Players, Please Board the Train

Ran Ying was genuinely busy. After briefly speaking with Xu Huo, she led Cheng Bing, Guo Yingguang, and the others into the Enforcement Department.

Xu Huo and Wan Tingfang smoothly left the Enforcement Department headquarters. Only after exiting did Wan Tingfang pat her chest and let out a sigh of relief. ”I really thought we were going to have to fight back there. That Captain Bullen clearly had no intention of letting us off.”

”By the way, you have some serious guts. I clearly saw Uncle Sanyang hand the decryption key to you, yet you dared to stubbornly refuse to give it up.”

Xu Huo glanced at her. ”Can’t blame me for that. Who told the Enforcement Department to keep picking on the base? If we don’t show them some strength, they’ll just bully us whenever they feel like it in the future.”

”You’re right. We really showed them today.” Wan Tingfang paused, then added, ”But you’ve only been in District 011 for a few days and you’ve already caught Captain Ran’s eye. Impressive.”

”My relationship with her isn’t what you’re thinking,” Xu Huo explained.

”Don’t be shy. I wouldn’t look down on you for it.” Wan Tingfang showed a hint of seriousness. ”The weak attaching themselves to the strong has nothing to do with gender. Besides, Captain Ran is a beauty. There’s nothing wrong with having a proper relationship.”

”I once went to a dungeon where the weak, whether men or women, were all objects of enslavement and bullying. That kind of scene is probably something a normal person couldn’t bear to see a second time. Sometimes I hate that I became a player, and sometimes I’m grateful I became a player.”

”Not every game partition is as peaceful as District 011.”

”If the game had never appeared, the situation you described might not have occurred,” Xu Huo said.Wan Tingfang said dejectedly, ”But the game has already appeared. We can only think more about the future. I don’t have any grand ambitions. Just living well is enough.”

After saying this, she rubbed her face and asked with some anxiety, ”We won’t get fired when we go back later, will we?”

Xu Huo was very chivalrous. ”Just say I did everything.”

Wan Tingfang was also very chivalrous, splitting the responsibility with him fifty-fifty in front of Sanyang.

Shi Youzhi was also there. They weren’t very concerned about the matter. Instead, they said, ”The base often has conflicts with the Enforcement Department. It’s not unusual. Just remember you are people of the base. We’ll cover for you if anything big happens.”

Their words showed great appreciation for their actions. Shi Youzhi, who had been frowning with worry for days, even broke into a smile.

”Was the Director deliberately sending us to deliver the goods?” Xu Huo asked Shi Youzhi after leaving the office. ”Otherwise, they wouldn’t have picked a time when the Enforcement Department was so lively.”

Going at that time carried a strong suspicion of gloating.

”See through it, don’t say it out loud.” Shi Youzhi patted his shoulder and even stuffed some high-end restaurant Discount Coupons into his hand. ”Take these for a treat. Eat something good to celebrate.”

There really was no need to be so obvious about it.

After splitting the Discount Coupons evenly with Wan Tingfang, Xu Huo drove away from the base. He found a place to park, changed into the Clown Set, and went to the area near the lower city district.

Carrying some small toys and snacks on his back, he peddled them along the street, attracting many children. Quite a few kids from the lower city district chased after him for two or three blocks.

After half a day, he had given away all the things he could sell and the flyers. Seeing he still had a few leftover pieces of Candy, Xu Huo distributed them to several lower city district kids who had been following him.

”Uncle, what are you trying to do?” The little boy who had followed him all the way was quite vigilant, holding back a few other kids and not getting too close.

The clown’s face always maintained a smile, so Xu Huo’s voice also sounded very friendly.

”The few leftover pieces of Candy all have ugly patterns. They don’t sell well, and if I keep them until tomorrow, they’ll be inedible.”

The children were practically drooling. The little boy finally reached out to take them, then quickly distributed them to his companions. The first thing they did upon getting the Candy was to unwrap it and stuff it into their mouths, licking it a couple of times before slowly eating it.

”They’re so stupid. The pattern is ugly, but candy is still candy. It won’t taste bad just because the pattern is ugly,” the little boy said.

Xu Huo sat down by the roadside and asked them why they weren’t in school.

District 011 had public education institutions. Besides necessary cultural classes, there was also physical combat education. This was to lay a foundation for children who might become players in the future. The education was free.

”Family has no money, can’t afford the potion,” the little boy said indifferently. ”It’s useless to learn if you can’t afford the potion.”

”You should think of it this way,” Xu Huo said. ”Even though you don’t have the potion, going to school doesn’t cost money. Isn’t getting free knowledge taking advantage of a good deal? Isn’t it stupid not to take advantage of a good deal? Just like this candy you took. Aren’t the people who don’t buy it because they dislike the pattern stupid?”

The little boy was stunned. ”My mom said going to school has no future. It’s better to help out at home.”

”But you’re playing right now,” Xu Huo said. ”That means you’re not needed to help, right?”

”No, it’s because there are guests at home. Dad told us to come out and play,” the little boy said, then looked at him warily. ”Are you from the government?”

”I’m not,” Xu Huo maintained his smile. ”I’m just someone who thought school was useless when I was little. Now that I’m grown up, I can only help others sell candy but can never eat any candy myself.”

The little boy pouted, seeming very unconvinced. But the other children asked innocently, ”If you don’t go to school, can you really not eat candy when you grow up?”

”Right,” Xu Huo’s smile widened. ”Look, I carry so much candy every day, but I can’t eat a single piece.”

”He’s so pitiful,” the children said with naive kindness.

”You’re lying!” the little boy pointed out the flaw in his words. ”If you can’t eat it, why dare you give the candy to us?”

”Because you are even more pitiful than I am,” Xu Huo said, spinning the colorful ball hanging from his clothes. The multicolored light shone on his comical face, his smile turning into a mocking expression of pity. ”You definitely won’t be able to eat candy in the future. You’ll be even worse off than me.”

The candy in the children’s mouths didn’t taste so sweet anymore.

The little boy glared at him, pulled the others, and ran off. Even after running far away, he turned back to stick out his tongue and make faces at him.

Xu Huo waved at them, picked up his empty backpack, and left.

After changing clothes and confirming no one was following him, he returned to Rose Castle. Madame Butterfly, who had been picked up by Duke Tal in the morning, was already sitting in the living room, idly fiddling with the jewelry in her hands.

”Gained a lot?” Xu Huo handed his umbrella to Mr. Dong.

”What use are these things? They’re not even as good as one item,” Madame Butterfly said with a stern face.

”If you don’t want them, you can give them to me. I can take them apart and sell them for a lot of money,” Xu Huo said, sitting down opposite her and accepting the tea Mr. Dong brought.

”Hearing you say that makes me think they are useful again. At least I can use them to make poor people jealous,” the woman said, a slight smile appearing on her face.

”It was you who broke into the Enforcement Department last night, wasn’t it?” Xu Huo paused. ”The fake He Pu is dead?”

”Shouldn’t he be dead? It’s a pity the Enforcement Department people arrived too quickly. Otherwise, I would have made him die even more miserably.” Madame Butterfly’s eyes turned slightly cold. ”He actually wanted to use a train ticket to return to the game. Ridiculous.”