Players, Please Board the Train

”You’re from the Capital City, you’ve never left, let alone been abroad. The foreign name you mentioned is a nickname you took in the game.” Xu Huo put down the mirror and picked up the medical record book. ”I know you yearn for life abroad. You’ve posted on social platforms more than once praising how great foreign countries are, saying you want to settle overseas, and even asked your parents to sell their house to fund your trip.”

”But your family isn’t well-off, and your parents are seriously ill. After they opposed selling the house, you killed them. Their bodies weren’t discovered until the new buyer started renovating, dug out from inside the walls.”

After saying this, Xu Huo paused and asked him, ”Do you still remember?”

David Pierce’s eyes were blank. After struggling to recall, he fell into agony again, his expression twisting as he said, ”I don’t know... I don’t know...”

Xu Huo sighed. ”When you were arrested, you claimed you had to kill your parents because you were on a mission. In your eyes, they had become the landlord who accidentally discovered you meeting with a spy.”

David Pierce’s expression kept shifting. Gradually, he seemed to accept this fact. He dry-heaved and let out a pained howl. ”I didn’t want to kill them... I didn’t mean to!”

Of course, Xu Huo’s words were completely fabricated, but Pierce followed his story and successfully connected the dots, starting to ramble about his ”fake” past.

From his oral account, Xu Huo gained some understanding of this underground organization lurking in the Capital City.

To sum it up in one sentence: these people were originally deep-cover spies. After the Evolver incidents erupted, their missions had to change—they had no choice. Since the Special Defense Department was established, they had strictly controlled all foreign nationals who became players, regardless of whether they had obtained citizenship. Many were deported, and those who remained were kept under close surveillance.

Recently, due to changes in the international situation, the Special Defense Department passed a proposal to repatriate all foreign nationals except those with extraordinary contributions. Their relatives and friends would also be relocated to other provinces.Probably sensing this was their last chance, this group took the opportunity to band together and cause trouble.

They had two objectives. First, to obtain the antidote fungus, but that mission had already failed. Because someone on the inside leaked information, their players entered the lab through special means but not only failed to get what they wanted—they were all shot dead by the Special Defense Department members who had set up an ambush in advance. Not a single one survived.

The second objective was to assassinate high-level officials. That mission was half-failed, because their operatives were caught the moment they tried to infiltrate. Forget killing anyone—they hadn’t even touched a sleeve. That was why they had to go all in, throwing their remaining forces into this chaotic fight near the headquarters.

Kill a few Special Defense Department higher-ups, use random dungeons to eliminate elite players, take this opportunity to stir up conflict between the Special Defense Department and ordinary players, and plunge this nation into the same flames of war as foreign countries... In short, nobody was going to have peace. If most of Zone 014 was already in dire straits, why should Nation X stand apart?

After hearing this, Xu Huo only found it absurd. This kind of action had completely lost any political meaning. It was more like venting spite and seeking revenge. From any angle, Nation X holding its territory to establish a safe zone was a good thing for the entire world.

But that wasn’t the most important issue. David Pierce had leaked a key piece of information: item trading shops had also appeared in other countries of Zone 014. Furthermore, Country Y had discovered massive mineral deposits in a newly generated resource zone and had already conducted trades. The reason several dungeon entrances could be transported in this time was by borrowing the power of items.

Xu Huo pressed for details on the purchased items, but David Pierce didn’t know.

Unable to extract more information from him, he went to the next room to find the leading middle-aged man.

”Bentley Abbe,” Xu Huo called his name. ”Do you remember your past?”

Bentley’s mental state was better than any of his subordinates. He stared at Xu Huo. ”You’re not a real doctor.”

Xu Huo looked up at him. ”I am the Director of the Seventeenth Hospital.”

”Director?” Bentley laughed. ”This is a fake hospital. There is no director. You’re the holder of this dungeon.”

”You’re very smart.” Xu Huo sat back down, his tone playful. ”So what if you figured it out? You can’t walk out of here alive anyway.”

”I understand dungeon composition.” Bentley thought he had seized a thread of hope and said, ”If the dungeon boss is human, then the dungeon has a certain flexibility. Whether a player can clear it sometimes depends on the holder’s mood!”

Xu Huo raised his hand and tapped the operating table beside him. A tea set appeared on it. As he rinsed the teacups, he said, ”I do have that authority. But why would I let you go?”

”I can give you everything you want. White Bills, items, potions, or women. If you want power, that’s also possible. If you’re willing to work for my country...”

Before he could finish, his words were replaced by a scream. His left leg was severed at the knee!

After appreciating his screams, Xu Huo nodded. ”Think before you speak next time.”

Bentley seethed with hatred. Suppressing the pain, he said again, ”I misspoke. You’re a high-level player. What couldn’t you get? If you would honor us with your presence in my country, you would definitely receive the highest level of hospitality.”

Xu Huo didn’t take the bait on this topic, physically demonstrating his lack of interest.

Bentley then listed several tempting proposals—like gifting him the latest A-class item from Country Y, or providing two trading slots with Country Y covering all his expenses for purchasing items from the item shop.

Xu Huo refused them all. Never mind that a deep-cover agent like Bentley didn’t have that kind of authority; even if he did, Xu Huo wouldn’t go. Especially not when Country Y had already used ore for item trading.

”Are you interested in super ore?” Bentley finally brought up the ore.

”Keep talking.” Xu Huo looked him in the eye.

Bentley breathed a sigh of relief and stated his exchange conditions, no longer daring to say anything about Xu Huo working for Country Y. He only offered to trade a certain amount of ore for his freedom.

”This ore appears in overlapping zones. With current technology, we can only detect that it contains radioactive elements. Its specific functions and hazards are unclear, so for now it’s only used for trading.”

”If you need it, let one of my companions out. He can bring the ore to you.”

”Location.” Xu Huo said flatly. ”I’ll make the trip myself. It’s no trouble.”

Bentley’s face twitched. He was clearly hesitant, but when he saw the change in Xu Huo’s expression, he immediately reported a set of coordinates.

After hearing it, Xu Huo smiled. ”You’re very loyal to your country.”

With that, he ended the man’s life with a single sword strike.