Chapter 183
Upon seeing the news, Xie Xubai felt as if he had been suddenly hooked into place by an invisible chain, and a certain image vaguely surfaced in his mind.
That scene must have been from a long time ago, like a fleeting gust of wind, faint and brief. Even with his photographic memory, he couldn't sketch out even the slightest blurry outline. Before he could even clench his fist, it slipped through his fingers.
Xie Xubai couldn't even be sure if it was some kind of interference deliberately caused by the cloaked man.
The next second, he caught a glimpse of three ghost infants rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly regained his composure, turned around, and used the force of Captain Xu pulling him away to bend over and dodge.
call--
The sharp claw slammed into the table, almost grazing Xie Xubai's temples. Thud! A grotesque, dented handprint was left on the red lacquered solid wood tabletop!
One player yelled, "What kind of strength do these little devils have? Is there hormones in their breast milk?!"
Captain Xu roared, "Forget about that, let's go! Find the two murdered couple first!"
Although there are no walls between the covered living rooms, each living room is filled with large furniture and obstacles everywhere.
With so many players gathered together, they are hindered by each other, making it difficult to act freely and avoid the attacks of the ghost infants. In such situations, the only option is to act in groups.
However, a large number of players is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for such a huge game map.
The quick-witted players had already scattered in all directions, running quite a distance.
At one point, they saw someone jump up, waving their arms and shouting at the top of their lungs, "Come here quickly!"
From the outside, the living room where the player was located looked no different from the rest of the place, but his expression was one of surprise, clearly indicating that he had made a significant discovery.
The problem is that Xie Xubai and his group are at least a kilometer away from him.
Xie Xubai was initially distracted by something and was momentarily dazed.
In just a short while, the road in the middle was occupied by hundreds of ghost infants, making it impossible to move an inch!
All the ghost infants revealed a hideous and grotesque appearance. Their tender faces showed no trace of innocence, only a sinister, dark ghostly aura. Their mouths were stretched open in ways far beyond reason, crimson and bloody, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.
They lay on their backs like geckos, emitting sharp, tiny cries that sounded like both crying and laughing.
"Wow, wow—!"
A chilling sensation instantly shot from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex, making one's scalp tingle.
Suddenly, several people surrounded Xie Xubai, protecting him in the middle.
It consisted of several members of the Peak Squad, as well as Brian and the [Gravity] player.
Without saying a word, Captain Xu swiftly affixed several B-grade talismans to Xie Xubai's body and then placed a palm-sized A-grade protective Buddha statue in the young man's palm, which could, to some extent, resist the entry of resentment into the body.
His protection of Xie Xubai wasn't for charity, but because he had a gut feeling that the young man would find a way to help everyone get through the challenge.
It's really not easy to encounter a highly intelligent person who won't go crazy in a challenging dungeon, so he's willing to temporarily put aside all his doubts and do everything he can to preserve the flame of hope.
The strange sea was surging like a tide. Captain Xu was prepared to fight desperately and solemnly instructed Xie Xubai: "Just run forward with your legs wide open. Don't worry about anything. We'll take you across."
Xie Xubai paused briefly, then turned to look at Captain Xu: "..."
For a long time, the dungeon mechanics have divided players and NPCs into two opposing sides. Whether they like it or not, one side will always become the victim and the other the perpetrator.
It is "those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts".
It's a matter of "either you die or I die".
Even if they were initially on the same side, compatriots, or comrades-in-arms, this kind of estrangement is difficult to eliminate in a short period of time.
Otherwise, Xie Xubai wouldn't have bothered to disguise himself as a player.
At this moment, seeing Captain Xu's resolute expression of trust, Xie Xubai couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion: "Let's go together."
Captain Xu solemnly refused: "No, with so many monsters, someone has to provide cover. Remember to hold onto the Buddha statue."
Xie Xubai's eyes flickered: "Captain Xu—"
As a recent graduate, he is prone to indecisiveness.
But then Captain Xu thought again that Yan Chuyi was clearly intelligent but was still only a B-level, and her personality was rather soft and naive. She probably hadn't received proper care until now and had survived several near-death experiences.
Captain Xu's heart softened. To avoid putting Xie Xubai on a burden, he earnestly reassured him, "Don't be moved. This is all for the sake of final victory. And don't worry, Dianfeng is a battle-hardened warrior. Dealing with these little monsters is no problem at all!"
Xie Xubai had something to say: "But..."
In a crisis, there's no time to hesitate. Captain Xu feigned a cold expression and snapped, "No buts!"
Xie Xubai: "No..."
Captain Xu: "No, no, no, what can we do? We have nothing. Now, do what you can right now—"
Not only Captain Xu, but other team members also urged, "Go, kid, we'll handle everything."
"Don't worry, no ghost can get within a meter of you!"
"rush!!"
"What I mean is, we can break through the encirclement together without any casualties!" It had been a long time since he had been treated like a fragile piece of glass, and Xie Xubai's usually calm face finally revealed a vivid and genuine helplessness. He tried to raise his voice to drown out the loud voices of the group, "Can you guys listen to me first!"
The group at the peak of their abilities suddenly froze: "...Ah!"
Brian was completely oblivious to what they were saying.
When Brian realized that the lightning he threw out would only pass through the bodies of the ghost infants without causing them any real harm, he immediately realized that they had probably encountered the evil spirits of the Middle Continent, the nemesis of elemental physical abilities, and his face suddenly turned very ugly.
But seeing Xie Xubai in danger, out of pity for his weak (physical) frame, he still stepped in to protect him.
Therefore, it was inevitable that my arm would be bitten by the ghost baby.
I expected blood to splatter everywhere, since the monster's teeth looked very sharp, but instead a burst of golden light emanated from the collar.
The ghost infants, as if their skin were being scorched by raging fire, had wisps of blue smoke rising from their bodies. They screamed in agony, "Ahhhhh!" and fled dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye.
Brian, who had assumed a defensive stance, paused, instinctively touching the collar around his neck, and murmured suspiciously, "...Could this be the cross of Middle-earth?"
When he, so proud and arrogant, was forced to wear this thing, it was undeniably humiliating.
But after he discovered that the collar could not only protect his heart but also ward off ghosts, his sense of humiliation slowly disappeared.
Suddenly someone asked him from behind, "Brian, do you want to win the game?"
Brian, driven by an intense competitive spirit, instinctively replied, "Yes, so?"
The man then asked, "Could you accept sacrificing your image a little for the sake of victory?"
Brian didn't understand, and turned to look at the speaker with a frown. It was Xie Xubai.
At the same time, he also saw Xie Xubai, or rather, a large group of people gathered behind him, huddled together like sardines. Among them were even his teammates, whose eyes revealed a hint of guilt as they looked at him.
The look in his eyes seemed to suggest he was about to do something bad.
Brian felt a chill run down his spine, a sense of foreboding washing over him. Then he heard Xie Xubai say apologetically, "It's unavoidable, just bear with it, it'll be over soon."
“Whatttttttttt——”
Brian's deep, magnetic voice was instantly abruptly cut short by the rushing hurricane, turning into a series of startled, trembling screams.
It was the [Gravity] player who exerted their power.
Just now, after listening to Xie Xubai's instructions, he mustered all his strength to lighten everyone's weight, making them half-float in the air.
The "tail" is formed by the members of the Peak Squad using [Wind] on the sofa, and the "head" is formed by Brian, who emits golden light to dispel the ghost baby.
The moment the hurricane thrust was formed, this "human R cannon/bullet" composed of several people was launched with unstoppable force, crashing into the surging tide of ghost infants!
In that instant, Brian didn't even have time to be angry or react; he was completely dumbfounded: Why could a B-level player control his weight?
The ghost infants, who had suddenly closed the distance, were even more bewildered than him. They squealed and cried out in the scorching golden light, their bluish-black faces almost bloodless with fear, and they frantically spun around in place.
Then a dramatic scene unfolded.
The grinning ghost infant pounced on the player like a tidal wave, baring its teeth and claws, then leaped up wildly in the next second, its rear end smoking as it fled like a tidal wave!
"Waaaaaah!!"
The piercing, eerie cries of that infant, at one moment, truly carried a sense of weakness, pitifulness, and helplessness.
It was very lively.
When the rampaging "cannonball" finally stopped, Brian looked pale and was too exhausted to speak.
He had never faced so many evil spirits head-on in his life. For a moment, his mind was filled with images of faces with bluish-black shark teeth, and it seemed as if a ghostly infant, unable to dodge in time, shoved its rotting claws into his mouth. Ugh—
The others also got up, feeling dizzy, and like him, covered their mouths and vomited.
Brian was big, but he couldn't stop all the ghost babies. They were also covered in the golden light, which thankfully blocked them in time.
Xie Xubai's physical condition was average, and his face turned a little pale after moving at high speed.
One of the members of Peak took out clean tissues and handed them out to everyone. Xie Xubai took them, thanked him, and nudged him lightly with his elbow.
Following Xie Xubai's gentle and calm gaze, the member looked at Brian and his teammates, immediately realized what was happening, and handed them tissues: "Hey bro, thanks a lot just now..."
Brian, whether out of exhaustion from a broken heart or utter disgust, surprisingly didn't get angry while leaning on the sofa. He simply took the tissue and even said thank you.
The player was taken aback, then quickly said, "You're welcome."
It was at this moment that this team, from different continents, of unequal status, and which had initially clashed, truly began to thaw.
The players who had called them over earlier were nowhere to be seen; perhaps they had run off to somewhere else to avoid the ghost baby.
Before everyone could catch their breath, the bizarre scene before them silenced them abruptly.
The surrounding furniture has become larger.
The refrigerator, which was originally almost as tall as a person's head, now looks about the same height as a floor, and you have to crane your neck to see the top.
But soon, Xie Xubai suddenly looked down at his chubby little arms, which were as white as lotus roots, and realized that it wasn't the furniture that had gotten bigger, but that they had gotten smaller!
Did they become ghost babies?
No, that's not right.
Their skin was healthy and fair, and their bodies showed no signs of mutation; they must have been transformed into infants who had not yet been harmed.
Xie Xubai carefully observed his surroundings.
The vanished walls reappeared, connecting to other rooms, and there were doors.
The furniture and decorations look much newer, the floors are less dusty, and some furniture is missing.
Apart from that, there was nothing strange about it.
This is just an ordinary residence.
Is this a reenactment of a scene?
Xie Xubai turned his head and could clearly see the surprised and thoughtful faces of the other players.
But it was like being separated by a hazy veil; he couldn't physically touch Captain Xu and the others, and no one else could touch him either.
You can't hear any sound, you can only see the shape of a mouth opening and closing.
Judging from everyone's reaction of raising their heads simultaneously, they must have encountered the same situation.
As I was observing, a sudden, angry, high-pitched female voice shattered the silence, like needles piercing my ears, tinged with hysteria: "I've already said that alcohol will affect the child's health! And look at the time! What kind of important drinking party can't be turned down?! You're a father now, can't you think about the child?! Can't you think about me?!"
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