# Chapter 177: Returning to Jing City
The situation in Country B was somewhat similar to Fairy Tale City. He had speculated before that the mutant tide in Fairy Tale City was not caused by local people mutating, perhaps also like Country B, those mutants had entered from outer zones.
The places where the preliminary train passed every night would see large numbers of train-attacking mutants, indicating that many places in the game world were occupied by mutants. Whether the game had to avoid these mutants or deliberately made the train pass through these places to achieve the purpose of screening players, those mutated evolvers and players were not completely killed off, but instead were left to roam freely in certain areas.
Then the sudden mutant tides in Fairy Tale City and Country B — were they man-made or the game's own screening mode?
Old Lady Bai had vaguely mentioned that if District 014 had a large number of players appear in a short time, it wouldn't become the next Fairy Tale City. And judging whether a game district had a large number of players, players from other districts probably couldn't do that.
If so, the most likely possibility was that the game was releasing mutants into some new district without potential, turning the entire area into a mutant zone.
"One-third is in the light." Xu Huo now had no doubt about Old Lady Bai's words.
"Hey, you over there, who are you?" A beam of light suddenly hit him — it was a patrol car that had spotted him.
The patrol cars were now equipped with heavy firepower weapons. When the armed personnel on the vehicle spoke, all their gun barrels were aimed at him.
"I'm a player returning from an instance." Xu Huo voluntarily stepped forward. "My identity should be registered. You can check."
"Don't come closer!" The armed personnel shouted, then had someone inside the vehicle verify his identity.
As the only player who had cracked the method in the Black and White Roulette Game, his identity information was kept confidential within the system, with only one photo and the most basic information proving he was a player from this country.
"Get in. Where are you going? We'll take you there." The armed personnel called him into the vehicle and then asked him about matters related to the instance.
"I was also near Hai City at the time, but the instance time was almost up, so I was forcibly teleported into the game. I don't know anything about what happened afterward." Xu Huo said.
Then the armed personnel gave him a rough account of what happened after the outer zone players snatched the super item.
At that time, after the Painting Woman sacrificed herself, a super player who appeared from nowhere snatched the super item from a group of advanced players. Other players who had come for the super item left one after another, and some went to watch the battle of the Eerie Sound Knights.
No one dared to approach the Eerie Sound Knights' location; they could only monitor via satellite. But after they started fighting, half of Hai City was forcibly demolished. The air was filled with a strange turbid substance, and it was impossible to see clearly what was happening inside. However, six hours later, that turbid substance suddenly disappeared completely, and so did the people fighting.
The one fighting the Eerie Sound Knights was a man in a wheelchair. After the incident ended, outsiders didn't know which side had won or lost. But after that, players from outer zones gradually decreased, and only a few who wanted to cause trouble were forced to leave District 014 under heavy siege.
"Did the Black and White Life-and-Death Game disappear along with the Eerie Sound Knights?" Xu Huo asked.
"No. Three hours into the battle between the Eerie Sound Knights and the wheelchair player, the Black and White Life-and-Death Game disappeared. Those people probably couldn't spare the attention." The armed personnel said.
"Do you know how those players got in?" Xu Huo asked again.
The armed personnel shook their heads, indicating they didn't know, and added, "All materials related to this incident have been compiled on the Vanguard Player Forum. You can check there."
"Also, the country has established a brand new player department. Since you're already a player, you can go directly to the local liaison agency to register. This isn't mandatory, but if you serve the country, you can enjoy national resources."
Xu Huo thanked him. When the vehicle passed through a ruined area, he looked outside. The original high-rise buildings had been leveled to the ground. From his position, he could see the vast ocean outside.
The people still in Hai City were being transferred by the country, so the armed personnel directly took him to the airport, along with a complimentary ticket to Jing City. They saluted him: "Grateful for the sacrifice of the vanguard players!"
"Thank you." Xu Huo took the ticket and boarded the plane.
Two hours later, he stood in the quiet Jing City airport. Although Jing City hadn't suffered a major impact in this incident, netizens had learned about domestic and international current events from the news and were temporarily staying home, not going out.
There were hardly any cars on the roads outside. However, as soon as he reached the entrance, four armed personnel actively approached him. "Excuse me, are you Mr. Xu Huo?"
"I am."
The armed personnel saluted him. "Higher-ups arranged for us to pick you up. Do you have any physical discomfort? Should we go to the hospital first?"
Xu Huo roughly understood that Jing City had been informed when his identity was verified in Hai City. He said, "No need. I'll go home first."
Xu Huo came from a well-off family. His father and stepmother lived in a relatively upscale villa area. However, when he returned, the original security personnel had been replaced by armed personnel, and there were even people standing guard outside the Xu family villa.
When the car stopped at the gate, a neighbor in the distance poked their head out to look. Xu Huo glanced in that direction, and the other person hurriedly retreated back inside.
His grandmother had already passed away. His grandfather, father, stepmother, the younger brother born to his stepmother, and all the relatives from his stepmother's side were there.
They had received advance notice of Xu Huo's return. Except for Xu Huo's grandfather, everyone else was gathered in the living room.
"Cousin, you're back!" Yu Qingqing was the first to rush up, grabbing his arm and shaking it. "I heard them say you've become a player, haven't you? Are you very powerful? Otherwise, the country wouldn't have sent so many people to protect us!"
Xu Huo gently pulled his arm free and greeted the family. "Dad, Auntie Yu."
Xu Huo's father hadn't seen him in two or three years. He just patted his shoulder and said, "You've lost weight and gotten darker. Have you contacted your mother?"
"Haven't had the chance." Xu Huo had just finished speaking when one of the armed personnel beside him said, "We have already sent people to pick up Mr. Xu's mother, Ms. Fang. She will arrive in Jing City by tomorrow evening at the latest."
"Oh my, this time it's really thanks to Xu Huo. Otherwise, we would have been worried sick at home." Yu Qingqing's mother pushed her sister-in-law. "Let Tongtong greet his big brother."
Xu Huo's stepmother didn't know much about Xu Huo either. When she married Xu Huo's father, Xu Huo had already left home.
"Tongtong, go ahead." She pulled her son, who was hiding behind her, forward.
The few-year-old child was shy with strangers and clung tightly to his mother's leg.
Xu Huo glanced at him and then said, "I'll go talk to Grandpa."