Chapter 187: Eating the Piranha Plant

The closest ones, Zheng Liang and the skull-print short-sleeved man, grabbed Brother Tie - one wrapping his arms around his waist from behind, the other seizing his shoulders - trying to pull him out. But the tug-of-war's focal point was Brother Tie's head, and with neither side letting go, blood streamed down his head. He roared, but then another flesh-colored sucker shot out from the elevator shaft and smacked onto his mouth!The skull-print short-sleeved man's hands were already stained red with blood. Seeing the fleshy thing dragging Brother Tie toward the elevator gap, and hearing rustling sounds from deep within the elevator shaft, he immediately released his grip, hurried aside to close the elevator doors, and shouted back to his companions, "Quick, help! There are many more of those things inside!"

Gu Yu and several others rushed forward. A bald player pulled out a short knife, reached into the elevator gap, and severed the fleshy tendril behind the sucker. Only then did the group successfully pull Brother Tie out. Immediately after, the skull-print short-sleeved man and two other players forced the elevator doors shut.

"Bang! Bang!" The elevator doors were being struck repeatedly. Gu Yu and the others stepped back, watching the violently shaking elevator with grim expressions. The skull-print short-sleeved man said, "It's not safe outside, and now there are monsters in the elevator too. Aren't we trapped on the fifteenth floor?"

"Is Brother Tie okay?" the mole-faced player asked at this moment.

Brother Tie, who had been pulled out, lay motionless on the ground. The flesh-colored "sucker" enveloping his head and face hadn't fallen off. Besides the severed end spraying some green liquid, the sucker head continued wriggling and sucking, producing deeply unsettling sounds.

Seeing this thing wasn't dead, the surrounding people backed away. Xu Huo stepped forward at this point, using his dagger to pry open a corner of the sucker and peel it off. When the sucker flipped over and fell to the ground, they realized it was actually a hexagonal flower, though its petals were lined with sharp spines inside. After losing its target, it still convulsed for a while before slowly losing vitality.

"He's not dead, just unconscious," Xu Huo said as he removed the second one, standing up and casually kicking the man-eating flower further away. "This type of flower probably releases an anesthetic."

Gu Yu, standing nearby, instructed the skull-print short-sleeved man to give Brother Tie a healing potion, then said, "The elevator shaft below couldn't be full of these things, could it?"

Xu Huo shook his dagger. "Not necessarily, but since man-eating flowers can grow from the elevator shaft, we can't rule out the possibility of other mutated plants."

"Then it seems we have no choice but to stay on the fifteenth floor," Gu Yu paused, looking back and scanning the area. "Besides this public office area, there are some rooms on both sides. Let's search for anything useful."

Xu Huo didn't comment either way, instead using his foot to examine the two man-eating flowers.

"So what should we do?" a middle-aged man with a backpack stepped forward and asked, adding, "Although we don't have your abilities, there's strength in numbers. If you need us to do anything, just give the orders."

Besides the dozen or so players, over a hundred ordinary people had entered, standing densely packed together with panicked, uneasy expressions. After the middle-aged man spoke, a young girl said, "Please don't abandon us! My family is very wealthy - I can give you money!"

Once someone opened with this offer, the remaining people quickly expressed they could also pay the players, as long as they provided some protection along the way.

Zheng Liang and the others sneered at this scene. "What's the point of money if you're dead?"

Gu Yu glared at them, then comforted the crowd, "Don't panic yet. We're all trapped here together, and staying calm is our top priority. Those of you willing can help search for practical tools - to block windows or for self-defense."

"You need to understand that players also face very high mortality rates in dungeons. There are only over a dozen players here, while you number over a hundred. No matter how powerful we are, we can't possibly protect every single person, so you need to think of ways to protect yourselves."

"But what can we do?" someone said. "If we encounter those man-eating flowers, we can't even run away! And if they come out of the elevator, our only choice besides jumping from the building is..."

"That's your problem!" the mole-faced player raised his voice. "You don't actually think we're obligated to protect you, do you?"

Among the hundred-plus ordinary people, some were angry, some protested, but most felt despair and sorrow.

"Ask him!" suddenly one player pointed at Xu Huo. "He once saved dozens of people in a Random Dungeon before!"

All eyes turned to Xu Huo, who looked back at the speaking bald player - he didn't remember this person from his memories.

"Before the Super Item incident, he originally wanted to join the Ting City Research Institute," Gu Yu briefly explained, then looked at Xu Huo with a rather complicated expression. She hadn't heard about this matter before.

"Sir, if you can guarantee my safety out of here, I'll pay you - ten million! Twenty million works too!" the young girl who first offered money ran up to him.

Immediately jumping to tens of millions level, the remaining people clearly couldn't offer that much money, so someone pleaded, "I have a child at home, she's only three years old, she can't lose her mother..."

A crowd rushed to surround Xu Huo. Without finishing his sentence, Xu Huo thrust his crimson sword into the ground. The sharp blade pierced through the floor like cutting through tofu, and all voices instantly fell silent.

Xu Huo coldly scanned the crowd, finally settling his gaze on the young girl in front of him, motioning for her to step aside.

The girl retreated fearfully.

Xu Huo picked up the two man-eating flowers from the ground, stapled them together with a stapler, and walked away holding them toward the other end.

Everyone in the public area watched him, observing as he turned into a nearby office. Only then did Gu Yu say, "Let's go search around nearby too."

The players weren't naive enough to believe they could safely wait out ninety hours on the fifteenth floor, so they still needed to search for clues.

"What should we do?" the remaining people couldn't help asking.

The backpack-wearing middle-aged man said, "Everyone, stay calm. For safety's sake, we shouldn't wander around or randomly touch things to avoid unnecessary trouble."

"From what they're saying, we'll need to stay here for several days. We can't go without food and water that long. I suggest we gather all food and drinking water together. It's just a few days - everyone can endure."

"As long as we don't cause trouble for the players, if they can get out, they probably won't mind taking us along as a favor."

His words made sense, which slightly calmed the agitated crowd. Everyone began doing what they could.

"What should we do?" in the corner, the foreign burly man asked the Flower Basket Girl in a low voice. "If we follow them, will we get attacked?"

The Flower Basket Girl felt both regret and resentment, biting her lower lip as she said, "Since he didn't seem intent on settling scores earlier, he probably won't now."

"We're all in the same boat. Those ordinary people can't help much, so they have no reason to refuse us. Besides, the person chasing us has conflicts with other players too, which works to our advantage."

So the two also stealthily made their way over.