Players, Please Board the Train

After reaching this conclusion, Xu Huo instinctively frowned. The game world was so vast—for two players from different game partitions to form a connection and meet by chance was incredibly difficult. Unless they were subconsciously seeking each other out or had arranged a meeting, the probability of such a coincidental connection leading to a chance encounter was unimaginably low.

He had obtained V. Fanxiao’s lighter through the game, and then, during his first choice of a place to settle, he had inadvertently inherited Rose Castle through a series of coincidences. This overly coincidental fact made him instinctively want to dig into the meaning behind it.

The photo album was only half full. After the news article about V. Fanxiao’s last arson attack in the middle, someone had written a sentence with a pen:

”I am gravely ill. I wish for an heir.”

Xu Huo frowned. This sentence wasn’t written for the writer to read, but for the person flipping through this album.

Below the text was placed an irregular black stone. Its shape somewhat resembled ore, but its texture was more like that of a metal object forged through countless hammer blows.

Restraining himself from touching the stone, the voice of Madame Butterfly sounded from behind him. ”He Pu left this for you. Don’t you want it?”

Xu Huo turned around to face her. ”First giving away a house, now giving away items... such good fortune makes me wonder if this is a trap.”

Madame Butterfly didn’t mock his player level. Instead, she nodded seriously. ”I’d think the same if I were you. However, He Pu was a good man, you can rest assured. Besides, he’s dead now. If you take the stuff without doing anything, he’s not going to jump out of his coffin.”

Xu Huo couldn’t help but show a hint of a smile. ”Aren’t you good friends? It’s a bit unkind to take his things and then undermine him right after.”Madame Butterfly, however, stroked the box and said, ”He wouldn’t mind.”

As she spoke, she handed the box to him again. ”I’ve already taken my share, but this is a multi-layered box. I can’t open the bottom layer. The things inside are probably meant for you. Take it yourself.”

”You’ve undergone Secondary Evolution,” she nodded. ”I probably don’t need to teach you how to take it, right?”

Xu Huo put down the photo album and took the box. He focused his attention on the carved eye on the box. In the next second, double images appeared around the lines of the eye carving. Immediately, the double images enlarged, as if countless layers of eyes were nested inside and outside the original eye. Then, these eyes began to interweave and rotate, like a flower blooming as it turned.

After watching for a few seconds, he discovered that a few of these eyes were rotating according to a specific pattern, like a special password lock.

He stopped three eyes in sequence. Subsequently, the carved eye on the box sank downwards, and the latch on the lid opened.

Placing the box back on the table, Xu Huo opened the lid. Lying on the black velvet inside was merely a diamond key. The base of the key was engraved with very small numbers: E27-001-01.

”Being mysterious,” Madame Butterfly glanced at it and explained lazily. ”He left something in District 001. You need to take the key there to get it.”

”What kind of thing needs to be specifically left in District 001?” Xu Huo asked.

Madame Butterfly indicated she didn’t know and said, ”You take the thing. The box belongs to me.”

Not just the box, she also took the rocking horse from the room.

Xu Huo gave her a look, then reached out and took the photo album.

The two of them walked out of the darkness again. After returning to the study, Madame Butterfly closed the door and tossed the brass key to him. ”This place is yours from now on.”

Xu Huo raised his hand and caught it. ”What are you doing in District 011? Really buying weapons?”

Madame Butterfly scoffed. ”Weapons? Why buy them? Of course, we steal them.”

A thought occurred to Xu Huo. ”Was it you who damaged the stations?”

Madame Butterfly looked at him. ”Someone deliberately damaged the stations?”

So she didn’t know about this.

”You’re a bit smarter than I imagined. You haven’t been in District 011 for more than a few days either.” Madame Butterfly crooked a finger, gesturing for him to follow. ”Have you figured out who damaged the stations?”

”Black market dealers from the lower city district,” Xu Huo said.

”Rongxin ordered a batch of weapons recently to be shipped to District 011... looks like you know about that too.”

”Guessed it,” Xu Huo said. He hadn’t been certain before; he only knew some scattered pieces of information.

”Your guess is correct. There is indeed a batch of smuggled weapons to be shipped here,” Madame Butterfly said. ”I’m not the only one with designs on this batch of weapons.”

”The weapons will be transported via the stations. Damaging some stations... if someone wants to hijack the weapons, they’ll target the remaining stations,” Xu Huo deduced.

Someone inside the Rongxin Group had leaked the weapon information. Players from the lower city district then bribed other players to cause trouble for the base, preventing them from repairing the stations. Leaving a few stations operational would make ambushes more convenient.

Madame Butterfly took out a projector and projected a map of the main District 011 partition inside the study. Several deactivated stations were already marked on it.

”The likelihood of making a move at the stations is very low,” she said. ”Players deliberately damaging stations is a serious matter. Even if they plan to act, they’d use other methods, not start a fight directly at the stations.”

Xu Huo thought of the storage room at the docks. ”Rongxin already knows the information was leaked.”

She was also aware of the incident of capturing people in the game.

”Even if the information is leaked, the weapons will still be shipped on schedule,” Madame Butterfly said. ”This kind of cross-district transaction is difficult to cancel, especially since it wasn’t purchased through normal channels.”

Xu Huo carefully examined her markings on the map and suddenly said, ”You plan to hijack the weapons alone? Where are your followers?”

”Just saying it casually, and you actually believe it?” Madame Butterfly walked closer to him. As she raised her hand, she said, ”Don’t move.”

Before her hand could get close, Mr. Dong appeared silently beside the two of them.

Madame Butterfly smiled, withdrew her hand, and instead opened her fan. She said to Xu Huo, ”Since you also know about this, why don’t you deduce which station the weapons will come through, then come up with a hijacking plan? If the plan you propose satisfies me, how about I teach you something else?”

Her tone at the end was ambiguous, inviting speculation.

However, Xu Huo caught the cold, scrutinizing glint in her pupils. He said, ”You trust me that much?”

”No choice. Who made you the one who inherited Rose Castle?” Madame Butterfly fiddled with her fan nonchalantly. ”I wanted Rose Castle too, but He Pu wasn’t willing to give it to me. If you can’t even handle such a small matter well, I believe he wouldn’t be angry if I killed you and inherited the castle.”

As she spoke, she turned to Mr. Dong. ”Don’t disturb me next time, or I’ll skin you.”

Having said that, she left the map behind and exited the study. Xu Huo turned and asked Mr. Dong, ”Is she really He Pu’s friend?”

Mr. Dong nodded. ”Before the master passed away, he sent her gifts every year.”

Xu Huo fell into thought, then took out the diamond key. ”Do you know where the lock corresponding to this key is?”

”The address is on it,” Mr. Dong said. ”Master He Pu went alone to store the item. Are you going to retrieve it?”