Chapter 1523: Chapter 1524: A Video Clip

What was sent from the other side was not text but a video.

When Xu Huo clicked it open, he saw darkness, accompanied by faint footsteps and breathing. It seemed the person capturing the video was doing it under extreme circumstances.

The darkness lasted for about half a minute before a slight light appeared.

With this faint light, the surroundings of the person filming could somewhat be seen—it appeared to be an old corridor with brick walls on both sides, unadorned. As the camera moved forward, a space around twenty meters ahead seemed more open.

The person filming became more cautious, slowing their pace as they proceeded.

After covering the twenty meters, the camera panned to the right, revealing a three-meter-high circular container floating in mid-air. Under dim light, it was visible the container was filled with green liquid, in which a giant object resembling an egg was submerged.

But it wasn’t an egg; it was a white shell-like substance. When the camera zoomed in a bit, beneath the white shell, something pulsated like blood vessels—it was a living organism.

The person filming could be heard swallowing gently and then moving slowly to the other side of the glass container:

Perhaps to let the creature sleep peacefully; the corridor lighting was already dim, even darker on this side away from the corridor, yet Xu Huo still managed to see the head in the “giant egg.” From the back, what appeared as a complete eggshell was actually two huge wings encasing the creature’s body. Its head seemed like a shriveled human skull but had pointed ears and sharp teeth sticking out, with protruding eyes, resembling some vampires depicted in films.

It had no eyelids and remained with its eyes open, but appeared calm because it was asleep.

Then the camera quietly shifted, pointing to the opposite side of the corridor, where there was a similar container. But inside it was an octopus, not very large, each tentacle connected to soft tubes at the container’s edges, and black liquid continuously flowed into the tentacles through the tubes.

At this point, the camera moved slightly downward, revealing the label of the octopus in the frame: Giant Demon Octopus, S-rank Mutant Alien Species.

The octopus submerged in the glass container didn’t look much different from a regular octopus and didn’t seem to match the word “giant,” but the camera deliberately stopped at a nearby nutrient tank, which was connected to the tubes, and SJY-013 was labeled on it.

Then the camera began to move; beyond a thin wall, there was another similar container, holding yet another species of monster Xu Huo had never seen before. As the camera progressed, the creatures in the containers became more bizarre, sometimes a whole living species, sometimes just a pulsating heart without any context, or a lung. Judging by the size, these should belong to a mutated animal species, but it was unclear why these organs could remain “alive” even when separated from the body.

Subsequently, Xu Huo saw one such big-headed alien species with an unusually large head; it was named “Wise Variant,” and this one in the glass container seemed to have a higher “completion level” than ones he’d seen before and even resembled a human…

Just as the person filming was moving around the Wise Variant to fully capture its physical characteristics, it suddenly opened its eyes, accompanied by a sharp sound of something hitting the ground and a heavy thud—despite watching this through a video, Xu Huo felt a sharp brain pain just by meeting those eyes, instinctively shutting his eyes!

In the remaining few seconds of the video, there was no sound. When the video ended, Xu Huo rubbed his eyes forcefully; this was not an illusion. There certainly was a sense of eye contact when the Wise Variant opened its eyes, but this was a recorded video from an unknown time, making eye contact impossible. The only explanation was that the special energy emitted by those eyes could be recorded and affect viewers.

Though it lasted only a moment, he saw clearly that those eyes were likely embedded with something unknown, but judging by the final few blank seconds of the video, the person filming probably fell into a coma or died instantly upon seeing the Wise Variant’s eyes… Could it be a psychic attack?

The name “Wise Variant” was deeply meaningful.

Thinking of the large-headed alien species he had slain earlier, Xu Huo’s expression turned solemn. Given the number of such big-headed alien species, their birth was undoubtedly coincidental, and the purpose of placing these alien species into the relatively defenseless Zone 017 was obvious—merely using cannibalism to facilitate alien mutations and achieve “evolution.”

Even if all existing alien species are exterminated, there’s no guarantee a second or third wave of alien species wouldn’t arise.

Xu Huo conveyed this information through the contacts left previously to the military base.

If the assumptions are correct, Zone 017 would struggle to retain a small area to establish a safe zone like Brick Tale Town, and the time to establish a safe zone isn’t feasible either. The most effective approach is to quickly evacuate people from Zone 017 and preserve hope and fire.

At this point, the Girl in the painting stuck to his back moved.

Xu Huo prompted her to come out; the paper-like person slowly floated out from under the clothes and then gradually swelled into a real person. She gestured with self-taught sign language, indicating her desire to play.

“There’s hardly anything fun here,” Xu Huo didn’t hide Zone 017’s situation, picking key points to inform her.

The Girl in the Painting was enthusiastic, quickly saying she could help as long as she was given the country of Zone 017.

Xu Huo fixed his gaze on her for two seconds, “Do you think that’s possible?”

Zone 014 trusted him because he voluntarily exposed his ownership of Super Props and was a native talent, but on what basis would Zone 017 trust an external player? Even if the Girl in the Painting controlled the city, once she took action, she’d be recognized and seen merely as the player who once took Super Props from Zone 014 and now came to Zone 017.

Moreover, the way Zone 014 resolved its crisis is not repeatable; if the number of players arriving at Zone 014 was equal to now in Zone 017, even if “Super Props were taken” was publicly demonstrated, subsequent countries couldn’t end by force. When the number of players was fewer, it’s possible to fight one versus a thousand or a million despite limited numbers—they can’t control all major military sites. Even if they can’t kill them, they can use weapons to force them back into the game.

However, the situation in Zone 017 is different; many key military bases are occupied by external players who destroyed parts of secret military bases immediately after gaining control to ensure their safety. Even now, with the emergence of Super Players, the situation is difficult to reverse, not to mention the alien species watching intently.