Chapter 1664: One Chance
There was no escape, so Yu Qingqing had no choice but to stare at Xu Huo, demanding that he give her a guarantee.
"What guarantee?" Xu Huo released her.
Yu Qingqing straightened her collar. "The information is mine, and my team will be putting in the effort. It's not too much to ask that we take the larger share, is it?"
Xu Huo raised a hand to stop her. "Don't rush to talk about how to split things. First, tell me what this is actually about. If I'm interested, we can discuss working together."
"We've discovered an instance that hasn't fully formed yet." Yu Qingqing lowered her voice, speaking mysteriously.
"How can you be sure it's an unformed instance?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"It's a separate space. Duo Yun accidentally stumbled into it and found there's a special binding force inside." Yu Qingqing said. "Generally speaking, this either means it's an abandoned wandering space, or it's a location about to form into an instance."
"But didn't you go to that island floating on the sea before? Wandering spaces are usually very unstable and could disappear at any moment. This space is different—the entrance has been stable for over three days now, with absolutely no change in three days."
"Have you gone in to investigate?" Xu Huo asked again. Whether it was a wandering space or a location about to form an instance, both represented instability. The island that had appeared in the waters of Zone 014 last time was also extremely unstable, but the Special Defense Department had taken the lead and more or less figured out some patterns, preventing players from going in blind.
Moreover, entering such a space carried very high risks. If it moved to a place where game tickets couldn't reach, they might very well be trapped inside and die. In a worse scenario, it might contain temporal-spatial forces—not the static state of the island at sea, but an active force that could affect living people.
"We sent surveillance devices in to take a look. No problems." Yu Qingqing wore an expression that said, "Trust me."
"Show me the footage." Xu Huo extended his hand.
Yu Qingqing hesitated for a while before reluctantly pulling out a micro camera.
Xu Huo opened it to watch. The entire video wasn't very clear. The filming location was shrouded in a gray, hazy fog, making it difficult to distinguish even nearby objects. The only thing that could be confirmed was that it was a human city.
However, the entire video was only a minute and a half long. Before it could capture anything of value, the screen suddenly went black.
It seemed to have been attacked by something.
"How many more of these surveillance devices do you have?" Xu Huo changed the subject.
Yu Qingqing dawdled before extending both hands.
"So this is the longest video you've got." Xu Huo said. "The surveillance devices are destroyed every time near the entrance. After more than a dozen attempts, you still won't give up?"
"Why should I give up?" Yu Qingqing said matter-of-factly. "A place like this is hard to come by. How many times in a lifetime can you encounter something like this? Maybe we can secure an instance!"
Xu Huo looked at her coldly. "You don't even know what's destroying the surveillance devices, and you still want to take this instance?"
Yu Qingqing and her team must have deployed the surveillance devices in batches. Since they had no results, it meant either all devices were destroyed at the same time, or the devices couldn't capture anything.
"Bring out all the footage."
Only then did Yu Qingqing take out five more surveillance devices, assuring him, "This is all of them."
After the devices were repeatedly destroyed, they tried placing them at intervals, letting the later ones film the earlier ones, hoping to see what was moving in the fog.
But they underestimated the attack range of that force. Starting with stacking two devices, they ended up stacking five—only the devices barely pressed against the entrance line could be preserved, and that was how they managed to capture the scene of the earlier devices being destroyed.
"Cousin, did you notice anything?" Yu Qingqing observed Xu Huo's expression. When she got nothing, she asked directly, "We watched these videos frame by frame and couldn't figure anything out. The devices seemed to explode instantly, and no other objects were detected."
Xu Huo watched the several clips three times over before finally concluding, "I can't tell what it is either."
Yu Qingqing was greatly disappointed, then urged, "Why don't we go check it out together?"
"At least you had enough sense not to go in directly." Xu Huo said. "Don't get involved in this."
Seeing him take away all her videos, Yu Qingqing looked at him incredulously. "You're not thinking of ditching us and hogging it all for yourself, are you?"
"Why would I?" Xu Huo smiled at her. "I'll call the Special Defense Department."
Yu Qingqing's face darkened, but she knew the situation was out of her hands. She absolutely couldn't stop Xu Huo, and since he had said it, he would follow through.
"If you want me to stay out of it, fine—unless the Special Defense Department offers enough to buy my information."
She quickly adjusted her strategy to secure benefits for herself and her team.
"No problem. I can help you get a good price from the Special Defense Department." After a pause, Xu Huo added, "Call your other four friends over. I want to meet them in person."
The other three didn't understand his intention, but Yu Qingqing knew exactly what it meant. Gritting her teeth, she told Duo Yun beside her to call the other four companions back.
After Xu Huo went out to make a phone call, the player codenamed Zhen Yu quietly asked Yu Qingqing, "What does Xu Huo mean?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet? That space might indeed be an opportunity, but it's just not suitable for us to enter." Yu Qingqing said resentfully. "We're too weak."
Zhen Yu paused. "Xu Huo is only a C-level player too."
Yu Qingqing rolled her eyes. "Don't let the fact that he's a C-level player fool you. Even if he were a D-level like us, he could still wipe the floor with us. Besides, he's a Super Evolver."
"Just wait and see. The people the Special Defense Department sends will either be Super Evolvers or the cream of the crop among talent players."
"So you're saying your cousin might already know what's in that space but just isn't telling us outright?" Da Yu said. "Why did he call Da Xue and the other three over?"
"Probably afraid we'll cause trouble," Yu Qingqing had some understanding of Xu Huo, and that understanding only made her more frustrated. "He looks down on the four of us and wants to see if he can bring Da Xue and the others along."
The three were completely confused, not understanding what she meant by "looks down on," but before they could ask, Xu Huo returned. As Yu Qingqing had said, seemingly afraid they might cause trouble early, he not only didn't plan to leave but even found pots and pans from the room.
"It'll be a while before headquarters sends someone. Let's have a late-night snack first."
Yu Qingqing fumed indignantly. "We discovered it! It should be our opportunity!"
Xu Huo paid no attention to her little tantrum. "If you're not convinced, you can go in yourself. See if your head explodes like the surveillance devices."
(Chapter End)