Chapter 1619: Plants with Mental Interference Effects
There were more than just these three photos.
A thick photo album, six photos per page, was almost completely filled. It wasn't just women either—about a third were relatively handsome men.
"Such a death was too easy for him," Chi Xian said, recognizing the props from the photos as one used earlier by that B-rank player wrapped in cloth. He couldn't help adding, "Even dragging out his corpse for whipping wouldn't be enough."
"Really, all kinds of people exist," Tong Qi said, flipping through a few more pages with a frown. "These people look pretty young, probably around twenty or so."
"What kind of person can't be found in the game?" Mr. Mo walked over with his scarred glasses, glancing at the album. "If you'd seen the forums of cannibal players, you'd know this isn't anything special."
Tong Qi looked at him strangely. "What, just because there's someone more twisted than him, he's not twisted anymore? What's the point of comparing?"
As he spoke, he tossed the album aside.
Mr. Mo and his companion sat down nearby, not interfering with their actions.
After a while, Xu Huo paused his busy work. Without looking at the two, he said directly, "If you have something to say, just say it."
Mr. Mo pointed at the covered box. "Can you sell this thing to me? I'll offer thirty million."
Xu Huo finally looked up at them. "What do you want it for? It's not like there's anything good inside."
"It might not be anything good, and it's useless to you, so why not sell it to me?" Mr. Mo said. "I won't beat around the bush. This box looks familiar to me, so I want to take it back for research."
"Thirty million is too little, isn't it?" Tong Qi chimed in. "At least fifty million."
"Why don't you tell me the origin of this box first, and then I'll consider it," Xu Huo said, tossing aside the "junk" in his hand.
Mr. Mo's expression turned serious. "You won't sell it."
Xu Huo smiled. "That's right. But you can sell me the information you know."
Mr. Mo's face darkened. "Then there's no point in continuing this conversation."
Xu Huo didn't say much more and went back to cleaning up the items on the ground.
Not long after, a new message appeared on the Dimension Below—a reply from Yan Jiayu.
"No problem storing your stuff. My luggage compartment is big. Do you have any A-rank props I can borrow? Ever since the Demon-Subduing Staff was destroyed, I haven't found anything that handy. The other props are too low-level and don't hold up."
Without a word, Xu Huo transmitted the metal box to her through the Dimension Below, along with three newly acquired A-rank props: a wolf-tooth club-shaped item called "Strength Creates Miracles," which could adapt to arm size and fit perfectly while serving as both an attack and defense metal arm guard called "The Iron Fist of Justice," and a slender willow sword.
All three props were suitable for close combat, especially for someone like Yan Jiayu who favored violent output. Besides, she had been trained in martial arts since childhood and knew something about staffs, swords, and fist techniques. Xu Huo wasn't particularly skilled in close combat, so these props would take time to adapt to and wouldn't be as handy.
"The wolf-tooth club is awesome!" Yan Jiayu quickly replied. "I'll borrow it for now. After I finish this instance, I'll send you some local specialties. The specialties here are really interesting."
Xu Huo closed his personal interface.
Seeing that he had dealt with the metal box, Mr. Mo's expression soured, but he didn't say anything.
"Actually, it's not that hard to learn about that box," Chi Xian said slowly. "The thorn pattern isn't special. Even searching the Dimension Below would turn up plenty. What's special is the unique power emanating from the box. Anyone who sees it, except for those with empty heads, would unconsciously feel a sense of oppression."
Xu Huo assumed a posture of attentive listening.
Chi Xian glanced at Mr. Mo and continued, "The box itself is made of decent quality metal, but the thorn pattern should be alive."
"I once heard that a high-risk district had a large number of mutated plants capable of interfering with people's minds. They had strong vitality. Even if the whole plant wasn't harvested, just cutting off a part would allow them to survive for a long time, and the mental interference remained unchanged."
"It was said that many players who entered this high-risk district for sampling died from killing each other—either from mental confusion or being lost in illusions and mistaking teammates for enemies."
"The samples brought out weren't entirely safe either. When protection wasn't thorough enough, many unrelated people died. At the time, these mutated plants were rumored to be so powerful that anyone affected by them would eventually go insane."
"But later, they were used as decoration and protection on some special items."
"Simply put, this kind of thing has a certain confidentiality function, but it's not too strong. The question is whether the inside of the box also has it."
"I see." Xu Huo nodded slightly. "Being able to obtain these mutated plants and handle them properly suggests someone with considerable strength in the game."
Chi Xian snapped his fingers. "We can narrow it down further. After all, this isn't a very useful thing. Only those bored and extravagantly wealthy big families or nobles would do this."
He turned to Mr. Mo and asked with a smile, "Don't you think so?"
Mr. Mo kept his face dark and silent. Since the item wouldn't reach his hands anyway, saying more was useless.
"Who knows what's inside the box? Maybe opening a blind box could yield something big—a complete turnaround!" Chi Xian deliberately said.
Something with a bounty of fifty million was worth at least some value.
Xu Huo ended the topic, took out the live bacteria sample he had just found along with the accompanying breeding manual, and gave a copy to Chi Xian. "This thing is quite beautiful."
Chi Xian took it with great interest.
"Brother Xu, you're so generous. Can I get a share of the stuff here?" Tong Qi shamelessly asked. "Since you don't want some of it anyway, I'm poor—I'll take anything."
Most of the sufficiently valuable items had already been taken or sold by Xu Huo. What remained were some low-value personal collections that wouldn't fetch a good price even if sold.
Xu Huo made a "go ahead" gesture.
"A B-rank player's luggage compartment can at least fetch some White Notes," Tong Qi laughed.
As they dealt with these items, dozens of eyes occasionally glanced over. Seeing that Xu Huo didn't mind Tong Qi taking a share, the beautiful female player and the dark-faced player also subtly moved closer, rummaging through the edges.
Unexpectedly, they still found something. The dark-faced player pulled a "treasure map" from a stack of maps.
The map was labeled "treasure map," but it was actually a traffic route map of some city.
"What does it mean to specifically write 'treasure map'?" the dark-faced player asked.
The beautiful female player propped up her head to look. "No address or markings. We don't even know where it is. Even if there really is treasure hidden, it's impossible to find."
"Players should carry any good stuff on them. Don't waste your energy."
(Chapter End)