# Chapter 180: Super Item Incident Comes to an End
“No,” the middle-aged man said casually, unconcerned as he withdrew his hand. “I hold J Country citizenship, but both of my deceased parents were X Country nationals. Consider this returning to my roots.”
Xu Huo didn’t ask further and invited them into the car.
After a long separation, Ms. Fang didn’t act particularly warm toward him. After briefly inquiring about the situation, she said, “Your Uncle Tang and I have our own place to stay. We won’t cram into that house with your father’s family.”
“Things aren’t peaceful anywhere lately. It’s safer to stay together,” Xu Huo said. “There’s an empty villa in the neighborhood. You can stay there.”
The car was already heading toward the Xu family residence. Ms. Fang’s face showed anger. “My words don’t carry any weight at all anymore!”
“Once public security improves in a while, you can go wherever you want.” Xu Huo closed his eyes, indicating he didn’t intend to continue the conversation.
After settling them both in, Xu Huo left them with a “call me if anything comes up” and exited the villa. He didn’t return to his father’s place but instead left the neighborhood to call Team Leader Wu, asking him to send epidemic prevention personnel to quarantine the villa. Meanwhile, he went to another property owned by the Xu family.
In less than twenty minutes, Team Leader Wu called back. “We did a thorough check. Ms. Fang and Tang Guangbo aren’t infected. To be safe, I also checked Tang Guangbo’s relatives, friends, and neighbors. No one has been to Y Country recently.”
“Tang Guangbo’s breathing and heartbeat are a bit abnormal,” Xu Huo said.
“He has a heart condition,” Team Leader Wu said. “We’ve confirmed it. He’s been taking medication regularly.”
Xu Huo paused, then said, “I’d still appreciate it if you could find a suitable opportunity to take my mother out for separate isolation.”
“Since you’re asking, I’ll handle it,” Team Leader Wu said. “You suspect Tang Guangbo is infected with the disease. You’ve been in contact with him too—you should get checked.”
“If there’s a problem, I’ll contact you.” Xu Huo hung up and went online to read more news about the Y Country epidemic.
The timing of the Y Country epidemic outbreak coincided precisely with the days when outer zone players invaded Zone 014. In less than half a month, the infected population had reached five hundred thousand. The mortality rate wasn’t high, but those infected required centralized quarantine.
When X Country publicly disclosed information about the game and players to the world, Y Country was desperately trying to suppress all news related to the game and players. The government officially denied it, labeling the game details X Country had made public as fake news, while also spinning the outer zone player invasion as a terrorist attack by neighboring P Country and publicly announcing military secrets about preparations for war.
Meanwhile, some regions within Y Country were already engulfed in warfare. The overwhelming number of videos and messages had nearly crashed the national network. People within the country began fleeing north, and with the impact of the infectious disease, some had already crossed the border into P Country. At the same time, Y Country used force against P Country under the pretext of protecting its own citizens, and the two major powers officially went to war.
Compared to the epidemic, more people were dying from the war.
However, aside from B Country, there was no news about mutant tides anywhere else.
Confirming this, Xu Huo relaxed slightly.
The Y Country epidemic had come very suddenly, but so far, no news had emerged about patients mutating or degenerating, suggesting there likely wasn’t a risk of turning into mutants.
Previously, he had thought it impossible for potions or contamination sources to cause ordinary people to mutate through water, air, or other pathways. Now, the events in Y Country and B Country indirectly confirmed his speculation.
However, this epidemic was quite likely the work of players. Among the dead, most were elderly people with weak immune systems, indicating that the epidemic’s lethality wasn’t as strong as imagined. The current chaos in Y Country was partly the responsibility of those in power.
Next, he opened the Vanguard Forum to look at the detailed information the government had released about this outer zone player invasion incident.
Besides the cause and process of the incident, there was a detailed set of videos and audio recordings documenting the appearance and disappearance of some outer zone players.
From the scant information, it could be inferred that it wasn’t easy for outer zone players to enter Zone 014. With the disappearance of the super item, there likely wouldn’t be a large influx of high-level players coming to Zone 014.
However, the forum didn’t disclose the information Xu Huo had reported. Most players accessing the forum were in a state of relief at having survived the ordeal.
Beyond that, he also carefully reviewed all the player profiles that could be compiled.
This included most members of the Eerie Sound Knights, the wheelchair player and the child beside him, and image comparisons of the high-level players who had besieged the Painting Woman.
Xu Huo noticed that the eyebrowless player known as “Human Tongue” had two companions, but only two of the three had appeared in Fairy Tale City.
High-level players should have their own methods of communication. If the man carrying the leather suitcase was strong enough, the third person would likely have received news of “Human Tongue” and one of his companions’ deaths.
This effectively confirmed that the super item had been snatched by a super player. If other high-level players were still paying attention to the super item, they would eventually learn of this as well.
At this point, the super item incident was essentially over. What came next would be the game of chess between players and the game itself.
“Ding ding ding.” The Painting Woman called for a video chat.
Xu Huo answered, and a large face immediately appeared in front of the camera. The Painting Woman leaned in to look, then pulled back and took out a notebook to write something for him to see.
“When did you get back?”
Xu Huo paused. “You didn’t know? I thought the poster hiding in the crack and spying on me last night was you.”
The Painting Woman covered her face in shame, then wrote again: “I like Hai City. The houses and land here are all mine.”
“Don’t worry, you’re already dead. They’ll be taken back eventually.”
The Painting Woman immediately drooped her eyebrows. “Can you tell them not to take my land and house?”
“No,” Xu Huo refused bluntly, then asked, “Why don’t you leave Zone 014?”
The Painting Woman touched the medal hanging around her chest. “I want to follow you.”
Xu Huo didn’t respond, and she quickly wrote again: “You’re not going to take back the medal, are you?”
“Giving it to you means it’s yours.” Xu Huo moved to another topic. “You mentioned before that you saw puppets in a castle. What kind of puppets were they?”
The Painting Woman wasn’t good at drawing, so she got some paper and folded it into the shapes of puppets—three puppets of varying sizes, some human, some animal.
“What about something like this?” Xu Huo drew the Smiling Puppet.
The Painting Woman immediately nodded. “Yes, that puppet was really fun. I took one with me.”
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. “You stole a puppet?”
The Painting Woman looked embarrassed and wrote: “I didn’t steal it. I asked it, and it didn’t object.”
“But I lost it.”
Xu Huo had a general idea why that Smiling Puppet was called “ill-fated.” A hint of a smile appeared on his face. “Have you seen the castle’s owner?”
The Painting Woman shook her head vigorously. “The puppets there were all so fierce. I didn’t stay long before I left.”
“Do you still remember which station that castle was at?”
The Painting Woman’s expression turned blank.
Having already gathered quite a bit of extra information, Xu Huo didn’t press further. He simply said, “I won’t take back the medal. If you want to follow me, come to Jing City. There’s a small matter I’d like your help with.”