Players, Please Board the Train

”Why should I teach you? What’s in it for me?” Madame Butterfly asked with a hint of malice. ”There are too many things you don’t know. If you want me to teach you, bring something to bargain with. Or you could give me Rose Castle, and I’ll think about teaching you.”

Xu Huo smiled faintly. ”Even without you, I’ll learn it sooner or later. It’s only a matter of time. Besides, I just entered the game, so I’m not in a hurry.”

She kept talking about conditions, though she didn’t necessarily truly expect to get Rose Castle.

Madame Butterfly tilted her head and looked at him. ”Aren’t you after Rongxin Group’s weapons? One person like you can’t do it alone, unless you have other companions.”

”No.” Xu Huo replied. ”I only happened to run into this matter. I don’t have to intervene. Besides, as you said, there are too many things I don’t know. If I bumped into a high-level player, I’d be handing them a meal on a plate. Staying in Rose Castle is fine.”

”But I know some other news, and you can trade for information.” Madame Butterfly produced a small fan in her hand. ”Trying to turn the tables with a few words? Do you think staying here means you’re safe? I could tell Duke Tal some interesting rumors later, and he doesn’t seem to like you. Since you happened to follow Vicen Meni in the game, District 011 might not be safe for you anymore.”

”Why not go to District 001? He Pu left something for you to pick up. Too bad you don’t know how to find it, and you don’t even know how to use that stone in the photo album.”

She smiled cruelly. ”Giving you good things is a waste. When you’re killed by other players, I’ll pick up your corpse for sure.”

”No need to pick up corpses. Just remember to take Rose Castle away, so another wanted criminal won’t eat anyone here.” Xu Huo said calmly.

Madame Butterfly’s expression darkened slightly. ”Find out where Rongxin bought the arms and present a suitable plan, or I’ll kill you. If you’re afraid to die, use a train ticket and run. Wanted criminals are despicable, and someone as pathetic as you occupying Rose Castle won’t get far!”After finishing, she left Xu Huo’s Mental World in anger.

In the garden, the two who faced each other showed lively expressions. When Xu Huo saw Madame Butterfly preparing to leave, he said, ”Have dinner soon.”

Her face remained expressionless, as if the earlier threat had been nothing but noise in one ear and out the other.

Madame Butterfly grew even angrier. ”I’m going to kill people. Should I eat first?”

”Everything’s already prepared. Eating first won’t delay it.” Xu Huo said leisurely. ”Looks like rain. Want an umbrella?”

Madame Butterfly left him behind with a cold, elegant back.

After she left, Xu Huo sat down again and reflected on what had happened in the Mental World.

As Madame Butterfly had said, he knew nothing about He Pu’s affairs. Naturally he doubted how He Pu chose an heir. Mr. Dong after all wasn’t truly human, so his perspective differed; some things might be unclear to him, but information could still be squeezed from Madame Butterfly’s mouth.

Although she wouldn’t give in, their clash gave him a little more understanding of Mental Power’s Super Evolution.

Compared to him, Madame Butterfly’s Mental World was very flexible, and the zipper gates she used to symbolize doors came in black, silver, and gold. As the color upgraded, the strength of her Mental Power also increased.

Although she caused trouble in the library, he felt she hadn’t shown much of her power. A door is, after all, just a door. As she said, she had hidden her true Mental World.

If she hid hers, he could hide his first floor.

Closing his eyes, Xu Huo considered ways to hide his Mental World.

”Dinner is ready.” Mr. Dong walked over and asked, ”Should I leave a portion for Madame Butterfly?”

”Yes.” He opened his eyes. ”Do you know her taste?”

”No.” Mr. Dong replied.

”She likes spicy, but not too spicy. Also prepare a cooling drink. She seems to get overheated often.” Xu Huo said.

Mr. Dong acknowledged.

After dinner, Xu Huo went to the study and only returned to his room late at night to sleep.

When he woke, Madame Butterfly had already changed into a red long dress and was eating breakfast in the dining hall.

She occupied the host’s seat, and Xu Huo could only sit to the side.

They finished breakfast without interfering with each other. Afterwards, Duke Tal sent people to pick her up, saying he would introduce several friends, and Xu Huo also received a call from Shi Youzhi asking him to come to the base to help.

It was still raining when he left. Xu Huo held the umbrella over her head and glanced at the jeweled flower hairpin in her hair. ”Very pretty. Suits you.”

Madame Butterfly, expressionless, was escorted into the car.

After watching the car leave, Xu Huo drove to the base—the vehicle was base-assigned: he had usage rights but not disposal rights. If he stopped working some day, he’d have to give it back.

Shi Youzhi had asked him to help sort data.

Recently the base had little to do. Sanyang had requested that the old archives in the storeroom be reorganized, with very old items destroyed to free up space.

”Here you go. Sort these. Put anything older than five years aside.” Ai Jia said.

Xu Huo looked at the piles of Square Boxes.

These boxes were the equivalent of paper archives from Zone 014. Even though technology allowed everything to be stored digitally, separate physical archives were necessary.

These Square Boxes functioned like special hard drives that required dedicated terminals to read. Unless connected via the Game Government’s official interface, any other attempts to use them or to access them outside the base would trigger an automatic self-destruction protocol.

”EG23876 track error log, EH992332 track attack log, EG2344024 track weather anomaly log...” Xu Huo asked, holding a Square Box, ”These records are only a few years old. Are they really going to be destroyed?”

”The game world, especially dimension tracks, changes fast. Sometimes a day’s weather fills a whole record disk.” Ai Jia explained. ”Especially during dimensional shifts, some spatial contact surfaces change irregularly and rapidly, making them of little reference value.”

”You wouldn’t feel the outside changes while sitting on the train.” Xu Huo said.

”Of course not,” Ai Jia replied. ”The dimensional train travels through relatively stable zones during the day and only passes those spatial distortion points at night. Those places can have high radiation occasionally, which can damage even the eyes; that’s why they’re totally shielded.”

”Does that mean it’s hard to survive outside the train?” Wan Tingfang, who was also there, asked. ”Then how did those Mutants survive?”

”Didn’t you notice how strange those Mutants are?” Ai Jia said. ”Their lifespans are extremely short; they can’t live long.”

”If those are spatially distorted areas, how can Mutants keep appearing nonstop?” Xu Huo asked. ”Do dimension tracks connect to dungeon worlds?”

She Ping glanced at him in surprise. ”You’re right. Some tracks do connect to dungeon worlds, but those are high-risk dungeons.”