Chapter 1042: Big Fish Eat Small Fish
The entertainment building was under attack, making it hard to guarantee that other locations weren't on the hit list.
Dong Jingxuan contacted Brother Lei first instead of his own father. Brother Lei was clearly overwhelmed, intermittently telling him not to return to the Dong family for now, because the Dong residence had been surrounded from the outside, sealed off by item lockdown (daoju fengkong), cutting off internal and external communication. Given the Dong family's special circumstances, they weren't a priority rescue target for the government, so running back now would most likely result in being intercepted by the Holy Sword Society first.
"Holy Sword Society, again the Holy Sword Society!" Wei Chengzhang swung his fist in anger. "Sooner or later, we'll kill them all!"
Xu Huo glanced at him and asked, "Does the big family of Snow City have old grudges with the Holy Sword Society?"
"I haven't heard of that," Dong Jingxuan said. "But my dad said the Holy Sword Society isn't easy to mess with, and this time the trouble might be considerable."
"Why don't you contact your dad?" Wei Chengzhang looked at him hopefully. "Since you're outside, he'll definitely find a way to get you back, right?"
Dong Jingxuan rolled his eyes. "You can tell from the fact that I haven't even called him that it's useless. Unless he contacts me, calling him is a waste of time. I'm only ever on the receiving end of arrangements. He hasn't found me yet, which means it's not my turn."
Similarly, Dong Yanqiong hadn't contacted her parents either.
"Brother Xu, don't believe what those Holy Sword Society people said," Dong Jingxuan turned back to Xu Huo. "Stuff about our families killing people and doing evil, conducting racial screening—if that were true, the Game Government would have stepped in long ago. Why would it be up to them to deliver justice?"
"Besides, their indiscriminate killings outside will definitely trigger a chain reaction. Whether it's the Holy Sword Society or not, in the end, some people will try to fish in troubled waters. Aren't those who get killed innocent?"
"They're just finding a righteous excuse for their murders!"
"Didn't expect you to have such a clear head," Xu Huo nodded, then added, "But 002 District probably did purchase a large-scale space teleportation item (daoju) from the Game Government, right? Otherwise, why would so many players gather at the Tomorrow Venue?"
Dong Jingxuan was silent for two seconds before saying, "That should be impossible."
"I mean, the Game Government wouldn't sell such a large teleportation item (daoju) to a district government. Even the Game Government itself has strict procedures for applying for such items (daoju). How could they casually sell it to a district government? If that happened, wouldn't the districts be in chaos?"
The Dimension Crack game, on the surface, had systems and regulations, but in reality, it wasn't as good as it claimed. Instances that destroyed or didn't follow rules, or that massacred living people, could earn Good Deed Medals, but the prerequisite for getting such a medal was that the instance had already formed with the game's tacit approval.
Perhaps what classification of player an Evolver ultimately becomes is uncontrollable, but if the entire game were righteous, there shouldn't be instances like the Skinner's.
And whether such large-scale space teleportation instruments capable of shuttling between different districts were actually sold to the outside was also questionable.
"It might not be for free travel between different districts," Xu Huo said flatly. "Perhaps it can only unilaterally teleport players from 002 District to a fixed other district."
Dong Jingxuan fell completely silent. Based on his knowledge and information, this was entirely possible—if the Game Government was also involved.
002 District hadn't been in the game world for a short time, so the people living here had some understanding of information about other wormhole points. Some wormhole point districts were destroyed right after formation. In better cases, they became subordinate (fushu) to other districts; in worse cases, even the people and animals died out. Such districts were also one of the sources of high-risk instance locations.
"As far as I know, E20 just gave birth to a new district," Wei Yu suddenly said. "Someone got a ticket to that district."
"Generally, once a wormhole point fully integrates into the game world, no new districts are born. The earlier districts are familiar with the rules and backroom operations. A newly generated district is most likely only going to be carved up."
"E20 isn't a fully stabilized wormhole point. The districts born later... let's just say they're unlucky."
Wormhole point isolation and the real-world isolation of districts not fully integrated into the game world are both forms of protection for new districts. But this protection isn't absolute. Some districts are unlucky and get targeted by earlier districts. Both cross-district (kua fenqu) and cross-wormhole-point (kua chongdong dian) scenarios are possible.
"Not necessarily," Wei Chengzhang said. "Unless this newly born district has particularly rare resources, what's the point of occupying a district that hasn't even taken shape? Our players can't even stay there for long. Since a large number of high-level instances haven't been generated, good items (daoju) won't come around either."
"But if there really were particularly rare mineral resources, it wouldn't be our 002 District's turn. Since the Game Government can directly participate, they could just do it themselves."
"The Game Government can't directly intervene in non-directly-administered districts," Dong Jingxuan said. "Even though they make the rules, they have to follow them too."
"What does that mean?" Dong Yanqiong looked left and right. "So the Holy Sword Society's war with our Snow City is justified?"
"Even if it's true, this kind of thing isn't new in the game world," Wei Yu said. It could be said to happen every moment. It's just the strong preying on the weak. What right does the Holy Sword Society have to sanction 002 District?
Dong Jingxuan and the other two had no standing to speak.
"It's not new," Xu Huo spoke up beside them. "So it's also normal for the Holy Sword Society to attack."
Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp—it's just a shift in identity and position. Dong Jingxuan and the others were lucky to be alive today.
"Where are we going now?" After a moment, Wei Chengzhang asked Dong Jingxuan. There was no choice; no one on the vehicle dared to refute Xu Huo's words.
"Find a safe place to hide," Dong Jingxuan pulled himself together. "The fighting near the Government Hall is likely to cause collateral damage. With the lockdown, aircraft are under control. Going out directly would be too conspicuous. The outskirts of Snow City should be the safest place now."
"The internal chaos in Snow City will definitely attract players from other cities. The outskirts aren't necessarily safe. Let's go to the Snow White Villa," Xu Huo said. "It's not too far from the Dong Manor, but few people go there."
Dong Jingxuan didn't argue and changed course.
During the journey, Xu Huo contacted Chi Minghong to ask if her previous business was settled.
"I can send some materials to you directly, but some encrypted files can't be read by the communicator, so I'll have to give them to you in person," Chi Minghong said in a very low voice. "The place I'm hiding isn't very safe either. What about you?"
"The instance location from before," Xu Huo said. "I'll be there soon."
"The space items (daoju) in the entire city are affected now. I estimate it'll take me a while to get there," Chi Minghong briefly explained before hanging up.
At that moment, the aircraft also entered the woods outside the Snow White Villa.
(Chapter End)