Chapter 1830: Is There a Connection
Fei Xian did not completely leave this commercial district, because the place he needed to go was just a bit behind the commercial street—a specific room in a connected small building. The area looked deserted, but in fact, many players were hidden nearby, with even tighter security than the commercial street ahead.
Fei Xian passed through the biological verification at the door to enter the room, then opened a hidden door panel inside to reach the basement below.
Below was not some secret laboratory or other hidden place, but an office. An old man in a wheelchair was organizing materials on the desk, faintly visible maps with various annotations, with the topmost being maps of the major safe zones in Zone 010. Most of the original cities in Zone 010 had been destroyed, so this map was very simple, only marking approximate distances and terrain.
"What's the matter?" Hearing someone enter, the old man asked without looking up.
"Mr. Yuan." Fei Xian first bowed respectfully to the old man before saying, "Someone came looking for Dr. Joyce."
Only then did the old man lift his head. "Do you know the reason?"
"The other party only said they were entrusted by someone. I was afraid of leaking information, so I didn't ask much and pretended not to know this person." Fei Xian paused, then added, "But he said someone told him Dr. Joyce was with us."
Mr. Yuan stopped his movements. "The truth or a feint?"
"It seemed genuine." Fei Xian frowned. "I just don't know who leaked the information to him."
"Who it is doesn't matter," Mr. Yuan shook his head slightly. "Joyce has been to so many places; there will always be people who remember him."
When he mentioned this name, there was a hint of disgust in his expression. After a moment, he said, "Lead the person to the CK22 Safe Zone."
Fei Xian nodded, then immediately pressed further, "Someone is looking for Dr. Joyce. Could it be that a related instance has appeared in Zone 010?"
Mr. Yuan pondered briefly. "From now on, no matter who comes asking, answer like this."
As for the fight with the Sand Sea players, the alien corpse fragments snatched back from them, and the fact that outer zone players were willing to stay in the Polar Safe Zone to help, Fei Xian glossed over all of it. Mr. Yuan wasn't very concerned either, only asking about the general situation of the safe zone before letting Fei Xian leave.
"Mr. Yuan, you should still take care of your health and rest early." Fei Xian reminded him as he left. After coming out, he called out the players hidden nearby and instructed them to make sure Mr. Yuan stopped working at the appointed time.
It was clear that the players of the Polar Safe Zone, including Fei Xian, all deeply respected this Mr. Yuan.
The nominal leaders of the Polar Safe Zone should be the few B-rank players including Fei Xian. Externally, they conveyed orders; internally, they were actually the decision-makers. This Mr. Yuan was not a player and should belong to the spiritual leadership.
After coming out, Fei Xian met with a few other players, decided on the time for the next day's funeral, and then brought up the newly arrived outer zone players.
They didn't discuss anything very confidential, only complained that there had been a bit too many outer zone players coming to the safe zone recently, causing them a lot of trouble.
The principle of the Polar Safe Zone was not to easily create conflicts with outer zone players, but having them inside the safe zone was like a ticking time bomb—who knew if it was a dud or about to explode at any moment?
They also hoped for help from outer zone players, but things often went against their wishes.
After Fei Xian and the others dispersed, Xu Huo returned to his lodging.
Juan Er was lying on the bed sleeping. Hearing the movement, he immediately turned over and sat up, smiling, "Not bad, you managed to avoid being discovered by so many players."
Xu Huo casually handed him a bottle of wine.
"Good stuff!" Juan Er gave a thumbs up, didn't ask any more questions, said "If anything like this comes up again, find me," and left the small building.
Only after lying down on the bed did Xu Huo retract his mental power and also put the "Realm of Contemplation" back into his item slot. At that moment, Deng Xiahei, who lived next door, came to knock, using a silencing item to speak. "Any gains?"
"Not really a gain." Xu Huo said, "We'll see tomorrow."
Both Chang Shoujie and the Polar Safe Zone were hiding Dr. Joyce's whereabouts. Dr. Deng said the man was already dead, so it was highly likely they weren't trying to hide him. If Zone 010 people supported Dr. Joyce's experiments, they certainly wouldn't imprison him, because under these conditions, without relying on Dr. Joyce to seek outside help, it would be impossible. And since Joyce was willing to entrust the unfinished potion to Dr. Deng, he wouldn't be able to resist contacting his old friends under such circumstances.
Chang Shoujie undoubtedly knew that Joyce might be conducting experiments that crossed human ethical boundaries. Whether it was using living people for experiments to create potions, or using humans and aliens to breed the next generation, the possibility of Joyce hiding the experimental content to seek support from Zone 010 players was very low. Therefore, the safe zones he had stayed in should also know what he was doing.
During the meal, Fei Xian had mentioned the Sand Sea Safe Zone's practice of using players to breed the next generation, and explicitly said that other safe zones had tried it and it didn't work. Combined with Dr. Joyce's travels, could it mean that some of the existing safe zones in Zone 010 might have participated in the human-alien next-generation breeding experiments?
If so, then it was very normal for Chang Shoujie and the safe zones to unanimously hide Dr. Joyce's whereabouts. After all, it was an experiment that crossed human ethical boundaries. Even if Zone 010 people had no such intention, once someone said it, it could become reality. At that point, the perception of outer zone players towards Zone 010 people would change again—people are willing to sympathize with the weak, but not necessarily with the weak who resort to any means.
From this point of view, Chang Shoujie being rejected by all the major safe zones also had a sufficient reason. After all, not everyone could accept such experiments, or bear the experimental costs without limits. In either case, he, as the intermediary, would definitely be despised.
The question now was, did Dr. Joyce have any connection with "Melissa"?
If Xu Huo's inference was wrong, and Dr. Joyce did not participate in the next-generation breeding experiments but simply used Zone 010 people for potion experiments, the attitude of Zone 010 people towards him and Chang Shoujie would still be understandable.
"By the way, the two people across the hall should have their eyes on us." Deng Xiahei said, "When Fei Xian pulled you aside to talk, both of them were eavesdropping."
Xu Huo nodded, "I know. Remind Gao Dawei."
The middle-aged player's words on the train were very misleading. Whether true or false aside, they did cause Gao Dawei to reveal some traces.
Gao Dawei didn't know about "Wandering Melissa," but he knew Xu Huo was looking for someone. The middle-aged player had blurred the target of the search, leading to a misunderstanding.
Naturally, even knowing they were looking for an adult, the middle-aged player would still keep an eye on them, because the combination of a medical doctor and a newborn named Melissa sounded like a very easy connection to make.
(End of Chapter)