Chapter 1804: Did You Mark the Wrong Place?
Xu Huo reached out and closed the box. "That's enough. Do you have anything else you need to take?"
Fan Yunhong really hadn't expected him to be so easy to deal with. For a moment, he was at a loss, then after two seconds, he came to his senses and said ecstatically, "I don't have much... I'll go pack up right away!"
The small box of gems Fan Yunhong had taken out was only a part of his collection. Of course, there were more hidden in other villas. Xu Huo didn't expose this but let him go out to pack his things. He himself walked over to the cabinet against the wall and observed the corpse inside.
This was a poorly preserved corpse, in slightly worse condition than the one in the basement he had seen when he first arrived. Many parts of the body were missing. Perhaps for the sake of preservation, the corpse's chest and abdomen had been hollowed out and filled with other things.
Xu Huo went from the basement to the first floor. Judging by the dust on the furnishings, Fan Yunhong hadn't been active here for quite some time. Of course, most of the supply boxes stacked against the wall were already empty, and the dates marked on the boxes and some sealed bags were also from a long time ago.
Most of the second and third floors had been cleared out to store things, leaving only one bedroom and one study. He didn't go up to look. Seeing that Fan Yunhong was about to come back, he went downstairs first.
Fan Yunhong had already come out carrying a large field pack. Besides some food packs and items that could be exchanged for money, most of the rest were cheap potions and some emergency supplies.
"If you really can't fit it all, you can leave it with me," Xu Huo offered proactively.
Fan Yunhong thanked him repeatedly and quickly packed another large bag.
"Don't you have a map of the safe zones?" Xu Huo asked curiously.
"I did have one..." Fan Yunhong said with an expression of difficulty. "But in the last few years, I developed a habit of eating paper. One day, while I was half-asleep, I accidentally ate those hand-drawn maps..."
Xu Huo was speechless for a moment, but aside from hygiene products, there really were no maps to be seen in the villa.
"But I still remember the general directions of some safe zones!" Fan Yunhong quickly added.
Xu Huo didn't say anything but took out the old map he had found earlier.
The instance introduction mentioned "Melissa's" birthplace, the CK12 Safe Zone. Without any other clear clues, the first thing to do was to go there and take a look.
Next were other safe zones or abandoned cities near CK12, because it was very likely that "Melissa" had been taken to another safe zone. Even if it wasn't a safe zone, it should at least be a place where people lived.
The background mentioned that no other infants had been born besides "Melissa," but it didn't specify the exact time. Considering the time when Zone 010 was eroded by yellow sand, plus the period of zero births, "Melissa" should still be a child. Unless she was accompanied by an adult, it would be impossible for her to successfully reach other places.
Fan Yunhong looked blankly at the long-abandoned old administrative map. "I haven't left for too long. A few years ago, some convoys passed by here, but I didn't dare to contact them proactively. It's hard to say whether those safe zones still exist."
"Ten years ago, I saw a report my father secretly read in CK15. It said that the environment in Zone 010 would continue to deteriorate, the desertification area would eventually become a desert zone, and the safe zones would be buried too. So CK15 was gone ten years ago."
"You said the transport route your father used to take passed through here. Which safe zones did the convoys travel between, CK15 and others?" Xu Huo gestured for him to circle the locations of the safe zones.
"From 10 to 20, but several of those safe zones disappeared even before 15 did." Fan Yunhong circled the first few safe zones relatively quickly, but he had to think for a while before circling the rest. "When I left the 15 Safe Zone, 19, 18, and 17 had already vanished."
"Weren't the safe zones established based on existing cities?" Xu Huo asked.
"Some directly used existing city buildings. Others were specifically chosen in places less prone to sinking or being buried by wind and sand." Fan Yunhong couldn't help but say, "There was once a safe zone that sank overnight and was hit by a sandstorm. In a city of hundreds of thousands, except for the players who tried their best to save a few, the vast majority died."
After speaking, he sighed and then muttered to himself, "What does it matter anyway? Everyone has to die. Instead of being tortured to death by illness, dying quickly might be happier..."
"Zone 010 has already merged into the game world. It shouldn't be lacking B or A-rank players," Xu Huo interrupted him.
"I wouldn't know about that. I just heard from my father that when the mutant swarms were rampant, a lot of players died, and a lot of players ran away too," Fan Yunhong said. "I wasn't very old back then. I only vaguely remember that it was very chaotic everywhere. Adults wouldn't let children go out casually, and then it was all about fleeing to the safe zones."
Xu Huo nodded. The locations of the safe zones circled on the map were far from the city he was currently in. However, CK11 and CK12 were very close to each other. "Melissa's" first stop was very likely here. With no infants born in nearly ten years, the only child should be very conspicuous.
"Let's go check CK12 first." He put away the map.
"Why not CK11? It's closer," Fan Yunhong asked curiously.
"I think the number 12 is luckier." Xu Huo casually gave a reason and added, "If we need to travel quickly, you'll have to stay inside my item."
"Stay inside an item?" Fan Yunhong was stunned. "Will I suffocate?"
"You won't die. It might be a bit boring." Xu Huo fulfilled his obligation to inform, took out "World Within the Painting," and said, "Try the effect."
Fan Yunhong approached hesitantly and tentatively reached out. The next second, his entire body was sucked into the painting paper, forming a somewhat abstract face, half-smiling and half-crying, within the frame.
"It really works!" he said in surprise. "So there are such amazing items."
As an ordinary person who grew up during the cliff-like decline of Zone 010's environment, it wasn't strange that Fan Yunhong didn't understand items.
Xu Huo picked up his other bag and threw it into the luggage compartment. After leaving the villa area, he used a direction finder purchased from the game platform to determine his bearings and then set off towards the CK12 Safe Zone.
With long-distance teleportation items, traveling back and forth was convenient. It didn't take him much time to reach the vicinity of the safe zone. However, after circling around under the scorching sun and killing over a dozen mutants that suddenly emerged from the sand, he still couldn't find the specific location of the safe zone.
"Could it be buried by the yellow sand?" He pulled Fan Yunhong out.
Hearing that he hadn't found CK12, Fan Yunhong's first reaction was: "Has CK12 disappeared too? Wasn't this safe zone built on rock? They said it was a very safe place!"
Xu Huo glanced at him. "If CK12 was so safe, why didn't you come here?"
Fan Yunhong paused, then foolishly repeated, "Yeah, why didn't we... Oh, I remember now. Because my father thought that with more people, no amount of supplies would be enough. It was better to hide secretly."
That could be considered a reason. Xu Huo was more concerned about another issue. "Did you mark the wrong place?"
(End of Chapter)