Chapter 1144: Stupidity Might Be Contagious
"This is our downstairs neighbor, Auntie Zhao." Father Xu gestured for Xu Huo to greet her.
Ms. Zhao clearly knew who Xu Huo was. After exchanging greetings, she quickly took her leave, not wanting to disturb their family reunion.
"You have a good relationship with the neighbors?" Xu Huo caught the apple Tongtong tossed to him.
"Upstairs and downstairs, you always say hello when you meet." Father Xu said. "Besides, we can't come and go; we only take walks in the neighborhood. She's close with your Auntie Yu and often brings us vegetables."
Ms. Yu noticed Xu Huo's gaze on her and became a bit nervous. "Is there something wrong with her? Should we inform the Special Defense Department?"
"No." Xu Huo turned back to his father. "I didn't sleep well on the plane. I'm going to catch up on some rest."
Father Xu nodded repeatedly. "Your room is on the second floor, the last one at the end."
As Xu Huo headed upstairs, Ms. Yu picked up Tongtong, who was trying to follow, and covered his mouth.
After a quick wash, Xu Huo collapsed onto the bed and slept soundly, not waking until the next morning.
In the living room, Father Xu and Ms. Yu were sorting through the holiday gifts delivered by the Special Defense Department, along with the daily necessities needed for the New Year period. There were too many things, and the couple was planning to buy another refrigerator.
"I want to eat ice cream." Tongtong pestered his parents, wanting them to add his favorite snacks to the procurement list submitted to the Special Defense Department. Ms. Yu sternly scolded him for wasting national resources, while Father Xu chuckled and said the convenience store in the neighborhood had some, so buying a few wouldn't be a problem.
There was breakfast on the table. Xu Huo sat down and checked his messages.
Many people already knew he was back. Gu Yu and the others in Jing City invited him out to play. The First Association was also coming to negotiate a business deal with the Special Defense Department, and Huang Junjie, on behalf of the association president Tan Yang, invited him to dinner.
After entering the safe zone, messages from unknown numbers were automatically blocked. Yuan Yao and Zhou Ning were still in instances and hadn't come out yet, and there weren't many invitations, so he replied to Gu Yu. They had helped a lot during the Black Rain incident, and this good friendship should be maintained.
Putting down his phone, he looked at Tongtong, who was lying by the table staring at him while he ate.
After the kidnapping incident last time, Tongtong had become bolder. He asked Xu Huo, "Can you eat twenty ice creams in one go without getting a stomachache?"
Xu Huo took a sip of soy milk. "No."
"Then you're not as good as Sister Qingqing. She ate twenty-five." Tongtong said. "Then she ate twenty packs of spicy strips."
Xu Huo paused as he set down his cup. "Don't talk too much with her from now on. Stupidity might be contagious."
"I'm not stupid!" The kid climbed onto the chair and stood up, speaking with conviction. "We were testing the digestive strength of players. It's scientific research!"
Xu Huo glanced at him. "It's hard to say about a player's stomach, but we'll soon know how well your butt can take a beating."
Tongtong quickly turned around and saw Ms. Yu approaching with a rolled-up practice book. He slid off the chair in a flash and ran into the old man's study.
After breakfast, Xu Huo checked his gains from this trip.
The few B-grade items obtained from Zone 002 were nothing special. Two of them were destroyed during the fight with Mr. Kang, and the rest weren't particularly practical. He planned to sell them or upgrade them to similar levels.
He had obtained quite a few items from the high-risk instance, but aside from that B-grade player who had one A-grade item, the others had at most one or two B-grade items. Adding Mr. Kang's Cube Space and the bead called "Eternal Time," along with some special items, he had a total of about thirty practical items.
Among them, the A-grade items were:
[The Wanton Ball: A giant bubble ball shaped like a soft cloud. It can ensure that the person inside is unaffected by gravity or water pressure when falling from a height of ten thousand meters or rising from a depth of ten thousand meters in the sea. At the same time, its cute appearance also possesses practical toughness, and its special material allows it to withstand attacks from certain sharp items.]
[However, every object has its limits. Once damaged, this item cannot be repaired. Please use it with caution.]
[Note: Using it for extreme sports might be a good choice. It is said that a player once sat inside the ball and rolled down from a ten-thousand-meter mountain, perfectly enjoying the scenery along the way, although the price was ten minutes of continuous vomiting.]
Simply put, it was a pressure-resistant protective suit, but it wasn't very resistant to attacks. It wasn't very useful in combat, but in extreme environments, such as suddenly falling from a great height or diving into the deep sea, it was very convenient.
Among the more interesting B-grade items were "The Distant Dining Table," "Height Limit 1.8 Meters," "Find the Area of Psychological Shadow," "Love Means Living and Dying Together," "High Notes Cause Deafness," "Indiscriminate Kitchen Knife," "Lightning Strike Electric Shock," and "Isolation Suit."
"The Distant Dining Table" was a table item that made people sitting at it feel extremely far away from each other, as if the table had been infinitely elongated.
"Height Limit 1.8 Meters" could limit height, similar to a space barrier, except the barrier pressed down from above, maintaining a height of 1.8 meters from the ground. Anyone taller than that would have to bend their knees unless they wanted to walk with a crooked neck, which was very unfriendly to taller people.
"Find the Area of Psychological Shadow" was an item that required shouting. The holder would say "Find the area of psychological shadow" to the target. Unless the target was mute, they would have to stop and report a number—regardless of whether it was true or false.
"Love Means Living and Dying Together" could simultaneously lock one hand and one foot of two players together.
"High Notes Cause Deafness" was, as the name suggested, a high-pitched sound attack item.
"Indiscriminate Kitchen Knife" could perform at least a hundred slashes within ten seconds after being released, but the slashes were indiscriminate, only ensuring that people and objects within a certain range would be "taken care of," so it was best to throw it far away.
"Lightning Strike Electric Shock" was an item that could be worn close to the body. If an outsider touched the holder without permission, they would be electrocuted.
"Isolation Suit" was a set of protective clothing.
Although the special items couldn't compare to "Lifelike Wax Figure" and "Cat's Triple Life Loan," there were two interesting ones: "A Mental Patient's Confession" and "Super Large Revolving Door."
"A Mental Patient's Confession" could cause the user to experience temporary mental confusion, but it wasn't a particularly impressive effect—it just made them talk nonstop.
"Super Large Revolving Door" was a revolving door that could accommodate at least thirty people, and during the rotation, those who entered couldn't leave. It was a rather entertaining item.
The rest didn't need to be described in detail. The names and effects of the items were all quite strange, with more entertainment value than practicality.
Finally, there were the two things left by Mr. Kang. The Cube Space was an item with an owner, while the bead called "Eternal Time" was not an item.
(End of Chapter)