The four players who now appeared before them were from that latest group. Like-minded and malicious, they locked down the venue with items but didn't approach, maintaining considerable distance as they moved around—clearly experienced.
On Xu Huo's side, Long Aotian immediately tried to break the giant lock on the door. But the moment his blade struck, a bolt of electricity erupted from the chain, sending him flying three meters back. When he hit the ground, his entire body was charred black!
Xiao Ling shot Yu Guangnan a meaningful glance, and the latter put on an insulated coat before ramming the door.
Although he wasn't sent flying like Long Aotian, the collision-generated current instantly sprayed out like sparks in every direction, making it nearly impossible for anyone to stand near the entrance!
Xu Huo and the others quickly dodged away from the exit, but they weren't about to just sit there and take it. If the items were hard to deal with, they'd go after the people holding them!
First, the water jet gun fired at the two players standing directly in front of the door. As they dodged, a rubber water sphere flew through the gaps in the chains, perfectly blocking one of them, while the other was suddenly pulled downward by a collapsing patch of ground!
"Dancer's Grace!"
"Sky-Scaling Monkey!"
The two Player-Eaters reacted instantly—one bent backward 180 degrees to evade the rubber water sphere while simultaneously flicking out a flypaper-like thing that stuck the sphere to the ground. The other shot seven or eight meters into the air, landing on a nearby building, and returned the favor by scattering a handful of fine needles toward the venue!
Most of the facilities inside Insane Prison were made of metal, so once one spot got electrified, everything became charged. Although Xu Huo and his team had put on protective suits in time, they still suffered some minor cuts and burns.
"One lock and they think they can trap us in here? I don't buy that shit!" Long Aotian wiped his blackened face and tossed a square-shaped item toward the entrance.
The silver metal square automatically split into several smaller blocks when it landed by the door, then all of them adhered to the gate's grille and the item chains. Within just a few seconds, corrosion spots appeared on the iron bars of Insane Prison. As the small metal blocks fell to the ground, the areas they'd stuck to were now rusted and pitted, and even when electrical current passed through, rust flakes flew off!
Soon, those corrosion spots appeared on the item chains too!
"Go get 'em!" Long Aotian slammed into the door, snapping the item chains with a series of cracking sounds. He grabbed the prison venue gate he'd torn off, spun around a few times, and hurled it violently at the Player-Eaters!
The iron door crashed onto the ground with a loud clang. With their item broken, the several Player-Eaters quickly scattered and surrounded Long Aotian from all directions!
Player-Eaters couldn't use characteristics, but using items smartly could compensate for that weakness. On top of that, they generally had stronger physiques, with especially fast movement speed.
This speed wasn't very noticeable at lower evolution rates, since even if their physical abilities and speed were slightly faster than ordinary players, the gap wasn't huge—at least not enough to make using items slower than their movements. But as their evolution rates increased, Player-Eaters began to recognize their advantage: speed!
Items couldn't necessarily cover everyone, but four Player-Eaters attacking from different directions was more than enough to overwhelm their target!
Long Aotian wasn't slow to react either, but surrounded by four people, he was half a beat behind. Caught between close-range attacks and alternating item usage, he started to get flustered, sometimes unable to use items at all!
Seeing him on the back foot, a Player-Eater wielding a Triangular Spike Dagger seized the moment, appearing behind him as swiftly and silently as a cheetah!
"Ding!" The black Triangular Spike Dagger aimed at Long Aotian's back was blocked by a transparent barrier. Xu Huo appeared in front of the Player-Eater and smiled at him. "Look at what's on your left."
The Player-Eater instinctively looked left, but the next second, Xu Huo's Long Sword was already slashing toward his neck!
However, this guy wasn't slow either—he realized he'd been tricked halfway through turning his head and immediately brought out a defensive item to protect his skull!
Too bad his defensive item's grade was too low. The "Eye of the Dead" sliced through it like tofu, cutting halfway through his throat without any resistance!
Clutching his spurting neck, the man shot Xu Huo an incredulous look before turning to flee. But Xu Huo wasn't about to let him get away. He teleported in front of him and used "Danger Makes You Blind" and "Important Call" simultaneously. The Player-Eater went blind instantly and had to free one hand to press against his ear.
A Player-Eater who'd survived this long naturally had some tricks up his sleeve. With a twitch of his fingers, countless fine needles shot out from all over his body. At the same time, a giant red balloon appeared above his head, flipping inward to engulf them both!
The inside of the giant balloon was made of metal. After trapping Xu Huo and the Player-Eater, it formed a separate three-square-meter space. The cramped space was disadvantageous for the Player-Eater, but it wasn't great for Xu Huo either—because those fine needles would create a chain reaction with the metal structure, repeatedly piercing through the space at incredible speed!
Xu Huo immediately used "Concentrated Air" to create distance between them. With the barrier in front of him, he was safe from the needles, but it also gave his opponent breathing room. He brandished the "Murmuring Sphere" in his hand and pulled the blood-soaked man into his Mental World.
Outside, Xie Ling, Liu Chengyi, and the others were also trading blows with the other three Player-Eaters. Seeing that Xu Huo was trapped by the item and hadn't come out yet, Xie Ling tossed a small metal spider toward that direction. But the balloon disappeared the moment it left her hand, and the metal spider flew straight at the face of Xu Huo, who had just walked out!
"Wat—" Before she could finish her warning, she saw her item get sliced in half by a sword, then flicked away by Xu Huo like an ant.
It wasn't over yet.
The other three Player-Eaters quickly exchanged glances at the sight of their comrade's corpse. Three against seven—they had already lost their advantage.
Sensing the situation was turning against them, the three prepared to retreat. Xu Huo's side saw their intention. Xiao Ling sneered, "You think you can come and go as you please? No way!"
"Love Means Mutual Destruction!"
With words like a curse, a semi-transparent thin cord gradually appeared around her wrist, splitting into three strands that wrapped around the hands of the three Player-Eaters!
When they turned back, Yu Guangnan and the others had already surrounded them from different directions!
One of the Player-Eaters shook off the thin cord from his wrist. Instead of trying to save his two companions, he dropped two poison gas bombs on the spot, forcing those behind him to actively back off.
"Don't worry—I'll find others to avenge you!" This guy still had a smart mouth even as he fled. But no sooner had he finished speaking than his feet froze in place, unable to move.