Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo thought this guy would definitely choose a suitable time to leave, but he didn’t expect him to actually be prepared to stay long-term in District 011.

Dr. Deng didn’t beat around the bush with him either, directly saying, ”You’ve heard about what happened in Zone 009, right?”

Xu Huo sat down in the tea room, ”I’ve heard a little.”

Dr. Deng exhaled, ”Dr. Wu showed up in Zone 009.”

Xu Huo’s expression shifted slightly, ”For real?”

”The source of the news is absolutely real, but since we didn’t see it with our own eyes, we can’t be sure that the Dr. Wu they’re talking about is the person I’m looking for.” Dr. Deng looked very serious.

”Are you saying you want me to take you to Zone 009?” Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. ”You don’t know the situation in Zone 009? There’s bound to be a large-scale player massacre coming up. Forget bringing you along—it’s not even safe for me to go alone.”

”But that’s the perfect evolution agent!” Dr. Deng said in a deep voice. ”Are you telling me you don’t want it?”

”Of course I want it.” Xu Huo said. ”But compared to that, my life is still more important.”

Dr. Deng examined him, ”I thought you weren’t the type to fear death.””This has nothing to do with fearing death. Everything I do is based on me staying alive. What use is an evolution agent to a dead man?”

Dr. Deng clearly hadn’t expected this outcome. He stood up with a hint of anger, ”For a perfect evolution agent, how many people would risk their lives! I didn’t think you wouldn’t even be willing to take a little risk! I misjudged you!”

”You have to take risks that are worth it. Even you said the news might not be true.” Xu Huo continued, ”Besides, how many players in the game are trying to find Dr. Wu? Why would he happen to show up in a district that’s about to fully merge with the game?”

”I’ve suspected that too, but this lead is worth following. I have channels—didn’t Deep Blue Laboratory find traces of Dr. Wu too?” Dr. Deng looked at him with probing eyes. ”Aren’t you even a little curious? Are you so sure the news is fake?”

”I just don’t believe it would be that coincidental.” Xu Huo said. ”How many players will show up when the game merges? I’m more inclined to think someone is fishing.”

Dr. Deng’s expression flickered, but he quickly said, ”Fine, if you don’t believe me, forget it!”

He was about to leave, but Xu Huo didn’t play hard to get or try to keep him. Instead, he had Mr. Dong see him out.

Dr. Deng stopped outside the gate and waited a few seconds. After looking back, he left in frustration.

”Sir, are you not interested in the perfect evolution agent?” Mr. Dong returned and asked.

Xu Huo was extremely interested. What he lacked right now was the perfect evolution agent. But Dr. Deng wasn’t trustworthy.

First of all, his identity was questionable. Although he claimed to have been fired by Stellar Corporation, that might not be true. In this game, probably no one’s desire for the perfect evolution agent exceeded that of Stellar Corporation. What did it matter if they threw out a few hooks? And as a ”fired” scientific researcher, his network was a bit too extensive.

Of course, that didn’t mean the news was necessarily false. Dr. Deng had been tracking Dr. Wu, so he might know more ”inside information” than others. But coming to him, a D-level player, and offering it up voluntarily was a bit strange.

Anyway, the situation in Zone 009 hadn’t been finalized yet. There was no harm in waiting another two days.

Xu Huo paused and asked Mr. Dong, ”How’s that ’ghost’ doing?”

He was talking about the ”ghost face” item he had brought back from Deep Blue Laboratory. He had just put it directly into the luggage compartment and brought it back. Like the Painting Woman and Mr. Dong, it had a certain degree of autonomy, but it didn’t seem very smart. So when he came back last time, he handed it over to Mr. Dong, and it had been locked up in the ancient castle ever since.

Mr. Dong looked toward the wall, and the wall there automatically extended outward. The surface melted like mud, layer after layer washing down, and soon it spat out the ”Ghostly Shadow.”

The ”Ghostly Shadow” lying flat on the ground was exceptionally well-behaved, not moving at all, not even activating its half-real, half-fake ghost face. It was like a piece of scrap paper.

”Giving up resistance?” Xu Huo walked over. Before he could crouch down, the piece of paper suddenly whooshed into the air and flew straight at his face!

This thing loved wrapping around people’s faces more than anything. He dodged, but then the Painting Woman ran down from upstairs, and the two pieces of paper met face-to-face without warning.

The ”Ghostly Shadow,” which had been flying through the air, turned around and tried to flee, but it was too late. The Painting Woman reached out and grabbed it in her hand, though she threw it away again the next second.

The ”Ghostly Shadow” was freed and immediately stuck itself to the wall, scrambling wildly until it was sure it couldn’t escape the ancient castle at all. Only then did it shrink into the farthest corner and stay still.

As for the Painting Woman, she anxiously checked her new clothes first before smiling at Xu Huo. ”Do I look good?”

Xu Huo nodded and pointed at the dirty thing in the corner. ”I can’t catch it. Tomorrow, you get it down and clean it.”

The Painting Woman had helped Mr. Dong with work during the day, and now she didn’t see anything wrong with it. Back when she lived with Xu Huo, she had always done the cleaning. So she went upstairs, changed into her new clothes, put on an apron, and came back down to catch the ”Ghostly Shadow,” declaring she couldn’t stand such a dirty thing running all over her house.

The ”Ghostly Shadow” completely lost its ability to resist in her hands. It was shoved into the bathtub and scrubbed for half an hour. After being blow-dried and sprayed with perfume, it was finally delivered to Xu Huo’s room.

Xu Huo was about to go to sleep when he saw the Painting Woman squeezing through the doorframe with the ”Ghostly Shadow” in tow. He couldn’t help but say, ”Did you forget what we agreed on before?”

The Painting Woman looked very aggrieved. ”I didn’t let anyone see me.”

”I said you can’t just come and go in my room as you please. Did you knock?” Xu Huo looked at her.

The Painting Woman quickly nodded, then dragged the ”Ghostly Shadow” back out and knocked on the door.

Xu Huo pulled his blanket up. ”If there’s something, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

There was silence outside the door for two seconds, then the knocking started again. After a while, Mr. Dong came upstairs and took her away.

But early the next morning, when Xu Huo opened his door, he saw the Painting Woman squatting by his door, idly playing with the ”Ghostly Shadow.” The poor ”Ghostly Shadow” had been crumpled into a ball by her and didn’t dare to stretch out, just rolled around on the ground, wrinkled and pathetic.

”Didn’t you sleep?” Xu Huo asked.

The Painting Woman didn’t need to sleep. She handed over the crumpled ”Ghostly Shadow.” ”It was disobedient, so I taught it a lesson.”

Xu Huo reached out to take it. This time, the ”Ghostly Shadow” didn’t run. It obediently stayed in his hand.

He easily stored it in his item slot and opened the game panel to check the specific information.

[Congratulations to Player Passerby for obtaining a Special Item.]

[The Repentant Poster: Its creator was a notorious stalker who was imprisoned three times for following people. Each time she was released, she declared that the law would never make her give up her hobby. That was until she fell in love with her final target—a beautiful and kind-hearted person. She made this poster, which could change its appearance based on the holder’s level of inner beauty, hoping that when the woman on the poster became a peerless beauty, her target would accept her feelings.]

[But who would ever love a stalker? After that, she came to believe that a beautiful face and a beautiful heart were completely opposite attributes. So she changed the poster’s function and gave it the ability to kill its targets.]