Chapter 1636: Chapter 1636: A One-to-One City
Xu Huo instinctively reached out, but unexpectedly, the stone broke in half, as if it had weathered for a long time and started crumbling from the inside.
However, it didn’t completely shatter; it just broke into two pieces, and the glow dispersed.
The radiological density of these two fragments far exceeded that of ordinary stones, and based on experience, it seemed to be a high-density mineral, though it appeared to have been spent already.
Unable to determine what kind of stone it was at the moment, Xu Huo decided to put it away and circled the stone cave again. After not finding a second piece or a similar large fish, he surfaced.
After returning to the shore, he took out the two stones for a closer look. The entire stone was quite large, likely not something the fish swallowed on its own… So, was it deliberately placed in the fish’s belly by someone? Could it be related to the instance?
Xu Huo had initially planned to search for the Antidote Fungus, not expecting to find such a surprise. Uncertain if it was truly related to the instance, he thought it wouldn’t be strange if this instance had been modified by Dr. Wu, leaving some obvious remnants.
So he reopened the map.
This wetland park is located on the left side of the city, and besides this natural lake in the wetland park, further to the right, there is another sizable artificial lake. On the map, the two largest lakes appear symmetrically located to the left and right.
Xu Huo decided to try his luck.
After spending some time crossing the city, he arrived at the artificial lake, only to find that half of the lake’s water had been drained. The center area, which was deeper, still had water, but other parts had dried up, exposing large patches of sludge mixed with fungi, permeating the air with a foul stench.
There were no corpses under this lake; the stench came from the deceased fungi and some small animals.
Currently, two players were standing in the water, pulling their tool net.
Xu Huo appeared on the shore and asked, “What are you fishing for?”
The two players didn’t look in good shape, their fatigue couldn’t be hidden from their expressions. Though they were somewhat wary upon seeing him, they lacked the energy for defense, as they stood and replied, “We saw something glowing in the lake last night.”
Without needing to go down for a look, Xu Huo knew there was nothing else in the mud at the center of the lake, so he nodded and left.
This was clearly not the place he was searching for.
Recalling the conditions around the lake, he headed towards a nearby aquarium.
The animals in the aquarium had long turned into bones, and the deep water pool was fostering various decaying substances, including fungi. The pool of filthy water was so murky that it was nearly impossible to see anything inside.
Next to it, Xu Huo tapped on the glass. With the tilted dirty water pouring out, a few large fish, similar to the ones from the lake earlier, emerged.
He dissected the fish from a distance using a Spatial Blade. To his surprise, all three fish had the same stone in their bellies, one of which was relatively well-preserved and hadn’t shattered inside the fish.
Xu Huo moved closer, bent down, and just as he was about to pick up the stone, a sudden force hit him with dizziness. The next second, his body hung upside down as if he had fallen into the water, but after a brief disorientation, he regained clarity, only to find himself still standing in place.
With a slight frown, he walked out of the aquarium and noticed that the street’s scenery differed somewhat from when he had come.
First, there was a noticeable increase in fungi, with more floating in the air amid the pervasive fog.
Next, there were far fewer signs of combat and destruction. The city, a one-to-one replica, appeared much more intact than before, with fewer fractures both on the streets and buildings.
Finally, there were more bodies.
Coincidentally, the people lying on the street were the same People of Zone 013 who had disappeared from the instance earlier. The time of death wasn’t long ago, and the bodies, along with the surroundings, were already covered with a layer of furry fungi.
“Help…” A faint cry for help came from the left. Xu Huo turned and walked towards it, but as he passed through the mist, he felt a breeze-like force brushing over his body.
This familiar sensation made him stop. He tried turning back, and the same force passed through his front again. Judging the position, he reached out to touch the air.
He could indeed feel a layer of something in the air like a barrier, but oddly, no new rays emerged in the “Cubic Space.”
“Not a Spatial Barrier? Or is it similar to other rays?”
Xu Huo was unsure, as this barrier didn’t have the function of separation. If he wasn’t particularly sensitive, he might not even notice it.
But more baffling was that the person who should have been calling for help at the corner had vanished from his spatial perception.
Given the possibility of interference forces here, he still went over for a look himself, only to find fresh bloodstains on the ground, likely left behind while crawling.
People don’t just disappear for no reason. Could they have been released from the instance?
With doubt in mind, he continued walking forward, but hadn’t gone a kilometer when the sensation of a barrier passing through his body recurred.
He tried moving left and right, but this barrier seemed to span the entire city; not just the sides, even high above was the same.
“Help me…” A voice came from behind again.
Xu Huo paused, passed through the barrier again to turn back, yet still found no one where the voice originated.
If he wasn’t mistaken, both cries for help came from the same person. Was it Mental Interference, or some other special force?
He left a monitoring device and returned to the barrier front. This time, he still heard cries for help, but upon turning back, the source of the sound was still empty.
However, this time he noticed something strange—the bloodstains on the ground.
Someone should have been crawling on the ground for quite a while, yet despite him passing here two or three times, the blood remained unchanged, semi-dry, and didn’t discolor.
Opening the monitoring device, the footage showed nothing but recorded Xu Huo’s own footsteps.
Looking ahead and back, he returned in the direction of the aquarium. Once again passing through the barrier, upon listening back, someone was still calling for help; likewise, as long as he stood outside the barrier, there was a person in his range of perception.
The barrier on both sides divided roughly a thousand meters in length. Using the barrier as a dividing line, standing within this kilometer range, he couldn’t hear a sound nor perceive the presence of the caller. Once beyond this limit, cries for help were audible on both sides, along with the perception of someone present. These two states shifted based on his own position; the instrument couldn’t alter it.
Considering the specific conditions of the instance, the first thing to think of would be Mental Interference. If both hearing and perception were faulty, he couldn’t assure what he saw and touched was real — if the Mental Interference Force here was truly that strong.