Chapter 2522: City of Murder
The place where the Girl in the painting and Bubble Bean were hiding also transformed. The metal table they used to protect themselves and the surrounding metal objects instantly contracted and twisted together. The Girl in the painting reacted swiftly and easily escaped, but Bubble Bean wasn’t as lucky. One of his legs got caught and was instantly mangled, bones and flesh alike!
The scream was very short. Bubble Bean put on Invisibility Protective Clothing, enduring the severe pain as he escaped from the shop, using props to quickly flee to the other end of the street.
At this moment, the arrow rain didn’t stop. The new round even expanded its range. Xu Huo noticed that the higher floors weren’t within the arrow rain’s attack range, so he activated the Spiritual World and took Bubble Bean to a nearby high-rise building.
"Don’t carry metal objects on you!" Xu Huo quickly said.
Bubble Bean was startled, ignoring the pain, he immediately started pulling away the metal props, but within just a few seconds, nearby metal objects pierced through the walls, and the whole room was twisted together!
The speed of the metal killing was too fast. Xu Huo could only mobilize Time Force to freeze the metal objects on one side to create a gap. As the ground cracked, he and Bubble Bean fell downstairs!
Seeing Bubble Bean still removing his belt, Xu Huo simply kicked him out of the building, and took the opportunity to transfer himself through the Mental Portal to another high-rise a thousand meters away before the new round of metal killing started.
After entering the high-rise, he remained still, stashing all metal-related props, including the Time Ring. Leaning against a corner, he attentively felt the surroundings.
The arrow rain was still falling; these fast and entirely metal Flying Arrows could even pierce metal door panels, so both indoors and outdoors were exposed to arrow rain attacks.
The floor Xu Huo was hiding on was not too high nor too low; a few Flying Arrows shot into the room. Half of an arrow was embedded into the floor while the tail continued to tremor. Initially, one was vibrating more prominently, then other arrows began to resonate at the same frequency!
So that’s how it is!
Xu Huo’s expression changed slightly. He opened a Defensive Barrier attempting to forcibly crash out from one side, but the closing metal objects were like an immovable gigantic beast, showing no gap!
Too close, he couldn’t casually manipulate Time Force anymore, so he used "Everything Wants to Slice" along with a Materialized Item to slice open one side of the metal objects. Once he escaped, the Secant Line was conveniently carried away by the Materialized Item.
After changing hiding places several times, all being subsequently discovered, Xu Huo finally found a high-rise, entered the top floor, and imitated a middle-aged man’s actions by squeezing into a wooden cabinet.
He was temporarily calm for now, but Bubble Bean was still deep within the metal attack. When he was kicked out, he had already removed all the metal props on him, but even so, the arrow rain was still pervasive. Whenever the arrow rain arrived, within less than two seconds, there was definitively another round of metal killing. He used life-saving props three times but could not completely avoid this situation.
Injuries and the threat to his life made it impossible for him to accurately judge the surrounding environment, frantically fleeing during every wave of arrow rain and metal killing. Despite the Rank-B player’s speed, combined with props, already being very fast, the metal objects seemed to have eyes everywhere. Wherever he went, the attack was almost immediate.
In open areas, you can’t avoid the arrow rain, and hiding indoors might lead to omnipresent metal killing. The person manipulating it wasn’t visible, yet the entire city turned into a large-scale killing field!
After narrowly escaping metal killing using props once more, Bubble Bean barely had time to catch his breath before the building he was hiding in suddenly flattened — like a toy being directly squashed, and he was caught in the middle. If not for the substantial metal items inside the building giving him a buffer, he’d instantly become meat paste!
But it was precisely because of this that he got stuck in the closed building, unable to move. The metal seemed to realize he was still alive; failing twice to fully close him off, it began twisting like a towel!
Doomed!
Seeing the uneven metal wall close at hand, Bubble Bean closed his eyes in despair. However, in the next moment, a hand grabbed his foot, and a powerful force pulled him out through a gap beneath the metal wall!
Bubble Bean only felt pain on his butt and the back of his head, and then he fell into a not-so-spacious space.
The dim light allowed him to quickly realize it was a wardrobe, but before he could speak, a hand pressed against his mouth. Bubble Bean was drenched in sweat, nearly fainting, his eyes fixedly staring at the Girl in the painting in front of him.
The Girl in the painting held a dangerous look in her eyes, gesturing to shut her mouth with her other hand.
"You’re stepping on his leg," Xu Huo reminded from the other side.
(To be modified)
*
In less than the blink of an eye, Xu Huo and the others relocated, but their feet hadn’t steadied before a gigantic metal ball hurled straight at them. All tied on a rope, none escaped, even using defense props instantly didn’t stop the enormous force from causing their blood to surge.
The four then scattered, yet more devastating arrow rain swooped down, densely filling their entire field of vision!
They arrived in a city with unused buildings lining both sides of the street, many constructed of metal, prompting Xu Huo and the others to disperse and hide within different structures.
The Girl in the painting and Bubble Bean chose a nearby shop, using the metal tables and chairs inside as shields at the entrance, while Xu Huo and the chains-freed middle-aged man prioritized the high-rises with better views. They ascended opposite sides of a commercial building, exchanged glances in the air, and the middle-aged man struck first:
"Fall to the ground!"
Xu Huo, on his way up, bizarrely slipped, plummeting through a window. As he fell, apart from the still relentless arrow rain, two attacks surged from the ground, aiming straight for his back!
The "Spatial Sphere" enveloped Xu Huo, dissipating the attack’s force, then he grabbed the nearby window and leapt back into the building.
At this moment, the middle-aged man had reached the top floor; the distance was still within Xu Huo’s sensing range. He saw the man enter a room on the top floor and hide in a wardrobe, also removing all metal items from his body.
Xu Huo instantly understood the situation. He swiftly stored his metallic props, then leapt from the high-rise window. The next moment, the metal building behind him seemed gripped by an invisible giant hand, as the floors below him started to squeeze, twisting and deforming the entire skyscraper like a crushed soda can!