Chapter 1296: The Magnanimity of a Super Player
The following events went relatively smoothly. To prove that Han Yi hadn't changed much from his youth, Brother Le revealed a great deal of information about him.
For someone as conspicuous as Han Yi, the Message Collection Terminal had plenty of news about him, and with enough patience, discerning certain patterns wasn't difficult.
Brother Le was a rather inept imitator, or perhaps a stalker. He had an unusual obsession with Han Yi, collecting fragmented information with relish, even able to recite it backward and forward.
Xu Huo had only been looking for someone who knew some inside gossip, but he ended up with an unexpected bonus.
Using the fragments Brother Le had gathered, he easily learned the general scope of Han Yi's activities in Fresh Flower City and a few fixed locations.
However, judging from this information, the players around Han Yi followed him from morning till night. Even when he stayed out overnight, there were plenty of accompanying players, supplemented by Location Items for support.
Just like the final outcome of the previous group of attackers, no one could successfully get close to Han Yi, let alone kill him. When faced with danger, he could simply hide inside a Location Item and wait until his people had dealt with the situation before coming out—and he certainly wasn't short of items.
Xu Huo scanned the locations recorded in the notebook, circled a few key spots, and then asked Brother Le a question, "What's the way you'd most like to get close to him?"
Brother Le let out a low laugh. "When he's getting his teeth pulled."
Xu Huo let this man, who had a peculiar obsession with tooth extraction, go. He then questioned his two companions, and after getting no further information, closed the Spiritual Realm.
The people in the room were still immersed in the effects of the potion. He opened the door and walked out, nodding to Chen Chou, who was keeping watch outside.
Chen Chou pressed him nervously, "Are they going to settle scores afterward?"
"I used to be a psychotherapist," Xu Huo said calmly. "They won't remember any of this when they wake up."
Chen Chou felt a bit relieved but couldn't help asking further, "Where are you going next?"
"What happens next is none of your concern." Xu Huo smiled. "You can go back."
Chen Chou hadn't expected to get off so easily, but since Xu Huo had kept his promises before, he added a few more words, "That matter... it's too risky. Brother Xu, you should think it over carefully. You're pretty strong, but losing your life in Fresh Flower City isn't worth it."
Xu Huo nodded to show he understood. "Farewell."
He turned and walked away, leaving Chen Chou somewhat unsettled. But looking down at his own condition, he could only feel dejected. He turned to head back into the private room, but as he turned around, a figure suddenly appeared before him. The wheelchair accidentally bumped against the other person's leg. Years of habit made him instinctively apologize, but out of the corner of his eye, the shadow flickered, and the person who had walked past vanished without a trace.
The game was full of players. An unremarkable man walking by the roadside could be a hidden big shot, and a woman with pink hair speaking softly could be a murderous maniac. It was nothing unusual.
Chen Chou only glanced back symbolically.
After leaving this street, Xu Huo returned to the Directly Administered District. He found a higher-end hotel to stay in, observing the district from an angled position.
Earlier, when searching for the items He Pu had left behind, he had speculated that the entrance to the mine might be inside the Mining Group building. But getting into the building without attracting player attention was a challenge, let alone entering a mine where even the nature of its entrance was unclear.
He Pu's items being elsewhere saved him a lot of trouble, but now he actually needed to use the mine to achieve his goal.
He idly spun the lighter in his hand, his eyes quickly scanning several key locations. After making some estimates, he focused back on the Mining Group building.
After sitting alone on the balcony for a while, he casually glanced to his right. "Friend, you've been following me for a while. Why not come out and have some tea?"
A gentle breeze swept across the balcony. In the blink of an eye, a seemingly frail middle-aged man appeared on the glass railing. He wore a black trench coat with faded seams, one foot balanced on the thin railing like a sheet of paper, one hand holding down his windblown collar. He too was gazing toward the Directly Administered District.
"Fresh Flower City once had a formidable Super Player," the man said, his voice as gentle as his appearance.
"Supposedly from the Han Clan," Xu Huo replied.
"He wasn't from the Han Clan. He had some connection with them and promised to look after their descendants. Before he died, he left the Han Clan a fortune—a Subclass Stone mine that produces ore for prediction-type items."
Xu Huo's brow twitched. "The method he used to seal the mine—can't even a Super Player break it? Fresh Flower City should have a new Super Player now."
The trench coat man turned his head. Under the night and lights, his face was somewhat blurry, but his voice was clear. "For a bullet to hit its target, there must be a target. A mine is a target that cannot be locked."
"A target that cannot be locked..." Xu Huo pondered this phrase. It seemed to align with what the A-class player had said earlier. The Super Player who sealed the mine had used Spiritual Power. Only then could the door be both fixed and unfixed, something they wanted to destroy but dared not.
Just as he was thinking, the trench coat man brought up another matter. "How big do you think a mine is?"
"The one in Fresh Flower City should extend beyond the city limits," Xu Huo said.
The trench coat man gave a vague smile. "Then why does everyone think the entrance to the mine is very small?"
Xu Huo immediately understood. Connecting it to the layout of Fresh Flower City, a thought struck him. "Are you saying that the entire Directly Administered District is actually sitting on the gateway to the mine?"
In other words, as long as one found the key to open the door, they could enter the mine from anywhere in the Directly Administered District!
"The magnanimity of a Super Player—wouldn't using a double door be a bit ridiculous?" The trench coat man bowed slightly toward the Directly Administered District with elegant poise, then his entire form turned into a shadow, vanishing from Xu Huo's sight along with the wind.
Without bothering to trace the trench coat man's origins, Xu Huo also left the hotel and entered the Directly Administered District.
Although it was already late at night, there were plenty of people in the district. Aircraft on the streets flowed endlessly, taking off and landing. But not every block could be equally bustling; there were always slightly quieter spots. He chose one at random, picked an inconspicuous corner, jammed two flying surveillance drones, and then released his Spiritual Realm on a small scale, descending from the surface into the underground.
Under normal circumstances, the underground should be closer to the mine than the surface. If the Directly Administered District was covered by Spiritual Power, then this underground layer should also be within that Spiritual Power.
Xu Huo's current evolution level didn't support opening space, so after concentrating his Spiritual Power, he took out the "Door of Idealism."
(Chapter End)