Chapter 1123: The Man Known as Dr. Wu
"The end of the game?" A cold glint flashed in Xu Huo's eyes. "What did Dr. Wu mean by leaving that behind?"
Uncle Guan shook his head. "It sounds like a hint, but it's unclear what exactly it refers to."
"What does 'the starting point of time' mean?" Xu Huo asked. "Does it have anything to do with the stellar starting time at the A1 wormhole point?"
"I really don't know about that," Uncle Guan said. "I've never been to an A-class wormhole point. As for whether anyone within the society has been there, that's hard to say."
"Have you ever heard of a no-instance district? I've heard that A-class wormhole points contain such districts. A no-instance district means player tickets cannot reach it. Perhaps Dr. Wu was hinting at that."
"So far, no information in the entire game has ever revealed the location of the Game Government's headquarters, including that of the Stellar Corporation."
"What we see in other districts are branch governments and branch corporations. Many places that claim to be headquarters aren't the true core locations either. They have their own internal protection measures. Even the internal staff of these so-called headquarters of the Game Government and Stellar Corporation might think they're working at the real headquarters."
"A wily rabbit has three burrows... The headquarters of the Dimensional Rift Game could be hidden in any district of any wormhole point."
He sighed slightly and then added, "So some of us internally speculate that Dr. Wu was referring to the game's headquarters."
"Don't the players know the game has a headquarters facility?" Xu Huo said slowly. "It might be in a form we can't imagine, but to control the entire game, it must exist somewhere in the game world."
"Since none of the districts players can reach seem to be the location of the game headquarters, it's only natural to think of those districts tickets can't reach. What's so strange about that? Why would Dr. Wu need to specifically mention it?"
If you're targeting the game, normal logic would first be to find the central hub that supports the entire game's operation. After all, to solve the problem once and for all, the best way is to uproot it. No matter what form the game hub takes, as long as it exists, you can always find a way to destroy or ruin it—this is basic logic, something even a child could say. Could Dr. Wu, who managed to evade the game's pursuit and distribute the Perfect Potion, have bothered to leave such a clue?
"But the key point is that players cannot reach no-instance districts. Perhaps it's precisely because he knew the inside story that he guided players to find a way to the A1 wormhole point," Uncle Guan said.
Xu Huo frowned. "Did Dr. Wu say anything else?"
"I only know this piece of information," Uncle Guan specifically explained. "I'm not hiding anything."
Xu Huo fell silent for a moment. The inferences made by Uncle Guan and the Holy Sword Society about Dr. Wu's words sounded problematic just on the surface. Was it really true that no player could reach the no-ticket district in the A1 wormhole point? That wasn't necessarily the case.
Unless the A1 wormhole point had absolutely no contact with the outside world, there would always be people coming and going. Whether through temporary passes, non-player tickets, or forcibly entering with space items or space devices, as long as it wasn't completely cut off from the outside, some player would find a way in or out... Couldn't Dr. Wu find one?
The Holy Sword Society speculated that Dr. Wu had game permissions, yet they also believed his words were guiding players to the A1 wormhole point. This was inherently contradictory.
Of course, Dr. Wu's game permissions might not have been permanent, but if it were him, under the premise of deliberately targeting the game, he would never leave such a sentence as a clue—unless the sentence had another meaning.
"Your people—in what instance and under what circumstances did they learn this sentence?" Xu Huo pressed further.
Uncle Guan looked somewhat troubled. "Sorry, I can't tell you that."
Xu Huo didn't insist but instead asked, "So you know the details. Even with that knowledge, you still believe Dr. Wu's words refer to the no-ticket district in the A1 wormhole point?"
Uncle Guan hesitated briefly before nodding and said, "I'm not the only one who thinks so."
Xu Huo raised his hand slightly. "I'm not doubting your judgment."
With only limited information, it was hard for him to extract useful clues. But the Holy Sword Society had also obtained Dr. Wu's manuscripts. They had conducted deeper research on the man, so there must be other reasons for them to reach this conclusion.
From distributing the Perfect Potion to leaving verbal messages and undestroyed manuscripts, Dr. Wu had always been opposing the Game Government. There could be many reasons...
Xu Huo paused and then asked, "Does Dr. Wu have a daughter?"
Uncle Guan gave a definite answer. "Yes, he has a daughter, but her exact age is unclear. The clues about his daughter are inconsistent each time, and more detailed information can't be cross-referenced."
This made Xu Huo think back to the illusion in the psychotherapy room at the Sun Museum City.
"How did Dr. Wu's wife and daughter die?"
"Home invasion robbery," Uncle Guan said. "Probably to remember his wife and daughter, many of the places Dr. Wu stayed had information related to them—like holographic recordings, photos, short films, animations, etc. Some of them involved home invasion robberies. So we speculate that's how his wife and daughter died."
Xu Huo nodded. That was normal. The most beautiful and the most painful memories are often imprints on a person's soul. Even if you want to avoid them, you can't help but replay them over and over again.
A two-hundred-and-twenty-year-old man, fleeing the Game Government's pursuit while missing his wife and daughter... He wondered if it had anything to do with the Game Government.
"Is there anything else?" he asked again.
"Dr. Wu's identity," Uncle Guan said. "A genius who lived for two hundred and twenty years. You probably can't even guess how many disciplines he mastered. Pharmacist, medical scientist, advanced engineering professor, with doctoral certifications in twenty-seven different research fields including physics, chemistry, philosophy... This is information intercepted from the Game Government."
"It might not be true," Xu Huo said. Even if Dr. Wu could stay in one district for a longer period, obtaining official certifications wouldn't be easy. Moreover, the districts he visited couldn't all be backward ones, or else learning these things would be useless. The more technologically advanced the space, the harder it would be to hide his identity, making official certifications even more difficult.
Besides, he was still evading the Game Government's pursuit. Two hundred and twenty years might seem long, but mastering a single discipline isn't easy. A genius isn't necessarily a polymath, and even a polymath needs enough time...
As he thought this, a sudden idea flashed through his mind, and he immediately asked, "Didn't the Game Government record the time he spent in different districts?"
"You really are clever," Uncle Guan showed a hint of admiration in his expression. "He exploited the characteristic of inconsistent time rules between districts to gain far more time than his actual age."
(Chapter End)