Players, Please Board the Train

All three parties in the meeting fell silent for a second, before the Harbor City Commander-in-Chief spoke up under Capital City’s prompting: ”Are you from our country?”

”I am.” The slender voice that clearly used a voice modulator made it impossible to distinguish gender.

”I hope you won’t attempt to track my location.”

”Rest assured, we absolutely won’t actively investigate.” They wouldn’t even ask about his position, let alone track him, since they weren’t sure whether their current network systems were being monitored by players from other zones. Having a super item holder who was one of their own was already an incredible surprise—they wanted to protect him, not give outsiders any opportunity.

”You mentioned having a method to resolve Harbor City’s crisis. Could you elaborate?”

”I’ll personally draw away the advanced players,” Xu Huo stated.

”Is this something you can solve just by showing yourself? Can one person really lure away that many players?” the military-uniformed elderly man shouted. ”If the super item falls into their hands, who knows how many people will die!”

”I can try using the super item,” Xu Huo continued. ”I’m calling to seek assistance. You understand that if the super item doesn’t appear, no player will voluntarily leave Harbor City.”

While this was true, the risk seemed enormous. They could lose not just an item, but also an extremely promising player. Their nation understood the importance of talent better than anyone since its rise, especially when facing an unknown world. Capable pioneers were more valuable than any item or rare object because every step they took forward meant the nation advanced too.

The elderly man from Capital City spoke: ”Whatever assistance you need, just ask. We’ll do everything in our power to provide it.””But with one condition—please prioritize your own safety above all else.”

”I have three requirements,” Xu Huo said:

”First, within one hour, transfer ownership of all properties within the black and white roulette wheel—preferably including land and plots—to the name ’Painting Woman.’ If time is insufficient, at minimum cover more than half the area centered around the skyscraper.”

”When I say all properties, I mean every single room on every floor.”

”Second, distribute large quantities of paper throughout the buildings, regardless of size.”

”Third, have rescue personnel move trapped survivors who can be relocated to outdoor areas, creating space in the multi-player life-and-death rounds.”

”Would national appropriation of properties work?” the elderly man immediately asked. ”Or do we need complete property transfer procedures?”

”Test it with one building first,” Xu Huo suggested.

The Harbor City Commander-in-Chief immediately contacted the housing authority, transferred ownership of one of his own properties, stamped it with the national seal, then provided the address to Xu Huo.

Before Xu Huo could even speak, Painting Woman’s eyes lit up, and soon the person on the phone reported seeing paper moving inside the room through surveillance.

After she nodded, Xu Huo said, ”It works. I’ll contact you again in forty minutes.”

Hanging up, he moved locations with Painting Woman.

”I have houses now!” Painting Woman ran ahead of him after just a few steps, stretching out her hands. ”So many, many houses!”

Seeing her beaming with joy, Xu Huo asked, ”Can you control all the paper inside these houses?”

Painting Woman nodded without hesitation, then added, ”Just like the colors on my body.”

Xu Huo avoided crowded areas, choosing instead to move through inconspicuous minor locations.

”Why does the ownership transfer enable this?” he asked. ”Logically, an item’s power shouldn’t be constrained by human administrative procedures.”

Both were super items—”Three Seconds of a Life” would automatically activate when its holder died to reverse time—but Painting Woman couldn’t do this. Without the name change, she could only control one building.

Painting Woman looked at him blankly, her eyes saying ”I don’t know why but I know this is how it works.”

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow but didn’t dwell on the question, instead focusing on the government’s movements.

They had already begun acting. The rescue personnel responded fastest, moving trapped people outdoors.

The multi-player life-and-death rounds didn’t exclusively appear indoors or outdoors—some even encompassed entire buildings. Except for those truly impossible to move, most people were being relocated.

”Bookstore!” Painting Woman happily ran into an elegant bookstore, heading straight for the map section where she quickly found a map of Harbor City, then took a pen and started drawing circles on it.

Though she couldn’t read maps, she could sense which areas had become hers, so she marked them out section by section.

In the brief moment Xu Huo looked away, she had already circled about one-third of the area occupied by the black and white roulette wheel.

A sudden thought occurred to him: ”If we treated an entire city as one building, wouldn’t every location in that city fall under your control?”

”Are you talking about a castle?” Painting Woman asked, then laughed carefreely. ”Someone took me to a castle before. So big, so big! There were many dolls inside, but those dolls were mean—they bit people, even me. The person who took me got bitten to death.”

”Torn into many pieces, with each doll eating one piece.”

”I don’t like castles. Don’t want big houses.”

She lowered her head and continued drawing circles on the map, giggling with each mark she made.

Xu Huo watched her for a moment before shifting his gaze to the distant black and white roulette wheel on the ground.

*

Inside an aquarium, the Undertaker sat cross-legged on the floor, idly playing with a small roulette wheel only the size of a rice bowl.

”People from Zone 014 have really disappointed me. All of them are fools thinking moving people from indoors to outside will help?”

The man in floral shirt beside him mocked: ”You’re just patting yourself on the back. Didn’t one small wheel just disappear earlier?”

The Undertaker waved dismissively: ”Just one. After visiting so many places, you’ve seen lucky people before. What does one instance prove?”

”Well said!” The Tattooed Burly Man tore into raw fish meat with his teeth, chewing as he spoke: ”This city has over ten million people. If not even one can measure up, it’ll eventually become a breeding zone.”

”Mass evolution in Zone 014 only started little over a month ago. Don’t set your expectations too high.” The Braided Man detonated several white dots on his gaming device before looking up. ”Actually, I think Zone 014 has great potential. We might even do business here later.”

”Potential doesn’t guarantee development. How many examples are there of promising zones becoming cultivation bases for other wormhole points?” the Undertaker said cynically.

The floral-shirted man glared at him, then gestured with his lips toward the Blond Man standing before the fish tank.

The Undertaker immediately composed his expression and fell silent.

A melodious violin sound began playing as the Blond Man tapped a coin-sized metal piece on his hand that was thin as paper. A lifelike projection appeared before him.