To quickly complete the mission and return to Yuzhou, Cao Fuli went all out. When he discovered He Kanwen fleeing with a sack, he immediately gave chase, rushing into a small alley. However, a strange thing happened: no matter how hard Cao Fuli pursued, he couldn't catch up to He Kanwen.
According to the information Cao Fuli had, He Kanwen was merely a lucky individual who had become an ability user. The ability he could use was a seemingly useless body-strengthening type. The parts strengthened were not his hands or feet, but rather his bones, allowing him to perform actions impossible for ordinary people. This ability was practically useless in combat.
Yet, it was precisely this kind of person that Cao Fuli, a fourth-tier ability user, couldn't catch. For a moment, Cao Fuli began to doubt his own abilities. Was he really that weak? Why couldn't he even catch up to a debauched individual? Could the other party possess such skill?
As Cao Fuli ran forward, he suddenly noticed something was wrong. He Kanwen's movements seemed unchanged, appearing stiff.
Immediately, Cao Fuli, sensing something amiss, stopped his pursuit and stood still to observe. Unknowingly, he had arrived at an unfamiliar place. It seemed to be a park, with many elderly people. Elderly people have shallow sleep and wake up quickly after falling asleep, so they were already out in the park for morning exercises.
After Cao Fuli stopped, he unexpectedly discovered that the figure running ahead had disappeared. It was as if a gust of wind had blown him away.
"Damn it, this is an illusion!" Cao Fuli stopped, realizing he had fallen into an ambush.
"Not bad, you noticed the anomaly so quickly. However, by now, it's impossible for you to leave." A voice suddenly came from a distance.
Cao Fuli looked in the direction of the voice and saw figures wearing masks slowly approaching. Looking around, people appeared from all four directions, dressed in various attire but all wearing masks.
"Are you guys from Mount Lu Liang?" Cao Fuli asked cautiously, trying to ascertain the true identities of the opponents at this moment.
Cao Fuli had previously heard from Yue Hengyi about his and Shen Feng's encounter on their way back. At that time, Yue Hengyi had mentioned a group of enemies who never showed their true faces, always wearing masks. The leader among them could cast illusions, affecting even Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi. Later, Yue Hengyi speculated that these people were hiding in Mount Lu Liang, but there was no evidence.
As soon as Cao Fuli's question was out, it made everyone present laugh. They laughed and said, "You're not stupid, you actually know the reputation of us, the Thirteen Protectors of Mount Lu Liang. However, you'll be captured soon. Once we capture you, we can demand something from Yuzhou. You monopolize the production of the evolution base and still want to maintain independence? Hmph, what a pipe dream."
The enemies no longer concealed their identities and directly admitted to being part of the Thirteen Protectors of Mount Lu Liang. Cao Fuli immediately became vigilant. If the enemies were from the Heavenly Dragon Bureau, he wouldn't be so cautious. After all, most of the combat-capable individuals from the Heavenly Dragon Bureau had died in Yuzhou. Even the ability-enhancing potions were left behind, and their corpses were still hanging on the city walls to this day. However, if the enemies who had ambushed Shen Feng and Yue Hengyi appeared before him, he had to be wary of their attacks.
Cao Fuli began to secretly deploy his ability, controlling the surrounding plastic. At the same time, he continued to stall for time with his words, "Why don't you reveal your true faces? Are you afraid of being recognized? If so, it means you dare not show your true faces, not only because you fear resentment but also because you have special identities, which is why you can't take off your masks, is that it?"
"Hmph, keep that to yourself. Brothers, attack!" The enemies had already seen through Cao Fuli's intentions at this moment and naturally wouldn't let him stall for time, so they immediately launched their attack.
"Everyone leave here! This is a battlefield!" Seeing that there were still many elderly people in the park, Cao Fuli quickly shouted, hoping to make them escape quickly.
At this moment, the enemies' attacks finally arrived. The enemies from the four directions simultaneously charged at Cao Fuli, some holding knives, others iron rods, and directly attacked Cao Fuli. It was only because firearms were generally not allowed in Yanjing City that Cao Fuli wasn't shot in the back upon meeting them.
There wasn't much plastic in the park. After all, the park was built for environmental purposes, and even trash bags were not allowed. Finding plastic was quite difficult.
Cao Fuli didn't know what abilities these people possessed and didn't dare to let them get close. He quickly fled, and all the remaining plastic in the park was controlled.
The white lampshades on the fence, plastic chairs, green trash cans, and even the plastic pipes used for watering instantly melted and flew towards Cao Fuli as liquid.
With plastic in hand, Cao Fuli finally felt much more at ease. It seemed his ability could still be used. Although there wasn't much plastic, simple combat was possible.
Looking at the surrounding figures, Cao Fuli thought, "I can't get into a prolonged battle with these people; I'll be exhausted. I must break out quickly, or I'll definitely be captured. Let's finish this quickly and break out!"
Cao Fuli's mind moved, and he was about to charge forward. However, at that moment, a dark figure rushed in front of Cao Fuli with extreme speed. It was a masked figure.
"What the!" Cao Fuli was startled. He didn't expect someone to be so fast that he couldn't even see them clearly before they reached him. However, Cao Fuli didn't want to admit defeat. The plastic in his hand instantly melted into a long spear, and Cao Fuli charged forward, thrusting the spear.
"Swish," Cao Fuli prepared to fight desperately, using nine-tenths of his strength. A cold glint appeared first, followed by the spear thrust like a dragon. The spear shot out like a python, and if it hit the opponent, it would pierce them directly.
However, when the spear hit the masked figure, it passed through without resistance, as if it had no substance.
Cao Fuli, unable to maintain his balance, crashed into it. This collision was not trivial; it directly shattered the dark figure in front of him. The figure then vanished into thin air, as if it had never appeared.
"Illusion? No, this is visual deception." Seeing this scene repeat, Cao Fuli initially thought it was an illusion. But now, Cao Fuli finally understood. Illusions directly appeared in the brain, while this was simply his eyes being deceived by the scene before him.
"That's right, some of what you see is real, and some are illusions I've created. Now, let's see what you do!" One of the leading figures laughed. Then, illusions began to appear throughout the park, all of them masked figures, making it impossible to distinguish real people from them with the naked eye.
Cao Fuli watched as figures appeared in the park, making his eyes dizzy. At a rough glance, there were at least thirty more illusions in the park. These illusions were distracting but served no other purpose. However, Cao Fuli couldn't possibly give up using his eyes.
Cao Fuli was not Lin Yue; he couldn't use sonar to detect surrounding objects. If he closed his eyes, he would become completely blind.
When humans obtain information from the outside world, their eyes play a significant role. Sometimes, even after hearing a sound, eyes are needed for confirmation. Therefore, it's impossible for ordinary people to perceive the world accurately after losing their sight.
The enemies' current ability was specifically designed to deceive the eyes using light and shadow to delay him. Cao Fuli's eyes were already strained by the scene, making it impossible to accurately locate the enemies.
There were only four enemies in the park, but there were over thirty illusions. These illusions had light and shadow and movements. From the outside, there was no discernible abnormality. These figures had surrounded Cao Fuli, making it impossible to break out.
At this moment, Cao Fuli could only encourage himself mentally, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Only four enemies are real; the rest are visual distortions, just light and shadow effects."
With this thought, Cao Fuli immediately charged out, heading in the direction where he remembered fewer people. The illusory figures in the park all made attacking gestures. In their hands, some held knives, others long swords, all attacking Cao Fuli.
Cao Fuli acted as if he saw nothing and charged forward, shattering the illusory figures one by one. After shattering five consecutive illusions, Cao Fuli saw hope of breaking out of the park. As long as he could break out, he would be safe.
However, just as Cao Fuli was about to break out, a large foot extended from the side and kicked towards him.
Cao Fuli assumed it was another illusion like before and didn't make any defenses.
But when the illusion kicked, Cao Fuli was fiercely kicked back, flying through the air before landing on the ground after a while.
"Bang," Cao Fuli landed on the ground, his body in pain, unable to speak.
"Damn it, you bastards, you're all about dirty tricks." Cao Fuli's hope of escape vanished, and he could only lie on the ground and wail. Although there were only four enemies, they had been hiding among the illusions, making it impossible to distinguish the real ones.
"Then we won't play dirty tricks. Let's give you something real!" Someone else replied at this moment. Since the method of using fakes to deceive was called a dirty trick, they might as well use some straightforward moves.
After speaking, the ground began to tremble slightly. Cao Fuli quickly looked around. At this moment, he already felt something was wrong; a powerful attack seemed to be imminent.
Cao Fuli's feeling was not wrong. At that moment, countless vehicles suddenly drove towards the park from a distance. A quick glance revealed fifty to sixty vehicles. Some of these vehicles had already overturned, with drivers still inside.
The drivers were struggling to control their direction, trying to steer the vehicles, but they were completely unable to do so. They could only see the vehicles being dragged along in the distance.
The people in the park had already mostly fled. These elderly people hadn't expected that they would be safe in the city, only to have battles erupt within the city, and all of them involving ability users. As the saying goes, when gods fight, mortals suffer. For ordinary people, battles between ability users were like battles between gods.
The vehicles rushed towards Cao Fuli. Cao Fuli quickly dodged, holding the plastic spear in his hand. He parried the approaching illusions, and since he couldn't distinguish the real enemies, he could only attack them all indiscriminately, not allowing any illusion to get close to him.
As the vehicles rushed forward, Cao Fuli immediately felt the strain. He had to dodge the impact of the vehicles and be wary of the enemies' attacks. Every second, he was on guard against potential danger, and his mind was almost overwhelmed. After shattering an illusion, he would immediately face an oncoming car, leaving him no time to think about anything else.
Suddenly, thorns began to grow from the ground, forming a wall. The paving stones were pushed up by the thorns. To escape, one first had to pass through these thorns.
"Now, Cao Fuli, you are a trapped beast. Surrender. At least you'll get some dignity. The other two with you have likely already been captured." After the thorns formed a barrier, someone again offered terms of surrender.