Chapter 1850: Each Has Their Own Purpose
All of them being children meant that Dr. Joyce's experiment had failed from another perspective—if the offspring produced were all mindless xenomorphs, what use were they?
But the game only recognized one "newborn," not counting the degenerated children as "newborns." Did that mean there was one successful example?
Was "Wandering Melissa" that successful child?
Had the child been taken away by the CK12 players?
If there was one successful case, how could Dr. Joyce have been abandoned by the players and left to die in the laboratory?
Looking at it this way, Dr. Joyce's death was even more puzzling.
"Get results on that different sample as soon as possible," Xu Huo instructed.
"Got it. I'll notify you the moment there's news." Dr. Deng yawned.
After hanging up the communication, Xu Huo lay down to rest for a while. He didn't pack up the hotel and prepare to leave until dawn. Little Pink Hat didn't need to make an appearance now, but for convenience, she still stayed inside the prop with Chang Shoujie.
Xu Huo's attitude from yesterday was already very clear—he wouldn't disclose all the information to everyone. So before setting out, he specifically asked for the others' opinions. If they wanted to come along, that was fine, but the prerequisite was that they couldn't cause trouble. Those who didn't want to go the same way could leave on their own.
He settled the fees for Brother Wu and his two companions.
"Generous!" Juan Er didn't hold a grudge over yesterday's events at all. Instead, he smiled and took the money. "Anyway, we can't clear the instance on our own. Watching someone else clear it is pretty interesting. We won't charge you. Take us along—maybe we can lend a hand at a critical moment."
Xu Huo gladly agreed.
Deng Xiahei certainly wasn't leaving. He was still counting on finding clues to clearing the instance from Xu Huo.
The most surprising one was Pink Hair. He hadn't shown much interest in the 010 Zone players or clearing the instance before, but now he voluntarily proposed to join in. Not even the experienced Chang Shoujie, but even Deng Xiahei and the others thought he had ulterior motives. Deng Xiahei even hinted for Xu Huo not to agree.
However, Xu Huo seemed not to receive his signal and didn't refuse at all.
With a clear goal, traveling became much easier. It didn't take much effort to reach the safe zone where Chang Shoujie had previously stayed.
The players who had originally been in the small city had all moved to the safe zone. They were surprised to see Xu Huo return, and when they heard that they had found the newly born child, Fu Yi and the others were even more shocked. For a moment, they didn't know whether they should go verify it.
This was the time to send in Chang Shoujie.
He had previously convinced other safe zones to help Dr. Joyce start the experiment, and today he could convince the players to believe that the experiment had achieved some results.
"I can trust you, but I can't trust those outer zone players," Fu Yi stated his position after a private talk with Chang Shoujie. "They traveled thousands of miles to the 010 Zone. It can't be just to do good deeds."
Xu Huo's goal was to lure out the real newborn, and Chang Shoujie's was the same. It was very difficult to convince others that Xu Huo and his group would protect the "newborn's" safety without compensation. Fu Yi, for one, immediately reversed his suspicion from motive and purpose, doubting whether Xu Huo and the others had really found the child.
Chang Shoujie didn't intend to convince him either. Instead, he said, "I don't know what their purpose is, but the child is indeed in their hands."
Fu Yi was silent for a moment before asking, "What do they plan to do next?"
"Go to the Polar Safe Zone to settle down," Chang Shoujie mentioned vaguely. "Maybe it's related to clearing the instance. After all, the 010 Zone is full of desert. To clear it, you first need to find people."
Fu Yi immediately saw the key point. "What if the players from the Sand Sea Safe Zone are attracted over?"
"Then gather enough players to deal with it," Chang Shoujie said. "The 010 Zone and the outer zone players in the Sand Sea will inevitably have a battle sooner or later. I don't need to tell you—you should know how many players have gathered in the Sand Sea Safe Zone over the years. People deliberately recruited by cannibal players, those stranded because they couldn't clear the instance... In the future, there will be more and more players. Once the Sand Sea Safe Zone establishes a complete order, it will be very difficult for us to turn things around."
"Whether it's consuming the players from the Sand Sea Safe Zone or sending them through the instance, the sooner it's done, the better."
Fu Yi was someone who could earn the admiration of the players under him. He was definitely not someone who only considered his own safety. He leaned back in his chair, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "Did you really see that child?"
Chang Shoujie didn't speak. Instead, he stared straight at him.
After a long while, Fu Yi said, "Whether there's a child or not, this is a good opportunity. I just don't know how many more players will die in the 010 Zone..."
Chang Shoujie's expression flickered for a moment, but quickly returned to calm. "To ensure that our future children can have a habitat of their own, no matter how many die, it's worth it."
Fu Yi wasn't as calm. He covered his face to hide his inner conflict. After struggling for a long time, he nodded solemnly. "I'll notify the other safe zones."
Chang Shoujie didn't say anything more. He just stood quietly at the door for a few seconds, looking at the sky outside, before speaking. "Make your arrangements properly."
After he came out, Fu Yi called all the players in the safe zone. Chang Shoujie also returned to Xu Huo's side.
Although he was going along with the flow, Chang Shoujie's attitude toward Xu Huo wasn't good. "When are you going to handle the other matter?"
"Let's see how things go first," Xu Huo said. He had told him that the clue Dr. Joyce left behind was in that string of numbers, but he also made it clear that he didn't place much hope in that string of numbers, so he would go to the Polar Safe Zone first.
Not long after, Fu Yi had organized his people. Because of the earlier incident, several C-level players were seriously injured, so only two were coming this time. Of course, this was Fu Yi's deliberate move to protect his own people.
"Too many people would make travel inconvenient," he said to Xu Huo and the others.
With space teleportation items, there was no way they were going to wait for people to walk slowly. The C-level players in the safe zone didn't have such good items. Fu Yi could barely bring one person, and the remaining one would have to be carried by Xu Huo's group.
"Notify the Polar Safe Zone in advance," Xu Huo said to Fu Yi. "So they won't be unprepared."
Fu Yi nodded. "I'll find a way to contact the players there."
The safe zones in the 010 Zone were far apart, but it was still possible to get in touch. For example, some small camps would sometimes ask nearby safe zones for help, and if they were lucky, they might get some supplies.
Following Xu Huo's instructions, Fu Yi first contacted the players in the Polar Safe Zone, informing them that the "newborn was about to arrive." Half an hour later, he informed the players in other safe zones, of course excluding the Sand Sea Safe Zone from the notification list.
After confirming that the Polar Safe Zone had received the message, Xu Huo led the group to set out. To show seriousness, he deliberately went outside the city first and wrapped Little Pink Hat up again.