Xu Huo told her the location, saying he would be going to Water City in a couple of days to attend the Double Snake organization's gathering, and invited her to come along.

Yan Jiayu agreed readily, setting the meeting time and place before hanging up.

"Another person added," Sima Xiao Er said dejectedly. "Brother Xu, one invitation can only bring two people."

Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen already took up two spots.

"Then we'll just get two more invitations," Xu Huo stopped Qian Xuwen's movement, sent a message to that Brother Liang asking if he had any extra invitations, and added, "Not through the Special Defense Department."

Guan and Qian had received Team Leader Wu's orders before coming; their main task was to cooperate with Xu Huo's actions, to listen and observe more, and not to take matters into their own hands.

Brother Liang replied very quickly. They had three invitations in total, which could bring six people, and could give him spots for two people at most.

"Add one more," Xu Huo bargained. "I have another friend."

Brother Liang took a long time to reply but still agreed.

Later, Painting Woman also arrived in Yang City. After waiting another two days, the group finally set off for Water City, the place specified on the invitation.

The Special Defense Department had already investigated the gathering location beforehand. It was just an abandoned old factory area that hadn't been demolished yet. Many people were keeping an eye on it, but nothing unusual had been detected so far.

For the sake of caution, Xu Huo didn't meet up with Brother Liang and the others. Before entering Water City, he separated from Sima Xiao Er and Zhou Ning, taking only Guan and Qian with him.

After checking into a hotel, he contacted Yan Jiayu again, telling her to go directly to meet Brother Liang.

And so, when the gathering time arrived, they set off from different directions towards the factory area.

Upon arrival, there were already quite a few people loitering nearby. These people either covered their faces or wore masks, maintaining distance from each other without striking up conversations with anyone.

"Too many people," Xu Huo, also wearing a mask, said as he got out of the car and hid in a patch of shadow. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Everyone brought a companion, the number of people is indeed a bit high," Guan Sheng said.

That wasn't what Xu Huo meant. Setting aside the companions, a rough count showed about twenty people holding invitations present. If the Double Snake organization's gathering wasn't purely for exchanging information, inviting so many players was clearly illogical. With so many people, the situation would be hard to control.

"Could there be Double Snake organization members mixed in?" Qian Xuwen speculated.

"Hard to say," Guan Sheng glanced outside and lowered his voice. "They're here."

It was Brother Liang and his group. Yan Jiayu and the other two were each following an invited player, and they also pretended not to know each other.

More people arrived gradually. At one o'clock in the morning, three players wearing black cloaks and black hats emerged from inside the factory building. They carried three boxes and stopped, with the one in the middle saying, "Please come forward with your invitations. The gathering is about to begin."

The surrounding players looked at each other, but no one stepped forward for a while. A few seconds later, Yan Jiayu subtly signaled to Xu Huo's direction, then pushed the person from Brother Liang's group to go over.

After the black-cloaked player checked the invitation, they gave each of the three a bottle of evolution agent and told them to enter the factory building behind them.

"Just handing out evolution agents upon arrival?" Yan Jiayu asked curiously. "Do you have enough evolution agents for so many people?"

Evolution agents are very tempting for ordinary players, but the black-cloaked person wasn't afraid of being robbed. Instead, they smiled and said, "It's just an ordinary bottle of evolution agent. Our Double Snake has always regarded players as brothers and sisters. What can't we share?"

It had a cult-like vibe.

"Additionally, Double Snake has a rule: one invitation can only bring two companions. Please ask the extra people to leave voluntarily. If anyone causes trouble, today's gathering will be canceled. Whether everyone wants to buy or sell things, or exchange information not available on the market, it will all be impossible."

This essentially held the players' weakness. Most people came here for this purpose. But someone didn't believe it and said provocatively, "There are only three of you leading the way? But we have so many players here!"

The implication was that they could be "voluntarily" guided by force.

The black-cloaked person smiled. "We are just guides. Not all players attending the gathering are from Double Snake. If you break the rules, someone will naturally spread the news. Friend, since you're going anyway, don't ruin things for everyone just because of you."

"That's right," someone nearby chimed in sarcastically. "You're not scared, are you? Haha!"

"What a coward!"

The provoked player walked over angrily. After the black-cloaked person checked them, they also pointed to the middle position. That person and their two companions rushed into the factory building ahead of Yan Jiayu's group of three.

After they entered, people gradually stepped forward, but some were directed to the three factory buildings on the side.

"Why are we being separated?" a player questioned.

"The real gathering location isn't here," the black-cloaked person explained. "To avoid attracting attention, we need to leave separately."

Four rooms, nearly eighty people were almost evenly divided. About twenty or so players were together. Most people weren't too worried, and many complained about the long waiting time.

Xu Huo walked at the very end. He handed over his invitation, noticing the other person merely took it and casually put it away before handing him a bottle of evolution agent, then directing him to the factory building where Yan Jiayu was.

After all the players were divided, the three black-cloaked people entered different rooms, leading them deeper into the factory buildings.

Four rooms, three people weren't enough, so one of them led people from two rooms, saying, "Too many people came today. We're short-handed. Someone will come to pick you up later. Follow me for now."

Thus, Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu were grouped together, while Brother Liang and his other companion were separated.

The three groups all left the factory buildings, just in different directions. Xu Huo's group was led into a basement of a factory building. Unexpectedly, there was a tunnel below. The black-cloaked person said, "Leaving from here is safer. After exiting, take a car to leave."

No one else had any objections. They filed in one after another, following the black-cloaked person out of the tunnel. Sure enough, there were vehicles waiting outside. After they all got in the car, the black-cloaked person took out a row of masks in different colors but identical styles, letting them choose freely.

Red, black, white, blue, green, yellow—six colors. Xu Huo picked a black one, while Yan Jiayu, quite in sync, picked a white one.

This way, all the players in the car wore identical masks. When getting off the car, they each received an identical black cloak. After putting it on, it was almost impossible to tell who was who.

"What the hell is this!" the troublemaking player was furious. "All this mysterious nonsense! Are we there yet or not?"

"We're here, we're here," the black-cloaked person said cheerfully. "This is the place."

Everyone turned to look and realized the car had brought them to a resort that hadn't been put into use yet. The resort's basic facilities were already complete. Walking in, they could see an ecological building lush with greenery. Across the lake, they saw another group of identically dressed people walking towards the building. The black-cloaked leader even waved in their direction.

"It's the other two groups of players," Guan Sheng said.