Players, Please Board the Train

”You,” Xu Huo pointed at Tong Jian, ”go try walking out the door.”

”If you’re not a train ticket player, you can’t leave even after the dungeon closes,” Kong Cheng said.

”Seeing is believing,” Xu Huo didn’t believe it at all and insisted that Tong Jian do as he said.

Tong Jian looked at Kong Cheng, waiting for his nod before walking towards the main entrance. Just like the train ticket players, he was also blocked by an invisible barrier as he approached, and striking the nearby glass or walls was equally ineffective.

”Satisfied?” Tong Jian looked back.

Xu Huo then gestured for the Kong siblings to move away from the elevator’s position before escorting Dr. Deng towards the elevator.

As they walked, Dr. Deng said while sweating, ”Be careful, don’t cut me...”

”Shut up!” Xu Huo yanked him and dragged him into the elevator, then said to the Kong siblings, ”You two stay here. If I detect the elevator moving, you know the consequences.”

After saying this, he signaled for Gan Qing and Chu Yuan to follow.

The four of them took the elevator back down to the underground first floor. As soon as they arrived, Xu Huo released Dr. Deng and had Chu Yuan and the other move tables and chairs to block the elevator doors, keeping the elevator on this level.The elevator alarm sounded for thirty seconds before falling silent. Chu Yuan asked with a puzzled expression, ”Why did we come down? Wouldn’t it be better to stay up there and have them come down? There’s still that timed explosive ghostly shadow in the lab.”

”You wouldn’t be thinking of competing with them for the potion, would you?” Gan Qing speculated.

”You’d be better off spending that effort looking for Wu Xiaonan and Qiu Xiangdong,” Xu Huo said. ”See if they’re still alive.”

The two were a bit confused. He didn’t even care about Miao Yu’s fate, so why was he so concerned about Wu Xiaonan and Qiu Xiangdong? Frankly, the Kong siblings going upstairs meant Wu Xiaonan was most likely dead. Qiu Xiangdong had a decent chance of being alive, but he hadn’t shown himself yet and probably wouldn’t come out now either.

”Qiu Xiangdong has already made an appearance,” Xu Huo said. ”You two go look for them first. Let me know whether they’re dead or alive.”

Hearing this, Chu Yuan and Gan Qing had no choice but to go search.

After they left, Xu Huo took out the Sound-Muffling Figurine and said to Dr. Deng, who was crouched on the ground holding his head and trembling, ”Stop pretending. No one can hear us talking.”

Dr. Deng looked up at him. ”What are you talking about?”

”The specimens you used to disguise your identity were made too fake. You also hinted to the Kong siblings that those people weren’t here for the dungeon, so of course they have other purposes for being here.”

”Last time in the west side lab when I fought Kong Hui, you also tried to run. Hinting about train ticket players was just to make us fight each other.”

”You also carry items, but you didn’t use them when I took you hostage. You also wanted to get away from the Kong siblings.”

Dr. Deng seemed to snap out of his shock only now. He calmed down a bit and forced a smile. ”You’re quite clever.”

”Thanks for the compliment, but let’s skip the pleasantries,” Xu Huo said. ”What potion did the Bolun Family send you to find?”

Dr. Deng gave him a strange look. ”Don’t you already know? The S-version evolution serum.”

He paused, then added, ”You don’t know what the S-version serum is used for?”

”Is the S-version serum I’m talking about the same as the one you’re talking about?” Xu Huo expressed doubt.

Dr. Deng actually laughed, speaking like he was giving a riddle. ”It’s exactly the kind you think it is.”

Xu Huo pointed to the chaotic corridor behind him. ”Do you think the S-version serum is still hidden in the lab at this point?”

Dr. Deng nodded firmly. ”Otherwise, why would the Bolun Family keep sending wave after wave of players and experts? Quite a few people have died before me. I wouldn’t have come here unless I had no other choice.”

”You found the S-version serum?” Xu Huo scrutinized him, not believing he could have hidden the serum under the surveillance of the Kong siblings and others.

”Haven’t found it. That was just a temporary measure earlier,” Dr. Deng said.

”But you have clues, right?” Xu Huo continued. ”Otherwise, you’d still die after the dungeon ends. Or do you have a way to leave Sayir Coast?”

He then added, ”I advise you to tell the truth. I’m not very patient.”

Dr. Deng hesitated briefly before saying, ”Since you know about the S-version serum, you should also know it’s useless for players who have used evolution agents multiple times...”

”But it has value,” Xu Huo said. ”Maybe the Kong siblings have already found a way to contact the Bolun Family. By the time the dungeon ends, a large number of players will surround this laboratory. You can take your time considering.”

”It’s just my speculation. We might not necessarily find the serum,” Dr. Deng said with evasive eyes, equally distrustful of Xu Huo, even though he had deliberately switched from the Crimson Sword to a chainsaw during his fight with Kong Hui.

Xu Huo stared at him for two seconds before saying, ”You’re worried I’ll give the serum to the Bolun Family?”

For Dr. Deng, neither the Bolun Family nor the train ticket players were trustworthy, but he had chosen to side with the train ticket players despite knowing he was at a disadvantage. This showed how desperately he wanted to escape the Bolun Family.

Dr. Deng remained silent.

Xu Huo continued, ”You don’t need to worry about me giving the serum to someone with ill intentions. At least here, it will definitely be used in the right place.”

Professor Wu, Dr. Wu—he suspected Dr. Wu had deliberately placed the S-version serum in the laboratory. Its purpose was self-evident; naturally, it would be more suitable to use on a player who had begun the perfect evolution process.

Although Dr. Deng didn’t trust him, getting a verbal guarantee provided some comfort.

”Kong Cheng probably won’t stay put obediently upstairs,” he added with concern.

”Every moment we can delay is a gain,” Xu Huo said, signaling him to tell where the S-version serum might be hidden.

Mentioning this, Dr. Deng perked up a bit. ”I’ve studied Professor Wu. His biggest hobbies in the lab, besides painting, were tinkering with androids.”

”You’ve seen those destroyed androids in the lab. Those were all swept through by the Bolun Family. Whether functional or recreational androids, none were spared. To put it bluntly, even the walls and floors were scanned. Under such circumstances, the serum hasn’t been found for only two possible reasons.”

”One: the serum isn’t stored in syringe form, which is why they brought specialized pharmaceutical experts.”

”Two: they haven’t looked in the right place.”

Xu Huo thought briefly before saying, ”The only place in the entire lab that hasn’t been turned over is the corpse pile on the underground third floor.”

Dr. Deng shook his head. ”The corpse pile has been searched too, and not just once. The mutated plants you see now grew later, and the corpses have been digested with old ones replaced by new ones covering them.”

”Previously, people from the Bolun Family speculated that this dungeon location, the laboratory, had a self-cleaning function, which is why it regularly transported corpses to the third floor to grow flowers.”

”But looking at it now, it’s clearly not this laboratory using corpses to grow flowers, but the Ghostly Shadow,” Xu Huo continued. ”There’s a time interval in between, and the Ghostly Shadow is mobile. It could completely move the serum to complete the hiding.”