Players, Please Board the Train

Through the communicator of the Black Epaulets officer, Xu Huo found the identity information of the Black Epaulets member responsible for identity verification.

The possibility of a player infiltrating the Black Epaulets from within was very low. This player was most likely like Director Sanyang, entering the relevant institution under their true identity. If this person hadn’t been exposed during this incident, then they were a contact person for the Holy Sword Society.

The same went for Director Sanyang and Wan Tingfang.

The trap the Government base had set for the Holy Sword Society was real, but District 011 might have genuinely obtained something priceless like the Primordial Stone. The Black Epaulets’ behavior during the Night Orchid Laboratory explosion proved this point.

The box that was sent out was actually a tracker.

Given the current situation, the Holy Sword Society appeared to have suffered considerable losses, but the ones truly at a disadvantage were the District 011 Government.

Additionally, there was something else that felt off to Xu Huo.

There were quite a few Player-Eaters within the Holy Sword Society, but these people were more orderly than any Player-Eaters he had encountered before.

Uniting Player-Eaters was no easy feat, and it could easily devolve into the situation like the Double Snake organization in Zone 014, where a bunch of people gathered together like a cult to devour others. Moreover, Player-Eaters and non-Player-Eaters could absolutely never trust each other. From the moment a Player-Eater’s dietary content changed, the foundation of trust between the two sides was completely shattered. Yet the Holy Sword Society managed to cooperate very well between its Player-Eater and non-Player-Eater members.

Judging from the several previous encounters, aside from the first player Xu Huo had encountered who tried to develop followers in Zone 014, the other Holy Sword Society operations were all group actions with clear objectives.They didn’t appear fanatical, but their goals were unmistakable.

Such an organization wasn’t a cult, nor was it a simple collection of evildoers. Instead, it resembled a union bound by an unconventional faith.

It was difficult to unify people’s beliefs, let alone to assign individual beliefs to an organization. From this perspective, the Holy Sword Society was already standing on the edge of extremism.

Whether their initial intentions were benevolent or malevolent, their methods had already placed them on the opposite side of normal humanity.

By the time Xu Huo returned to the Rose Castle, it was evening again.

Mr. Dong was as composed as ever, but Bai Kou seemed somewhat surprised to see him back.

Xu Huo didn’t say much. Upon learning that Qing Cai had left in the morning, he merely nodded and returned to the study.

Sitting at the desk, he took out the diamond glove that had been burned with a sword-shaped pattern. Just as he was about to examine it closely, he suddenly felt a shift in the surrounding space. As a burning hand extended out of thin air, he kicked the table hard to retreat, but the space had already changed, invisibly trapping him in place. Frowning slightly, he pulled out his train ticket.

However, before he left, he saw Bai Kou appear up ahead.

His vision shifted, and Xu Huo found himself at the station. He immediately placed the glove into his item slot - it had already been marked.

He was certain no one had followed him back to the castle, but the moment he took out the glove, the person appeared. That captured Holy Sword Society player was clearly not only mentally evolved but also knew how to control space - another multi-faceted super evolution individual.

This was rather uninteresting. He was merely someone who had delivered train tickets in the past. It seemed this person was convinced Xu Huo could never be an ally and was determined to drag him down as a scapegoat.

From this perspective, that player’s capture was indeed deliberate, and Xu Huo wondered what Ahsis Vilner and the Black Epaulets would think about it now.

Lady Lily, however, would certainly be pleased.

When he left Xiang City, he had seen the video of Rayton Mireille killing the Holy Sword Society member on the network. This undoubtedly cleared his suspicion, and the Night Orchid Laboratory explosion, along with the successful time-delaying tactics of the captured Holy Sword Society member, made Ahsis and the Black Epaulets look somewhat lacking in intelligence.

But that wasn’t where Xu Huo’s focus lay.

Another multi-faceted super evolution player.

He changed his mask and stretched his body, still feeling that sense of obstruction. The previous two times had been fine, but this time he experienced this symptom, which felt like an aftereffect. It deviated somewhat from the descriptions of the Perfect Evolution Agent given by Master Nise and Dr. Deng.

”Brother, you injured?” Someone came over to strike up a conversation.

Xu Huo glanced at him, then shifted his gaze to a player who had just appeared across from them - the other was missing two fingers on his right hand.

He only looked for a moment before looking away and refocusing on the player beside him.

This player was displaying his potions on his communicator. ”I’ve got every kind of potion here. Whether you’re injured or poisoned, I won’t say I can bring you back from the dead, but at least I can have you hopping around lively before you die, smoothly finding yourself a proper burial spot!”

Xu Huo smiled. ”You definitely weren’t in sales before, were you?”

”Haha, you’re right about that. I’m terrible with words, so sales would just put me at the bottom of the barrel.” The other chuckled. ”But you know how it is - people care about being laid to rest properly. Nobody wants their corpse messed with after death.”

Xu Huo looked at him. ”Before peddling your potions, did you ever think about finding yourself a nice burial spot?”

The player immediately backed away. ”Brother, no deal means no hard feelings. I’ll go find someone else.”

This person was also quite perceptive. He didn’t approach those obviously dangerous players at the station, instead asking a few friendly-looking ones. After successfully selling ten bottles of potion, he obediently waited by the side for the train.

Before long, a strikingly beautiful female player arrived at the station. Two or three players gathered around to chat, asking which stop she was getting off at.

The female player exchanged a few pleasantries with them without revealing anything, then bought quite a few potions instead.

”Pretty lady, so generous. Let me throw in two more bottles for free.” The potion-selling player said with a beaming smile.

The train wouldn’t arrive for a while yet. Seeing him break the ice, a few other players also traded for potions and food. Xu Huo proactively walked over and purchased some food at a higher price, then brought up the topic of how expensive food was on the train.

”The train is obviously out to rip you off.” The potion-selling player said. ”Things like limited menus and today’s specials are all just gimmicks. The revenue on the train all goes to the staff up top. The more we spend, the more they earn, so of course they push hard. I’ve eaten it before - honestly, the taste is just average.”

Clearly, the few players gathered here chatting weren’t very wealthy, and they didn’t know much about what he was saying, only able to nod along in agreement.

This brief discussion divided the players at the station into two categories. One group, like those around Xu Huo, was interested in conversation. The other group stood scattered at the edges of the station, appearing indifferent to everyone else.

However, when the potion-selling player was boasting, two of those people did show expressions of mockery. As for the remaining four - the beautiful female player, the man missing his index and middle fingers on his right hand, someone sitting cross-legged in meditation, and a final male player with sweat on his forehead who kept smoking - they showed no interest at all.

When the train arrived, Xu Huo didn’t expect that most of these people would end up in the same carriage. He stood at the very back row of the carriage. Apart from the one meditating cross-legged, the other three were all present.

He tapped his fingers on the table, then took a seat behind the handless player.