Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo had learned earlier that District 011’s Welfare Home supported quite a few people, but it was rare for anyone to directly adopt a child and take them home. They usually just donated money to support their living expenses and education until they grew up.

“Mr. Dong, do you know why nobles have been so keen on adopting orphans recently?” he asked.

“It’s a charity campaign initiated by a noble lady,” Mr. Dong said. “Most of those adopting orphans are player families. They also own property in District 011’s subordinate partitions, so they generally take the children away after adopting them.”

“By taking non-player trains?”

“Yes,” Mr. Dong said. “Game Partitions can apply for non-player train tickets on an individual or group basis. Players generally can’t board such trains, but if conditions allow, their family members often choose this method of travel.”

“There have been news reports of large-scale orphan adoptions in the past, but those children basically all left District 011 afterward and never came back.”

Xu Huo looked at the photos in the news. One or two nobles acting out of goodwill might barely be believable, but so many of them suddenly showing kindness at the same time felt strange.

“Sir, are you also thinking of adopting a child?” Mr. Dong refilled his water. “If you’re interested, I can contact the Welfare Home today. You’re a Baron now, so the paperwork would be very simple to handle.”

“I have no intention of adopting a child,” Xu Huo said. He closed the news and headed out to the game base to report in.

Compared to yesterday’s busyness, today the department was much quieter. Once the analysis report was ready, he just needed to hand over the samples to Director Sanyang.Xu Huo also brought up the matter of purchasing items with Shi Youzhi.

“You’ve been buying items pretty frequently lately,” Shi Youzhi said, looking at him with newfound respect. “Good harvest from the dungeon?”

“Not bad,” Xu Huo said with a smile. “Are there any purchasing restrictions for auxiliary personnel?”

“You could say there are,” Shi Youzhi said. “Submitting requests too frequently won’t work either. Every game base has certain quotas, and high-grade items have fixed allocations.”

He then looked at Xu Huo and laughed. “You bought a high-grade item last time, and you’re going for another this time, right?”

Xu Huo had just nodded when Wan Tingfang and Cai Xiangxiang walked in from outside. The former, upon hearing he was buying an item, immediately gave him a thumbs-up. “Brother Xu is way too impressive! I still haven’t saved up enough to afford an item myself!”

Wan Tingfang had also looked at items before, but her wallet was too thin to make the purchase.

“She could buy one though,” Shi Youzhi said, pointing at her. “You could discuss using her slot instead. She doesn’t have the money to buy an item anytime soon anyway.”

Xu Huo looked at Wan Tingfang. She wasn’t shy about it either. She rubbed her fingers together. “You know the deal.”

“Flat price, two hundred thousand White Bills,” Xu Huo said. “That’s my limit. Anything over, and I’m out.”

Wan Tingfang clapped her hands. “Deal!”

Xu Huo paid up, and Shi Youzhi opened the internal system for them to browse together.

“These items look really good,” Wan Tingfang said with eyes full of envy, then sighed. “Too bad I don’t have the money... What are you planning to buy?”

Xu Huo had his eye on the “Inverted Space” last time, but when he opened it now, he found it was gone. He asked Shi Youzhi, “Does the game base’s item catalog change regularly?”

Shi Youzhi nodded. “Usually, items get requisitioned or bought up, and new ones come in. It’s not fixed. Sometimes there are especially few high-grade items.”

Xu Huo scrolled through the image screens and quickly found another B-grade item:

[Concentrated Air: Everything can be compressed, so air naturally can too. But this is different from compressing air into a rubber ball. One scientist conducted an experiment: if you repeatedly compress three square meters of air to a certain degree, it will have an effect similar to a spacetime item, capable of blocking the effects of certain characteristics and items.]

[Think of it as instantly compressing the air within a ten-meter interval down to one centimeter. Those ten meters of distance don’t actually disappear. As everyone knows, many characteristics and items have distance limitations, so whether used as a precaution or a defensive item, this is an excellent piece of equipment.]

This could not only guard against characteristics and items but also function just like an air barrier, and unlike other defensive items that become unusable once damaged, this one could be reused.

Xu Huo glanced at the price below—fifteen million White Bills. And this was still the internal price.

“A defensive item, and it costs this much!” Wan Tingfang exclaimed in shock. “Other B-grade items aren’t this expensive!”

“Items with spacetime attributes are always more expensive than usual. Not only are they pricey, but they might also come with additional conditions,” Shi Youzhi said, scrolling down. “Look, this item also has a purchase requirement: you have to provide a piece of valuable information recognized by the game.”

“Ordinary stuff won’t cut it,” Shi Youzhi said, patting Xu Huo on the shoulder. “It depends on what information you use to trade. Even Director Sanyang can’t make that call. You only get purchasing eligibility if the system approves it.”

“What level of information counts as valuable?” Wan Tingfang voiced Xu Huo’s unspoken question. “Ore resources? Wanted players? Or clearance methods?”

“That’s for the system to judge, but it’s best if it’s related to hot news,” Shi Youzhi said. “Keep an eye on recent game news. Information related to major events usually has a higher approval rate.”

“That’s a bit tough,” Wan Tingfang said. “Most of the news reports are about high-level players and game partitions. At our level, we can’t get involved in big or small events.”

“You can buy it on the bounty platform. If you’re lucky, you might find something useful.” Shi Youzhi mentioned it before being called away by She Ping.

Seeing Xu Huo still staring at “Concentrated Air” without moving, Wan Tingfang said, “Try the captain’s method. If it doesn’t work, look at the others.”

Xu Huo continued scrolling down. Wan Tingfang stopped him at one item. “This one looks good!”

[Storm Blade: A small body with a big function. This short blade, just thirty centimeters in full length, can create a cut over six meters long when swung with full force. However, it has a three-second cooldown time.]

“The cooldown is way too long,” Xu Huo said. Three seconds was enough time to kill someone and come back.

“If you’re dealing with low-level players, that time isn’t so long,” Wan Tingfang analyzed. “With a low evolution rate, players aren’t that fast anyway. Besides, this is a B-grade item. Close-quarters combat wouldn’t be a problem.”

Xu Huo shook his head and continued browsing.

The number of high-grade items this time was far fewer than last time. Just as he finished scrolling through them all without finding a suitable item, a new B-grade item suddenly appeared at the very end of the catalog:

[Eye of the Dead: A longsword that has killed countless people. At the junction of the hilt and blade, there is a tightly shut eye. It is said that it only opens when a massacre is about to begin, and once it opens, everyone who sees it becomes its target, including the wielder.]

[Therefore, this item is also known as the “Cursed Sword.”]