Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo’s gaze turned slightly dark as he gave Wan Tingfang a serious look, and only after a moment did he speak. ”Director Sanyang mentioned that the base stores quite a few important items. We can’t set foot on the fifth floor or above.”

”Didn’t we see very few auxiliary personnel when we came in?”

”That’s because they were fired. As for the reason, it was stealing base secrets.” He shook his head. ”Being fired is still the better outcome. The worst fear is being sent to a high-risk dungeon.”

”It can’t be that bad...” Wan Tingfang said. ”Doesn’t the base have no right to restrict player freedom?”

”Don’t forget, this is a base established by the Game Government,” Xu Huo said. ”Since it’s nominally a government, there must be corresponding laws and regulations. Although the base has no armed authority, violating the terms set by the Game Government will certainly result in punishment. It’s not difficult when they know our identity IDs.”

Wan Tingfang looked thoughtful, and after a while said, ”I’m starting to think this job isn’t all that great either. Who knows, one day a colleague might make a mistake and we’d get dragged down with them.”

Xu Huo smiled and handed her a clean pack of tissues. ”This is the Game Government’s power. We’re just players. If we want to keep playing, we have to follow the rules.”

”Why do I feel like there’s a hidden meaning in your words?” Wan Tingfang pulled off the towel, casually wiped at the blood, and slapped on a sterile dressing. ”Rest assured, I am curious about what’s upstairs, but compared to satisfying curiosity, my life matters more. I won’t drag you down.”

”That’s good.” Xu Huo pointed at the blinking lights on the screen. ”Since we’re here, let’s finish the work before leaving.”

Wan Tingfang resigned herself and sat down, complaining, ”Every day it’s these track alarm reports. Over half of them turn out to be nothing, but we still have to categorize and grade them one by one. Technology is this advanced, why not just use machines to sort them out? Is it just to avoid paying wages for nothing?”Xu Huo didn’t say much.

The reasoning was actually simple. Whether it was the tracks themselves or any data involving the tracks, most of it was done through numbers.

Take the track alarms near District 011, for example. Under normal circumstances, using a specific distribution map would be more convenient and direct for display. But what the base received was just a string of numbers. From partition, station, to route, everything was replaced by numbers. At a glance, the entire screen was filled with dense digits.

It wasn’t that the machines couldn’t provide more specific information, but rather it was done intentionally. Track information was encrypted even for the staff responsible for maintenance. The personnel in charge of classification had to grade the alarms in a very short time according to a specific method and dispatch them to different teams.

Only after receiving a specific maintenance task and boarding the train would the Track Supply Department staff obtain the actual route map.

The same tracks, the same route, could be assigned completely different numbers next time. Different routes, let alone fake alarms mixed in.

Even those working for the Game Government, even if they came from wormhole points that had undergone gamification earlier, were not trusted by the game, whether subjectively or objectively.

Even the process of grading track alarms was recorded, serving as a basis for determining whether a staff member was copying down track numbers.

Train tracks were the foundation upon which the Dimensional Rift game was built. No matter how stringent the protection of the tracks, it wasn’t surprising.

After being busy in the office for half a day, the two happened to overhear other staff discussing the Holy Sword Society as they left the base building. Apparently, the Society had attacked the Game Government in a partition not far from District 011 and had stolen an important set of experimental samples.

Wan Tingfang frowned. ”Experimental samples? Could it be another gene improvement experiment?”

Experiments like that were generally not good news. Many of the messed-up Mutants were born from such things.

”As long as it’s not biochemical weapons, it’s not a big deal.” Xu Huo’s expression was calm. ”Are such things rare in the game?”

Wan Tingfang opened her mouth, and only after a few seconds said, ”I once went to a relatively backward partition. The Game Government built a test factory there. After an accident, toxic gas leaked, polluting more than half of the partition’s land. Within three months, over two-thirds of the population degenerated into Mutants. I heard experienced players say it’s very likely that partition can’t survive another year. No new births, Mutants taking over the partition, and dungeons disappearing too.”

”Is such an experiment really necessary?”

”You’re thinking about the wrong question.” Xu Huo looked at her. ”How do you know it was an accident?”

”It’s not just the Game Government. Some of the larger game forces directly turn less promising game partitions into Mutant breeding grounds.”

Stopping experiments or stealing experimental samples was only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. As long as this game existed, such things would never cease.

”Then what can we do? The game holds absolute initiative. For us players to turn things around, we’d have to destroy the game itself.” Wan Tingfang shrugged. ”But that’s something I’ve never even dared to dream about.”

”Isn’t there a long line of people throwing themselves into it? Maybe someone in the future can achieve it.” Xu Huo smiled at her and flew off on his flight device.

After the vehicle flew a great distance, Xu Huo could still see Wan Tingfang standing in place. He smiled slightly, withdrew his gaze, and headed to the exchange.

Besides the doll dress he had promised Little Pink Hat, he also needed to buy two suitable defensive items.

”I’m terribly sorry, sir. The ready-made advanced items have all been collected by several dukes. New items haven’t arrived yet. Why don’t you leave your contact information and purchasing needs? If we acquire suitable items, we’ll contact you as soon as possible.”

He went to several places, and the answer was all the same.

This was the ”aftermath” of the Harvest Festival. After celebrating the harvest, it was time to reward contributions. These advanced items were mostly given to players as rewards.

Unable to buy suitable items, Xu Huo had no choice but to return to Rose Castle first.

Mr. Dong and Painting Woman were trimming flower branches, while Yan Jiayu and her stone lion were sweeping and carrying buckets respectively, working with great enthusiasm.

His gaze shifted to the person sitting in the garden drinking tea, and Xu Huo pressed his temples. ”Mr. Dong has hired quite a few maids.”

”Maids aren’t as efficient as players.” Bai Kou gave her sincere advice. ”You could hire some players to do the cleaning.”

”Besides, don’t they look perfectly happy doing it?”

”Don’t just sit around either. Go cut me a plate of fruit.”

Xu Huo had someone bring over fruit. ”Since you have nothing to do, how about helping me find someone?”

”I helped you last night.” Bai Kou stared at him.

”Thank you.” Xu Huo said it without any hesitation.

”No.” Bai Kou was just as direct. ”I came here on vacation. Anything that doesn’t bother me, I don’t get involved in.”

”However,” she changed her tone, ”if you write a will stating that the castle goes to me after you die, I might consider it.”

Xu Huo examined her for two seconds, then smiled. ”Not writing it.”