Players, Please Board the Train

The dwarf player who had tried to disguise himself as a child saw there was no escape and immediately begged for mercy, ”I don’t mean any harm! There’s a group of players blocking the stairway downstairs, I couldn’t get down, so I just wanted to hitch a ride, I swear I don’t mean you any harm!”

Although his body was no different from a child’s, his voice was that of a full-grown adult. However, his face was rather ugly, and when he looked up, the child in Xu Huo’s arms was so startled he leaned backward.

Xu Huo raised his hand, and the dwarf player, thinking he was about to kill him, dropped to his knees and kowtowed. ”Don’t kill me, I really don’t have a harmful heart! I have a lot of money, I can give it all to you, just don’t kill me! I can also help you get items and potions through underground channels, whatever you want!”

”I don’t have a place to stay right now,” Xu Huo said.

”I have houses!” the dwarf player said excitedly. ”I have lots of houses! You can live anywhere you want!”

”Do you have one in Galaxy Residential Area?” Xu Huo asked.

”Galaxy Residential Area...” The dwarf player’s expression turned slightly reluctant, but he quickly gritted his teeth and said, ”Yes! But can you give me two hours to handle the paperwork?”

Xu Huo checked the time. ”From now, two hours from now?”

The dwarf player scrambled up from the ground. ”I’ll make the call right now, right now...”

Xu Huo led the two of them downstairs. After descending several floors, they found the group of robbers the dwarf player had mentioned. Based on their known item configurations, these players weren’t high-ranked, probably just trying to grab some benefits amid the chaos.It wasn’t convenient to act with a child in tow, so he casually picked a room in the hotel and went inside, planning to descend from the window.

”B-big brother, it’s too high, I can’t get down from here!” the dwarf player said hastily when he saw what Xu Huo was doing.

”See that line on you?” Xu Huo tilted his chin. ”After I land, you jump down. I guarantee you’ll be fine.”

Without giving him a chance to negotiate, he covered the boy’s eyes and leaped straight out the window, using piano wire to slow his descent mid-fall. A few seconds later, he landed steadily on the ground.

A rescue team made up of some players and some ordinary people was providing support near the hotel. Seeing Xu Huo jump down from such a height, they cautiously kept their distance until the boy called out ”Mom” to someone in the crowd.

Xu Huo returned the child to his mother, then turned back and waved at the player peering out the window, signaling him to jump down.

Whether the guy was genuinely brainless or had some backup plan, he actually jumped. His screams nearly drowned out the nearby rescue sirens.

Xu Huo tightened the kite string and pulled the feather-light figure toward him. When he was a few meters off the ground, several stepping platforms materialized out of thin air beneath the dwarf player’s feet. He abruptly checked his momentum and landed on them, hopping down safely to the ground.

Only when both feet touched the ground did he let out a long sigh of relief. ”Damn, I really am blessed with great luck!”

”Got a car?” Xu Huo couldn’t empathize and quickly pulled him back to reality.

”Yes, yes.” The other man hurriedly led him to a nearby garage, explaining, ”So many people came to the banquet today that the hotel’s underground parking wasn’t enough, so I had to park nearby... But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Usually, outside players won’t cause trouble in areas with a heavy player concentration. Who knew a tough nut would show up today?”

”Big brother, you’re from out of district too, right? Just came out of a dungeon or haven’t had time to go in yet? Let me tell you, you should get into a dungeon early. Quite a few players have already grabbed items from dungeons, practically free pickings!”

”Oh, right, what’s your surname, big brother? My name is Bian Yongyi.”

The car Bian Yongyi drove was a red convertible. Xu Huo sat down before saying, ”Don’t you think this car is a bit too conspicuous?”

Bian Yongyi let out a dry laugh. ”I had no choice. That hotel isn’t accessible to just anyone. With a regular car, they won’t even let you get close to the door. I’ve got some money, but in this world, strength is what really matters. Even if you want to grease some palms, you have to actually get in front of the right people...”

In other words, he was there to network.

Xu Huo searched for news about Galaxy Residential Area. It was safe, but the prices were extraordinarily expensive. Of course, that was also because quite a few players lived in that neighborhood, and to protect players’ family members, most of the staff there had been replaced with players.

However, given the hotel had just been attacked, he didn’t think the place was all that safe. It seemed more like a sitting target.

But even Bian Yongyi couldn’t get into the hotel with his status. Getting a house in a neighborhood like that had to be even harder.

”Um, houses in Galaxy Residential Area are really hard to come by. It’s not that I didn’t want to get one, I just couldn’t. But don’t worry, big brother. I have a friend who lives there, and he’s out of town recently. I’ve already called and talked to him, so we can temporarily stay at his place for a few days...” Bian Yongyi glanced at him nervously. ”You’re not planning to stay long-term, are you?”

”Depends.”

Bian Yongyi hesitated for a moment before saying, ”Actually, I also have a house not far from Galaxy Residential Area. That building in Galaxy... I really can’t make that call...”

Xu Huo didn’t pay attention to the rest of what he said, focusing instead on the news.

The situation at the hotel had already been resolved. The player organizations had stepped in. While they might not be able to detain the out-of-district players, forcing them to leave wasn’t difficult. The live broadcast clearly stated that two of the five intruders had died, and the other three had left Zone 009 injured. Of course, the items they’d tried to snatch hadn’t been taken either.

In addition, there were several other battles breaking out over item grabs. The player organizations had publicly announced they would take over immediately, refusing to let out-of-district players take items that belonged to Zone 009.

According to online rumors, the items these people were fighting over were nothing more than B-grade items anyway. It was just that the acquisition channels were too easy, which gave players the energy to fight over them.

”...Big brother, are you a B-rank player?” Bian Yongyi suddenly asked. ”Or at least a C-level player, right? Actually, I saw you rescue the painter Jiangjiang. Thanks to you breaking the deadlock, otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten out so fast...”

”Talk less, do more.” Xu Huo shot him a look.

Bian Yongyi immediately shut his mouth. Half an hour later, they arrived at Galaxy Residential Area.

This area was a villa district with surveillance cameras everywhere. Before they even got near the gate, the images of the car and its occupants had already been transmitted to the monitoring room. Because Bian Yongyi had called ahead, the several checkpoints guarded by heavy weapons along the way opened their gates. Midway, players even came to verify their identities.

After finally getting in, Bian Yongyi’s car was confiscated, and the two had to walk to the villa on foot.

This villa district wasn’t small. Each building was spaced a considerable distance apart. From the entrance to the borrowed villa’s location, it would take at least twenty minutes on foot.

Xu Huo looked at Bian Yongyi, who looked back at him with embarrassment.

The two had no choice but to walk. However, less than two minutes later, the main gate reopened, and three cars roared into the villa district. As they passed by the two of them, they let out ambiguous laughter.