Chapter 1766: The Storm Has Nothing to Do with the Storm's Center
A barrier destroyed by a jammer, especially one from someone in Zone 019, is difficult to reopen a second time under such circumstances. The government players had originally come to capture Xu Huo by exploiting a time gap, intending to seize him before the matter escalated and deal with the aftermath however they saw fit.
The only unexpected thing was that after catching so many players cooperating with Xu Huo, the government side believed he should have no more helpers left. Moreover, they had learned from multiple sources that he was indeed a C-grade player. This was supposed to be a capture with no suspense... but now an accident had occurred.
Xu Huo was slippery as an eel, possessing too many good items, especially defensive ones. Having undergone Super Evolution, he could often keenly sense when others tried to use Space items to transfer him along with his items, escaping the encirclement before they could act, stubbornly buying himself a few more minutes.
The blocking barrier had been destroyed. If the government side were to activate a second barrier, it would inevitably seem like a self-incriminating move. And they could no longer resort to violent capture regardless of life or death, especially when it endangered the safety of ordinary people in Zone 019.
Xu Huo hadn't done anything illegal. Even the items he used to spread "rumors" were puppets, and he had gone to great lengths to protect Xiaxi·Duolaiti's privacy by not revealing her appearance. Spreading "rumors" in public places wasn't considered a major crime in Zone 019, especially since the rumors targeted the government. Ordinary people had taken a stand against the government on this matter, and the more intense the government's reaction, the more it made people suspect something was wrong.
Thus, as more and more aircraft arrived over the city, the government players changed their strategy, publicly demanding that Xu Huo return to cooperate with the investigation.
"Investigate what?" Xu Huo stood on the rooftop of the city's tallest building, wearing a face similar in appearance to Zone 019 locals. "From yesterday until now, more than twenty-four hours have passed. Neither the District Government nor the Duolaiti family has acknowledged Xiaxi·Duolaiti's existence. Since you claim she doesn't exist, then there is no corpse of a kidnapping victim who was killed. May I ask what you intend to investigate?"
"You disrupted public order, using puppets to impersonate corpses and spread false information. Zone 019 has the right to hold you accountable." The man speaking had a square face with dark skin, a buzz cut, and wore all black, even his shoes were black. He looked very capable and exuded a sharp, oppressive aura.
"The right to hold me accountable?" Xu Huo smiled faintly. "You're being very cautious. You don't reveal the government's stance, you don't touch on related incidents, and even your attitude is ambiguous... You're afraid that saying the wrong thing will make it hard to clean up later, aren't you?"
The decisions from the government's upper echelons and the Duolaiti family were still pending. The actions of players working outside could create unpredictable butterfly effects. So these people dared neither to act too tough nor to directly respond to anything Xu Huo said.
Xu Huo wasn't surprised. He stood firm on the rooftop. "In that case, let's not make things difficult for each other. I can cooperate with your work right here. If you have any questions to ask, ask them now. I'll tell you everything I know without reservation."
This statement put the already awkward government players in an even more difficult position. Even if they hadn't sensed something strange from the government's upper echelons' odd attitude, they couldn't possibly conduct a public interrogation.
The mining disaster had become a ticking bomb. Who knew if a wrong gust of wind might set it off on its own?
The players were frozen in place, and at that moment, the leading man received a communication from the government side. After listening, he looked up at Xu Huo and said, "Mr. Duolaiti has agreed to speak with you tomorrow morning, but he requests a one-on-one meeting."
Xu Huo shook his head. "This matter is being done on behalf of Master Solan. A private settlement won't achieve her goals, nor will it achieve mine."
The District Government knew he wanted a high rating to clear the Instance, but he had already obtained the painting and knew the full story behind Solan's painting of the "Ember Maiden." He had essentially mastered this Instance. How much higher could revealing the truth of the mining disaster raise his Instance rating?
"He wants to throw Zone 019 into chaos!" The Grand Archon slammed the table.
It was still the same meeting room, but this time all participants were present. The instruments and equipment on site were all turned off, and additional shielding items had been set up. While the government players were besieging Xu Huo, the General Government's intelligent system had malfunctioned. The protocols of some cities' Armed Robots had been tampered with, nearly marking Zone 019 locals as clearance targets. This sent a cold sweat down the spines of the entire District Government leadership. Although they had managed to recover most of it, some Armed Robots' protocols still hadn't been restored. These Armed Robots were now scattered near the District Government building—they might not be able to enter the District Government itself, but they could enter nearby residential buildings, many of which housed the families of government staff!
This situation forced some of the dispatched players to return to arrange evacuations and clean up the "mutineer" robots, while simultaneously scanning various buildings to ensure the Armed Robots hadn't hidden large-scale lethal weapons in densely populated areas.
These tasks were destined to take a long time to complete. Moreover, they had to find the "door" that the "Storm Factor" had opened within the system; otherwise, the robot "mutiny" could happen again—even if the door had been cleared, they had to consider the reactions of Zone 019 locals as time dragged on. Various Player Organizations, independent civilian players, and ordinary people whose brains or bodies had undergone special evolution thanks to Evolution Agents might all join this rebellion. And among them, there might be people connected to the victims.
Realizing that the trouble they had created could not be resolved in a short time, these government officials felt their heads spinning. Their demeanor was no longer as high and mighty as it had been yesterday.
Killing Xu Huo could no longer salvage anything. What the District Government truly feared was Zone 019 itself. Xu Huo was just a small-time player trying to drag them all down for his own selfish gain—insignificant in essence. But now that things had reached this point, they had no choice but to respond to him directly.
"A jumping clown, why bother with him so much?" A middle-aged man at the end of the conference table sneered. "Find an Outer Zone Player to kill him. Dogs biting dogs—what does that have to do with us?"
"Killing him or not can't solve this anymore," the woman across from him said. "Do you think the public are all fools? Some players have already gone to dig up Amber Square and found the underground prison the Avenger dug out. They also... found the remaining bloodstains and confirmed it was human blood."
"The biographies of the involved parties, Enbo and Ms. Mei, have also been dug up. I don't need to elaborate on the aircraft crash incident from back then... Using such foolish tactics too many times always leaves traces."
"Haier Si's grave has been found. Several internal personnel from the mining groups have been subjected to varying degrees of coercion and kidnapping. Even without solid evidence, hearsay confessions are enough."
"Furthermore, someone who used to work at Tiantianle saw Solan around the time of Xiaxi's disappearance, along with a few of her friends. Solan had gone to pay respects to her father at the time. She had a deep bond with Ms. Mei, so it's not strange that she would also go to pay respects to the son of a neighbor who raised her..."
"Do you understand what this means?"
"This is just one of countless chains of connections. People like Solan, who weren't fully involved in the incident, could still remember it for over a hundred years and even use their own death to make future generations seek the truth. How many such people are there in Zone 019?"
"Are we really going to let this drag on for generation after generation?"
(Chapter End)