Players, Please Board the Train

”The concept of time and the concept of space you mentioned are not the same, are they?” Xu Huo said. ”What you call object manipulation focuses on the outside of the object, while altering the object’s state works from within.”

”Something like that.” Bai Kou smiled. ”Many things are interconnected once you understand the fundamentals. You’re a clever person, perhaps you can draw inferences from one example.”

”Why mock me?” Xu Huo took a sip of tea. ”Even super players may not necessarily reach that level.”

Bai Kou laughed at him for not playing dumb this time, then added, ”It’s all about luck. Maybe one day you’ll stumble upon it. Before your mental evolution, you probably didn’t even know about Super Evolution, did you?”

”Isn’t there an item that assists Super Evolution?” Xu Huo asked. Knowing the principle behind Super Evolution, it was impossible that no one had tried to work on it from that angle.

”I do have one.” Bai Kou leaned slightly forward, her hands crossed and resting beneath her chin. ”But why should I help you?”

Without wasting a single moment, Xu Huo said, ”I’ll trade you the secret of District 001 for it.”

”You don’t even know what District 001 is.” Bai Kou’s expression soured instantly. ”You’re quite skilled at getting something for nothing. Aren’t you even curious about what He Pu left behind?”

”Leveling up is the most important thing to me right now.” Xu Huo said.

”Going from D-grade to C-grade isn’t difficult. A few S ratings in dungeon clearance is all it takes to pass.” Bai Kou leaned back into her chair again. ”This won’t do. Offer something else.””Name your price.” Xu Huo raised his hand.

Bai Kou smiled. ”Let me borrow your Super Item.”

Xu Huo gestured toward the Painting Woman, who was pretending to trim flower branches while actually sneaking bites of cake on the side. ”Be my guest.”

Bai Kou shot her a disdainful glance, then turned back and said, ”Is this your Super Item?”

Xu Huo could only smile wryly. ”Then there’s nothing I can do. I can’t pull out a second Super Item.”

Bai Kou didn’t press the matter further and asked Mr. Dong to change the tea.

Mr. Dong left, and the few people in the garden fell silent, though Xu Huo could occasionally feel the gaze of the woman across from him - she probably wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon.

By the afternoon, Xu Huo received a reply from Shi Youzhi.

The message was simple - he was notified of a leave of absence. There was no need to report to the base for now, the exact return date was unknown, and all base staff would be leaving District 011 within a short time until the base was restored.

It seemed there really wasn’t anything important in the base.

Afterward, Xu Huo kept an eye on the official report from District 011. At present, only the contamination incident at the base city had been made public. According to the official account, the Holy Sword Society had deployed a Mutant toxin capable of causing degeneration in humans, attempting to destroy the base city. However, thanks to the sacrifices of District 011 players, the spread of the toxin had been successfully contained. While the city wasn’t fit for habitation until it was cleaned up, the public was urged not to panic - the toxin dispersed in the air was already very diluted and wouldn’t cause evolved persons to undergo Mutant transformation. Anyone showing signs of poisoning could visit the temporary municipal government office for examination, and after confirmation, receive an antidote and a sum of compensation for mental distress.

A convenient black hat had been neatly pinned on the Holy Sword Society’s head.

Xu Huo watched the city restoration updates, his attention shifting to the box Director Sanyang had hidden.

The base had its own arrangements. Director Sanyang’s presence in the vicinity at that time was untimely. He knew Wan Tingfang, and Wan Tingfang had deliberately run back upon realizing it might be a trap - this suggested the two of them had hidden identities.

Whether they were Holy Sword Society members was uncertain for now, but the thing Director Sanyang had set down could very well be a decoy.

Whether it was an item he had secretly smuggled out of the base or obtained through some other channel, the fact that he hadn’t taken it immediately but instead buried it underground in a pipe, wrapped in an eye-catching Mutant remnant, was a setup that would hardly fail to attract District 011 players.

But if the goal was to target a few players cleaning up the city, there was no need to go through all this trouble. Even if the box were stolen and passed into the hands of a high-level player, the odds of it having any effect were minimal.

The city was now crawling with Black Epaulets everywhere, so he wouldn’t go join the crowd.

Before dinner, Black Epaulets brought patrol Robots to the ancient castle. They had only come to investigate whether anyone had witnessed injured players within the past day, or any other unusual circumstances.

The ancient city district already had patrol Robots and surveillance monitors, so this was really an unnecessary redundancy.

”They brought the Robots along specifically to check for out-of-district players.” Mr. Dong said. ”Unfamiliar faces are the primary targets of scrutiny.”

As for how the scrutiny was conducted, District 011 naturally had its own methods.

”It’s nothing more than matching against previously obtained player information.” Bai Kou said. ”But the ones who could run have already run, and the ones who would be killed have already been killed. It’s basically wasted effort.”

”Casting a wide net - you catch whatever you can.” Xu Huo said. ”Besides, the District 011 government cares deeply about its citizens’ sense of well-being.”

Bai Kou could only respond with a cold laugh.

The investigation didn’t last long. No sooner had the Black Epaulets left than the District 011 government announced that the contaminants in the base city had been fully cleaned up. The next phase would be urban restoration, and every resident of the Main City District could relocate to neighboring cities, with the government providing accommodation free of charge.

Thanks to wartime strategies and welfare policies, despite the scale of this incident, District 011 had remarkably few people dissatisfied with the government. The tone across all communication platforms was overwhelmingly positive and uplifting.

Compared to other districts that had been attacked and left helpless by their governments, District 011 was remarkably stable.

After dinner, Xu Huo checked the Nüwa Stone and then went to the study to look through the materials He Pu had left behind. It wasn’t until late into the night that the lights in the room suddenly went out. For reasons he couldn’t quite articulate, he simply laid his head down on the desk and fell asleep.

In a haze of fading consciousness, someone called him awake again.

The bright room was filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers. The man who had woken him wore white clothes and said to him gently, ”Are you too tired? Want to sleep a little longer?”

Xu Huo shook his head, his gaze moving upward, but he couldn’t make out the man’s face. His features, like the details of the scenery outside the window, seemed wrapped in threads - impossible to discern.

”You completed today’s assignment very well. You may sleep for a while.” The man placed a leather suitcase on the table and adjusted the potion in the syringe.

”Doctor, has my illness gotten worse again?” Xu Huo opened his mouth, but the words that came out didn’t match his own voice.

”You’re recovering beautifully. This is just a nutritional shot.” The Doctor gestured for him to extend his arm. ”It’s good for your body.”

”The other children don’t get shots.” The voice carried a note of grievance and coaxing. ”I don’t want a shot either.”

The potion was pushed into the thin arm of a small child, and the Doctor reached out to ruffle his hair. ”You’re my favorite child. You’re different from the others.”

With that, he peeled a candy and fed it to him.

Xu Huo noticed a wound on the back of his hand and carefully reached out to touch it. ”Does it hurt?”

At that moment, the Doctor fell silent, and the atmosphere turned cold. He withdrew his hand and said coldly, ”Today’s examination is unqualified.”