Chapter 1829: Probing
Fei Xian first stirred up a lively atmosphere, downing a few glasses of wine before pulling Xu Huo and the others into a rambling conversation. After a basketful of thanks, he began to pour out his grievances. However, he didn't dwell on how miserable or difficult Zone 010 was; instead, he mainly focused on hatred, with the subject almost always being the cannibal players from outer zones in the Sand Sea Safe Zone.
The Sand Sea players he described were even more detestable than those Chang Shoujie had mentioned. Since the open warfare between safe zones had ceased, the two sides basically had no contact. To avoid trouble, Zone 010 didn't actively provoke either, but Sand Sea players secretly plundered women from Zone 010, especially female players.
At first, other safe zones thought they were doing it for some sordid purpose. Only later, from the few female players who escaped, did they learn that the Sand Sea Safe Zone did this to force Zone 010 people to reproduce the next generation. They believed female players had better physical fitness than ordinary people and were more suitable for experiments. To achieve their goal, they would even force xenomorphs and humans to mate, just to make Zone 010 people produce offspring.
The Sand Sea Safe Zone was controlled by some outer zone players. Whether Zone 010 could continue to reproduce was neither their responsibility nor their obligation; it was purely for more food supplies. They could have simply plundered ordinary people from other districts, but they seemed to want to rule this place forever, hence their desire for Zone 010 people to reproduce generation after generation.
Xu Huo had speculated before that the Sand Sea Safe Zone could use outer zone people for reproduction, replacing Zone 010 people with them to achieve their goal. However, the ordinary people in the safe zone where Chang Shoujie was hiding confirmed that outer zone ordinary people also had great difficulty reproducing here. Under this result, average physical fitness was a common characteristic of both Zone 010 people and outer zone ordinary people.
So it wasn't surprising that someone would set their sights on players.
Presumably, the Zone 010 people themselves had tried this method.
Sure enough, Fei Xian continued, saying they had actually tried this method years ago, including artificial embryos and in vitro reproduction, but the results were unsatisfactory. They even shared their cultivation records with different safe zones, firstly to prevent others from going down the wrong path, and secondly to reduce internal friction. The Sand Sea Safe Zone should have known about this too, so Zone 010 people believed the Sand Sea players' real purpose was to humiliate Zone 010 for entertainment.
But regardless of the Sand Sea players' true intentions, their despicable and hateful methods targeting Zone 010 people were infuriating. Therefore, the various safe zones in Zone 010 reached a tacit understanding: whenever Sand Sea player activity was discovered, they would disrupt it at any cost.
Thus, every so often, they had to hold funerals for their compatriots. To avoid some unpleasant situations, the bodies of players brought back were usually cremated.
The several players who died today would be burned tomorrow.
In this atmosphere, the middle-aged player took the opportunity to announce his decision to stay in the Polar Safe Zone for the foreseeable future, and told Fei Xian and the others that if they needed any help, they could come to him.
The players of the Polar Safe Zone naturally agreed with smiles, and Fei Xian politely took out prepared gifts to thank Xu Huo and the others.
Xu Huo pushed the gifts back and said with a smile, "I would like to meet the person in charge of the safe zone."
This statement caused a bit of an awkward silence, but Fei Xian quickly livened up the atmosphere again and said to Xu Huo, "Let's eat first. We'll talk about business after the meal."
That evening, the safe zone arranged accommodation for them near the commercial district. After seeing the others off, Fei Xian pulled Xu Huo aside to a secluded spot and asked him what exactly he wanted, without saying whether the safe zone's person in charge would see him.
There was nothing to hide, so Xu Huo directly asked about the doctor from Stellar Pharmaceuticals, emphasizing that he had come here based on information provided by someone else. Additionally, he was entrusted by someone else—he wanted to see the person alive or see the corpse.
Fei Xian had drunk quite a bit. After listening, he vigorously slapped his head and said, "I really don't have any impression of this person you're talking about. How about I go back and ask around, and give you an answer tomorrow morning?"
Seeing him looking drowsy, Xu Huo had no choice but to say, "Then I'll wait for your good news."
"Don't worry, don't worry." Fei Xian patted him on the shoulder and walked away unsteadily.
Xu Huo watched his retreating figure, seeming helpless, shook his head, and returned to the nearby residential building.
The residential building had been damaged before, and now only five floors remained relatively intact. The advantage was that the area was relatively open, making it easy to spot anyone entering or leaving, especially convenient for the players monitoring nearby.
Xu Huo walked up the stairs, entered the corridor, and looked up to see the middle-aged player standing at his own room door, saying with concern, "If you need any help, just say the word."
Xu Huo's gaze swept over the numbers mixed with black, brown, and gray above his head. He seemed to hesitate, wanting to speak but stopping himself, and finally said after much deliberation, "Let's talk about it tomorrow."
Closing the door, he sat down on the bed, took a bottle of water from his luggage compartment to moisten his parched throat, sat quietly for two minutes, then pulled out a Rubik's Cube and began turning it in his hands.
Deng Xiahei and Gao Dawei were next door. The two players who came with them were across the hall. The middle-aged player was still talking to the young player. Outside the small building, from a hundred meters to several hundred meters away, players from the Polar Safe Zone were monitoring them. Fei Xian, who had re-entered the commercial district, no longer showed any sign of drunkenness. While greeting players he met, he walked deeper into the commercial area.
Xu Huo's spiritual realm had a coverage range of about one kilometer. With the A-grade auxiliary item "Realm of Thought," this range could be extended to two kilometers. However, Fei Xian's destination was clearly not within the commercial district and would soon exceed this range.
Noticing that Brother Wu and his group, whom he had seen during the day, were nearby, he directly appeared in the room where they were staying and asked with a smile, "Want to earn some extra cash?"
Brother Wu and his three companions were eating peanuts, drinking wine, and playing finger-guessing games. They were startled by Xu Huo's sudden appearance in front of them, instinctively scattering before slowly realizing that the person standing before them might not be real.
"Nice one, kid. Aren't you supposed to be on Commercial Street? How did you find us here?" Brother Wu asked, half probing.
"Just happened to run into you," Xu Huo said. "Interested?"
The four exchanged glances. Brother Wu tilted his chin towards the man opposite him. "Juan Er, what do you think?"
The Juan Er that Brother Wu referred to was the man who claimed to have been a former celebrity. He seemed accustomed to smiling, and even now he was still nonchalant. "I'm not doing it if the pay is low."
Xu Huo placed ten thousand white notes on the table. "A small matter. I need to leave for a while, but I don't want the Polar Safe Zone players to know."
Juan Er snapped his fingers. "Replacing you, no problem."
He pulled out an item and wiped it over his face, making a few minor adjustments to match Xu Huo's appearance, completely changing his face. He asked, "How's this?"
Xu Huo smiled, took him through a spatial portal back to the small building, and casually tossed him the Rubik's Cube. "Just make sure someone is in this room."
After giving his instructions, he moved several times within his spiritual realm and quickly found Fei Xian, who had already walked far away.
(Chapter End)