Chapter 1187: Looking Forward to Our Next Cooperation
Xu Huo wasn't interested in this. He straightened his clothes and said, "The treatment can end here."
Tang Guangbo remained seated in his original spot, smiling at him. "You'll come looking for me again next time."
"We'll talk about that next time." Xu Huo opened a door in front of him and walked out without looking back.
Inside the treatment room, Xu Huo, who had been lying on the chair, opened his eyes. He first checked the time—one hour and ten minutes had passed since the treatment began.
Tang Guangbo was still sitting beside him, writing. On the paper was a report he planned to submit to the Special Defense Department.
Xu Huo extended his hand. "Thank you, Professor Tang."
Tang Guangbo shook his hand. "Looking forward to our next cooperation."
Xu Huo smiled but said nothing more.
The demeanor of the two left the observers outside baffled. A psychology professor hesitantly opened the treatment room door. "Is it over already?"
From an outsider's perspective, Tang Guangbo had barely provided any guidance during the session, and Xu Huo had simply taken a nap. The two hadn't even engaged in basic therapeutic communication. How could it already be considered complete?
Nie Xuan and several players entered as well. Seeing that Xu Huo was in good condition, Nie Xuan said, "Instance strategy."
Xu Huo nodded, indicating he could write it down immediately.
So, the next task involved five Special Defense Department players working with him to record the strategy. Everyone else—the psychologists and the government players—could leave.
The Special Defense Department players were fine with this; it was standard procedure. After all, Xu Huo had never suffered any losses when dealing with the Special Defense Department. Returning empty-handed was nothing new—they were used to it.
But the government players weren't so easy to appease. They were the elite, entrusted by the nation with important responsibilities since the evolution began. They wouldn't be dispatched unless it was a critical matter. Participating in this treatment, they should have been the ones to gain the most. Yet they had stood outside for an entire hour with nothing to show for it. Who could accept that?
"He's playing us for fools," one of them said. "There was no psychological treatment at all! I seriously suspect his motives for coming here. I recommend detaining him on the spot and investigating his intentions!"
"Are you out of your mind?" Nie Xuan frowned. "Xu Huo is a collaborator with the Special Defense Department, not a suspect. Even if this treatment failed, it's within reason."
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. His identity is questionable, his past is questionable. Based on our suspicions alone, we have the right to arrest and interrogate him!" That player was very aggressive and added, "If he escapes into the game, then his family will also be subject to investigation!"
He was speaking to Nie Xuan, but his eyes were fixed on Xu Huo.
Similarly, the dozen or so players from the government side were clearly in the same camp. Before the door had even opened, they had already sealed off both sides of the entrance, now trapping Xu Huo in the middle.
The other professors, except for Tang Guangbo, nervously retreated into the treatment room, ready to close the door at any moment. On the Special Defense Department's side, some stood with Nie Xuan, while the rest adopted a watchful stance—it was unclear which side they were backing.
Xu Huo patted Nie Xuan, who was about to speak again, signaling him to step aside. He took a step forward and addressed the player who had spoken. "Just because you're useless and can't sense the fluctuations of spiritual power doesn't mean you can find an excuse to forcibly detain me."
"So this is what the government side is planning. But if I may be blunt, even if you lock me in a lab and have me train with you every day, it doesn't guarantee any of you will undergo super evolution."
"My advice is: step back, clear the path, and pretend none of this happened. Otherwise, who would dare cooperate with the government side in the future?"
But these people had clearly decided on their course of action before coming. There was no need for further words with him now.
Xu Huo's gaze didn't waver, yet he took in all their subtle movements. Just as he was about to act, Nie Xuan suddenly teleported in front of the player who had spoken and delivered a solid slap to his face before saying, "Are you even a match for me?"
That player, having been hit, immediately snapped out of it and tried to counterattack, but Nie Xuan's spatial power blocked him, preventing his props from activating immediately. Humiliated, he shouted, "Nie Xuan! What exactly is the Special Defense Department trying to do!"
"I'm just reminding you that you don't even have the leeway to fight back against me, so what makes you think you can take him on?" Nie Xuan pointed a thumb back at Xu Huo and added, "I don't want to see players trained at great national expense die for nothing."
This enraged the government players. A few of them, refusing to accept it, moved to act. But then a player standing behind Xu Huo suddenly shouted, "Nobody move!"
After stopping his companions, he lightly tapped what appeared to be empty space in front of him. A thin beam of light slid along lines suspended in the air, darting back and forth seven or eight times in an instant before leaping to the opposite side and tracing the same path—the tangents that had been hidden and arranged on both sides of the treatment room door were revealed, like two nets blocking the channels for them to attack Xu Huo from front and back.
"An A-grade item," the player who had discerned the tangents said in a low voice.
The expressions of everyone present shifted. Simply put, while some of them might possess A-grade items, they certainly weren't A-grade items capable of all-around defense. If they dared to force their way through those two boundaries, they might end up losing their lives for nothing without even knowing what hit them.
Xu Huo spoke up. "You can't even see the items right in front of you. What makes you think you can fight me?"
"Also, stop bringing up my family. Threatening others with their families is rather despicable. If you really can't stand super evolvers, I can move my family to another district. I've already picked out a district with a better environment and bought property there."
"I'm embarrassed for you." Inside the monitoring room, Minister Fan said to the government representative, "Are you out of your minds? Threatening a super evolver with his family? If he takes his parents and leaves, how are you going to recover that loss? And are you all loners or orphans? Using someone else's family as leverage—have you considered that he could just as easily find your families?"
"Have you forgotten how Elder Wan and the others died?"
They were killed even while hiding in classified safe zones and safe houses.
The government official gritted his teeth in frustration but could only order the players to stand down.
However, having gained nothing from this trip, they weren't willing to let it go. They vented all their anger on the Special Defense Department. "Your Special Defense Department has openly opposed us. Expect an investigation!"
Minister Fan stared coldly at their retreating figures. "I'm about to be fired anyway—I'm not afraid of your investigation!"
"Minister Fan, say a little less," Team Leader Ji said with a bitter smile. "You built the Special Defense Department from the ground up. You can't just dismantle it and hand me the pieces."
Minister Fan was in a "might as well burn it all down" mood. "Just wait and see. They'll learn their lesson sooner or later. Right now, they're just letting the Special Defense Department do all the heavy lifting. When they have to face the players directly, they'll realize that dealing with their own people is far more troublesome than dealing with outsiders."
Then he said to Team Leader Ji, "Go see Xu Huo."
(Chapter End)