Players, Please Board the Train

A light chuckle came from the room. ”Simulation games are always fake. Even the blood that flows isn’t red. What’s the point?”

”Accepting comrades and eliminating heretics has been the founding tenet of the New Wheel Church since its inception. To hunt two panicked lambs within a game, yet still borrow the name of the New Wheel... Mr. Meni underestimates the New Wheel Church.”

The speaker was precisely the purple-eyed woman Xu Huo had encountered earlier in the hallway. Though her tone was questioning, her voice lacked any imposing force, carrying instead a hint of languidness. This robbed her words of their intended meaning, making them sound more like an offhand complaint.

Vicen Meni didn’t take it seriously either, clarifying with exaggerated inflection, ”You jest, Madam. I was born into a wealthy family, received an excellent education from birth, and my path from childhood to career has been smooth sailing, free from any hardship. But this does not mean I lack compassion. Towards players and civilians alike, I have always believed that those in the upper echelons should harbor sympathy and reverence, and should strive even harder to assist and guide them, enabling them to live happily and smoothly.”

”Therefore, the moment I encountered the New Wheel Church, I knew it was the spiritual high ground I had been searching for. I am most willing to become a preacher for the New Wheel Church, to help it flourish within District 011.”

The purple-eyed woman covered her mouth with a laugh, nearly laughing to the point of tears. ”The followers of the New Wheel Church are lions, are wolves, never lambs.”

Meni refilled her wine glass. ”I would certainly never alter the doctrine. The very existence of the New Wheel Church is to combat the nightmares within the game world, to strive for a bright future for the common people, to create a brand new world for our next generation.”

The purple-eyed woman reined in her smile, propping her cheek with one hand as she leaned sideways on the sofa. After scrutinizing the man opposite her for a moment, she said, ”You are a bad man. But I like bad men.”

”My thanks for the compliment.” Meni raised his glass, then added, ”I have long heard of the great name of Madame Butterfly. I never expected you would come to District 011 this time. This meeting gift is a small token of my personal regard. One month from now, District 011 will host a unique and spectacular banquet. I do hope you will honor us with your presence then.”

Madame Butterfly accepted with a smile.At that moment, Meni seemed to receive some message. Apologizing to her, he rose and left the room.

Now, only Madame Butterfly remained in the room.

Xu Huo, who had been crouching on the balcony, pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window, brushed aside the curtain, and said with a smile, ”What a coincidence, meeting again.”

Madame Butterfly picked up a small fan and began to fan herself, unsurprised. ”People who hide outside a woman’s window in the dead of night are never decent folk.”

Xu Huo leaned against the frame of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the woman from a distance of about ten meters. ”You don’t like Vicen Meni.”

Madame Butterfly’s fanning motion paused. ”What makes you say that?”

”If you liked him, why would you have let me listen outside for so long?” Xu Huo smiled slightly. ”Not only that, you actually despise him.”

”No woman likes an oily man, especially one with an inflated sense of self-importance. Trying to curry favor with a lousy game?” Madame Butterfly said. ”Besides, it was just a side thought.”

Xu Huo smiled without speaking. Madame Butterfly lifted her eyelids to look at him. ”You hiding here... you wouldn’t happen to be the person he’s looking for, would you?”

”Not at all. Pure coincidence.”

”Is that so?” Madame Butterfly took a sip of wine, not particularly concerned. ”I thought you were tailing him just now.”

”I was merely curious about who Vicen Meni is looking for.” Xu Huo spread his hands. ”Just joining in on the spectacle.”

Madame Butterfly pursed her lips into a smile. ”Your curiosity is too strong.”

”One of the interesting things about humans is their curiosity.” Xu Huo paused, then continued, ”How long will you be staying in District 011?”

Madame Butterfly raised an eyebrow. ”Didn’t you just hear?”

Xu Huo nodded. ”At least a month.”

Madame Butterfly fell silent, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

Xu Huo, however, did not pursue the topic. He took a step back, exiting the room. ”We’ll meet again if fate allows.”

With that, he vaulted over the balcony railing and was gone.

In the room, Madame Butterfly rose from the sofa. Stepping onto the balcony in her high heels, she picked up the red rose he had left behind. Pinching the thorny stem, she gave it a gentle twist. Instantly, from stem to petal, the rose withered, turning into gray dust that drifted to the ground.

Xu Huo, having left the room, had not gone far. He lingered for a while in the covered walkway opposite the garden, just in time to witness Madame Butterfly picking up the flower. A faint smile touched his lips before he slipped away from behind the pillar.

The hunt within the game had not ceased. By the latter half, it seemed to have devolved into a pure slaughter game. Corpses piled up in the corridors and rooms. The Fox that Vicen Meni was searching for had already been captured and offered upon the sacrificial altar. Meni’s earlier departure from the room was precisely to go to the main hall to conduct the sacrificial ceremony.

Now, the only remaining target was the Hyena. However, after searching the game area once more and finding no trace of the middle-aged man, Xu Huo forcibly terminated the game session.

That’s right. Even though the game had disabled the exit button, players could forcibly terminate the game. Those inside the operation pods had not lost consciousness. Strictly speaking, even within the game, one could still use their characteristics and items, though they might not function within the simulation.

The fact that Black Wolf, Fox, and Hyena had not left the game even while being hunted suggested one of two possibilities. First, they might be unable to forcibly terminate like regular players could. Second, even if they exited the game, they would have no means of escape.

Therefore, these three were either grey players working for the government, who absolutely did not want to restart their train tickets and return to a dungeon no matter what, or they were merely trained Evolvers—possessing some combat capability but inferior to true players.

After all, players have their limitations, and their mortality rate is relatively high. For the vast District 011 to function, most operational work still employed ordinary people.

Although he hadn’t obtained definitive information, Xu Huo’s efforts were not entirely fruitless. After exiting, he looked up ”Zheng An” and the Rongxin Group. Cross-referencing the name with related information revealed that Zheng An was a finance employee at a subsidiary of the Rongxin Group specializing in medical equipment. Pulling up one turnip brings up the mud with it. From Zheng An’s social network, Xu Huo then identified the middle-aged man’s identity. This person was a distant relative of Zheng An, previously employed as a security guard at the Rongxin Group. He retired after an accident and, thanks to District 011’s welfare policies, was able to settle in a building constructed by Rongxin, now working from home.

These two were connected.

However, Xu Huo had no prior interaction with the Rongxin Group. The middle-aged man likely tailed him primarily due to the matter involving Deng Xuan.

As for Deng Xuan’s network, Xu Huo spent a bit of money to trace it. Deng Xuan was just a small fry. His boss’s surname was Jing, addressed as Brother Jing. Besides trafficking supplies, he also dabbled in buying and selling information on the side.

For these two groups to have intersected, it could only be due to an exchange of supplies or information.

The Rongxin Group had now dealt with Zheng An and was investigating the person he had been in contact with. Therefore, the player who came to kill him that day was probably sent by Brother Jing’s side.