Chapter 1136: Not One Will Leave
Although he had suspected before leaving last time that Nie Xuan might have already undergone Spatial Super Evolution, seeing it in person was different. Inside the Cube Space, Nie Xuan's legs were wearing specially made metal boots, but it was still evident that the parts below his knees were emitting a special kind of ray.
"Wasn't it just one leg before?" Xu Huo frowned.
"Probably got infected," Nie Xuan said indifferently. "It gradually turned into this state."
"Your evolution method and mine should be different."
Nie Xuan's evolution happened because he was accidentally hit while witnessing Lawrence Li's battle, causing a part of his body to gain Space Power. The advantage was that Space Items had difficulty affecting him, but the downside was that he couldn't control it himself, and the other leg was also undergoing assimilation.
"Maybe soon my whole body will become spatialized. Whether I'll still be alive then, or what I'll be if I am, I don't know." Nie Xuan gave a faint sneer, unsure who he was mocking.
Special Space Power didn't have much effect on relatively stable objects, much like air. Under normal circumstances, gas and the things it touched were mutually independent and maintained balance. But if the form of one side suddenly changed, it could lead to unpredictable consequences.
"I encountered Lawrence Li on a train once," Xu Huo said. "His legs were crippled, and he was hunting Xenomorphs on the train, seemingly obsessed with living experiments. Since your problem was caused by him, why not go find him and give it a try?"
"We'll see." Nie Xuan stamped out his cigarette butt and added, "You came back at just the right time. It's almost New Year's. Planning to go home?"
Xu Huo nodded. "They're in the Jing City Safe Zone now?"
"Classified Safe Zone, not open to the public," Nie Xuan said. "It's good you're back. You can take care of the Safe Zone while you're at it. But that boyfriend your mother Ms. Fang is seeing has some issues."
Xu Huo didn't mind. "If you can catch him, feel free."
Nie Xuan chuckled. "Looks like you already knew his background. Unfortunately, Zone 014 doesn't have strong enough players. When these infiltrators blend into the crowd, we have to hold back."
"Time is still long. No need to rush." Xu Huo said meaningfully.
Nie Xuan didn't argue with him and said bluntly, "You've recovered well. That bunch of people outside was drawn here by you. Take them with you when you leave."
"Also, regarding the Black Rain incident and the Y Country Safe Zone attack, the Special Defense Department can't make your identity public. You understand the reasons. If you feel you've been shortchanged, you can ask the Special Defense Department for things. Now is when they're short-handed. Whatever you ask for, they'll have to deliver."
Three months later, he hadn't expected Nie Xuan's attitude toward the Special Defense Department to have changed so much.
"Anyway, the good stuff they collect in their warehouses is just consumed internally. Rather than letting some people with no achievements abuse it, it might as well be put to good use."
Nie Xuan finished speaking and left.
Only then did Xu Huo stand up from his seat, stretch his body, and use a high-grade Cleaning Agent to deal with the clumps of fungal threads on the floor. After the fungal threads dissolved, he changed his dirty clothes, cleaned the stains off his face, opened several doors to leave the confinement room, and arrived at a meeting room near the Safe Zone entrance.
Taking the seat at the head of the meeting table, he raised his right hand. The several Special Defense Department team leaders who had left the Safe Zone but hadn't gone far, along with the players guarding them, all appeared in the meeting room.
These people were either sitting in cars or had temporarily found a room to stay in. One second they were discussing whether to try sneaking into the Safe Zone, and the next, their vision blurred and they suddenly changed locations. Shocked and bewildered, they saw other branch members also in the meeting room. Just as they were glaring at each other, Xu Huo spoke:
"Everyone, please have a seat and talk."
The group of players were on the verge of conflict when they suddenly heard someone speak. One immediately shouted, "Who the hell are you? Who gave you the right to speak here?!"
"Xu Huo? You're Xu Huo!" Team Leader Zhang recognized him.
As soon as this name came out, everyone in the meeting room looked over involuntarily.
Among civilian players, the name "Xu Huo" was relatively famous. As someone who dared to provoke the Special Defense Department early in the game, most players had heard of him. Although the Black Rain incident wasn't made public, the fungi he brought back became one of the important raw materials for the Special Defense Department's Antidote production. By the end of the Black Rain incident, so many poisoned people had been successfully saved, and his role in it had already spread within the Special Defense Department. They just didn't know he was the one who attacked the Y Country Safe Zone.
"The player who came to the Safe Zone was you?" Team Leader Zhang finally realized they had been tricked.
Xu Huo might be valued by Team Leader Wu and others, but he wasn't worth them mobilizing such a force to come after.
"A wasted trip!" another team leader complained, not taking Xu Huo seriously at all. He didn't even look at him, treating him like air, and said to the other team leaders, "Gentlemen, I'll be going first."
The air in the meeting room suddenly seemed to turn cold.
"Team Leader..." the player standing behind him whispered in warning. But this team leader, probably used to having the final say, raised his hand to cut off the speaker and pointed at another player: "Bian Changxing."
Unfortunately, Bian Changxing, the elite player from Lucheng standing to the side, was sweating profusely as he looked at Xu Huo at the head of the table. Forget about leaving, he didn't even dare to move now!
The other players present also felt the same deadly threat. The several groups totaled twenty-one people, and not a single one dared to look away. The man sitting at the head of the table had a relaxed posture and hadn't even lifted his eyelids, but the hand resting on the table seemed to hold an invisible blade, pressing against every single one of their throats!
If it weren't for special training, someone would have fled into the game on the spot!
Seeing the players' reactions, the team leaders weren't fools. Combined with the suspicious way they had arrived in the meeting room, their faces darkened.
"Xu Huo, do you want to oppose the entire Special Defense Department?" the team leader from Lucheng said, outwardly tough but inwardly weak.
"How could that be?" Xu Huo pointed to the several sheets of paper and pens that had appeared on the table. "I know someone inside Ting City must have tipped you off. Otherwise, based on just a few anonymous messages from Vanguard Players, you wouldn't have made this trip."
"Leave your names, and you can go."
"What do you mean...!" The Lucheng team leader didn't finish his sentence before a player standing at the far end of the meeting table suddenly clutched his throat and fell to the ground. As blood gushed from his severed throat, the man convulsed twice and then stopped breathing.
"You dare kill a Special Defense Department member right in front of us!" Team Leader Zhang stared sharply at Xu Huo. But when his eyes met Xu Huo's, instinct forced him to take two uncontrollable steps back. Feeling he had lost face, he forced himself to say, "This is the Special Defense Department!"
Xu Huo leaned forward slightly, a smile on his face. "Given your intentions, if it weren't for giving the Special Defense Department some face, not one of you would leave today."
It's the last day of July. Let's see if we can scrape together two thousand monthly votes today. Probably a stretch. Also, don't think the transitional chapters are too slow. The changes in the basic situation still need to be written. Zone 014 will be Old Xu's home base in the future.
(Chapter End)