Chapter 1746: Xaxi Dolaiti
"You remember it quite clearly?" Xu Huo said.
Old Mr. Yue smiled. "Of course, because after this incident, Matri Dolaiti pushed through several pieces of legislation, including implanting tracking chips in living people, heavier penalties for juvenile delinquency, and increasing the priority of minor safety in all robot protocols—under any circumstances, robots must prioritize protecting minors over others."
"Every time the laws are amended, the protection of minors is improved. The biggest change was the tracking chip technology, which was previously not allowed because in the minds of ordinary people, unless absolutely necessary, they would never willingly undergo surgery. But surprisingly, this matter didn't provoke much opposition at the time."
"Maybe it's because they had done too many bad things."
The old man didn't seem to have a particularly strong sense of belonging to Zone 019. He viewed the current state and past of Zone 019 with a very detached attitude.
"What was the name of Matri Dolaiti's youngest daughter?"
"Xaxi Dolaiti," Old Mr. Yue said. "When I was tracking government movements, I saw that young girl twice. She was a very beautiful girl. After she disappeared, the government secretly sent people to search for a long time, but as far as I know, they never recovered her body. The matter eventually fizzled out."
Xu Huo nodded. "A hundred years ago, was it true that the district government and the mining group colluded to cause a mining disaster just to obtain human bone gems?"
Old Mr. Yue gave him a surprised look. "I didn't expect you to be able to dig up even this."
"Just a coincidence," Xu Huo said. "Xaxi Dolaiti's disappearance should be related to the mining disaster, right?"
"There were a lot of rumors at the time. Players weren't as well-behaved as they are now, and government personnel were frequent targets of attacks. Anything was possible," Old Mr. Yue said with a sigh. "If it was because of the mining disaster... that would truly be a pity."
"Back then, I got some vague information from the families of some victims. Coupled with the fact that Zone 019's economy was indeed in a dire state at the time, I only vaguely guessed at some things after investigating." He paused here before continuing, "But I didn't go any deeper. Investigating further would have done me no good, so I went against my conscience and turned down the pleas for help from some of the victims' families."
"Only later did I realize that I too was one of the beneficiaries of those massacres."
The old man likely knew quite a bit of inside information; he had simply chosen to blur some details.
Xu Huo didn't force him to reveal everything but instead picked out questions related to Xaxi Dolaiti.
"The place where she disappeared was called Funiu Village, a small place. This area was later merged into a nearby city and renamed Three Returns City."
"Xaxi Dolaiti was there on a trip with her classmates. She disappeared during the night. Her companions were asleep and had no idea when she vanished, so they didn't discover it until the next morning and called the police."
"After that, government personnel searched for months but found nothing."
The old man then provided the exact time and specific location of Xaxi Dolaiti's disappearance before looking at him. "Do you think Xaxi Dolaiti is the Ember Maiden?"
Xu Huo didn't answer this question. The old man wasn't fixated on the answer either. He looked ahead and sighed. "If she really is the Ember Maiden, it would be good if you could find her. Many innocent people have been sacrificed for Zone 019, and she is one of them. Finding one counts as one."
"It's been too long," Xu Huo said. "Did Matri Dolaiti have veto power over internal government proposals during his tenure?"
Based on the information from the Message Collection Terminal, the power of the Grand Archon of Zone 019 fluctuated. Although the position hadn't changed in the past hundred years, their power could be increased or decreased through voting. The veto power was among these. The Grand Archon might not have had this power last year, but at the beginning of this year, a careless vote might have given it back, and then after a year of tug-of-war, those who found the "veto power" troublesome would vote it away again. It sounded both bizarre and absurd.
Old Mr. Yue gave him a definitive answer.
Xu Huo sighed inwardly. Perhaps it was all about this veto power. If someone had guessed the truth back then, or simply blamed the district government for the high frequency of mining disasters, the first person they would target would be the Grand Archon. As the government's primary spokesperson, he was obligated to exercise the "veto power" for the dead. Precisely because he didn't, and even tacitly allowed so many people to die, he became the target of retaliation.
Of course, the time of Xaxi Dolaiti's disappearance was long after the peak period of mining disasters. The wave of revenge seeking justice for the dead should have gradually subsided. It didn't necessarily mean her disappearance was due to a man-made accident, as there were too many possibilities.
This was a promising lead.
"If you have any relevant materials, could you lend them to me?" Xu Huo requested.
Old Mr. Yue took an old-fashioned USB drive from a box under the armrest of his wheelchair. "Don't connect it to the Message Collection Terminal. I want to keep all these things as mementos."
Xu Huo took out the equipment he had brought from Zone 014 and read the contents.
Not only did he catch a glimpse of the appearances of Xaxi Dolaiti and Matri Dolaiti from scattered messages and photos, but he also directly saw Funiu Village at the time. The inn where Xaxi Dolaiti disappeared was photographed very clearly, along with subsequent interviews with nearby residents.
The timing matched Suo Lan's transformation, but Funiu Village was still some distance from the location of Suo Lan's father's accident, and during that period, she likely hadn't left Dingding Flower Town. From these two aspects, it was impossible for her to have been in Funiu Village.
Xu Huo then opened a map for comparison. The current Three Returns City was rebuilt by merging several places. The original locations were unremarkable, but one of Three Returns City's neighbors was originally called "Ember Town."
"Ember Town?" He looked up. "Do you have any impression of this place?"
"It's a bit far from Funiu Village," Old Mr. Yue recalled. "It used to be a poor place too. Later, it was leveled and built into a large city, and the name was changed to..."
"Jiusang City," Xu Huo said. And over a decade ago, this place had its name changed back to "Ember," becoming one of the locations that followed Suo Lan Master's announcement of the painting's title by changing its name.
"Could Xaxi Dolaiti have died in Ember Town?" Old Mr. Yue was puzzled for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. He waved his hand and said, "It's been over a hundred years. Digging into the process and reasons is useless. A person's life is all about fate and circumstances. It begins in one form and ends in another. The process isn't that important."
(Chapter End)