Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo moved his hands and feet, finding that his right hand had regained some strength. With his palm facing upward, the stopwatch and pen simultaneously appeared in his hand.

Before he could do anything, the woman opposite him transformed into a swarm of butterflies and retreated, instantly withdrawing beyond the garden maze.

At that moment, the metal collar around Xu Huo’s neck automatically sprang open, and the air that had been drained of oxygen returned to normal.

Holding the collar in one hand, although Madame Butterfly was no longer visible in his field of vision, she hadn’t left. Gripping the stopwatch in his palm, he picked up the pen to write. However, at that moment, Duke Tal’s voice came from the direction of the ancient castle: ”Madam, what brings you out so late to admire the flowers?”

The darkness in the garden was swept away, and the menacing, clawing flowering trees around them returned to normal.

Xu Huo’s hand paused.

”Couldn’t sleep, came out for some air,” Madame Butterfly spoke. ”Why has the Duke come out?”

”I had a nightmare, dreaming the spiders in the annex had all turned into monsters. I was worried you might be in danger, so I came out to look around and somehow ended up at the door. Who knew you’d actually be outside?” Duke Tal’s voice, laced with amusement, drew closer. ”You’re soaked, Madam. Let’s go inside first. I’ll have someone prepare hot tea for you.”

The sound of their footsteps faded into the distance. Mr. Dong appeared behind Xu Huo, picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground, sheathed it, and hung it on his own arm.

”Did you wake Duke Tal?” Xu Huo put away his items, glanced at the collar in his hand. This should be a Spatial Item; when used, it could drain all the surrounding air.”Yes. Madame Butterfly used a hallucinogenic item within the castle. I thought you might need assistance, sir,” Mr. Dong said.

Xu Huo hefted the surprisingly heavy collar and asked, ”Do time and space items counteract each other?”

He had seen this mentioned while researching item information before, and it was a fact accepted by many players. Wherever a high-level time-space item exists, other items of the same type often fail.

This was also the reason Super Items could spark wars between Game Partitions. Some super-weapons capable of annihilating an entire Game Partition had components that utilized this principle. Once affected by a time-space item, the super-weapon could no longer be used.

He had just wanted to test it. He didn’t expect the collar to indeed fail the moment the stopwatch appeared. However, Madame Butterfly likely recognized the item, which is why she immediately created distance.

”Not necessarily. Some items can influence each other, but it’s not one hundred percent,” Mr. Dong said. ”Carrying a time-space Super Item on your person can avoid the effects of the vast majority of smaller time-space items.”

”This is the incompatibility of time and space items, especially spatial items. A spatial item with a large effective range can, during its use, cause all lower-level spatial items within that range to fail or have their effects drastically weakened.”

”Is that the principle behind the weapon the District 011 government uses to counter spatial items?” Xu Huo thought of the weapon the Enforcement Department used to block the fake He Pu’s space teleportation item.

”Yes,” Mr. Dong replied, then added, ”However, using time-space items within an unstable world-space is a very dangerous matter, especially the item you were just holding, sir. It might cause the world-space to collapse. If space collapses, even using a train ticket might not guarantee escape.”

The Random Dungeon Xu Huo had entered before was originally located within an unstable world. When he summoned Little Pink Hat back then, she had said the same thing.

However, ”Are the spaces players can reach not entirely under the game’s control either?”

The train ticket should be the most powerful spatial item in the game.

”The places players can go are not necessarily all within the game’s scope,” Mr. Dong said, then paused. ”The rain has stopped.”

Xu Huo nodded, holding the collar as he walked out, and asked, ”Do you know how many items and characteristics Madame Butterfly used just now?”

”Nine items, at least two characteristics,” Mr. Dong stated.

Xu Huo was slightly surprised. ”Besides the butterflies, the collar, and the item that petrified my legs, what else were there?”

Those were all he could perceive. As for causing his hands to lose strength through touch, that was likely a characteristic. The grotesque transformation of the garden could be her special evolution, though it could also be a Super Item.

”One spatial lockdown item, sealing the maze garden. Two defensive items, on her person. And three attack items, though two of those were mental attack items that didn’t take effect. The other attack item she didn’t use,” Mr. Dong evaluated objectively. ”She did not have the intent to kill you.”

Xu Huo’s expression darkened slightly. Before she acted, the friendliness value above her head had indeed jumped to 9. Did she change her mind mid-way?

It seems I’ll have to carry the stopwatch on me from now on, he thought. He hadn’t even realized that besides the items she wore, Madame Butterfly had also planted other items in the garden. High-level players were truly impossible to guard against completely.

”Thank you for tonight,” he said to Mr. Dong.

”You’re welcome,” Mr. Dong’s expression remained unchanged. ”However, please be careful when falling asleep. Madame Butterfly’s items can cause people to have nightmares.”

”No wonder Duke Tal ran out. What about his bodyguard?” Xu Huo asked casually.

”Probably still having nightmares,” Mr. Dong said. ”I only woke Duke Tal.”

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling that although Mr. Dong was unsmiling, he was indeed a genuinely capable all-round butler. Even if he hadn’t used the stopwatch tonight, this man could have rescued him a few seconds later.

He glanced up towards Madame Butterfly’s room. The curtains, which had been open moments ago, were now drawn tightly shut. ”Losing an item in just a few minutes. I wonder if she’ll be so angry tonight that she tears the house down.”

Mr. Dong’s face descended at a uniform speed.

Xu Huo smiled and went back to his room to sleep.

He slept soundly all night, with no incidents or nightmares. The next morning, as he came out of his room, he cheerfully greeted Madame Butterfly, who was just about to go downstairs.

Madame Butterfly smiled and said, ”Stealing two of my items. No wonder you could become the heir to Rose Castle.”

Hearing her words, Xu Huo suddenly remembered he had used ”The Hungry Gluttonous Snake” yesterday, and his stiffened legs returned to normal immediately after use. So, he must have successfully stolen an item from Madame Butterfly at that time, but he had completely forgotten about it afterward.

It seems the clause ”for some strange reason, cannot immediately detect it” applies not only to the person being stolen from.

He didn’t take the bait, instead asking, ”Have you been to Rose Castle before?”

Madame Butterfly looked at him with amusement. ”You don’t even know He Pu’s identity, yet you inherited Rose Castle?”

Then, with a hint of mischief, she added, ”That butler definitely didn’t tell you, did he? Want to know? If you want to know, trade me for my items.”

Xu Huo smiled. ”Sorry, I don’t want to know.”