Chapter 1472: Assassination
As Xu Huo sat down, Xin Rong dropped his playful demeanor and said seriously, "Yesterday, when my people sent you back to the hotel, they noticed someone was following you. I wanted to quietly take care of that problem for you, but the people I sent out didn't succeed. They'll probably come looking for you again, so I came to pick you up."
"Don't stay at the hotel anymore. My place is safer."
Xu Huo was a bit surprised. "I don't know who's following me yet. I might bring trouble to your doorstep."
"No big deal," Xin Rong said. "In Platinum Eye, no one can hurt a friend of Xin Rong!"
"But you've only been in Platinum Eye for a few days. You don't know anyone. Did you flash your wealth and catch someone's eye?"
"I'm not sure." Xu Huo only knew it might be related to Bai Kou. If she was involved, the possibilities were numerous.
"Don't worry about it. Staying at my place will be fine." Xin Rong then brought up Xu Huo coming out of the Mechanical Castle. He had sent people to find Xu Huo's whereabouts, so of course he knew Xu Huo had gone there early in the morning.
"I have a friend inside," Xu Huo said vaguely.
"A girlfriend, right?" Xin Rong grinned slyly. "Look at you, coming out looking all drained..."
Xu Huo turned his head and stared at him expressionlessly.
Xin Rong's laughter faded as he found it boring. "Just kidding, don't take it too seriously. Today I invited Liao Ying and the others to play cards. Want to join in?"
"Platinum Eye is very suitable for players to settle down. It's convenient for buying items or weapons, and it's relatively safe. If you're planning to settle here, I can help you find a place."
"I'll think about it," Xu Huo said. "I usually spend my time running around in games, rarely resting in a fixed district."
Xin Rong understood. "That's not a bad thing. Although I have a bit of selfishness in wanting you to stay—after all, making friends these days isn't easy—Platinum Eye has abundant resources. Settling here definitely won't be a loss."
Platinum Eye had relatively relaxed review standards for skilled craftsmen looking to reside there, but stricter ones for players, especially Outer Zone players. To apply for residency and get cheap housing, they needed to submit basic information provided by the Game Government, including not just their player nickname, level, and profession, but also which wormhole point and district they came from. Only then would Platinum Eye screen qualified candidates based on this information.
After all, countless players wanted to settle in Platinum Eye, and the city couldn't accommodate that many people, so the review process was getting stricter and stricter.
"You're a Super Evolver and you've met the threshold for Advanced Player, so it shouldn't be a problem," Xin Rong said. "Also, applying through a corporate channel is a bit easier than applying as an individual."
"Corporate sponsorship?" Xu Huo immediately caught on.
Xin Rong nodded nonchalantly. "If you apply through a company, of course the company sponsors you."
In other words, if a player did something good in Platinum Eye, it could be credited to the player personally. But if they committed a crime, it would be charged to the company's account, with penalties ranging from fines, imprisonment, or even expulsion from the city, depending on the severity.
"An ordinary player in Platinum Eye couldn't possibly do something that would get a whole company expelled from the city. Our machines and weapons aren't for show."
He then tilted his chin at Xu Huo. "Think it over. From now on, if there's anything good, I'll keep you in mind, brother."
Xu Huo understood that Xin Rong was trying to recruit him. He didn't give a definitive answer, and Xin Rong gave him time to think, dropping the topic and instead teaching him some card-playing tips so he wouldn't lose too badly.
The Xin family had an independent villa district. Yuhu Street and the surrounding area all belonged to them. Besides his parents, some players who were on good terms with him also lived there.
"My parents live in Building One at the back." Xin Rong took Xu Huo to his own residence, Building Five. Zhao Jicheng, Bian Jun, Liao Wei, and Liao Ying were already playing cards. They were a bit surprised to see Xu Huo but greeted him warmly.
"Zheng Ning is in the basement playing instruments." Liao Wei asked Xin Rong to go get her boyfriend.
There weren't as many people as at yesterday's gathering, but the villa had security players arranged—two on each floor, upstairs and downstairs.
After Xin Rong dragged Zheng Ning out, the seven of them sat down at the card table.
"This is Old Xu's first time playing. You all need to go easy on him. I'll explain the rules..." Before Xin Rong could finish, Bian Jun interrupted with a grin, "The rules are simple. What's there to explain? He'll learn after a couple of rounds."
"How can we bully a newbie?" Xin Rong refused, but the others chimed in, and in the end, they skipped the rules explanation.
Xin Rong gave Xu Huo a slightly smug look.
Bian Jun and the others had planned to team up and fleece Xu Huo, so they set the stakes high. As it turned out, Xu Huo didn't win, but he didn't lose much either. Instead, Xin Rong dominated the table, winning so much that the others' faces turned green.
"I'm done, I'm done!" Liao Wei shouted. "My entire month's allowance just went into Xin Rong's pocket!"
Xin Rong's face was flushed with triumph. "You guys always win against me. Let me have a few wins for once. I've been wanting to swap out two new weapons anyway."
"We can't let him get too cocky!" Bian Jun declared with full momentum.
The others picked up their cards again.
Xu Huo decided not to continue. Xin Rong was in high spirits and called a player to take Xu Huo to the guest room.
The night grew deeper. They had eaten quite a bit while playing cards, so Xu Huo wasn't hungry. After washing up, he lay down on the bed.
Presumably for safety reasons, the room wasn't fully soundproofed, so he could still hear the card game downstairs. But as drowsiness set in, the sounds became muffled...
Just as the clock's numbers jumped to two in the morning, a ghostly shadow rose from beside the bed, a sharp blade in hand, slashing toward the neck of the person lying there!
The person who should have been asleep suddenly opened his eyes and, through the blanket, kicked toward the attacker's wrist!
Under normal circumstances, this strike would force the opponent back. In fact, Xu Huo did feel the impact of hitting the target, but the force feedback felt a bit off...
The shadow by the bed retreated two tactical steps, and the next second, several long, thin black shadows split from its body, lunging from the air and along the bedsheets toward the person still standing on the bed!
Xu Huo frowned slightly. The one coming to kill him wasn't a person—it was just a humanoid shadow. The real attacker was still outside.
In an instant, he swept his Spiritual Power across nearly five hundred meters around the villa. Failing to find the target, he retracted his Spiritual Power and dispersed it into a net to expand his perception range. Within just two or three seconds, he had locked onto the enemy.
Silently leaving the villa, Xu Huo flashed to a street a kilometer away and kicked the figure lurking in the shadows!
Although the opponent reacted in time, they were still hit, staggering slightly. But the next second, the shadow's elongated hand grabbed Xu Huo's leg!