As time went on, Hall's initial boasts gradually turned into silence, and finally into rambling nonsense.
The reason is simple: this building, named " High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant," seems to have no end in sight.
Having lived for thousands of years, Hall couldn't help but wonder: Are there really buildings this big in the world?
Ed didn't know what Hall was thinking, only that when he was working on this level, he referenced the famous " Oldest House " from "Control Zero," and used the spatial techniques he learned from Willow to stretch and expand a part of the " High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant " extensively.
With his current abilities, he cannot do anything similar outside the area covered by the Root Network, but within the Root Network, that is, within the territory of the entire Holy Tree Worship Church Theocracy, Ed has already touched a corner of a higher level.
The Grand Duke of Vampire skillfully evaded spike traps, chainsaw snares, falling objects, and occasional patrolling guards within this building whose true size was impossible to discern, much like a player suffering in a Metroidvania game from a first-person perspective.
Of course, in Ed's eyes, it was more like " Boys and Girls Rush Forward."
The familiar " 365 Li Road " rang out on the Psionic Energy radio. Although Hall didn't understand the lyrics, he always felt that the song sounded somewhat tragic, which inexplicably matched his current situation.
After an hour-long, wondrous adventure, he finally found himself in a narrow, open passageway with no traps or mechanisms.
A large door appeared at the end of the passageway, and his intuition told him that he would soon be able to leave this cursed place.
However, for some reason, his heart suddenly stopped beating for a moment.
Is it because of the unknown future?
Is it because they don't believe Ed would be so kind?
Or is it because... that thing placed next to the door, which is both reasonable and jarring...?
A chair?
Um, I don't think anyone would be scared by a chair, right?
Probably?
Hall slowly pressed his buttocks against the chair; the cool touch brought him back to his senses.
He carefully felt the smooth, polished relief patterns on his back, comparing them with his memory, wondering whether it was the style of a kingdom or an empire.
There were no falls, no traps, no saw blades or spikes.
In short, after a long period of tension, he was finally able to catch his breath.
The physical wounds are gradually healing, but the wounds in the heart will take much longer.
After regaining some strength, Hall stood up from the chair, took two steps forward, and pushed open the door in front of him.
The hundred or so players, who had been waiting in ambush, opened fire instantly.
Ed, in the "monitoring room," put down a non-existent teacup and revealed a sinister smile, "The 'mechanism room' is behind the 'monster room,' which makes perfect sense."
Faced with the sudden danger, Hall did not retreat but instead took a step forward and walked out of the door. He then grabbed the door frame and swung like a nimble monkey to the decorative edge at the junction of the first and second floors.
With his current physical abilities, he's more than capable of taking on these guys.
But he hadn't forgotten the conditions Ed had placed on letting him go—
Killing those Soul Returner is acceptable, but one must not become addicted to it.
Taking a few clones with you is fine, but the most important thing is the direction you escape in:
He hasn't forgotten that insidious plan of the white-haired man to shift the blame eastward!
With that in mind, Hall loosened up his grip a bit more.
Having been bound for so long, he couldn't help but feel excited upon his release:
If we can't beat the white-haired guy, we can at least beat you guys!
Hall, who had already flipped to the top of the " High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant " in no time, looked like Kong hanging on the top of the Empire State Building.
Unlike the prehistoric giant ape, he didn't greet the players' barrage of bullets with a roar, but with silent Blood Arrow of blood.
To aim at the Hall, you must look at the Hall, and Hall loves it when people make eye contact with him.
Over the past millennia, he has infected countless valuable bodies remotely in this way, collecting these good bodies in a nonchalant manner, but throwing them away indiscriminately during battles.
So much so that now, he can only reside inside the body of a good person!
With just a glance, Hall was able to roughly sense the ability level of the group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals below.
Because Ed had warned him not to go too far, after careful consideration, he selected a dozen or so, and then simultaneously fired a dozen or so Blood Arrow from between his eyebrows.
Players familiar with the Hall's abilities were already prepared. Seeing that his skill was about to be activated, many players quickly placed their shields in front of their companions, temporarily obscuring their vision.
Hall, who had just acquired a new body, was not as powerful as expected; after one wave of attacks, only about ten players were infected.
The infected players immediately lost control of their bodies, and a debuff called "[ Body Possession) ]" appeared in their status bar. Once the progress bar was completed, they would be forcibly expelled from the body.
But until then, they still enjoyed the best spectator positions in the world.
Unlike other lineages of vampires, Hall's ability to infect from a distance makes him extremely powerful in large-scale wars.
Even so, although on the surface it seems that the infection rate of less than ten players is very small, these infected people almost instantly lost control of their bodies.
Hall's will split into multiple parts, and he began to simultaneously manipulate all of his bodies.
The infected individuals instantly turned to look at their companions, and then launched an attack without hesitation.
Although the players were somewhat prepared, they were ultimately only summoned temporarily.
They were all players in Valhalla, but a dozen minutes earlier they received a temporary mission from Ed, summoning them to the vicinity of the High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant to intercept Hall's escape.
Since it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, everyone's equipment wasn't very good, and many of them were infected by the vampire grand duke who had escaped from captivity in just one wave.
The first infected Soul Returner did not choose to kill their companions, but instead forced themselves to stare into the eyes of the other controlled players.
The next moment, the second infection began, followed by the third and fourth infections.
In less than a minute, Hall had created seventy or eighty player clones, which could be considered as Ed's instruction to some extent.
After all, what if there's only one person and the players get lost?
The team needs to have more members, otherwise no one will be able to see him run into the Eternal Domain.
When the number of infected people reached nearly one hundred, Hall, who was perched atop the High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant, suddenly felt a sharp pain throughout his body.
He knew this was Ed's warning to him—
There aren't many left!
How many more do you want to infect?