Chapter 1582: Distant Hometown
Seeing the medal, the Painting Woman’s eyes lit up, and she immediately reached out to take it, reflexively trying to stuff it into her clothes. But halfway through the motion, she stopped. She lifted the medal to sniff it, then turned it over in her hands with some confusion. In the end, she didn’t seem to find anything wrong, but her enthusiasm for the medal had greatly diminished.
Still, she didn’t let go and put the medal into her pocket anyway.
Xu Huo then took out his other “Light Gentleman” medal.
The Painting Woman’s enthusiasm surged again. She grabbed it and tried to press it into her collar. Xu Huo gave a light cough and looked up at Tong Tong, who was staring at them.
The Painting Woman’s head also turned, and she slowly pulled the medal out, casually tucking it behind her waistband under her clothes. She stared at Xu Huo with clear, innocent eyes and flashed a sweet smile.
Xu Huo remained unmoved and extended his hand.
The Painting Woman’s eyes widened even more, and she slowly took a step back.
“It’s mine,” Xu Huo emphasized. “I’m letting you look at it.”
The Painting Woman was no longer the same empty-handed Painting Woman from before. She immediately pointed at the items on the ground, indicating that she could exchange all of them for the medal—even returning the previous one to him if necessary.
“What’s the difference between the two medals?” Xu Huo asked curiously.
The Painting Woman thought for a moment, then pointed at Xu Huo’s medal and typed out text: “This one is better.”
Xu Huo took both medals and examined them. On the surface, there was no difference—no special markings. But when placed into the personal panel, the medals displayed partial acquisition sources. His own medal, obtained from an instance, showed his game nickname in the information. The purchased one simply showed “purchased,” with no information about the original holder. This wasn’t particularly noteworthy—the same had been true when he held Yan Jiayu’s medal.
However, even if used to exchange for a Gray Player identity, the “Light Gentleman” medal likely had no strict requirements on acquisition channels. Otherwise, the Three Sheep Director from the 011 District Game Government Base couldn’t have exchanged it for a job at the game base. Of course, since the Three Sheep Director’s identity was questionable, what he said might not be true. But this shouldn’t be too hard to verify—he could just ask the game government personnel next time he visited 011 District.
A hand accurately reached for his medal.
Xu Huo looked up. Their eyes met, and the Painting Woman hurriedly put on a fawning smile.
“Forget it. I’ll lend it to you for a few days. Give it back to me later.” He let go.
The Painting Woman understood that what she held in her hand was hers. Whether he said “lend” or “give,” as long as the item was with her, it was fine. Then she generously pointed at the items that hadn’t been fully packed up. “All yours. No charge.”
Before Xu Huo could respond, Tong Tong, who was squatting on the ground with two stacks of money in his arms, lifted his little face again. “There are so many items—can I have one?”
“I think you’d better worry about what’s in front of you. Hide a couple of bills while you can, or you might not keep a single one later,” Xu Huo warned.
Tong Tong thought that made sense and immediately started taking the money to his room. But just a few steps later, the door swung open, and Ms. Yu returned. Her eyes immediately shifted from the open box to him, locking onto the white notes in his hand.
Before she could interrogate him, Tong Tong spoke up first. “This money was given to me by Sister Li Chun!”
Ms. Yu knew the value of white notes and immediately tried to take them back to return to the Painting Woman. Xu Huo waved his hand. “Since it’s given to him, it’s his.”
“That’s so embarrassing.” Ms. Yu nodded happily, then deftly took them. “Mommy will keep them safe for you.”
In the end, Tong Tong got to keep one fifty-yuan X Country banknote.
After sorting through the white notes and items, Xu Huo also examined the two sets of protective suits from the Special Defense Department. One set for men, one for women. They were relatively loose-fitting, with many small pockets and places to hang small items, largely meeting the needs of players carrying items.
Most items didn’t activate automatically—players had to judge when to use them. So they needed to be both portable and easy to access.
As for the two auxiliary instruments for Super Evolution power, they were similar to the corresponding jamming devices, but designed to enhance a Super Evolver’s strength. They were somewhat like the earlier “Orb of Murmurs” and “Cube Space.”
The four Subclass Stones were of decent quality, but none had special space-time attributes. They would have to be saved for the next time he crafted items.
These were the more important items among the Special Defense Department’s gifts. The other small extras included discount coupons for Yongxing Restaurant and various vouchers, such as “Student Free Admission,” “One Free Lunch Coupon,” “Waitress Sister Affinity Boost Coupon,” and so on—things that could come in handy in strange and unusual places.
Xu Huo glanced at them before storing them in his personal panel.
As for the Painting Woman’s combat robot, he would have to bring it to 011 District.
After that, he began clearing out the luggage compartment.
He removed the large ore he had brought back from the high-risk instance. Combined with the five cubic meters of space added from the King’s Gem instance last time, there was plenty of room. Apart from the boxes he had to carry for storing pathogens, contaminants, and radioactive ores, he took the opportunity to sell off everything else that could be cleared. The new energy weapons and items borrowed from Xin Rong had already been returned through the bounty platform. As for the energy weapon he had obtained from 017 District, as long as it had power, he could keep it for now.
After clearing things out, he needed to stock up on food and water that could be stored long-term. Especially since this trip was to a different place, the demand for food might be greater. Besides dried meat, bottled water, grains, and vacuum-sealed vegetables, Xu Huo also bought some liquid food.
Considering there might not be a good eating environment, he purchased a work-grade protective suit on the bounty platform. The spacious clothing had enough room to store some food in advance.
Once everything was prepared, Xu Huo waited until evening but still hadn’t received good news from the Special Defense Department. So he temporarily said goodbye to his family and used the ticket.
This time, he arrived early. The station was empty except for him. He took out the four-sided pyramid he had obtained from 017 District.
It was indeed a space instrument. When he held it, he felt a buoyant force. When he let go, it automatically floated in front of him, the pointed tip pointing in a certain direction.
He rotated the pyramid, but the instrument, just a bit longer than a palm, wobbled back to its original direction.
Xu Huo paused, then stored it back in his personal panel.
**[Distant Hometown: A space instrument that can locate your homeland. The pointed tip points to the distant place your heart longs for. No matter where you or your corpse may be, it will forever guide you home.]**
(End of Chapter)