Chapter 1033: Tomorrow's Venue
Xu Huo looked at the children's toys scattered on the floor. These toys clearly couldn't have been prepared by Dong Jingxuan or Zeng An for Little Bean. He glanced at the boy, who had stopped eating, and asked, "Did you make a new friend?"
"It's a young master," Zeng An replied on his behalf. "But the young master has classes and is usually very busy."
Xu Huo nodded slightly and sat down beside Little Bean. "Are you happy?"
Little Bean glanced at Zeng An, then gripped his utensils without any expression.
"Looks like you're not happy," Xu Huo said with a smile. "Did the Dong family kids bully you?"
"No," Little Bean answered this time, his expression not forced. "He's also someone who gets bullied."
"That's normal." Xu Huo casually picked up a piece of bread from the table and took a bite. "You're from Zone 002. It's best for you to stay here."
Little Bean suddenly turned his head to look at him. "I want to go with you!"
Xu Huo patted his head. "Don't change your mind so quickly. The outside isn't necessarily better than here."
Little Bean had been playing a bit clever. He didn't trust anyone, and of course he wouldn't trust an outer zone player. That's why he ran when he was being sold. But kids can read the room too—at that time, following Xu Huo was his best choice.
However, choosing to follow him didn't mean he had to leave Zone 002. At the very least, the Dong family was a good place to settle down.
The Dong family certainly wouldn't begrudge him a meal, but expecting great treatment was impossible. If he had player aptitude, it might be okay; without it, he'd eventually be kicked out.
Given the environment of Zone 002, a child who had been homeless and passed around multiple times would understand this better than anyone.
That's why he wanted to leave with Xu Huo.
Xu Huo had never planned to take him out of Zone 002. Since the Dong family wasn't a good option, he said to Zeng An, "Could you help find a welfare home with a decent environment? I can fund his support until he's eighteen. I hope he can stay in the welfare home until then."
The hope in Little Bean's eyes quickly faded, but he didn't show disappointment. Instead, he said, "Thank you, Uncle."
Arranging for a complete stranger's child's welfare until eighteen—anyone hearing this would call Xu Huo a great kind-hearted person. Zeng An smiled and said, "I'll handle this after informing the young master. Actually, Snow City has a good environment. Even when children reach the age to leave the welfare home, the staff will check on their destinations one by one, help them find jobs, arrange housing, and once they're self-sufficient, they can repay the welfare home's expenses with their own wages."
Xu Huo looked at Little Bean, who raised his face and smiled at Zeng An. "Thank you, Sister."
Zeng An patted his head, then said to Xu Huo, "Mr. Xu, are you ready to leave now? You can have dinner when you arrive."
Xu Huo wasn't about to miss this entry ticket. He readily accepted the Dong family's car ride to the Entertainment Tower.
The Entertainment Tower was a genuine airborne building. Its levitation principle was similar to that of aircraft, but it was a massive structure.
This building was enormous—visually, it was the largest standalone structure besides the Snow Palace. Every floor was fully equipped with entertainment facilities: accommodations, restaurants, indoor and outdoor activities, large open-air courts, banquet halls, botanical gardens filled with rare plants, and even a dedicated pet amusement park.
Notably, from the moment you entered the Entertainment Tower, you could bask in normal sunlight. Not only did the top of the tower have a giant spatial channel, but each floor also had multiple independent small channels. Every leisure area was bathed in abundant sunlight, and the plants inside were predominantly green.
The precious sunlight and rare greenery that were hard to find elsewhere in Zone 002 were everywhere in the Entertainment Tower. The staff were so accustomed to it that if they couldn't adapt to continuous sunlight exposure, they would wear special protective shields.
Xu Huo was led to the "Tomorrow's Venue," located at the core of the tower.
"The entire venue is circular. Each room has a number, and the numbers are fixed, but the rooms themselves are not. Depending on the guest's request, the rooms will randomly change positions. Right now, Room 039 is in front of you, but it might be a kilometer away in a moment."
"Moreover, once a room moves, it usually won't return to its original position. And as you can see outside the corridor, every passage leads to a different venue, making it very easy to get lost."
The staff member kindly explained while handing him a sensor with both hands. "If you need anything else, you can call the nearest server to guide you."
Xu Huo took the thumb-sized, jelly-like sensor and waited until they opened the door before stepping into the room.
Room 039 was spacious. As a holographic projection room, it felt a bit empty. The main guests were seated in capsule seats along the wall. Besides Dong Jingxuan and the previously seen Dong Qifeng and Dong Yanqiong, there was also a long-haired young man.
When Xu Huo entered, their bodyguards signaled, but only Dong Jingxuan opened his capsule door. He jumped out excitedly and said, "I thought it would take you two days to get out of the instance, but you're back so fast!"
Whether he genuinely didn't know or was pretending, the bodyguard Brother Lei behind him glanced at Dong Qifeng.
"Lucky me—this instance was very simple," Xu Huo humbly replied, then asked, "Have the beauty contest results come out yet?"
"Almost," Dong Jingxuan said, taking a pair of glasses from Brother Lei and handing them to him. "We're just waiting for Guo Longzhi and another person's votes to decide the champion."
Xu Huo put on the glasses, and immediately, projections of Guo Longzhi and nine other top-ranked contestants appeared before him. The projections were incredibly realistic—if you didn't touch them, you couldn't tell they weren't real people.
"I like Number Five," Dong Jingxuan said. "Best figure!"
The Dong family's young masters and misses were clearly on a group call. Dong Yanqiong immediately retorted, "You can only look at chests and butts. Good thing there aren't many people as shallow as you, or how else would Guo Longzhi win the championship?"
"The aesthetic data is from last year. This year, it's hard to say," Dong Jingxuan said dismissively.
"Our family's entry has to win the championship," Dong Qifeng's voice rang out. "It has nothing to do with what you like."
His tone was less than pleasant.
"Can't I even express an opinion?" Dong Jingxuan snorted, then quickly turned his attention back to the selection, spending money to vote for his favorite Number Five, even though her ranking was already set.
Xu Huo glanced at the voting data. The difference between Guo Longzhi and the other contestant was minimal, locked in a heated back-and-forth, with only three minutes left on the countdown.
There wasn't much suspense, so he shifted his focus to the venue in front of the room.
From the spatial layout, the room was at the edge of the entire venue, with an open area ahead. Since the rooms could move, this front space was likely the main body of the venue. Since he had entered, the number of people inside had been rapidly increasing.
(Chapter End)