Players, Please Board the Train

Yu Qingqing glared at him resentfully for a good while before finally relaxing her expression, pouting as she said, ”Cousin, my hand hurts.”

Xu Huo released her. ”If your hand hurts, eat some chicken feet. Like cures like.”

Yu Qingqing immediately became cheerful again, scrambling up to circle around him. ”I knew you’d say that but still think of me as your cousin deep down. Otherwise you wouldn’t have bought my favorite snacks.”

”It’s just that the person cooking hotpot is a bit annoying. Cousin, you cook for me instead.”

”Eat it or don’t.”

”Then I’ll cook for you.”

During the meal, Yu Qingqing squeezed Painting Woman aside, but Painting Woman didn’t care at all. Her eyes remained fixed on the boiling pot, and after a while Yu Qingqing also shifted her attention as the two began fighting over the ingredients in the pot.

While they were locked in their heated battle, Xu Huo received a game notification.

He returned to his room and opened the game interface:

[Congratulations Player Extra for obtaining D-grade item ”V. Fanxiao’s Tool of Crime”.][V. Fanxiao, the arsonist who once gave governments headaches, set fires in twenty-eight major cities. Before each crime, he would stay at a nearby hotel using the surname ”Fanxiao,” and after arson would leave a ”V” shaped burn mark. Official investigations failed to identify his true identity, so they simply recorded the name ”V. Fanxiao” in the files.]

[However, after his twenty-eighth arson attack, he completely vanished, leaving only a lighter at the scene.]

[Leaving behind his tool of crime was undoubtedly a provocation to the government, so this lighter was confiscated and stored.]

[Note: The natural enemy of combustibles. Within three seconds of igniting it each time, aim it at the target and say the word ”burn” to instantly release three square meters of flames, with the flame area ignoring the object’s shape. Note: It can only ignite one item at a time. If the item’s total area is less than three square meters, it will be calculated as three square meters. Additionally, the distance between player and target cannot exceed one hundred meters, and there must be no obstacles.]

Selecting ”V. Fanxiao’s Tool of Crime,” a lighter with a black stone-textured body featuring a relief skull design landed in Xu Huo’s hand. Compared to the ”Arsonist’s Tools,” this lighter added a time restriction - after opening it, you must complete the arson within three seconds.

He took various differently shaped items to the bathroom and after testing them one by one, he basically understood how to use this new item.

While arson now had a time limit, the damage range had expanded. The ”Arsonist’s Tools” could only produce one flame cluster at a time, but this lighter could instantly ignite three square meters of flames regardless of form. If the target was a rope, the fire would burn exactly three square meters of area, ignoring length.

Moreover, once ignited, the flames spread almost instantly, no longer as easy to extinguish as before.

Additionally, the target was no longer limited to people, so mouthing the word ”burn” was sufficient.

Compared to these advantages, the time restriction flaw was almost negligible.

He already had a general plan for dealing with the crisis brought by the super item, but lacked some implementation conditions. This item came at just the right time.

”Cousin, did you fall into the toilet? Do you need me to rescue you?” Yu Qingqing knocked on the door outside.

Xu Huo washed his hands and came out, asking her, ”What are your plans recently?”

”Nothing. I can play as long as I want.” Yu Qingqing said.

”It’s been several years since I went back. I plan to return home for a visit.” Xu Huo said: ”My room probably hasn’t been cleaned. You go back first and help me tidy up, do some cleaning and buy daily necessities.”

”Aren’t you coming back with me?” Yu Qingqing didn’t care where she was.

”I still have an extra job to finish. It’ll take a few days.” Xu Huo paused before adding: ”In a rather remote rural area.”

”My high heels will be ruined if they step in mud.” Yu Qingqing easily made her choice: ”Alright then, I’ll go back tomorrow. I promise to make your room beautifully decorated!”

Painting Woman approached supporting herself with her phone. ”I want to go too.”

”Fine.” Xu Huo nodded. Since Painting Woman refused to leave, she might as well stay and help.

The next day, after seeing Yu Qingqing off, he went to a car rental company and rented an SUV, taking Painting Woman to find Wang Chaoqing.

Wang Chaoqing didn’t run away this time, getting into the car looking utterly miserable. ”Brother, where are we going?”

”Harbor City.”

*

In some E-grade dungeon in Zone 014, a burly man covered in upper body tattoos of strange patterns threw the final corpse onto a mountain of bodies, pouring gasoline over it and setting it ablaze.

As the massive fire shot up with black smoke, he grinned to reveal a mouth of blackened teeth, saying delightedly, ”I fucking love this smell!”

A blond man sitting under a tree not far away inserted his cleaned dagger into his boot, asking the young man with numerous small braids beside him, ”Is everyone here?”

The young man fiddled with something that looked like a game console as he said, ”Still missing two...”

Before he finished speaking, two square plane-like portals suddenly sprang open in the grass nearby, from which two people emerged separately. The older-looking one said, ”What awful luck. We just ran into those Holy Sword Society hypocrites in the dungeon. From their tone, it seems they sent several Three-Sword Golden Disciples this time, all A-grade players.”

”Forget about the Holy Sword Society for now. They did send A-grade players after all, so we should show some respect.” The other flamboyantly dressed man said: ”I encountered two C-grade morons. After capturing them, I found their leader was only a B-grade member. No idea where they got their train tickets.”

”That’s good for us too.” The braided man said: ”Train tickets for Zone 014 aren’t easy to find. If they all fall into such people’s hands, our chances of winning will be greater.”

The tattooed burly man laughed loudly, ”As long as no S-grade players show up, I fear nothing!”

The others joined in the laughter, then the blond man asked, ”Have you chosen a location?”

The braided man quickly lowered his head and pressed buttons on his game console. ”Based on the distribution of large-scale destructive weapons, Zone 014’s strongest firepower should be in Country Y, followed by Countries B and X. However, Country X has the largest population, so the super item owner is more likely to originate from there.”

”Searching country by country is troublesome. Let’s just go where the people are.” The colorful-dressed man said.

”There are three mega-population cities. Let me see which one to choose.” The braided man’s fingers moved between three cities at different latitudes, finally settling on the middle one.

A circular jade disc with six diamond-shaped grooves appeared in the blond man’s hand. The braided man and others each placed their diamond-shaped jade pieces into the grooves. The blond man rotated the eye-shaped protrusion in the center, and the jade disc immediately projected a square beam of light into the air. At the beam’s end formed a door, and beyond that door, across a vast ocean, stood a large metropolis filled with skyscrapers.

”Let’s go. Time to greet Zone 014’s new friends.” The blond man patted his clothes and stepped through, followed closely by the other six.