Chapter 1275: Special Mineral Vein
"They'll find me soon enough." The sword-wielding man said. "Staying at the Yongxing Hotel is far from enough."
Xu Huo's expression darkened. "You're dragging me into this?"
"Why put it so harshly?" The other replied. "Outside the Glow Club, only you and I stepped forward to save people. That shows we're the same kind of people. Since we're the same kind, it means you and I share this fate."
"Finding someone to take the fall while phrasing it so elegantly is rare in this world." Xu Huo snorted. "But I have another choice."
"Reporting me to Fresh Flower City won't work. Once you're connected, the Field family's retainers won't let you go." The sword-wielding man said.
"Then I don't quite understand why you're following me." Xu Huo said. If he didn't expect to be saved and knew he couldn't avoid the Fresh Flower City players' pursuit, why bother moving to the Yongxing Hotel?
"I want to ask you for a favor." The other said. "I checked into the Yongxing Hotel in advance. Carol Field's people can't just barge in to arrest me. The district government's face might not mean much to the hotel, so they'll have to report up to the higher-level Game Government. After both sides negotiate, they can clear the area to arrest me. That takes at least two hours."
"During those two hours, I need to stay here to draw their attention, so I need someone to handle a task for me."
"You're suitable. You almost evaded my tracking. Your Mental Evolution is good—perfect for this job."
"I refuse." Xu Huo said bluntly.
The severely wounded A-rank player didn't seem surprised. He just smiled. "Don't you want to hear what it is? Maybe you'll be interested."
Xu Huo waited for him to continue.
"The long-haired man standing next to Carol at the Glow Club is from the Han family. Fresh Flower City has several century-old family enterprises, but only the Han family, as a rising star, participates in controlling the city's lifeline."
"Zone 001 has many cities on par with or even better than Fresh Flower City. Why did Carol Field choose to set up the General Government here?"
"That's because Fresh Flower City has a special mineral vein. The ore it produces is transparent and pure, looking a lot like diamonds, but it's not. The entire vein is excellent material for crafting props, and it produces an especially large number of time-space props."
Xu Huo's expression grew serious. Usually, ores capable of crafting time-space props are sub-class stones influenced by special Primordial Stones. They're extremely rare. If Fresh Flower City truly had such a high-yield vein, it would have long been snatched up by other wormhole points. There's no way Carol Field would have to stoop to come here.
"I'm not talking about the time-space props you usually see." The man wrapped his wound again with cloth as it reopened. "I'm talking about a type of time-space prop that can predict certain events on a small scale."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Even before crafting, sub-class stones with special attributes can't guarantee the final effect of the prop. No matter how skilled the Artificer, predictions can be off. Can Fresh Flower City's vein really have that effect?"
"Of course, not every piece succeeds. But among the ores exported from Fresh Flower City, whenever they're used as prop materials, about ten to twenty percent possess this attribute."
Ten to twenty percent—that ratio is already quite significant. It means nearly a tenth of the entire vein can become this type of prop.
"Predicting certain events on a small scale... is that predicting the future?"
So far, Xu Huo had encountered events related to predicting the future barely three times.
The first was, of course, the Rose Castle. He Pu's suicide note stated he was waiting for an heir. Coincidentally, the lighter he deliberately left at the scene during his last arson before going into hiding became a game reward prop that ended up in Xu Huo's hands—this sense of connection felt as if He Pu had foreseen it and deliberately waited at the Rose Castle.
The second was meeting the Paper Servant Master in Clown City. He also mentioned the word "fate" and knew that Xu Huo carried a part of the Field Battle Angel. However, he didn't seem very interested in that part of the components, instead hinting at the future.
The most precise was meeting the painter Jiang Jiang in Zone 009. She could draw the deaths of those around her in advance and also predicted that she would die at his hands in Zone 009—sooner or later.
She must have verified this before, so she firmly believed in her own future death.
Xu Huo wasn't sure about He Pu and the Paper Servant Master's situations, but Jiang Jiang's case was very clear. She had indeed predicted the future through some method, and the time span was considerable.
"Can predicting the future really work?" Xu Huo couldn't help but doubt. "Isn't this contrary to existing science?"
"I only went to school for three years." The man admitted. In other words, he didn't have the knowledge base to support theoretical discussion. "But prediction props do exist. Of course, the effects aren't necessarily that good. I've gotten a few pieces before. What they could predict was nothing more than what I'd have for breakfast tomorrow or what shoes I'd wear when going out at night—completely useless."
How could it be useless?
Xu Huo was speechless. If these props weren't based on data results from players' daily habits or giving players psychological hints, then it meant that time props had, in a sense, surpassed existing scientific achievements. That would be a major event truly affecting the game world.
"The truth is, they really are useless." The sword-wielding man said. "The advanced wormhole points haven't figured it out either. Otherwise, do you think Carol Field would be here?"
Xu Huo was equally unskilled in this area. He changed the subject. "Does the Han family have the mining rights to this vein?"
"Joint mining rights. They mine together with a few other partners, once every five years." Seeing Xu Huo's interest, the man sped up his speech. "The vein is right beneath Fresh Flower City. Those underground passages aren't for transporting people either."
"Can you enter the vein through the underground tracks?"
"There's only one entrance." The man said. "But the entrance is sealed, beneath the directly administered district. No one can enter except the families with mining rights... It's a pity. My last two companions died there."
Xu Huo didn't think he was asking him to storm the vein entrance. "What's your goal?"
"Very simple." The man let out a grim smile. "Contaminate the vein. Keep Carol Field from getting what he wants."
A tear-jerking "love triangle."
But Xu Huo understood. "You want me to hint to the Han family, get their own people to contaminate the vein?"
"If that's your plan, then I'm sorry. I'm not good at hypnosis or suggestion."
The man's eyes showed disappointment. Then he said, "Can't you learn? After Mental Evolution, you can't even do hypnosis? What a waste!"
"So this is your plan?" Xu Huo turned the conversation back to the beginning. "In my opinion, the chances of success aren't as high as you just strapping on a bomb and charging in."
(Chapter End)