Chapter 2546
Skinny Monkey spared no effort in lobbying Xu Huo, so the first part of the journey was relatively stable. When they crossed the mountain and were about to enter the valley below, Xu Huo suddenly stopped and asked, "Did you take the wrong route?"
Skinny Monkey looked at him in surprise. "There’s only this one road."
The Players from District 001 kept their instruments running the whole time; they didn’t sense anything wrong, so they all turned to look at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo just glanced at a certain spot at the foot of the mountain, then withdrew his gaze and continued following Skinny Monkey.
The closer they got to the valley, the more Outer Zone faces appeared around them. The reason Skinny Monkey dared to swagger back with this group of twenty people was precisely because there were enough Players here. He wasn’t sure if everyone here belonged to the Holy Sword Society, but in order to confront District 001, all those present were Rank-A Players.
"Has Lord Envoy come over?" Skinny Monkey spoke to a Player who had come to receive him. "I’ve got a new companion I want to introduce to him!"
The newcomer followed his gesture and gave Xu Huo a glance. "We’ll talk about that later... how are we handling these District 001 Players?"
"Hold up!" Skinny Monkey hurriedly stopped him, pulled him aside and muttered for quite a while before coming back. "I’ve got it settled. We’ll find a place for you to rest first. When Lord Envoy arrives you can state whatever terms you want... don’t say I’m not looking out for you—you can ask for more Evolution Potions, that’s a good deal!"
Skinny Monkey left, waggling his brows, and the other Members of the Holy Sword Society naturally gathered around, taking charge of watching over Xu Huo, the Girl in the painting, and the twenty Players from District 001.
The Members of the Holy Sword Society didn’t have much discipline. Most of them were slouchy and lax, their relationships with each other weren’t great, and conflicts often broke out. As for these people from District 001, some were clamoring to just kill them outright, some wanted to wait for Lord Envoy to decide, and some tried to ingratiate themselves with Xu Huo, even giving him some water and food.
The fresh processed food was clearly brought in from outside. After the Space Portal was sealed off, the people of District 001 had been relying on hunting and dry rations brought back by their companions. In contrast, the Holy Sword Society’s side had plenty to eat and drink, clearly maintaining steady contact with the outside world.
Still, not everyone present was focused on the Players from District 001; quite a few of them were staring intently at the forest ahead.
There, a semi-transparent spatial cover could be seen. Inside the cover was a white glow; it was impossible to see what was happening inside from the outside. In the few minutes since Xu Huo had arrived, two Players had already come out of it, drenched in sweat and completely exhausted, and were quickly carried away by their waiting companions.
The Holy Sword Society’s Players weren’t that tight-lipped; some of them were standing around in small groups, talking about the Super Player’s training grounds.
"So that’s the training ground left behind by the Super Player?" Xu Huo examined it carefully. The spatial cover appeared to be only about ten meters high, but the spatial power extended deep underground. What was exposed above ground was likely just the tip of the structure, and the inside and outside were completely isolated. It should be something like the spatial point in the teaching building of the metal city. As for what was inside, that would have to be asked of the Players from District 001.
The Players from District 001 were very calm. Although they knew the people of the Holy Sword Society were doing everything they could to crack the problems left by the Super Player, after such a long time they had gone from seething rage and uneasy panic to disdain and utter dismissiveness. If the people of District 001 couldn’t get something, the Holy Sword Society couldn’t either. Was the Super Player’s legacy something so easy to grab?
If the Holy Sword Society folks were really such geniuses, would they be getting rejected everywhere they went?
"This isn’t an exit." The dark-faced Player sounded quite disappointed.
"Didn’t think you really came here to look for an exit." Xu Huo said, feigning surprise.
The older captain said, "What I said earlier wasn’t a lie. We don’t have complete information on this place either. There are many things we’re not hiding because we want to, but because saying them doesn’t help..."
"For example, at least half of the strongholds marked on your map are actually training grounds occupied by the Holy Sword Society, and not ’suspected’ exits as you claimed?" Xu Huo raised his eyebrows.
Their expressions varied, and then they heard him continue, "I’m hardly your ally. It’s not surprising you’d hold back some intel. But there’s one thing I want to ask: is it true that entering the area of a stronghold will teleport you away?"
"That’s absolutely true!" The dark-faced Player had a blunt personality. "If you’re lucky you might get teleported to some random place in the Portal Space. If you’re unlucky you just die in the mountains! Not many make it out alive!"
This was intel they’d paid for with the lives of some of their people.
"Since you know the strongholds are actually training grounds, then whether those so-called Super Instruments even exist is a very big question mark, isn’t it?" Xu Huo went on.
"The two aren’t necessarily contradictory." The female captain said.
"Have you actually found any Super Instruments then?" Xu Huo asked again. Seeing her fall silent, he said, "So you probably haven’t."
At first he’d thought District 001 had fabricated some of the intel to cover up the secret of the Portal Space, but when he entered the valley he was sure they had merely been selectively revealing parts of the truth.
For instance, the map Qiu Xiangming had produced did indeed mark areas seized by Outer District Forces—training grounds left by the Super Player—which could also be places where they’d set up instruments. With no other way out in sight, forcibly attacking these strongholds served both to protect the Super Player’s legacy and to seek a path to survival.
As for what they and Skinny Monkey had said about there being only one exit to the Portal Space, that was half-truth, half-lie. There was definitely more than one exit, but both sides probably only knew of one.
The one District 001 knew about was left by the Super Player, while the Holy Sword Society’s side had one that had been sealed and modified.
As for why the Players from District 001 were so certain there had to be an exit hidden inside a stronghold instead of some other secret location, it was most likely because they knew the exits to the Portal Space could only be in those places.
When Xu Huo entered the Portal Space, he’d already found it a bit odd—not just because he’d seen chaotic Space-Time Power, but also because the Portal Space was too stable.
The other spaces in the Super Dungeon were all closed off and could only be entered and exited via the Small Inversion Ring. The deliberately reserved Portal Space either had an exit built into it, or the Super Player had set up a proper passage in and out here.
These two possibilities converged when he saw a Space Portal with chaotic Space-Time Power in the valley. At the same time, he understood why the Super Player had left an exit here, why the Holy Sword Society was able to seal the exit, and why the Players from District 001 were determined to get their hands on the Inversion Ring.