Chapter 1297: A Legendary Past
The "Door of Idealism" was a special item. Although it could only be used once a day, it served as a portal connecting different spaces. Previously, he had used it within Bai Kou's spiritual realm, successfully making contact with another layer of space within her mental world. Though he wasn't sure if it had been useful, he had no better method at the time.
First, he would use spatial power and spiritual power to permeate this passage, attempting to find traces of unusual power rays and spiritual forces within the space—at least he needed to grasp some thread of a clue before the "Door of Idealism" could be put to use.
But after more than ten minutes of trying, Xu Huo made no progress. The passages beneath the Directly Administered District were no different from those elsewhere in Fresh Flower City—they appeared to be merely ordinary underground structures, with nothing worth delving into.
If the entire Directly Administered District was the entrance to the mineral vein, even if the other party was a Super Player, they shouldn't have left absolutely no trace—unless they hadn't considered the various ways the entrance could be destroyed. Fresh Flower City's technology was highly advanced, and there were certainly countless weapons with strong destructive power. Even if there was no chance to blow up the entire Directly Administered District, testing a random spot wouldn't be a problem. And for an entrance covering such a large area, if it weren't "thick" enough, it simply couldn't support such a vast underground structure.
Unsure whether his own evolutionary power was insufficient to reach that level or if there was some other method of concealment here, Xu Huo changed locations several more times to try again, but still found nothing. As he ventured deeper into the Directly Administered District, the number of underground passages gradually decreased, and some were even sealed off, prohibiting unauthorized approach.
After coming up empty, Xu Huo didn't waste more time. He returned to the hotel first, and after breakfast the next day, went back to the Game Government Library.
There wasn't much information about the mineral vein, but he could look up the Super Player. As for that legendary figure who had long since died, the library actually had a record of his life.
Unlike the Super Players still alive today or some other famously powerful players, this Super Player's experiences were very clear. He was born in Zone 001, a child from a small town. He grew up happily and peacefully, and with excellent grades, he was admitted to Fresh Flower City, originally named "Yuan City." Because of his remarkable talent in academics, his entire family was able to move to Yuan City, and the Yuan City government even provided housing and jobs for their family of five.
If not for the game, this Super Player would have risen to the top in a very short time like those successful talents, amassing enough wealth and fame to live out his days.
However, in his sophomore year of college, Evolvers appeared. He wasn't among the first batch "chosen" by evolution. His initial task was to join a special research team dedicated to studying Evolvers.
The materials here added a special note: the author believed that his rapid progress was inseparable from his early research on Evolvers.
Back to the main topic. After studying Evolvers for a year, this Super Player gained the trust of his superiors. At that time, the conflict between Evolvers, Players, the nation, and ordinary people was at its most intense. One of his colleagues, out of jealousy, injected him with Evolver blood.
At that time, there was a prevailing sentiment within Yuan City: if a research participant became an Evolver, to protect the research results, they would be executed regardless of whether they could transform into a Player. This was because several previous cases had seen researchers turn into Cannibal Players, who used the research materials to create large numbers of Cannibal Players outside, forcing the government to pay a heavy price to kill them.
This young scholar, who hadn't yet become a Player, was soon surrounded by special forces. However, surprisingly, his evolutionary reaction was particularly mild. He didn't try to escape or kill anyone, but calmly told the research institute staff that the drug he was developing to reduce gluttonous urges had already taken effect—he had been experimenting on himself all along. The lab had plenty of evolved living samples, but no non-Evolvers.
As luck would have it, just as a fired bullet was about to pierce his forehead, the game teleported him into the Preliminary Trial Train.
If it had been one second later, things might have been salvageable. But precisely when the city government issued the kill order, he entered the Preliminary Trial Train. To prevent retaliation, the city government immediately took his family into custody. A researcher who was friendly with him notified his family to attempt a rescue, and they managed to successfully relocate his parents and younger sister midway. However, his older sister was in the midst of childbirth. Frightened and detained, she went into premature labor, but because the special forces wouldn't allow her to leave the team on that pretext, she died in childbirth.
Truly, one wrong step led to another. The city government and the research institute had now forged a mortal enemy with this Super Player.
However, after passing the Preliminary Trial, he didn't immediately return to Yuan City. Instead, he spent three months leveling up to a D-rank Player and pushing his Evolution Rate to 40% before going back.
By then, although Zone 001 had been in the game for over a year, the early concealment of Evolver truths, followed by large-scale arrests of Players and Evolvers, and the concentrated outbreak of conflicts as Player numbers surged—this series of internal attrition meant that there weren't many truly formidable Players to speak of. The young Super Player had already become one of the stronger ones. Moreover, he had plenty of concealment items, making it very convenient for him to act alone.
Another point worth mentioning: this Super Player was a Black Player, and he had earned a B-rank evaluation on the Preliminary Trial Train by killing four Cannibal Players.
Such a person would certainly not be rigid or naive. He might be kind, but he would never be kind to the point of disregarding right and wrong.
The first to die were the researchers who had conspired with the special forces to hunt him down. Next was the institute director who had stolen his research results and framed him. Then came those responsible for capturing his family and the special forces members. As for the researcher who injected him with Evolver blood and the three special forces personnel who directly or indirectly caused his sister's death—he left them untouched.
But the deaths of the earlier victims were too targeted. The remaining four began living in fear from the moment the first person died, until the Super Player announced he would end their lives at a fixed time.
The government saw this as a declaration of war and dispatched a large number of personnel to protect the four, placing them in different locations.
However, when the appointed time came, the four didn't die, nor were they attacked. The government's reaction shifted from initial surprise to impatience to contempt in less than half a month.
From the Super Player's return and the first killing, to the passing of his declared execution time, a total of over a month had elapsed. In other words, he had been forced to enter the game to complete the next round of instances.
After that, there was a long period of calm. Even the government gradually assumed he had died in the game. But one day in the second month, a special forces member who had left protection was killed.
(End of Chapter)