Chapter 1509: Fastest Clear
"Uncle!" Xiao Yuan was the most enthusiastic, running up to Xu Huo to report on her studies over the past few days, and also mentioning Tan Qi's situation.
Tan Qi was still as taciturn as when he first arrived, though his expression was no longer so grim and bitter. Unlike Xiao Yuan and Mr. Dong, who walked right up to Xu Huo, he stood by the main entrance.
The Painting Woman was less particular about formalities. Under the requirement to "imitate normal people," she trotted out of the castle with small steps, like a virtuous wife, actively "taking" Xu Huo's coat from Mr. Dong's hands. Then, with a shy yet determined look, she mouthed the words, "You're back." Xu Huo was used to this. Noticing that Dr. Deng wasn't in the castle, he casually asked about him.
"Dr. Deng has gone out," Mr. Dong replied. After realizing he was safe, Dr. Deng no longer stayed cooped up in the castle all day. Instead, he roamed the city under different appearances. Mr. Dong had no authority to interfere with his actions, but he still kept an eye on his movements. "Dr. Deng has purchased quite a few potion ingredients."
"Has he been up to the third floor?" Xu Huo asked.
"No," Mr. Dong said. "He hasn't tried to go up to the third floor either." It sounded like he was behaving himself.
"Should I contact him to come back?" Mr. Dong offered.
"No need. I'll be leaving soon anyway," Xu Huo said. He had made this trip specifically for the Painting Woman. Patting Xiao Yuan on the head, he smiled and said, "Could you prepare lunch for me?" Mr. Dong nodded slightly and turned to head to the kitchen.
Both children were sensible and didn't show any clinginess toward Xu Huo, though Xiao Yuan's face still betrayed obvious reluctance.
Angel tactfully took her leave. Xu Huo took out the candy and snacks he had bought in the outer zone and handed them out to Xiao Yuan and the others. Tan Qi wasn't very interested, but the Painting Woman accepted everything without hesitation and was happy to join the kids in discussing whether the candy tasted good.
"We're going to eat soon," Tan Qi reminded from the side.
Xiao Yuan obediently put down the candy. "I'll eat it after the meal."
The Painting Woman wasn't so particular. She sat on the sofa and began unwrapping her share. Xu Huo sat across from her and said, "There's a small favor I'd like to ask of you, but it means leaving Rose Castle for a while."
The Painting Woman jumped up immediately, her face lighting up with obvious joy. But then she composed herself, adjusted her clothes with restraint, and nodded demurely, indicating she was willing to go with him.
In truth, the Painting Woman had long grown bored of the castle. Neither the garden nor the new clothes could keep her happy for long. What kept her going was still the role-playing.
Given the Painting Woman's special identity, Xu Huo had previously instructed her not to go out casually and had asked Mr. Dong to keep an eye on her. Both had complied with his request.
"Where are we going?" the Painting Woman asked through her communicator. "Should I prepare anything in advance?"
Xu Huo had already asked Mr. Dong to prepare dry rations and water. Other items that might be needed—protective suits, antidotes, self-healing agents, and stamina-replenishing potions—could all be purchased from the game platform. Only one long-distance teleportation device required a certain delivery time.
Instruments and items for traveling between different spaces were not only expensive but also scarce, especially instruments. Ordinary players might not even be qualified to buy them. Traveling within the same space was much simpler, though still costly, but not hard to obtain. While the Painting Woman was speaking, he had already ordered one from the auction house.
"You'll find out when we get there. If you need anything, you can tell Mr. Dong," Xu Huo added. "We'll set off this afternoon."
The Painting Woman said she already had everything she needed and hurried upstairs to prepare.
Before long, she came down "fully equipped." She had changed into a dress and, aside from a bulging backpack, had several small bags slung over each arm. The bags were different styles and colors, but all were stuffed to the brim, with items poking out of the openings.
"These are all my favorite things." Besides some small toys, the Painting Woman had even brought her favorite bedsheets, pillowcases, and pillow.
Xu Huo thought she was more likely to stick to walls or clothes, so he said, "You can only bring one backpack."
The Painting Woman was deeply disappointed and reluctantly went back upstairs.
Shortly after lunch, the auction house delivered the device—the End-to-End Ring. The "End-to-End Ring" was a transparent ring two millimeters thick that could be worn on the wrist, making it easy to carry. Its function was similar to the teleportation item "Small Tunnel" held by the Dong family of E20-002 Night City, but its teleportation range was shorter—not enough to cross half a district, but sufficient to cross a city or a province.
This was already the best teleportation device Xu Huo could buy, and for now, it was enough.
Xu Huo was ready to leave, but the Painting Woman still hadn't come downstairs. He asked Xiao Yuan to call her. After a while, the two came down one after the other.
The Painting Woman was carrying a backpack twice as big as before. She walked down with her head lowered, then carefully placed it at his feet, looked up, and gave him a sweet smile.
Xu Huo's luggage compartment had expanded considerably, so fitting one backpack wasn't a problem. The Painting Woman didn't need to go into the luggage compartment; she turned back into a piece of drawing paper, folded into a small square, and was placed in his pocket.
"Goodbye, Uncle." Xiao Yuan and Mr. Dong stood at the door to see him off.
Xu Huo nodded, then used the ticket for Zone 017.
He had purchased a ticket for a D-rank instance. The journey from the station to the train was peaceful, but upon entering the instance, he found that only a third of the twelve players who arrived together were D-rank players. The rest were C-rank or B-rank players, with two B-rank players among them.
Aside from the four D-rank players who didn't know each other, the other seven seemed to belong to two teams, each led by a B-rank player.
Xu Huo was the last to arrive in this instance. Seeing him, one of the B-rank players—a man with dyed red hair—stopped spinning a coin, stood up, and said, "Everyone's here. No time for nonsense. We're not here for the instance; we want to clear it as fast as possible. The rest of you better not hold me back, or I won't be polite."
The red-haired player brought three C-rank players with him, all of whom looked like trouble. They dismissed the D-rank players and were targeting the other B-rank player.
The second B-rank player was a woman around forty. She tugged at the collar of her black combat suit and said, "Same here."
"I've already looked up the instance guide. This is a confrontation instance, requiring at least two groups. It's best if one side voluntarily gives up on clearing it." Even if they used items or devices to enter a semi-open zone, they still had to complete the instance. Until the instance ended, no one could leave. And since this was a confrontation instance, the information each side received would normally differ. Dragging things out would increase the difficulty of clearing it. To clear it quickly, information sharing was necessary, which also meant one side couldn't clear it.