Chapter 96: Mutual Suspicion
Xu Huo did not answer the question immediately but waited for it to ask a second and third time, until the final countdown.
"The puzzle solver has five seconds remaining."
Xu Huo replied, "Chairman of Stellar Corporation."
"Beep beep! Correct answer!"
"The puzzle solver has given the correct answer. Master Nicer has decided to reward you with a small magnifying glass. The magnified world is more beautiful than the normal one."
Xu Huo took the magnifying glass as before. He turned to Shen Xin and said, "Gu Yu should have succeeded by now. If each time only attracts nearby Xenomorphs, even if we answer the next questions wrong, there won't be any danger. But just in case, you should go out first."
Shen Xin was full of questions, but now was not the time to ask. She smoothly withdrew from the household store. "Be careful yourself."
"Clever puzzle solver. The third question is: If a Super Evolver who has been Xenomorphized stands before you, would you uphold righteousness and kill it?"
Without waiting for the clock's countdown, Xu Huo directly answered, "No."
After visiting Master Nicer's residence, he had gained some understanding of this highly skilled craftsman. First, he loved making clocks, and the clocks he made could transform into special items carrying time-space power. Second, his deceased son and daughter-in-law both opposed the abuse of evolution drugs, and he himself had invested tremendous effort for this cause. Third, during the evolution process, some people would die, but some would mutate into monsters. He was desperately searching for the method of perfect evolution.
Understanding this, looking at the question again, one could see that Master Nicer built this town for his Xenomorphized granddaughter. The fairytale-like town full of childlike joy was meant to make the little girl happy, but the black metal room and the high walls outside the town were to prevent her from running out if she lost control.
After his son and daughter-in-law died, the little girl might have been Master Nicer's only remaining family. He would not kill his Xenomorphized granddaughter, nor would he hypocritically demand others to kill Xenomorphized Super Evolvers. Moreover, he had ultimately found the method of perfect evolution and already had the spark to save Xenomorphized Super Evolvers.
"Beep beep! Correct answer!"
"The puzzle solver has given the correct answer. Master Nicer has decided to reward you with a P0T Evolution Injection. This injection can be used under an evolution rate of 15%, allowing the Super Evolver to escape the distress of long-term evolution drug use."
"Today's question time has ended."
Xu Huo firmly grasped the green injection in his hand.
Evolution agents could not be discontinued. Escaping this distress—did this mean it was an agent that could compensate for evolution defects?
Could this be the perfect evolution method Master Nicer had found?
Holding the injection up to the light, Xu Huo squinted slightly, staring at the flowing green liquid inside, his expression shifting several times.
"What are you looking at?" Lin Pei appeared at the entrance of the household store, staring at the item in his hand.
"An evolution agent, for use under 15%." Xu Huo casually put the agent away.
Lin Pei sized him up. "Aren't evolution agents all blue?"
"Maybe it's an enhanced version." Xu Huo ignored his gaze and walked past him out of the store.
In another shop, Shen Xin was confronting Wu Qiuyi. "Don't tell me you just had a bad memory and mixed things up. We sympathized with you and Lin Pei being hungry for days, so we let you handle the puzzles near Master Nicer's house. That area was the safest and most certain. But you nearly cost the four of us our lives!"
Wu Qiuyi's face flushed red. "I absolutely did not misremember. There are two household stores here, with similar layouts and decorations, and the clocks are the same. Only the color of the wreaths above them is different—one purple, one blue. The blue one's question was about Master Nicer's favorite shoes!"
"Then how do you explain the question changing to his favorite game, and coincidentally, right when we were about to leave, a board fell down, forcing us to stay and answer the question!"
"How should I know!" Wu Qiuyi habitually lowered her voice. "If you don't believe me, go check the other store!"
"I already checked. The other one has a purple wreath." Xu Huo responded from outside. "You might have genuinely misremembered."
"I did not!" Wu Qiuyi gritted her teeth. "I would never misremember! I would never harm any of my companions!"
Seeing her angry and sorrowful expression, Shen Xin was momentarily speechless. Instead, Lin Pei comforted her, "We were all dizzy from hunger these past few days. It's normal to mix up the two colors."
This time, Wu Qiuyi said nothing. She suddenly pulled open the door and climbed onto the roof, leaving.
"Don't mind her. She's just too heartbroken." Lin Pei sighed and quickly chased after her.
To be safe, Xu Huo and Shen Xin did not leave immediately. Shen Xin watched their retreating figures and whispered, "Do you believe what they said?"
Xu Huo shook his head.
"How infuriating!" Shen Xin fumed. "Everyone is desperately trying to find a way out, but some people just have to stir up trouble. What are they after? What good does it do them if others die?"
"It's almost dark. Let's go back to the bus first." Xu Huo didn't express his opinion.
The group returned to the vehicle one after another. Shen Xin's attitude caught Shen Yi's attention. After a couple of questions, Shen Xin told him everything.
Upon learning that they had unknowingly walked through the gates of hell, Shen Yi and Gu Yu were instantly furious.
"Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding..."
Before Lin Pei could finish, Shen Yi shoved him. "We nearly died, and you think a flimsy 'misunderstanding' makes it all okay?"
"Then what do you want?" Lin Pei also lost his temper. "No one wants an accident to happen. You're not the only ones taking risks."
Gu Yu sneered. "You think stabbing us in the back is taking a risk? Don't tell me you were waiting for us to die so you could take our items!"
"What kind of talk is that!" Wu Qiuyi raised her voice. "Even if we took your items, we still couldn't get out. What use would they be?"
"Other items might be useless, but Xu Huo's item can cut black metal. Maybe it could cut open the gate. Kill and loot—this kind of thing is common in instances!" Gu Yu retorted. "You never know what's in a person's heart. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for us, you all might have starved to death in the end. You're pretty good at repaying kindness with enmity!"
"Everyone contributed. Do you think you could have narrowed down the Xenomorph's range so quickly without us?" Ke Liang said grimly. "We're all trying to survive. Don't talk about favors."
"Fine, we're cooperating. But if we're cooperating, what's with you tripping us up?" Gu Yu's tone was aggressive. "First the hidden attack, then the wrong puzzle. How did someone so careless survive the previous instances?"
"What do you mean? Are you blaming us for the Xu Huo incident too?" Ke Liang's jaw muscles bulged, clearly enraged as well.
Gu Yu coldly stared at him. "You've been wandering around town these past two days, haven't you? Did you see anyone else?"
Ke Liang paused. At this moment, Lin Pei laughed. "Xu Huo is the only one who knows if he was really attacked. Who knows if it's true or false?"
Gu Yu looked at these people in disbelief. "You want to turn the blame around on us?"