Chapter 1315: Return to Card City
A few words of quarrel are not worth taking to heart. Xu Huo ignored the other's malice and began inspecting the player belongings of Han Yi and that Old Zheng.
Han Yi was wearing many props, as had been evident during their earlier fight. However, his props leaned toward trap and defense types. For example, "Snowflakes Scattering," when used, only needed to be placed in the surrounding area to automatically attack any player who stepped within its range. It hadn't been used on the spot, but from the description, this prop released a strong wind—not just a simple gale, but a wind beam akin to a meat grinder. In two or three seconds, it could shred a living person into pieces, living up to its name.
Additionally, there were restraint-type props that could seal off a small area to trap players. Defense-type props varied in range; generally, those with larger ranges were less sturdy than those with smaller ranges, though they lasted a long time. Among them was one that could rebound attack power, called "Goalkeeper." Its defense range was only ten meters, but it could last for ten minutes. During that time, any force acting upon it would be rebounded. Its only flaw was that it couldn't move with its holder.
Of course, this type of space prop wasn't foolproof. It could still be broken by similar props or stronger attack-type props. The difference in strength could only be shown in actual combat.
The rest were some advanced props that didn't look particularly impressive on their own, with many having overlapping effects.
However, as a stand-in, this Han Yi was equipped with enough props. Besides that, he also had two smart robots: one combat-type and one household-type. The household robot could cook and clean, couldn't converse with people, but could follow detailed instructions.
The other combat robot was much simpler and cruder—just lock onto a target, and it was equipped with thirteen types of weapons, including four micro tracking missiles.
Apart from that, there was only money and various potions. The luggage compartment also stored a large amount of precious metals, ores, a survival kit, and a portable bathroom—his luggage compartment was quite large, with too many things. Xu Huo directly sold some of the cumbersome items and kept only one survival kit.
But what surprised him a bit was that Han Yi hadn't brought any of the transparent ores unique to Fresh Flower City—the kind said to be capable of crafting prediction-type props. Besides that, he only had two prediction-type props, both of low grade, and in terms of effect, they weren't as practical as "A Thousand Miles of Fate Tied by a Single Thread," because they couldn't accurately predict established facts like Jiang Jiang could. Instead, they would flash a random, headless image—not necessarily something seen before, possibly common things, with no clear direction.
Xu Huo took one to test. It was shaped like a cloud, very soft. He gave it a light squeeze, and a cloudless blue sky flashed before his eyes, like a single frame in a movie. If he wasn't paying attention, he couldn't even make out what was in the picture. Of course, the image he saw was simple—a blue background, probably predicting the weather.
If he stayed at the station, it probably wouldn't rain.
Losing interest in the prediction prop, he moved on to inspect Old Zheng's props.
Old Zheng's prop setup was better than Han Yi's, possibly related to his super evolution. About a third of his props were for torture and interrogation, plus two mental support props. His luggage compartment held many books related to super evolution, along with numerous manuscripts. These items, especially the manuscripts, he had carefully placed in a box, accompanied by his own experience notes.
Xu Huo randomly pulled out a portion and flipped through them. There were notes on hypnosis and how to deal with mental interference instruments—unexpectedly good finds.
Old Zheng's personal wealth wasn't as much as Han Yi's, but the number of potions was doubled. Besides some potent hallucinogens, there was also a considerable amount of poison. He seemed to have some interest in pharmacology.
The train soon arrived, and Xu Huo ended up in the same carriage as some people from the station.
The two players who knew each other looked at him with disdain, snorted lightly, and passed by him to choose a room at the front. The female player, on the other hand, nodded at him in a friendly manner.
There were three other people in the carriage. Xu Huo chose a seat by the edge, sat down, used a privacy prop, and began reading the manuscripts Old Zheng had kept.
The train sped along the tracks, and the players minded their own business in peace. The atmosphere was fairly good.
About an hour later, two more players entered the carriage.
These two sized up everyone in the carriage, then sat down opposite Xu Huo, their four eyes fixed on him without moving.
As if not understanding the intent behind their stare, Xu Huo looked up and said, "Hello."
The fair-skinned man among them sighed in disappointment and glanced at his companion, looking quite let down. His companion, however, patted his shoulder in encouragement before quickly shifting his gaze to the player at the next table.
That player had a feminine appearance, a gentle temperament, and a calm expression, making him seem more approachable than the others in the carriage.
Just as the two were about to get up and move over, Xu Huo interrupted them, "Did you just come out of Card City?"
The fair-skinned man had a Card City-specific playing card accessory pinned to his sleeve, clearly showing he liked it very much. So when Xu Huo brought up the topic, he sat back down with great enthusiasm and said, "Have you been to Card City too? It's really lively there, and safe too. If it weren't for... having to do instances, I would definitely stay there for a month!"
"I'm heading nearby." Xu Huo put down the manuscript. "I've heard others talk about it. It's very famous."
"You're going to do an instance near Card City?" the fair-skinned man said. "Well, you need to be careful when you get there. In the past few days, several big cities in Zone 001 have been attacked. When we left, many places were already locked down. The advanced players in Zone 001 are no joke. If you're unlucky enough to be targeted, you might not even get into the instance!"
"That serious?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"No kidding. Even Card City was affected, canceling its original celebration." The fair-skinned man thought for a moment before saying, "It seems like an important figure from some city was assassinated, and the government players are hunting people everywhere."
From the scale of this commotion, it was clear it couldn't be that fake Han Yi. In a normal process, the real Han Yi or another fake Han Yi would show up, display the Han family's strength, and wrap things up perfectly.
"I heard someone from the Field family is in Zone 001," Xu Huo mentioned.
"If it's Carol Field, Zone 001 would probably be in an uproar. Besides, what kind of person is that? How could they be killed so easily?" The fair-skinned man laughed. "It's probably some local noble. When someone dies, they have to put on a show. Everyone knows they won't catch the real culprit anyway."
"By the way, what instance are you going to..." he was about to ask further when his companion beside him coughed lightly to interrupt him. "Keep it brief."
(Chapter End)