Chapter 1137: A Few Matters in Zone 014
The players didn't speak, but several team leaders were furious. The Lucheng team leader immediately opened his mouth and said, "Just because you—"
Before the word "you" could even be fully uttered, two more players on either side of the conference table were killed. Blood splattered onto the faces of several team leaders. Having apparently faced a direct threat from a player, their expressions turned ugly, but they were no longer as arrogant as before. After all, if Xu Huo killed them and then fled into the game, their deaths would be in vain.
That was the logic.
"Players can escape into the game, but I'm afraid you few won't be able to walk out this door," Xu Huo said. "I advise you all to think before you speak."
"As for the rest of you," he swept his gaze across the players present, "it's best not to make any more sneaky moves. Otherwise, you won't leave this room either."
The meeting room fell silent.
No player made another move, nor did anyone attempt to open the door. They kept pressing the emergency communication devices in their pockets, but there was still no response. From inside the meeting room, they couldn't hear any commotion from outside, making it unclear whether the Ting City Special Defense Department had tacitly approved of Xu Huo's actions.
"Surely you don't think you can kill all of us?" the Lucheng team leader asked, his tone carrying both doubt and a hint of probing.
"You're welcome to try," Xu Huo said without issuing any harsh threats. He pointed again at the paper and pen on the table. "Just leave your names, and you can go."
The team leaders had no choice but to sit down at the conference table. As they picked up their pens, Team Leader Zhang suddenly asked, "Team Leader Wu should be held responsible for this matter."
"That's an internal affair of your Special Defense Department, nothing to do with me," Xu Huo said flatly. "I'm returning to Ting City because I entered the game from here. I'm showing patience to the Special Defense Department's members simply because I'm in a good mood today."
"Strictly speaking, this has little to do with you," Team Leader Zhang tried to salvage some face. "If we had known it was you, we wouldn't have come at all."
Xu Huo said nothing more, merely tapping his finger lightly on the table as a gesture of urging.
When it came to getting things done, results were paramount. Regardless of the reasons, the established outcome was what truly mattered. Even if these people hadn't come for him, so what? Was there really that much difference between him and the outer zone players? The players of the Special Defense Department probably weren't that fraternal toward their fellow countrymen.
They had stalled long enough. With no rescue arriving from outside, Team Leader Zhang and the others had no choice but to write down their names on the paper. Under Xu Huo's added remark, "I'll be staying for at least a month this time. I'll find you all again if something comes up," they made appropriate additions and subtractions.
Having obtained the list, Xu Huo withdrew the space barrier sealing the meeting room. Team Leader Wu, who had been waiting outside all along, hurried in. Seeing the corpses in the meeting room, his eyelids twitched, but upon confirming that Team Leader Zhang and the others were unharmed, he let out a heavy sigh of relief before turning to speak with Xu Huo.
Xu Huo handed him the several lists and said, "Thank the Special Defense Department for providing protection when I was injured. These people leaked my information for whatever purpose. Team Leader Wu, you should investigate thoroughly. Otherwise, who would dare to return in the future?"
Seeing the names on the paper, Team Leader Wu's expression immediately darkened. "I'll handle this matter. How are your injuries? Professor Lan and Professor Tang came all the way from Jing City. You should at least let them examine you."
"No need," Xu Huo said. "I can see the Special Defense Department is very busy lately. I won't trouble old friends with reminiscing."
With that, he turned and walked out. Team Leader Wu quickly followed. "Why not return to Jing City with Professor Lan and the others? There's an air traffic control restriction in place lately, so traveling isn't very convenient anywhere."
Xu Huo declined. He didn't go to meet with Professor Lan and the others either, instead directly passing through space to leave the Special Defense Department's safe zone.
Team Leader Wu's face darkened. He cast an unfriendly glance at Team Leader Zhang and the others, whose expressions were equally sour, and snorted coldly. "This isn't over!"
The Special Defense Department personnel were unhappy, but Professor Lan and the others who had traveled from afar were no happier. After all, they had arrived with great expectations, especially Professor Lan. There were too few mental-type evolution players in Zone 014. One more person meant one more sample, and perhaps they could uncover some clues about evolution. Last time in Flower City, he hadn't obtained Xu Huo's blood sample. This time, he had come specifically for that, but now...
"Let's stay one day and then head back," he said, turning to Tang Guangbo.
Tang Guangbo nodded, then brought up another matter. "I haven't had the chance to tell him yet that his original residence has been demolished."
...
Xu Huo stood in front of the still-unfinished new office building of the Special Defense Department. He paused for a moment before turning to find a place to charge his phone.
After the phone restarted, the influx of new messages and call notifications lasted a full minute.
The earliest messages dated back to when he had left Zone 014. They were from Yuan Yao, Zhou Ning, Gu Yu, and others, confirming that he was safe. Later, there were messages from Shen Xin and Liu Jia as well. The two of them had joined the Special Defense Department, and their messages mostly concerned instances, asking for his advice on how to clear them.
Additionally, Liu Jia had mentioned Professor Han again.
Back when they had gotten off the initial screening train, Professor Han had been scratched by a xenomorph and taken away by the Special Defense Department for treatment. Not long after, news of his death had been reported. However, after Liu Jia joined the Special Defense Department, she seemed to have learned something and began to suspect that Professor Han hadn't actually died—she had hinted at this to Xu Huo twice.
This time, she explicitly mentioned human experimentation and, at the end, noted that the Special Defense Department had secretly conducted a talent screening. During this process, a colleague she had worked with was transferred and then became completely unreachable. Both she and Shen Xin had encountered the same situation, though Shen Xin knew a bit more, seemingly having received concrete information.
This wasn't exactly surprising. Judging by the current state of the Special Defense Department, it was clear that preparing for the worst wasn't a bad thing. At a time like this, only those absolutely loyal to the nation could hold up the Special Defense Department's rear.
But human experimentation... Xu Huo frowned.
He deleted Liu Jia's message, skimmed through Yuan Yao's lengthy text bombardment, and then looked at the message Huang Junjie had sent—the First Association was cooperating with the Special Defense Department, and internal members received preferential treatment, including access to some instance strategies, which gave them a higher survival rate.
Huang Junjie was contacting him mainly because of Yu Qingqing, his stepmother's cousin. Yu Qingqing had brutally killed three First Association members who were clearing an instance together, and she had been blacklisted by the First Association. Ting City was an important stronghold for the First Association. Huang Junjie was informing him to tell Yu Qingqing not to come to Ting City in the future, or she might be assassinated.
Xu Huo skipped this message and likewise ignored the complaint text Yu Qingqing had sent him.
As for others, like Yan Jiayu, Zhou Ning, and so on, their messages were mostly trivial—asking if he had returned to Zone 014 or inviting him to enter instances together.
Beyond that, there were invitations to join player organizations from unfamiliar numbers, as well as obvious phishing messages. Some even mentioned kidnapping his family or friends, demanding that he exchange something for them at a specific time and place.
Xu Huo made a call to the Xu family.
(Chapter End)