Players, Please Board the Train

Although Sun Jirou had her suspicions, hearing him say it out loud still felt unbelievable. Because he was disappointed with Fairy Tale City, he wanted to commit genocide against its people?

”What’s so surprising about that?” Xu Huo pointed out the window. ”Do the people here still seem normal to you?”

”Resentment, disgust, or even taking pleasure in the misfortune of former compatriots is understandable. But eating the flesh and blood of your own people without any psychological barrier? Once that bottom line is crossed, what difference is there from Player-Eaters in the future?”

Sun Jirou looked somewhat saddened and sighed. ”In this game, whether they are players or ordinary people, everyone is a victim.”

Xu Huo neither agreed nor disagreed, his gaze lingering on her face.

Sun Jirou was not as emotional as she appeared.

Back at the small cabin, she had only gone all out against him and hadn’t targeted Tao Chengxin, who was somewhat of an ally to him. Firstly, it was to vent her anger; if she could kill him, it would also serve as vengeance for her dead companions. Secondly, she clearly didn’t want to completely alienate the other players either. They were mere acquaintances without deep bonds, so naturally, a situation where several players would join forces against her wouldn’t arise.

”In the game, what’s made public is a player’s nickname, but what needs protection is also the player’s nickname,” Sun Jirou collected her emotions and said to him, ”You are a man who keeps your promises. Remember my nickname; we will meet again in the future.”

After speaking, she exited the dungeon.

Xu Huo glanced at the embryo fragment, retracted the piano wire he had deployed upon entering, and headed towards the Fresh Meat Sausage Shop, carrying the Wooden Puppet.From a distance, he placed the lizard embryo into the Wooden Puppet’s mouth, pushed the corners of its mouth upward into a smile, and then ordered this Smiling Puppet to hide inside the sausage shop.

After confirming the puppet had entered and wasn’t driven out, he found a spot farther away but still with a view of the Fresh Meat Sausage Shop to settle down.

Within two hours, two people who looked travel-worn arrived near the Fresh Meat Sausage Shop.

Xu Huo recognized one of them, the Man with No Eyebrows, as a high-level player who had been part of the group besieging Painting Woman. He seemed to be a Player-Eater too. The Man with No Eyebrows and his companion had retreated immediately after encountering the hypnotist player from the Phantom Sound Knights. Xu Huo hadn’t expected them to be hiding in the shadows, plotting something.

Seeing the two enter the sausage shop, he turned and went downstairs, heading to the entrance of Fairy Tale City to board the tour bus.

The entrance to Tourism City was as bustling as ever. Just as Xu Huo was walking towards the tour bus, he suddenly felt a slight breeze sweep past him. He instinctively stopped and looked back, catching sight of a man in an overcoat and a fedora, carrying a black leather suitcase, appearing in his field of vision.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the small doll handle of the other man’s suitcase before Xu Huo immediately boarded the tour bus.

The man carrying the suitcase suddenly turned his head, revealing half a face with the left eye covered by a mask. His eyes swept across the crowd before quickly turning away.

Sitting on the tour bus with his back to the bulletin board, Xu Huo stared straight ahead. Only when that spine-chilling sense of danger finally faded did he let out a sigh of relief.

The tour bus slowly started moving, carrying its full load of tourists away from Fairy Tale City.

According to Granny Bai, the original owner of the Smiling Puppet was a very powerful individual. It was best not to make the puppet smile when using it. However, the game description for the Smiling Puppet itself suggested that whoever found it could set it to ”Smile Mode” and send it home, which seemed more like a trap.

Unclear about who the puppet’s original owner really was, Xu Huo had never intended to take it with him in the first place. Therefore, upon learning that high-level players were tracking him, he planned to leave the puppet with the Government Hall players, specifically setting it to ”Smile Mode.”

This way, whether the Man with No Eyebrows fought with the Government Hall players, or if the puppet’s original owner was successfully drawn in leading to a three-way melee, it would logically divert attention onto the high-level players. Regardless of whether there were casualties among them, at the very least, there would be a second piece of evidence supporting the fact that ”the Super Item from Zone 014 was snatched by high-level players.”

He just hadn’t expected the man suspected to be the Smiling Puppet’s original owner to be so strong.

The bus slowly moved away from Fairy Tale City. Just as the city was about to disappear from view, a mushroom cloud-like red smoke suddenly surged into the sky above the city. The cloud gathered for less than a second before exploding outward from its center, sweeping from inside the city to the outside like a sonic wave!

The building-block-shaped walls of Fairy Tale City were instantly destroyed. The wreckage of buildings outside the city and the glass barriers were successively crushed to dust. People on the roads, the Mutants in the viewing areas, all fled unanimously in the direction opposite to the city!

Xu Huo used his return ticket and left the Building Block Fairytale City Station just before the bus was hit.

In the blink of an eye, he was back in Harbor City.

It was night. The place he returned to was near the ruins of the Pearl Hotel.

Patrol cars were still visible everywhere on the street, but the wounded crying and waiting for rescue were no longer seen. Not far away, a tilted television was stuck on the Capital City channel, where the speech by the elderly man from Capital City was playing on repeat.

”...This is a disaster for our entire nation, and indeed the whole world. For our lost compatriots, I feel profound sorrow and guilt...”

”...The state became aware of the existence of Evolvers three months ago and learned of the existence of the Dimensional Rift game one month ago. However, we failed to make sufficiently thorough preparations and responses, leading our nation’s people into this catastrophe...”

”...Thanks to the brave resistance of our players, soldiers, and people, players from other zones are finally gradually leaving Zone 014...”

”...Now is a time of national crisis and survival. The strength of players from other zones far surpasses our own, and they intend to slaughter our players. The consequence of losing our talented individuals is being trampled at will by the invaders...”

”...Therefore, the state has decided to declassify information regarding the Dimensional Rift game... Currently, the state has basic methods for training players... We hope the people of the nation will actively sign up to become players and become the cornerstone protecting this country, this world...”

”Compatriots, the storm of bloodshed has not ceased. This assault from civilizations of other zones is certainly not the last. Already, thirteen small nations have been subjected to genocide by players from other zones... If we do not stand up now, then in the future, we will share the same fate!”

”Compatriots, for the sake of our families, our children, stand up bravely!”

After listening to the speech, Xu Huo took out his phone and searched for current news. The news about the destroyed countries had lost its urgency, replaced by news of a large-scale infectious disease outbreak in Country Y and reports of Mutants suddenly appearing in large numbers in Country B, slaughtering ordinary people.

He paused for a moment, then quickly clicked on the news about Country B. It reported that on the third night of the attack by players from other zones, a large number of Mutants suddenly appeared in five major cities across the country, slaughtering nearly ten cities in one go before being contained. When Country B’s military risked entering the sealed-off zones to investigate, they discovered these Mutants had not evolved from Evolvers—they had somehow entered Country B from other zones!