Players, Please Board the Train

Dr. Deng naturally agreed, adding, ”Didn’t you bring an ore detector? Maybe we can get some ore on the island, earn a little extra to cover the cost of potions.”

Xu Huo knew he was worried that his own serious injuries would prevent him from being fully protected on the train, but he didn’t point it out. Instead, he said, ”How about we go back to the laboratory to see if there’s anything to gain? Maybe the first and second basement levels weren’t flooded.”

”Let’s get ashore first,” Miao Yu also said. ”And we still need to guard against any reinforcements the Bolun Family might send.”

”Didn’t the Kong Siblings try to notify the Bolun Family people when they were on the first floor?” Xu Huo asked.

Miao Yu shook her head, not making an absolute statement. ”I didn’t see them do it, but it’s hard to say if they had a prior arrangement.”

”Wait, are we forgetting someone?” Chu Yuan suddenly said. ”That player in the gelatinous suit who killed Wan Yunrong. He didn’t follow the Kong Siblings down. Now that the dungeon is over, he’s regained his freedom and must have already left the laboratory!”

”Aren’t we in great danger then!” Gan Qing said with an ugly expression.

”Not necessarily,” Xu Huo said. ”Besides him, Qiu Xiangdong also disappeared after the explosion. If those two aren’t dead, they might have returned to the laboratory.”

A shadow crossed Dr. Deng’s face. ”They must not find the potion.”

”I’m a bit curious, what exactly is the potion the Bolun Family is looking for?” Miao Yu asked. ”This laboratory has been abandoned for years. Could the potions from back then be better than the ones now?”Dr. Deng replied without changing his expression, ”That’s the level only top talents can reach. Even though trade between various Game Partitions is possible now, some technologies just can’t be replicated if the capability isn’t there. What the Bolun Family is looking for is a very excellent evolution agent. That type of evolution agent is currently monopolized by A-level wormhole points, and they deliberately control its outflow. That’s why the Bolun Family wants to make a windfall from this.”

”A-level wormhole point,” Chu Yuan was more interested in wormhole points of other grades than the potion. ”I was born in an E-level wormhole point and have never been to wormhole points of other grades. Speaking of which, there are quite a few E-level wormhole points alone, and each wormhole point has many partitions under it. Calculated this way, the game world is truly vast.”

”It’s actually not as big as you imagine,” Dr. Deng said. ”Some wormhole points and Game Partitions are unsuitable for human survival. Even if areas are designated, usually no one goes there.”

”Those are the places used to house Random Dungeons, right?” Miao Yu said. ”Are there many such places?”

”Countless,” Dr. Deng steered the topic back. ”Qiu Xiangdong and the others might need a boat to leave.”

”They can leave directly using a train ticket,” Gan Qing said. ”As long as he has a ticket for the Sayir Coast station, he wouldn’t even need to go through this trouble.”

”So what do we do now?” Miao Yu asked Xu Huo and the others. ”Go directly to the laboratory or...?”

”Let’s go to the laboratory,” Xu Huo said. ”We can leave anytime anyway.”

”In my condition, I’m afraid I can’t be of much help,” Gan Qing said.

Chu Yuan was in the same boat. Dr. Deng had no combat ability. Among those present, only Xu Huo and Miao Yu were in slightly better shape.

”I’m fine,” Miao Yu said. ”You’d better come along. We can look out for each other.”

The five of them went ashore and proceeded through the woods towards the direction of the laboratory.

No one had cleared a path here, so the going wasn’t as smooth as the path they took when first entering the dungeon. However, along the way, Chu Yuan did discover some decent ore, and everyone picked up a bit as they went.

”These ores can fetch a good price even outside,” Dr. Deng said. ”There are also some mutated plants and animals. Rare ones are quite popular too.”

”But don’t touch things randomly. Some things are poisonous.”

More than three hours later, the group reached the laboratory again. The dungeon’s sealing effect had been lifted, so they could enter through the main door. There was no sign of Tong Jian on the first floor, so they took the elevator down to the second basement level.

Surprisingly, the second basement level had only taken on a little water, and some of the lights were still on.

”The area below the elevator automatically sealed,” Miao Yu checked and said. ”Probably a protective measure of the laboratory. The Deep Blue Laboratory was built under the sea and conducts special research. It’s not strange for protective measures to be this thorough.”

”Can we go down from here?” Chu Yuan asked.

”Sealed shut,” Xu Huo tried it from the side. ”Probably impossible to go down from inside the laboratory.”

The east and west sides of the first and second basement levels were separated by sealed metal. To get to the other side, they would have to go outside and enter from another entrance.

They circled around to another door and re-entered the laboratory. The western half of the laboratory was less affected, with the second floor not even flooded. All the lights were on.

The group moved together, searching all the rooms on the first and second floors again, but still found nothing. Finally, Xu Huo took a painting from a room.

”What are you taking that for?” Chu Yuan asked, casually picking up one as well.

”A keepsake,” Xu Huo said. ”Maybe someone will pay a high price for the painting, considering it’s the work of a master.”

”Makes sense,” Chu Yuan stuffed a few more paintings into his luggage compartment.

”Too many won’t be valuable,” Dr. Deng chimed in from the side. ”Scarcity increases value.”

”Sell them in different places,” Chu Yuan said without worry.

After making a round and finding nothing, everyone just picked up a few paintings each and returned to the ground floor, resting inside the laboratory.

Chu Yuan brought up two single beds from below and simply lay down to rest.

Xu Huo sat by the edge, not doing anything else, but looking at the painting.

Professor Wu of the Deep Blue Laboratory was very likely the ”Dr. Wu” mentioned by Master Nise. This professor had long ago developed the S-version Potion and seemed to have intentionally placed the potion in different locations. Judging by the timeline, this Professor Wu should also be quite old.

Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that he was also a player or Evolver, with his lifespan considerably extended, or that he himself was the earliest experimenter and beneficiary of the perfect evolution agent.

Such a person should have underlying logic behind everything he did. He obviously wouldn’t stay at the Deep Blue Laboratory for long, yet he painted so many paintings. Simply attributing it to obsessive longing for his son didn’t quite fit. These paintings should contain some other meaning.

Initially, he tried to match the painting’s perspective with the internal structure of the Deep Blue Laboratory to find the potion, but the potion was hidden inside a partition wall, and placed inside a Sex Doll.

This indicated that Dr. Wu might not have intended to meticulously hide the potion, and his state of mind was quite stable, not as gloomy and manic as the paintings suggested.

The Game Government and players are in a relatively opposing state. Some players are friendly towards the game, some hate it. Dr. Wu seemed closer to the latter. Spreading the perfect evolution agent had the flavor of challenging the game.

Perhaps, like Master Nise, he also lost his child due to something related to the game, hence his current actions. The question was, would he leave clues in the places where he hid the potion?