Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo followed along. At that moment, the invisible door opposite Shi Youzhi’s office opened. Ai Jia waved him in. Inside were the other base members he had seen before—except for She Ping, there was another female teammate, Cai Xiangxiang, and a short guy, Sun Chuan. Those two had been the ones using the bubble machine and pouring the black water in the desert the previous day.

Sun Chuan was lively, grinning as he said to Xu Huo, “There’s going to be a show.”

The show they referred to was happening in the room across the way. The projector faithfully transmitted the situation over here.

The first to speak was Ran Ying. “Captain Shi, be reasonable. We don’t usually interact much, but we haven’t had conflicts. Why did you capture someone of mine for no reason?”

“Did I capture someone?” Shi Youzhi’s expression was calm. “Didn’t that kid run into a dungeon the moment he saw me? The person isn’t even in my hands. Captain Ran comes here to make accusations. Do you people from the Enforcement Department have nothing better to do?”

Ran Ying snorted. “I know you didn’t capture him. I’m asking why you targeted Enforcement Department personnel and cut off our communications. What, picking a fight?”

“Enforcement Department people aren’t behaving.” Shi Youzhi looked at her coldly. “I warned you before, don’t let Enforcement Department people loiter near the base. Who knows—if I’m in a bad mood one day, I might settle things with a couple of them.”

“You had people keeping an eye on the base, sabotaging station repairs. Ran Ying, are you trying to get the Game Government to pull its base out of District 011?” he added.

Ran Ying’s expression clouded at that. She stared at him for a long moment without speaking.

“What would happen if the Game Government pulled its base out of District 011?” Xu Huo asked the other team members.“The Game Government placing a base in a game partition signals strong approval of that partition,” She Ping explained. “Usually the cities hosting game bases are more stable, and the chance of high-level players attacking a city is lower.”

Although District 011’s government and the game base generally didn’t interfere with each other, where the Game Government had influence some partitions were directly managed. That meant the Game Government had policies and measures to handle players. If a high-level player attacked the Game Government, the game would certainly retaliate. With the technological development involved, cities hosting game bases tended to be relatively more stable.

That stability was crucial for a game partition’s growth.

But behind that stability lurked an invisible threat: control over players by the Dimensional Rift. Game partitions and players might appear strong, but if the Game Government decided to destroy a partition, it could. So challenging the Game Government required more than courage.

Across the way, Cheng Bing stepped out to smooth things over. “Station repairs aren’t under our Enforcement Department’s jurisdiction. Captain Shi, you’re taking it out on us for no reason, aren’t you?”

Shi Youzhi looked equally blunt. “This is an internal coordination problem in your District 011 government, nothing to do with me. If you don’t want stations repaired, fine—stations closed before repairs finish won’t issue train tickets anyway. Fewer players in District 011 wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Ran Ying seemed to regain her composure, face hard. “Don’t worry. I’ll negotiate with the other departments when I get back. I won’t delay Captain Shi’s affairs.”

“That’s good.”

“But Captain Shi, remember this is District 011. Our players aren’t people you can mess with at will. If there’s a next time, don’t blame me for losing face.” Ran Ying warned, “There are many ways to make someone disappear. I don’t believe the Game Government would remove a base for the sake of one person.”

“If everyone did their jobs properly there wouldn’t be so much drama,” Shi Youzhi shot back.

Ran Ying swept her sleeves and left. Shi Youzhi stood in the room for two seconds, then walked out.

Sun Chuan and Cai Xiangxiang fumbled to turn off the projector and, by tacit agreement, turned their backs to pretend they were busy.

The invisible door opened. Shi Youzhi stood at the entrance with a hard expression, but instead of berating the teammates, he looked at Xu Huo. “You have nothing to do?”

Xu Huo smiled and left. The closing invisible door gradually muffled the sounds from the room.

After leaving the base, he didn’t rush to find Deng Xuan. Instead he went back to clean up the two surveillance points, erased his traces, then put on the Clown Set and left. He took buses and trains in fits and starts toward the ancient city district.

The lower city, like a spiderweb, was too dangerous to enter directly, so Xu Huo kept his distance. Deng Xuan moved around frequently; there were opportunities to encounter him outside.

It took nearly two hours of waiting before he ran into anyone. Deng Xuan and two companions, drunk, linked arms as they discussed where to unwind.

Xu Huo stepped forward to hand out the sticker flyers, but they waved him off rudely.

After glancing at the three of them, Xu Huo silently withdrew his hand and detoured around them.

He bought some food and water at a vending store, then rented a single-person paid lounge. Watching flying vehicles shuttle by outside, he thought about his next moves.

Deng Xuan no longer held much value. Even if something happened, Deng Xuan’s chance of being involved was slim.

The activity at the docks might not be real; if Xu Huo wanted more information, he would have to go to the station.

He took out his communicator and searched the city’s hot news for the past two days. Three of ten headlines mentioned the same name—Madame Butterfly.

Madame Butterfly… Xu Huo’s scrolling finger paused on a woman wearing a butterfly mask. The screen loaded more information about Madame Butterfly. Aside from a vague identity blurb, most content was gossip: she had only recently arrived in District 011 and was frequently seen with high-ranking figures. She seemed to attend endless private functions, and her fame stemmed from her promiscuous reputation.

“…Reliable sources say Madame Butterfly will tour Rose Castle this afternoon with Duke Tal…”

Xu Huo closed the communications feed, finished the remaining food in a few bites, and hailed a vehicle to Rose Castle.

The castle looked the same as before, roses blooming in front and back. The areas burned earlier had been fully restored; the front gate had been refurbished and the garden now had tables and chairs, giving it a refreshed appearance.

Besides Mr. Dong, there was a new maid.

“You’re back.” When Xu Huo appeared at the front gate, Mr. Dong was already waiting there as if certain he would return. He took Xu Huo’s coat again and said, “Sir’s bedroom has been redecorated. I will take your coat and umbrella to your room.”

That strange feeling rose again. Xu Huo asked, “Are guests expected at the castle this afternoon?”

“Duke Tal and Madame Butterfly.” Mr. Dong accepted a wet towel the maid handed him and passed it to Xu Huo. “Duke Tal is friends with He Pu. He helped secure Mr. He Pu’s baron title. He called earlier to say he would come to pay his respects to Mr. He Pu.”