Chapter 1045: Waiting for an Opportunity
"I haven't said anything yet!" Dong Jingxuan interjected, but after Xu Huo silently stared him down, he couldn't manage to say anything more.
He wasn't someone with particularly strong mental fortitude. Of course, even if he were, it would be easy to slip up in front of a player. The more he said, the more mistakes he'd make, so he consciously shut his mouth.
"Dong Family Manor can't be entered right now. Do you know of any other possible experimental base locations, or perhaps another entrance?" Xu Huo asked after a moment of thought.
"Why are you looking for a place like that?" Dong Jingxuan paused for a few seconds before speaking. "Even though your abilities are decent, you absolutely cannot get into the laboratory. Besides players, the lab also has advanced jamming equipment. Once you walk in, many of your items won't be usable."
Without items, a player was just an evolved human with faster movement and greater agility. High-firepower suppression would be enough to deal with them.
"Moreover, the equipment in those places isn't like the instruments commonly used in government halls or other sensitive locations, where you might find a way to sabotage them beforehand. The instruments in the lab are completely sealed. They only open the walls for maintenance when a major problem occurs. Not to mention it's hard for you to even get close, even if you did, you couldn't damage the instruments without being discovered."
"Item usage can be affected by distance and obstacles, but specially made instruments won't be."
Xu Huo listened without a word, then asked, "Are the laboratories typically made of metal?"
Dong Jingxuan immediately wore an "I knew it" expression. "You didn't understand what I meant. Forget C-level or B-level players, even an A-level player wouldn't necessarily have an easy time there!"
Xu Huo patted his shoulder. "I just want to confirm if such a place exists. I don't plan on doing anything else. I just want to ask for an exact location."
Dong Jingxuan looked at him. "I don't have the right to choose, do I?"
Xu Huo opened his communicator and pulled up a three-dimensional map of Snow City. "Just point out a spot for me."
Seeing him still hesitating, Xu Huo added, "I need the correct address."
Dong Jingxuan instantly abandoned any other thoughts and honestly pointed to a location.
The position wasn't within the Dong family's territory, but the surface building was marked as belonging to a certain clan's industry, likely another family similar to the Dongs.
Xu Huo nodded, put away the map, and prepared to leave.
"The matter of the teleportation channel shouldn't have anything to do with our Dong family," Dong Jingxuan quickly added. "In fact, Snow City isn't unified internally. It's probably other families trying to use this opportunity to change the clan power structure."
Xu Huo turned back to look at him. "Why did you appear at the Tomorrow Venue?"
If District 002 truly intended to directly invade other new districts, it would have to be approved by the vast majority of factions. A situation with two opposing sides wouldn't exist.
Dong Jingxuan had no response.
After putting away the shelter, Xu Huo spoke privately to Chi Minghong. "I need to go to Snow City."
"Is it related to the materials you found?" Chi Minghong had skimmed through some of them. She didn't know the specific details, but she understood that children were among the surveillance targets. "Is District 002 also using children for experiments?"
She didn't try to dissuade Xu Huo from attacking a stone with an egg. It wasn't like he was going after District 002's instance; he definitely had another purpose.
"Can we get anything good out of it?" she asked.
Xu Huo glanced at her. "Getting something good will be difficult. I might even lose my life."
Chi Minghong hissed through her teeth, then laughed heartily. "I love high-difficulty challenges like this. Wait for me, I'll go with you! I've been sick of this damn place for a long time. Might as well stir things up a bit before we leave!"
The two reached a consensus. Chi Minghong arranged for Lu Qing and then prepared to leave with Xu Huo.
"You're just leaving like that?" Wei Chengzhang couldn't help but speak up. "There are so many of us here, and only one player..."
Xu Huo looked at him. "If you don't want to stay here, you can come with us."
Wei Chengzhang immediately fell silent.
Xu Huo and Chi Minghong exchanged a glance, then both used speed-boosting items to leave the woods.
The woods outside the Snow White Villa were still some distance from the main city area. Since spatial items were restricted, they didn't teleport directly into the city to avoid unnecessary trouble.
"Right now, you basically can't see any ordinary people or out-of-zone residents in the visible parts of the city. Everyone you see walking on the streets are Snow City players—some are government players, some are from different families." Choosing an open vantage point, Chi Minghong used a silencing item to tell Xu Huo about the situation inside the city. "Those in the dark blue uniforms with silver badges on their shoulders are government players. The ones wearing gold badges are players from families recognized by the government... Unfortunately, the appearance of District 002 players is unique. Even customizing a perfect disguise would take a lot of time. Otherwise, we could just get a set of their clothes and walk right in."
District 002's defenses were much tighter than Xu Huo had imagined. Networked robots were everywhere on the streets. They could detect the number of items within a certain range. If an item's marked position didn't overlap with a District 002 player's positioning signal, an alarm would sound, and nearby players would quickly swarm in.
These robots were enough to cover most of the city.
"Going through the air is also an option," Chi Minghong pointed upward. "But my items can't last for long distances, and I might be discovered by players. The place you want to go is a core industrial building, so there might be quite a few high-level players nearby."
Whether it was a direct assault or sneaking in, neither seemed feasible.
At this point, the best strategy was to create a diversion—someone drawing fire so they could have a chance to slip in.
"Let me be clear, I'm not playing bait," Chi Minghong said. "It's not that I'm afraid, but I estimate I'd be caught within two minutes of going out there. It wouldn't help."
Xu Huo nodded. Not to mention Chi Minghong, even he wouldn't be able to draw attention under this kind of deployment.
"Let's wait and see if an opportunity arises," he said. The matter with the Holy Sword Society wasn't resolved yet. It would be even better if someone started fighting nearby. If not, once tonight's events came to an end, the players in Snow City would naturally disperse. That should be when they were most lax.
However, external laxity didn't mean internal laxity. The situation in the lab was still unknown. If personnel returned to their posts, Snow City returning to normal wouldn't mean anything to him.
"A convoy is coming." Chi Minghong looked towards one side of the city.
Xu Huo followed her gaze and saw a five-vehicle convoy heading towards the city center.
"That's not right," Chi Minghong said, crouching by the rooftop edge and peering out. "Those cars seem to be heading for Chen He's Pharmaceutical."
That pharmaceutical company was the location Dong Jingxuan had pointed out.
"That kid isn't being honest," Chi Minghong turned to Xu Huo. "Someone tipped them off behind our backs. It'll be even harder to get in now."
"It doesn't matter if we can't get in," Xu Huo said. "This is also an opportunity for us. Let's go to the Water Supply Bureau first."
(Chapter End)