Players, Please Board the Train

Just a brief encounter and they wanted to kill to silence him—Xu Huo was quite interested in what they were trading.

He also checked a few private investigation channels, gathering some recent information about the Rongxin Group. Unfortunately, the group’s confidentiality measures were quite good. What could be uncovered was all vague information. The only noteworthy point was that Rongxin’s medical equipment company wasn’t just dealing in equipment; it also involved some arms business.

However, while District 011 officially didn’t allow private groups to trade weapons, in reality, as long as high taxes were paid, the government would turn a blind eye. Larger-scale groups were more or less involved. For a group as large as Rongxin, it would be strange if they weren’t involved.

Investigating the black industries of a major group wasn’t that easy. The core figures within the group all had player protection, especially Vicen Meni. According to information exposed online, he was a B-level player himself, with strength not inferior to A-level players. He later left the game for special reasons.

Taking direct action against such a conspicuous target was difficult. After observing the medical equipment company for two days, Xu Huo selected a logistics staff member. After figuring out his daily routine, he rented two rooms near the man’s home and a place he frequently patronized to use as surveillance points.

After setting this up, he finally found some time to check on Zheng An.

Zheng An’s obituary was published on the Rongxin Group’s public network the day after the Palace Night Tour, along with a fairly large-scale funeral. Some videos of the funeral were taken, but there certainly wouldn’t be any extra people appearing. After the funeral, the family was well appeased, and things within the Rongxin Group remained peaceful.

Shuttling between the two surveillance points for a few days, Xu Huo suddenly received a call from Shi Youzhi, saying he had some matters and needed a helper, asking if Xu Huo was free.

Xu Huo naturally agreed and went directly to the base.

Shi Youzhi was giving instructions to a team of suited men. Besides Xu Huo, who was in casual clothes, there was another female player. As soon as she spoke, Xu Huo recognized her as ”Tiger” from the same room during the Palace Night Tour.”Let me introduce you. Xu Huo, Wan Tingfang,” Shi Youzhi introduced them to each other, then pointed to two members of his own team. ”This is Ai Jia, She Ping. They will brief you on some precautions.”

After hurriedly finishing, Shi Youzhi had everyone board the vehicles. Eighteen people were divided among three large cargo trucks. These trucks were the largest-tonnage vehicles in District 011, with a pointed front and a rounded rear. Above the carriage was a short conical load. Parked, it looked like a small building. They weren’t usually seen in the main city district. Xu Huo had encountered them twice; they also hovered and flew, not touching the ground during travel.

”Can such a big vehicle really fly?” Wan Tingfang, whose physique and appearance were somewhat androgynous, had a straightforward personality. She slapped the silver metal shell of the truck.

”Get in the truck quickly, no more chatter,” She Ping said impatiently, glancing at her before entering the carriage first.

Six people per truck: two in the driver’s cabin, four entering the carriage from the rear.

Once inside, Xu Huo understood why only six people were assigned per truck. The vast majority of the cargo space was filled by a massive silver rectangular object. Aside from the curved space at the rear where a few people could sit, this truck seemed almost custom-built to fit this silver object’s dimensions.

”What is this thing? It’s so huge!” Wan Tingfang exclaimed after the vehicle began flying close to the ground.

”Track repair apparatus,” Ai Jia replied, much friendlier compared to She Ping’s aloofness. ”The tracks the dimensional train runs on can’t be repaired manually, so specialized repair apparatus are needed.”

Xu Huo glanced at the silver object. From the outside, its contents couldn’t be seen, but anything capable of repairing dimensional tracks must be a product from a game partition with highly advanced technology.

”District 011 can even repair tracks?” Wan Tingfang said, surprised. ”No wonder so many players want to stay in District 011.”

”Actually, no,” Ai Jia said. ”The track repair apparatus are transported from other partitions. The Game Government has explicit regulations: no partition government is allowed to privately produce repair apparatus.”

”Did tracks somewhere get damaged?” Xu Huo spoke up. ”Another blood mutant attack incident?”

She Ping turned to look at him then. ”So you’re the one who helped Brother Shi last time?”

”I wouldn’t call it helping. I heard you all had to recover the carriage afterward. I feel quite bad about that,” Xu Huo said with a smile.

”Your willingness to help is a good thing,” She Ping said. ”Our Track Supply Department is unwelcome wherever we go. We suffer many casualties. If someone lends a hand at a critical moment, it might save our colleagues. Recovering a carriage is nothing.”

”Don’t mind his cold face; he’s actually warm-hearted,” Ai Jia said, putting an arm around She Ping’s shoulder and patting it, then addressing Xu Huo and Wan Tingfang. ”Things have been a bit hectic at the base lately. Everyone’s mood isn’t great.”

Wan Tingfang looked slightly nervous. ”Are we going onto the dimensional train? Could we encounter high-level players?”

”Don’t worry about that. We’re not boarding the train this time. A station in District 011 is damaged, and they called us over to fix it. There won’t be any danger,” Ai Jia said.

The convoy of three trucks and eighteen people traveled at extremely high speed to a station city two thousand kilometers away from the base city. Unlike the base city, this station was located in a desert. City buildings could only be seen from a great distance. The station itself was a transparent, massive glass room. Tracks formed by two parallel lines passed through the glass room, extending toward an unseen horizon at both ends.

From the outside, no damage to the tracks was visible. However, once people stepped down, they immediately sank into the sand up to their knees.

”This sand feels like snow underfoot. Is it a product of a special geographical area?” Xu Huo asked.

The others disembarked from the vehicles one after another. Shi Youzhi walked over and said, ”It wasn’t like this originally. There was a player attack incident once. This entire area was altered by a characteristic. No structure can stand stable on it, which is why the city was forced to relocate. But people can stand on it fine.”

After speaking, he waved his hand. Under the control of three personnel, the truck carriages opened from the top toward both sides. It was only then that Xu Huo saw the conical object on the roof and the apparatus inside the carriage were connected.

Once the carriages were fully opened, the apparatus automatically activated under Shi Youzhi’s authorization, lining up and slowly flying toward the glass room.

The three massive repair apparatus entered the station. After landing on the tracks, detection data was fed back to Shi Youzhi’s controller. A large amount of data was projected in mid-air. He glanced at it briefly and smiled. ”A minor issue. Can be fixed in two hours.”

The other personnel cheered. Shi Youzhi then said to Xu Huo and the other, ”Most of the work our Track Supply Department does is this. Sometimes we have to wait for days. It’s extremely monotonous.”

Wan Tingfang couldn’t help but show envy. ”I think a bit of monotony isn’t so bad.”

Shi Youzhi didn’t say anything more, his gaze returning to the working apparatus. The other staff members weren’t just standing idly by waiting for the machines to finish; they took up a surrounding defensive posture around the station.

Xu Huo’s brow furrowed slightly. The next second, he saw She Ping draw his gun and fire at a nearby sand dune...!