Players, Please Board the Train

Behind him, Huang Junjie and the others had already dragged the corpses from the rooftop into the carriage. Abel said, ”I knew those bastards were up to no good, freezing people in iceboxes like that. I’m freezing my ass off!”

Guan Zuhong and Little Zhang, who had also been separated out, wore expressions of equal terror. The former said, ”We thought we were careful enough, but we still fell for it. Where were they sending us? What about the others?”

With a few ”shwoop shwoop” sounds, a window opened at the front of the carriage. Xu Huo, his back to them, said, ”Double Snake has two gathering locations in Yang City: the Huimei Health Club and the Taole Club. This vehicle was heading to the health club. The other five people were likely sent to the Taole Club.”

Upon hearing Taole Club, Huang Junjie immediately frowned. ”What does this have to do with Taole Club? Most of the members there are wealthy and powerful. Even the Special Defense Department has...”

He stopped mid-sentence as realization struck. ”Does the kidnapping have something to do with the Special Defense Department?”

”Whether there’s a direct connection isn’t clear yet, but at least someone in Yang City’s Special Defense Department knows about it,” Xu Huo said.

The remaining three exchanged glances. Abel asked, ”What do they want with the players?”

”What else would players want from other players?” Little Zhang said grimly. ”Either for items or for feeding. Given how much effort they’re putting into luring people in, it’s probably the latter.”

For a moment, everyone in the carriage wore grim expressions. Guan Zuhong said, ”Could Brother Liang have been captured by them?”

”Aside from the ten who were still alive, the twenty players who died at the resort were split into three batches and sent to different locations,” Xu Huo added. ”At least one of those locations is outside Yang City.”Everyone present understood what that meant, especially Huang Junjie. He knew all too well the games of power and compromise between factions. For the Double Snake organization to operate on such a scale and across cities, it almost certainly had official backing. That didn’t mean the state was supporting them, but rather that there were black sheep within the system.

Among those who became players were also those who held positions of great power. If they had become Player-Eaters during classification and managed to hide their identity, it was entirely possible for them to develop an organization like Double Snake in a short time. Moreover, the Special Defense Department’s involvement in this matter felt suspicious.

First, there had definitely been players going missing. People like Brother Liang had certainly noticed something was wrong. So why had the Special Defense Department’s multiple investigations found nothing?

If members of the Special Defense Department weren’t involved, then someone must have tipped them off.

If that was really the case, mishandling the situation could easily lead to internal conflict.

”Going through all this trouble to bring living players there... the Taole Club might have some important figures showing up,” Xu Huo said as he drove, having already turned the vehicle around.

Huang Junjie stared at him in shock. ”Are you going to make a move against them? Do you have any idea how many players they’ve gathered under their command?”

Whether they were a match for them aside, hadn’t he considered that once they made a move, they would face endless retaliation?

Xu Huo glanced at him through the rearview mirror. ”Tan Yang was captured too. I suspect that commotion before we left the resort was his doing.”

Huang Junjie’s face darkened heavily.

”Buzz buzz!” An unfamiliar number called the Painting Woman’s phone. Xu Huo answered, and the Painting Woman’s face appeared on the screen.

The phone was propped up on a stand. She held it while furiously typing: ”These people are so bad, they wanted to eat me!”

In the video, Xu Huo could see a pile of corpses behind her, most of them wearing black robes, along with a few in gray. They were covered in blood with multiple sharp cuts on their bodies. The bodies had clearly been deliberately stacked together. Some clear liquid could faintly be seen flowing over them and the floor.

”Thorough preparations,” Xu Huo praised. The murder weapons had been put away, leaving only the task of destroying the evidence. He then asked, ”Did anyone get away?”

The Painting Woman’s eyes darted around shiftily.

Xu Huo understood. ”They saw you make your move?”

The Painting Woman put on a pitiful expression.

Xu Huo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. Back in Harbor City, the Painting Woman had impersonated him, posing as the player who obtained the Super Item. Her ability to manipulate paper had been mistaken for the Super Item’s effects. That incident had ended with him pretending to be a high-level player from another zone ”killing” her to take the Super Item.

Although the Painting Woman had changed her face, a high-level player from another zone wouldn’t bother to fake their death just to go mess up a Double Snake gathering. If anyone saw the Painting Woman using her paper ability, they would recognize it as the effect of that Super Item. They would then realize that the Super Item had never left Zone 014, that it hadn’t been taken by a high-level player, but was in the hands of an E-grade or D-grade player.

Still, dealing with this wasn’t too difficult.

”How many got away?” he asked again.

The Painting Woman raised a finger and held up ”one.”

”Do you remember their face?”

The Painting Woman nodded, then typed: ”I’ll recognize them if I see them.”

”I’m heading to the Taole Club in Yang City now. Dispose of the bodies and then come meet me,” Xu Huo said before ending the video.

”Looking at that pile of corpses, quite a few of them have red numbers on their backs,” Abel remarked. ”Looks like they were really getting a barbecue party going.”

Huang Junjie shot him a cold glare, but Abel was unfazed. He cheerfully patted Huang Junjie’s shoulder and said, ”We really have fate on our side. I used to crack dungeons with Xu Huo, and now today we’re going to destroy a Player-Eater stronghold together. Could this be the Jade Emperor’s arrangement?”

Huang Junjie didn’t look pleased. ”I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As he spoke, he glanced forward, his gaze lingering on Xu Huo’s fake face.

Abel patted Xu Huo’s seat. ”We’re all old friends here. Stop pretending. I know you’re Xu Huo.”

Xu Huo didn’t react, but Guan Zuhong and Little Zhang behind him were both shocked. ”You’re Xu Huo!”

Little Zhang had met Xu Huo once a few days ago when he was with Brother Liang. He said, ”You’re actually Xu Huo? Brother Liang and I thought you were just a relatively powerful player. If we’d known it was you, Brother Liang definitely wouldn’t have disappeared!”

Xu Huo had gained widespread fame in Capital City for destroying some hideouts where Evolvers were being imprisoned. Although his identity had been handled by the Special Defense Department, his name had still spread. He was now quite a mysterious figure in the player community.

”Brother Xu,” Little Zhang said seriously, ”the players in our circle all admire you. Brother Liang’s whereabouts are unknown now. We should be looking for him, but you said you’re going to Taole Club. You want to take on the Double Snake organization, right? We may not be many, but we want to help with this!”

He pulled out his phone. ”Don’t worry, they’re all trustworthy. And they absolutely despise Player-Eaters. We’re not afraid even if it’s a one-for-one trade!”

”You’re not going to look for Brother Liang?” Huang Junjie asked with a strange expression.

”Even if Brother Liang knew, he’d support us,” Little Zhang said through gritted teeth. ”He’d definitely tell us to kill those man-eating bastards first!”