Chapter 176: The Box Carrier
Xu Huo frowned. "This lizard's sense of smell can transcend space?"
"Whether it's smell or not hasn't been determined yet, but animal evolution is more complex and bizarre than human evolution." Sun Jirou paused and rephrased her statement. "Dolphins have a built-in sonar system in their brains that can locate objects less than five centimeters in size from over a hundred meters away, and rusty-spotted cats can construct a 3D jungle map in their minds. After the initial evolution, some animals have displayed extraordinary abilities that humans cannot achieve."
In other words, humans don't know how they do it either; they've only observed the phenomenon.
"And this embryo can remain active for up to three years. During those three years, as long as the mother lizard doesn't die, it will continue to track it."
Xu Huo looked at the "thin slice" in her palm. "Can it still be used now?"
"Of course. There doesn't seem to be a very effective way to block it yet." Sun Jirou handed him the item. "What are you going to do with this? You can just toss it anywhere."
"Send a big gift." Xu Huo smiled faintly.
Sun Jirou hesitated for a moment, then said, "I have another question."
"Go ahead."
"How did you see through White Granny's identity? I interacted with her on the bus too, but I never realized they were the same person."
"I didn't see through their identities; I just judged that they were connected," Xu Huo said.
"Both of them mentioned the Bear Claw Restaurant, and White Granny, disguised as the tour guide, went into the Bear Claw Restaurant herself to lure me in."
"Aren't you also wondering why no babies have been born in Fairy Tale City for twenty years?"
"If this is a powerful person who has despaired of their compatriots, it wouldn't be hard to accomplish. But that person would have to be at least thirty-five or older. Although the female tour guide doesn't fit that, there are all kinds of strange items in the game, so changing one's appearance isn't unusual."
"So whether they are two people or one person, it falls within a reasonable range."
"But why wouldn't she let the people of Fairy Tale City reproduce?" Sun Jirou had a guess in her mind, but hearing him say it out loud still felt unbelievable. Because she was disappointed in Fairy Tale City, she wanted to drive its population to extinction?
"What's so surprising about that?" Xu Huo pointed out the window. "Look at the people here. Are they still normal?"
"Hatred, disgust, or even taking pleasure in tormenting former compatriots can be understood. But eating the flesh and blood of your own kind without any psychological barrier—once you cross that line, what's the difference between that and a Cannibal Player in the future?"
Sun Jirou looked a bit sad. She sighed and said, "In this game, whether they're players or ordinary people, everyone is a victim."
Xu Huo didn't comment, his gaze lingering on her face.
Sun Jirou wasn't as emotional as she appeared. The back-and-forth between her, him, and Tao Chengxin was just probing their limits.
Sure enough, there were no simple players in the instance.
Having resolved her doubts, Sun Jirou left the instance, while Xu Huo carried the puppet toward the Delicious Sausage Shop.
From a distance, he placed the lizard embryo into the puppet's mouth, then pushed its two lips upward into a smile before ordering this smiling puppet to hide inside the sausage shop.
After confirming that the puppet hadn't been thrown out, he found a spot farther away but still within sight of the Delicious Sausage Shop to settle in.
Within two hours, two people who looked travel-worn arrived near the Delicious Sausage Shop.
Xu Huo immediately recognized one of them—the eyebrow-less man who had been among the advanced players attacking the Painting Woman. Seeing the two enter the sausage shop, he turned and went downstairs, heading to the entrance of Fairy Tale City to catch a tour bus.
The entrance of the tourist city was as bustling as ever. Xu Huo was walking toward the tour bus when he suddenly felt a breeze brush past him. He instinctively stopped and looked back, only to see a man in an overcoat and a top hat appear in his field of vision. The man was carrying a leather suitcase. He glanced at the bulletin board, then stopped a passerby and asked, "Excuse me, how do I get here?"
The passerby's gaze lingered on his face for two seconds before snapping back to reality. "This street... Are you going to the Delicious Sausage Shop? It's still a bit of a walk. You'd better take a car."
"I prefer walking," the man with the suitcase said gently. "Could you tell me a shortcut?"
The passerby quickly pulled out a map he had on him and marked a shortcut for him.
"Thank you." The Box Carrier lifted his head and shook it, then suddenly glanced back. A faint smile appeared on his face, partially obscured by the mask covering his left eye, before he strode away.
Sitting on the tour bus with his back to the bulletin board, Xu Huo broke out in a cold sweat in an instant. He forced himself not to look at the reflection of the man on the bus window, staring straight ahead until the hair-raising sense of danger faded, then let out a long breath.
The tour bus slowly started moving, carrying its full load of tourists away from Fairy Tale City.
Xu Huo had placed the puppet in the Delicious Sausage Shop hoping to start a fight between those tracking him and the Government Hall players. To be safe, he had even set the puppet to "Smile Mode."
The game description for the Smiling Puppet suggested it was likely a trap. He hadn't planned on taking the puppet with him anyway, but he hadn't expected it to attract such a powerful player. The aura this man carried was stronger than any player he had encountered before...
As the bus slowly moved away from Fairy Tale City, Xu Huo kept looking back in its direction. Just as the city was about to disappear from view, a mushroom cloud of red smoke suddenly rose above Fairy Tale City. Though it vanished in an instant, it threw the city into chaos.
The tour guide on the bus was on the phone with someone in Fairy Tale City. Hearing the screams coming through, her expression changed drastically, and she ordered the autopilot to speed up.
Then, several ripples of red gas swept outward from Fairy Tale City in all directions. Wherever they passed, whether buildings or fences, everything was crushed to pieces. People on the roads and mutants in the viewing areas fled in panic.
Xu Huo chose to use his return ticket and left Block Fairy Tale City Station just before the bus was hit.
In the blink of an eye, he was back in Hai City.
It was nighttime, and he had returned near the ruins of the Pearl Hotel.
Patrol cars were still everywhere on the streets, but there were no longer any injured people wailing and waiting for rescue. Not far away, a crooked television was tuned to Jing City's channel, where an elderly man from Jing City was repeating his speech.
"...This is a disaster for our entire country and the whole world. For our fallen compatriots, I feel profound grief and guilt..."
"...The nation discovered the existence of Evolvers three months ago and learned of the Dimensional Crack Game a month ago, but we failed to make adequate preparations and countermeasures, plunging the entire nation into disaster..."
"...Through the brave resistance of our players, soldiers, and people, the Outer Zone Players have finally begun to leave Zone 014..."