie Xuan to arrange for someone to pick them up.

Team Leader Wu had given two addresses, one of which matched what the mutant-looking man had said.

Both locations were most likely traps, and the mutant-looking man’s appearance was also designed to lure him in.

“They picked the place and are waiting for me to come. How could I not go?” His gaze turned cold and heavy. He had the Painting Woman attach herself to his clothes, then dashed at full speed toward the address on the note.

At a hundred meters per second, this speed was enough to let him cross the Blockade Perimeter in a very short time.

Outside the Blockade Perimeter, armored vehicles equipped with electric nets were advancing inward. Mutants had been lingering ahead, but after repeatedly climbing the nets and being electrocuted, they had learned their lesson and stopped trying to scale them. Instead, they clawed at the vehicles or wandered in front of them, waiting for an opportunity.

When Xu Huo arrived, Dai Wenqian and other players, who were in charge of replacing the electric nets, were blocking Mutants behind a section of net that had lost power. Suddenly, they saw a shadow racing toward them from a distance at breakneck speed. Before they could even make out his face through the net, they saw him leap cleanly over the ten-meter-high electric fence and land on an armored vehicle with a loud thud.

Dai Wenqian and two quick-reacting players pulled out items simultaneously. But the person on the vehicle turned his head at that moment, glaring at them with murderous intent!

When their eyes met, Dai Wenqian and the others were stunned with shock, involuntarily freezing in their actions. Only when Xu Huo set off again did they snap out of it, watching his figure shrink into a speck in the distance.

“Xu Huo!” Dai Wenqian ground his teeth as he spat out the name.

“So that’s Xu Huo. He really lives up to his reputation,” another player said, rubbing his arms. “I’ve got goosebumps. Judging by his posture, is he rushing off to kill someone?”

Dai Wenqian’s expression was mixed with disappointment. Whether he was going to kill someone or not, he didn’t know, but it seemed he had no intention of going after Tang Guangbo anymore.

What a shame.

Never mind what Dai Wenqian thought of the encounter; Xu Huo changed his face midway and soon arrived at the building surrounded by players from the Special Defense Department.

The Special Defense Department had already cleared the area. Armored vehicles and lethal weapons were all laid out. The tactical team and players were discussing how to breach the building, because the enemy seemed to have sealed all the building’s entrances with some special item, preventing even players from getting in.

Without knowing Tongtong’s exact location, they couldn’t force a breach.

Xu Huo summoned the Painting Woman.

“Tongtong should be on the ninth floor. That floor is a large-scale real-life escape room, with lots of sealed small rooms. Find a way in, locate Tongtong, and protect him. Keep him safe as your priority. If anyone gets in your way, don’t hold back—kill them all,” Xu Huo said.

The Painting Woman nodded, then turned into a piece of paper and flew upward, slipping smoothly through a high-floor window into the building.