Chapter 1743: Try Changing Gender?
The speaker was a middle-aged man with an unremarkable appearance. Although players could alter their looks, the more ordinary one appeared, the less attention they attracted, so few people deliberately made themselves very beautiful when doing business. This middle-aged man, along with his companions, all looked extremely inconspicuous. For example, on a bustling street like this, as long as they didn't do anything strange to draw attention, no one would give them a second glance.
"Looks like he won't be leaving anytime soon. Following him and watching him spend money is really frustrating—that's all our money!" said another man with triangular eyes.
On a crowded street, they couldn't just charge in and kill him, but how much could they steal? Robbery and murder would be much more satisfying.
"Is He Jiaorong that woman here yet? How long do we have to wait for her?" the triangular-eyed man said impatiently.
Speak of the devil, and he appears. He Jiaorong was standing right behind him in an instant. She snorted and said, "It's only right for you to wait for me. If it weren't for me, would you have hooked such an easy fish so easily?"
There were five of them in total—four men and one woman. It was clear that He Jiaorong was responsible for scouting targets, while the others coordinated the attack.
The middle-aged man gave them an unhappy look. "Stop the nonsense. This is a fat sheep. He might be some rich young master whose parents gave him a lot of money. He's practically delivered to our doorstep."
"Who is it? Let me see." He Jiaorong followed their gaze and immediately recognized the man she had failed to approach earlier in Boat Bay City. "Pick someone else. This isn't an easy bone to chew."
"Seen him before?" The middle-aged man grew cautious.
He Jiaorong nodded. "A couple of dimwits tried to steal his props, but they ended up handing it back obediently. Triangular Eyes, Xiao Wu, and Old Ding have seen him too."
Triangular Eyes rubbed his chin. "I thought he looked familiar. So he's the one you failed to hook. Didn't expect you, He Jiaorong, to meet a man you couldn't seduce."
He Jiaorong sneered. "Don't provoke me. Caution is the mother of safety. There's no need to take this risk."
"Or maybe you're just scared," Triangular Eyes taunted. "That guy didn't even give you a second glance. Hurt your pride, Miss He? Don't be so down. Maybe he likes men. If you disguise yourself as a man, he might fall for it."
The other three men laughed. He Jiaorong's face stiffened. "If you're going to keep acting like this, I don't see the point in continuing our cooperation."
"Don't be mad," the middle-aged man said, walking up behind He Jiaorong and deliberately patting her waist. "Just a joke. We've been in this instance long enough. Usually, it's small-time stuff, and the people we target aren't very wealthy. Finding a suitable mark isn't easy. There are five of us—are you afraid we can't handle him alone?"
He Jiaorong said irritably, "He didn't take the bait, so what do you want me to do? Let Triangular Eyes try. Maybe he's into that!"
Just as Triangular Eyes was about to lose his temper, Xiao Wu, who was pretending not to know them in the crowd, walked over and bumped into him, lowering his voice. "Don't get worked up. We're not the only ones watching him. Let someone else be the mantis stalking the cicada, and we'll be the oriole behind. It'll wear him down."
The consumption level in Zone 019 was too high. Even everyday items weren't cheap. Ordinary players wouldn't waste money on useless things, but Xu Huo had been spending hundreds of thousands of White Notes going in and out of shops. Hundreds of thousands of White Notes could buy a decent D-grade prop. Of course, he hadn't used that money to buy props, which meant he had plenty of cash. Flaunting his wealth would inevitably make him a fat sheep, but this fat sheep had thick skin. They could wait until he lost some blood before making their move.
Their plan was nice, and the others tailing Xu Huo had similar ideas. Some even kept their distance while using high-level space props and space instruments to prevent him from suddenly escaping with a space teleportation item.
Xu Huo had no intention of leaving. He also knew that some people were trying to restrict him with space props, but that didn't matter. They weren't using super props, so he could easily shake them off.
He was inside the city, where many space props and instruments were in use. Wearing "Three Seconds of Life" might directly interfere with the space instruments—many places in Zone 019 were equipped with restrictive space props and instruments to prevent interference. If a large area went down, it might provoke an attack from Zone 019.
However, he had already used all his special props to guard against attacks, just in case he let his guard down.
But having too many people following him was also a problem. So he disposed of the items in his hands and found a place to eat.
He hadn't been sitting long when He Jiaorong showed up.
A young man with a handsome face and a build slightly smaller than the average adult male sat down across from him, smiling brightly. "Mind if I share a table?"
Xu Huo was silent.
Yes, He Jiaorong had actually disguised herself as a man and come to find him.
But this time, she wasn't flirting. Instead, she appeared under the guise of looking for a companion to clear the instance, trying to find out what instance Xu Huo was doing and see if they could go together.
"Ember Maiden. Heard of it?" Xu Huo said.
"I've heard of it. It's quite famous. Unfortunately, we're not in the same instance," He Jiaorong said, pretending to be regretful. Then she added, "I have heard some news about 'Ember Maiden.' A few days ago, a rich guy came here. After drinking, he told people that the painting had actually been collected by a big shot, but it just hadn't been made public yet."
"Oh? What kind of big shot?" Xu Huo asked, eating as he watched her.
"I heard it has something to do with the district government," He Jiaorong said with a smile. "You know how it is in Zone 019. The game government base is basically invisible. The district government has a lot of power. Even ordinary people doing business with the district government can't afford to offend them. They have quite a few players under their command."
"If the painting has been collected, this instance should have ended by now," Xu Huo said. "It's probably fake news."
He Jiaorong shrugged. "I'm not sure about that. But coincidentally, the instance I'm doing also has some connection to the district government, and I'm short on manpower. How about we work together?"
When Xu Huo asked who the target was, she shared an encrypted file with him. According to the file, the son-in-law of this big shot was a key figure in the district government. On top of that, the big shot himself was a businessman with deep pockets. Every time he went out, he was protected by no fewer than ten players, with very thorough security measures.
"The bodyguards around him are all B-class players. Walking into that would be suicide. For an instance? Not worth it," Xu Huo said with a smile.
"It's not about assassinating him. Whether it's the painting or other materials, they must be hidden in a specific place. We just need to scout it out," He Jiaorong said confidently. "On the message collection terminal, most of the speculation about the whereabouts of 'Ember Maiden' points to people connected to the district government. Since the rumor is out, there must be a reason."
"So, what do you say? Want to take a chance?"