Players, Please Board the Train

Nie Xuan conveyed the Special Defense Department’s intentions, roughly meaning that although the current situation wasn’t great, it wasn’t unsolvable either. Headquarters had already tracked the movements of several small groups of Player-Eaters, and if they used them as exemplary targets to crack down on, it would serve as a direct warning to the other players with ulterior motives currently gathering in Capital City.

Xu Huo didn’t need to do anything—not even act as a decoy. The Special Defense Department had ways to lure away the Player-Eaters; he just had to stay out of sight.

”When did the Special Defense Department become so easy to deal with?” Xu Huo chuckled. ”Headquarters doesn’t only have Team Leader Song running things, does it?”

Nie Xuan was replaying videos related to the Harbor City incident. ”I visited that hotel in Water City that got burned down. I brought back some useful things. Minister Fan would very much like to invite Lichun to work for the Special Defense Department, but I don’t know if she’d be willing.”

”You should contact her directly.” Xu Huo glanced at the Painting Woman, who was sprawled on the sofa playing games.

”She won’t answer the phone.” Of course Nie Xuan knew what she was doing, but he had a gut feeling that asking the Painting Woman directly would yield no results. ”She’s been following you since she first appeared in Ting City. She should listen to you. Why don’t you persuade her? I noticed her monthly expenses aren’t small, but the Special Defense Department wouldn’t have a problem giving her preferential treatment.”

Xu Huo left the room and went to the adjacent lounge. ”You can save the jokes. If the Special Defense Department has the ability, then go convince her directly.”

The Painting Woman wasn’t his item, nor did she belong to him. He couldn’t completely dictate her behavior.

When she first came out of the Skinner dungeon, the Painting Woman was still somewhat naive and inexperienced. Now she’d learned to be clever—she even knew to buy cheats for her games.

A self-aware Super Item wouldn’t be as harmless as it appeared on the surface. She stayed in Zone 014, stayed by his side, simply because she wanted to.Xu Huo could neither restrain her nor command her.

”So sure?” Nie Xuan paused the video on his computer at the moment the Painting Woman was ”killed” by a masked player. ”Speaking of which, I searched the national portrait database and found no information about Lichun’s past at all. She’s like someone who appeared out of thin air.”

Xu Huo’s gaze darkened slightly, but his tone remained casual. ”Maybe she came from some small, obscure place.”

”Sure, let’s go with that.” Nie Xuan laughed. ”But she doesn’t have a complete Identification. When she undergoes personal information encryption review, she’ll definitely attract attention.”

”Didn’t you investigate her identity? Handle it however you see fit.” Xu Huo paused, then added, ”I have no intention of interfering with the Special Defense Department’s operations. I agree to what you proposed.”

”Alright, then I’ll report back to the Minister.” Nie Xuan also seemed uninterested in continuing this practically meaningless conversation, adding a pointed reminder: ”Xu Huo, be careful.”

Xu Huo returned the favor. ”If you have time, you might want to keep an eye on Dai Wenqian’s movements.”

He ended the call, holding his phone and watching the screen light fade.

This call from Nie Xuan carried two meanings.

First, the Special Defense Department already knew that Lichun was the ”Painting Woman” from the Harbor City incident. They believed she was a player holding a Super Item and intended to recruit her.

Second, Nie Xuan himself was suspicious of Lichun’s identity.

Xu Huo hadn’t done much to cover up the Painting Woman’s identity before. His only instruction was to tell her that before entering a dungeon, she had to hang herself on the wall for at least four consecutive days every month. The Painting Woman had fulfilled that task perfectly.

Two months ago, he thought the Painting Woman wouldn’t stay in Zone 014 for long, so he hadn’t made any other arrangements.

Nie Xuan discovering what she did in the hotel wasn’t surprising—it was only a matter of time. At least now the Special Defense Department would help clean up the mess with that Player-Eater who got away.

But Nie Xuan was too sharp. He was still suspicious of the Painting Woman’s identity.

This suspicion ran much deeper. Whether he suspected that the Painting Woman wasn’t actually a Zone 014 player, or suspected that she wasn’t the one holding the Super Item, either way, he might eventually uncover the true ownership of the Super Item. He was probably already studying the Harbor City incident materials at this very moment.

But suspicion was just suspicion. The one who actually controlled the paper was the Painting Woman, and she was a living person. Since they initially identified the Super Item as being related to paper, that conclusion wouldn’t be easily overturned. After all, at the time, there was no second phenomenon—or entity—that matched the criteria for a Super Item.

”Creak!” The door pushed open from outside. The Painting Woman stuck her head in, hesitating as she asked him, ”Are you busy?”

Xu Huo casually slipped his phone into his pocket. ”Something on your mind?”

The Painting Woman shuffled inside, looking awkward, using her phone to speak for herself. ”Can I go work?”

Before Xu Huo could respond, she quickly added, ”I know everyone has to work. You work to earn money. I want to earn my own money.”

Xu Huo stared at her for two seconds. ”You are free.”

The Painting Woman froze, seeming not quite to understand his meaning.

But Xu Huo simply smiled. ”I’m not your master, and you have no master. You don’t need anyone’s permission to do anything.”

His attitude could be called genial—more kind and gentle than ever before. The Painting Woman was pleasantly surprised. ”Can I really do whatever I want? Even kill people I hate?”

Xu Huo reached out and patted her head. ”First, read the criminal law. Just don’t do the things on that list.”

The Painting Woman said she definitely would read it. But within just a few seconds of following Xu Huo out of the room, she already had a question. ”It says here you can’t deprive others of their lives. But I’ve already done that. Do I have to go to jail?”

”I don’t want to go to jail. Can I get the people who wrote this to change it?”

Zheng Liang, overhearing her words, couldn’t help but laugh. ”This is criminal law. How can you change it?”

”But lots of people are depriving others of their lives right now, and they’re not in jail.”

Zheng Liang scratched his head. ”This is a special situation. There hasn’t been time yet. Eventually, they’ll make those who kill recklessly go to jail.”

The Painting Woman lowered her head, swiped her finger across the screen a few times, then unhappily said to Xu Huo, ”So many things I can’t do. Can this really not be changed?”

”The law definitely won’t allow changes,” Brother Liang also chimed in. ”But basically, as long as you don’t get caught, it’s fine.”

”Don’t corrupt Lichun,” Gu Yu said, still thinking the Painting Woman wasn’t very bright.

”I think it’s fine,” Wen Xuelin retorted. ”It’s so chaotic out there. What if she runs into danger? What if someone tricks Lichun?”

The Painting Woman slowly furrowed her brow, thought for a moment, then said, ”So if the person who wrote this dies, I don’t have to follow it anymore?”

Before anyone could respond, she continued, ”Then I’ll go kill him.”

The players present all stopped what they were doing and stared at the Painting Woman, who seemed completely unaware of how terrifying her words were: To kill the person who made the law just so she wouldn’t have to follow it? What kind of logic was that? What exactly caused her to escalate a simple common-sense issue into an unreasonably brutal ”solve it at the root” approach?

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