Players, Please Board the Train

The Enforcement Department had retreated in defeat. Unless they wanted to escalate the matter, they wouldn’t be barging into Rose Castle again anytime soon.

The scope of information regarding Dr. Deng and the Perfect Potion probably hadn’t spread too far.

First, there was Dr. Deng himself. That man wasn’t honest—what he’d leaked might not even be information about the Perfect Potion. The Enforcement Department’s version of events was actually more likely.

Even if something had truly been leaked, judging by the Enforcement Department’s attitude and preparations, either not many people knew about it, or they didn’t consider it important enough. There were too many possibilities.

As long as he could still stay in District 011, there was no problem.

As for Dr. Deng, he could just be left to cool his heels for now.

Early the next morning, Xu Huo brought Xiao Yuan to the school they’d arranged in advance.

With a noble status, getting an identity or enrollment for a child was simple. As long as he gave advance notice, the relevant institutions would have all the paperwork done ahead of time. All he needed to do was bring the child over.

After showing Xiao Yuan around the new environment, Xu Huo handed her over to the teacher. ”You have a communicator, so you know how to reach me and Mr. Dong. If anything comes up, contact us first.”

Xiao Yuan nodded vigorously. ”Uncle, I’ll definitely study hard.”Xu Huo left the school and headed to the Game Government base.

Shi Youzhi had led his team out on a mission, so Xu Huo applied for clearance through Sanyang and specifically pulled up the maintenance records regarding Dimensional Storms.

After learning the full story, Sanyang said, ”You got lucky. You ran into the lowest-grade Dimensional Storm, and it was already in its middle-to-late stage. If it had been even slightly higher grade, never mind the middle-to-late stage—even getting grazed by the storm’s tail would have meant death.”

”Can’t the track layout completely avoid the storms?” Xu Huo asked. ”The game should be able to predict most storms. Why not abandon the risky tracks?”

Even if the storms couldn’t be predicted with one hundred percent accuracy, at least the spatial conditions around the tracks could be assessed to determine whether there was hidden danger. Complete avoidance shouldn’t have been difficult.

”The game wasn’t this well-developed from the start either. The more tracks are built, the more there are with hidden risks. Those tracks could be abandoned and rebuilt, but it’s not cost-effective.” Sanyang shot him a smile. ”Compared to losing a train and some staff members, the manpower and resources required to reselect, test, and lay new tracks are far too great.”

Xu Huo understood. ”So if a track has a higher hidden risk, the Game Government won’t perform maintenance on it anymore?”

Sanyang nodded. ”That situation isn’t uncommon, but as long as the track’s spatial structure hasn’t been destroyed, it’ll generally be maintained. The preliminary work of track laying accounts for eighty percent of the entire project. The Game Government won’t easily abandon a track.”

He paused for a moment, then shifted to another topic. ”Actually, this kind of risk isn’t impossible to avoid either.”

”At some wormhole points, the Game Government predicts track risks and publishes the times and ticket destinations. The chance of error is very small.”

”Our base isn’t that idle. If you want to know the conditions of nearby routes, you can purchase that information from Stellar Corporation’s businesses. VIP clients can get relevant information for free there.”

Sanyang had to process a mountain of documents every day, so after a brief exchange, he shooed Xu Huo out.

Coming out of his office, Xu Huo ran straight into Wan Tingfang. She said in surprise, ”You’re here to see Uncle Sanyang too?”

”Just submitting a request.” Xu Huo said. ”You’re back from the dungeon? How did it go?”

Wan Tingfang pointed at her shoulder. ”Don’t even mention it. Didn’t get a single good item, and I took two slashes instead. I’m here to ask Uncle Sanyang for some potions.”

With that, she pushed the door open and went inside.

Xu Huo went to the office next door to review the track maintenance records.

The Dimensional Storm he’d encountered had only scraped a layer of skin off the tracks, but some of these records showed tracks where even the deeply buried instruments had been ripped out—and they’d still chosen to repair them.

Compared to other types of maintenance, the number of Dimensional Storm incidents was pitifully small, but the survival rate was far lower than encounters with Mutants or player killings.

So running into a Dimensional Storm meant bad luck, but managing to survive one by sheer fortune meant extraordinarily good luck.

Ordinary Players had essentially no ability to resist a Dimensional Storm. In a single breath, whether they lived or died was already decided.

Xu Huo opened his communicator to search for Stellar Corporation VIP client eligibility, but he only glanced at it before closing it again, instead searching for the single-purchase price of track weather forecasts.

There were quite a few sales channels, but the most reliable one was definitely Stellar Corporation. However, purchasing a weather forecast required checking into their hotel.

He hadn’t decided on his next dungeon yet, so he put the matter aside for now.

After returning the maintenance records, Xu Huo noticed a file about the Holy Sword Society sitting on the desk beside him. It wasn’t an encrypted document, so he casually picked it up. It listed, in chronological order, the incidents the Holy Sword Society had caused in several areas of District 011, and based on those events, predicted the Holy Sword Society’s next target.

Wan Tingfang pushed the door open and came in. She gave it a casual glance and said, ”The Holy Sword Society again?”

”You know this organization?” Xu Huo looked at her.

”Among the organizations that oppose the Game Government, the Holy Sword Society counts as fairly well-known.” Wan Tingfang sat down and drank two potions before starting to change her bandages. She gritted her teeth as she ripped off the sterile dressing, then poured potion over the wound, her face twisting in pain.

Xu Huo went over to help. ”I haven’t heard of any Holy Sword Society player activity in District 011.”

”District 011 is relatively stable, so the Holy Sword Society doesn’t have room to operate.” Wan Tingfang said.

”There’s dead tissue in the wound. I’ll scrape it off for you.” Xu Huo moved quickly. After the dead tissue was scraped away, the wound started bleeding again. Wan Tingfang quickly pressed a towel over it and said, ”This is from pathogens. Gotta let some blood out.”

After a few seconds, she asked, ”Have you dealt with Holy Sword Society people before?”

”Not really.” Xu Huo said. ”But in the district I went to this time, Holy Sword Society members attacked the local government. Casualties were heavy.”

”In the game, it’s either you kill me or I kill you. Can’t really tell who’s right or wrong.” Wan Tingfang said with little concern. ”Anyway, none of them are good people.”

Like other players, Wan Tingfang’s attitude toward the Game Government and other player organizations wasn’t much different. Player organizations attacking the Game Government would naturally cause casualties, but the Game Government wasn’t exactly a saint either.

”Just dogs fighting dogs.” She let out a scornful laugh.

”Indeed. The Holy Sword Society doesn’t operate like an organization with principles.” Xu Huo said. ”Massacring ordinary people purely to oppose the Game Government—at its core, it’s no different from the game itself.”

Wan Tingfang glanced at him, then tapped the documents beside her. ”It says here that the Holy Sword Society will opportunistically attack Game Government bases in many districts. We’re not in danger here, are we?”

”Didn’t you just say it yourself? District 011 is very stable. The Holy Sword Society has no room to operate.” Xu Huo smiled. ”Speaking of which, District 011 isn’t bad. If this were another district, you might actually have to worry about that.”

”What’s in the base anyway? Just some files and documents. What’s worth fighting for?” Wan Tingfang snorted. ”If they want items and money, robbing the exchange would be way more practical!”