Players, Please Board the Train

”That seems impossible.” Xu Huo wore an expression of disbelief. ”If the Game Government can’t even manage that, how could they have tracked him down repeatedly?”

”Based on the game’s management of players and non-players entering and exiting, they can expand the search scope.” Dr. Deng said. ”Have you ever been to a technologically advanced game partition? Those places have highly mature AI technology that can analyze the direction of Professor Wu’s escape based on existing data.”

”And with that, they still don’t know if Professor Wu is male or female?” Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.

”Technological advancement doesn’t only benefit the Game Government.” Dr. Deng hesitated before continuing. ”He might be from an A-level wormhole point, and what I just said about the S-version Evolution Serum being monopolized is false.”

Xu Huo nodded. If the Game Government had mastered the S-version Potion, they wouldn’t need to pursue Professor Wu anymore. That was just a story used to brush off Miao Yu and the others.

Naturally, Dr. Deng’s words might not be entirely accurate either. Information asymmetry exists everywhere. Besides, he was just a pharmacology doctorate, not an internal member of the Game Government. Even if he could get some inside information, it certainly wouldn’t be the most core secrets.

”You used to work for the Stellar Group?” He remembered the deceased son and daughter-in-law of Master Nise.

Dr. Deng didn’t hide this point. ”I’ve worked in sub-groups within different game partitions. Working for the Stellar Group offered better compensation and benefits. My player status was one of the internal perks.”

”So you’ve left your job now?”

The cigarette in Dr. Deng’s hand was already half burned. He picked it up and took a deep drag. ”I was fired. The reason given was ’no contribution’.”He gave a bitter smile. ”That’s not surprising either. How difficult is it to take just one small step forward while standing on the shoulders of giants? It’s not rare for a person to fail to produce results in their entire lifetime. It’s just that the Stellar Corporation won’t keep such idle people around.”

Xu Huo flicked his cigarette ash, offering no comment on that, and then said, ”You must have heard of the temporary pass.”

Dr. Deng looked at him with surprise. ”Through what channel did you learn about the temporary pass?”

”From a Dungeon Boss.” Xu Huo said. ”I heard it by chance. The temporary pass can substitute for a train ticket, right?”

”Yes.” Dr. Deng gave a very detailed description. ”The temporary pass is equivalent to a universal train ticket. Within the validity period issued by the Game Government, any player can board a train with the pass and search for stations themselves. The pass will teleport you to the most convenient station nearby. There’s no usage limit, and unlike train tickets, it doesn’t have a rough level classification. You can ride any train.”

With an E-level ticket, there were very few people on the train, and players were usually teleported directly to the dungeon location. After becoming a D-level player, there were some changes. There might be players heading in the same direction but to different stations or dungeons, and sometimes you’d encounter players of different levels, but the difference wasn’t huge.

As long as you have a ticket, high-level players can also board trains with lower passenger levels, and vice versa. Moreover, as player levels increase, level differences are more likely to appear on the same train.

”However, temporary passes are usually only given to Game Government staff members and players who have made outstanding contributions to the game. If you want to obtain one through other channels, it’s extremely difficult.” Dr. Deng recalled, ”I remember last year at a virtual auction, I saw a temporary pass sell for a price of one hundred million White Bills.”

”Exclusive to high-level players.” Xu Huo didn’t show any particular reaction, as if he was just casually asking. Afterwards, he asked some more questions about Professor Wu.

Dr. Deng was indeed forthcoming, though there was considerable exaggeration in his words—he personally held Professor Wu in very high regard. Based on his description, Professor Wu should be one of the top, if not the top, experts in game potion research and development currently.

”Professor Wu must be a genius obsessed with potion research and development. It’s a shame the Game Government won’t give him a peaceful environment. It’s really tough on him, a lab-bound person forced to flee for his life everywhere...”

Xu Huo just listened to Dr. Deng’s lament. The impression Professor Wu gave him was not that of a rigid person who only focused on burying himself in potion research, oblivious to the outside world. He was a very intelligent person. Being able to play this game of cat and mouse with the Game Government for so many years shows he is a man of extraordinary intelligence.

Furthermore, regarding his ability to escape every time, even Xu Huo found it somewhat incredible. The Game Government’s technological civilization must far exceed his imagination. Finding one person should be that difficult? Especially when this person is moving between different game partitions. Train tickets, passes—these all leave traces. Perhaps there are other channels, but after so many misses, they should have more or less analyzed Professor Wu’s behavioral patterns. Failing to catch him is simply unbelievable.

He glanced at Dr. Deng, and his thoughts took another turn. Was Professor Wu really fighting alone?

”You’ve been outside for a long time.” Miao Yu walked out. ”The rain hasn’t stopped. Why not come inside to keep watch?”

”You haven’t slept either.” Xu Huo patted his pants and stood up, heading inside, pulling Dr. Deng along with him.

”So cold.” Dr. Deng rubbed his hands.

Miao Yu’s gaze lingered on the two of them for a few seconds before she said to Dr. Deng, ”I brought cooking utensils. We can boil water.”

Dr. Deng thanked her, borrowed her things, asked Xu Huo for water, boiled some hot water to drink, and then used the cooled water to rinse his feet.

Xu Huo noticed his hands and feet were red, seemingly from the cold outside. Moreover, there were many scars on his feet left after frostbite had healed.

”I used to live in a very cold place and got sick, so now I’m especially afraid of the cold.” Dr. Deng explained with a smile. ”Rinsing with hot water will make it better.”

Over there, Chu Yuan had already opened his eyes. He originally intended to ask for a cup of water and had even taken out his cup, but who knew Dr. Deng would turn around and wash his feet. He rolled his eyes and said, ”Good people don’t live long, while scourges endure for a thousand years. A little freezing won’t kill you.”

No one else said anything. By the time it was dawn, the rain had also stopped. After Xu Huo went out, he even discovered several fairly large puddles nearby.

Miao Yu walked behind him, carefully observing the surrounding environment. ”No footprints. If Qiu Xiangdong is still alive, he should have left. The same goes for Tong Jian.”

Xu Huo nodded.

These two had left just as the heavy rain started yesterday. They hadn’t appeared until now. It couldn’t be ruled out that they used items to hide their tracks, but he believed the most likely possibility was that the two of them took advantage of the rain to search underwater for the potion.

”This hole here is really deep.” Chu Yuan leaned on a wooden stick, standing before a fissure.

Dr. Deng stepped forward to examine it. ”This should be the reason the skull appears in the sky on overcast and rainy days. Look, this ravine is so long. At the bend ahead, there’s a curve that happens to resemble the contour of a skull’s jaw. The air currents rise from here.”

The crack was very deep. The entrance was already overgrown with plants, flowers, and vines, making it impossible to see the situation below.

”When was this skull-shaped fissure formed?” Xu Huo glanced at it and said, ”We haven’t heard any strange sounds since coming onto the island.”