Chapter 1863: Aligned Goals
A very casual remark.
Xiao Hui's expression paused, turning slightly more serious. "He was wandering around the Polar Safe Zone for the first two days after you left, but after the few Polar Safe Zone players who escorted you away came back, he pretended to go out drinking and ran off. He didn't come back that night either. I reckon he left the city overnight, but I didn't follow him."
"He came back before you did. When Fei Xian and the others went to the entrance to pick you up, he didn't even bother to join in the excitement. He probably knew about it long ago. I suspect he was the one who notified the Sand Sea Safe Zone too."
"Players from other safe zones in Zone 010 definitely wouldn't notify the Sand Sea and outer zone players. How could the Sand Sea Safe Zone have been so thoroughly prepared on such short notice?"
"I guessed he had ill intentions back then."
Xiao Hui paused for a moment, then said with a grin, "I'm on the white side, after all."
Xu Huo gave him a faint, knowing smile, then pointed at the cut meat pieces. "Eat with us."
This was considered accepting him into the team, and Xiao Hui cheerfully shared his own food.
Not long after, the injured Zeng Zhao actually caught up. The moment he saw Xu Huo and the others, he couldn't help but show a smile and started greeting them from a distance.
Xu Huo raised his hand and waved, then said to Deng Xiahei and the others, "He knows some information about CK12."
Zeng Zhao quickly joined them. After replenishing his strength, he said, "This life is really not fit for humans. Next time I pick an instance, I'll definitely be careful not to choose a godforsaken place where you can walk for hours without seeing anyone!"
The others deeply agreed and even shared a small cup of fruit wine that Juan Er had brought out.
Only after they finished eating did they get down to business.
Xu Huo didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Although I didn't find the real Melissa, I still have one lead. I plan to go and try my luck next."
"Also, you all know the situation with CK12. So many players have left there. It's hard to guarantee that the real Melissa hasn't been taken out of the district. For players to leave so completely and cleanly—that in itself is abnormal."
"Now that everyone in Zone 010 knows about Melissa's existence, someone will definitely go looking for the CK12 players. As for whether Melissa is actually in their hands, we'll see how things play out."
"If we can't find her, having the people of Zone 010 help us search isn't a bad idea either."
This line of thinking was correct, because they had hit a bottleneck. If Melissa had really gone to another district, even if they plowed through the entire sandy ground, it would be useless.
"Maybe sending Melissa home was meant to be like this," Xiao Hui said.
"If that's the case, then it's a bit difficult," Zeng Zhao said. "We can't leave Zone 010. If the locals don't bring Melissa back, we're completely done for."
"The instance can't leave no path to survival," Deng Xiahei said. "Even if Melissa is in an outer zone, she'll probably end up back in Zone 010 for some reason."
Deng Xiahei and the others were from the Lighthouse instance. Judging by the current situation, most of their hope for clearing the instance also lay with Melissa. Even if Melissa couldn't become the lighthouse, her guardian might be. Otherwise, it would have to be some major symbolic event. The latter was more abstract, but it might be achievable by returning Melissa.
Of course, compared to the progress of the Melissa instance, the Lighthouse instance still had no clear direction.
"I have high hopes for that Chang Shoujie," Juan Er said bluntly. "This isn't the first time he's gathered people to fight the Sand Sea Safe Zone. It's the same this time. When the time comes, we'll stage another confrontation and push Chang Shoujie forward. He won't live long anyway, so let other Zone 010 people take over. A district this big—having a spiritual leader isn't too much to ask, is it?"
The others thought it was reasonable.
Chang Shoujie's later experiences were a bit of a fall from grace, but it was clear that Zone 010 still respected him and was willing to trust him. That left room for manipulation.
In fact, judging by how the various safe zones in Zone 010 discussed the newborn incident, it was clear that they were both united and divided.
They could sit together for major events, but they would also have disagreements due to differing opinions. Moreover, the strength of the major safe zones was not vastly different, and there was no one who could dominate the scene. If such a person could be created, they might also be able to clear the instance.
How to create such a person? Melissa was the method right in front of them.
Melissa definitely had to be returned to the people of Zone 010, but *how* to return her was very skillful.
Now, the goals of the group were basically aligned.
Xu Huo released Chang Shoujie.
Chang Shoujie was very calm and said directly to Xu Huo, "I have two alternative locations."
He was cooperative, so the others naturally wouldn't make things difficult for him. However, Xiao Hui, with a malicious sense of humor, teased him about the Pink Hair incident.
Chang Shoujie took it in stride. "If Zone 010 is destined to fall here, then so be it."
That was a rather dull thing to say, but after spending a few days together, everyone knew he was inconsistent on the surface. He spoke beautifully, but had probably already figured out how to deal with them.
When they set off again, Deng Xiahei privately asked Xu Huo, "Do you think he'll deliberately lead us into a trap?"
"Doing so wouldn't benefit him. At most, he would inform the Zone 010 players of the location in advance," Xu Huo said calmly.
"He knows the content of the clue you found?" Deng Xiahei felt a bit regretful. "We should have been more guarded against him."
Xu Huo wasn't concerned. His goal for this trip was different from that of the Zone 010 people.
During the journey, he checked the terminal device. The analysis wasn't complete yet, so he had to put the matter of Melissa aside for the time being.
The first location Chang Shoujie mentioned was a buried safe zone, and one that had been buried very early on. Xu Huo and the others sent down their robots and mechanical animals, but they basically found no gaps. Sand and soil were different from stone; the initial reconnaissance was very difficult.
"Old man, are you messing with us!" Xiao Hui grabbed him by the collar with anger.
"I want to find the real Melissa too. What benefit would I get from deceiving you?" Chang Shoujie explained. "I brought you here because this safe zone was the first place where the xenomorph experiments were conducted. Some of the numbered xenomorphs were sent here."
This didn't meet Xu Huo's requirements. "Where is the other location?"
"A forest." Chang Shoujie didn't seem to think his words were absurd at all.
"A forest?" Juan Er looked around. "What forest is left in Zone 010 now?"
"There's no helping it. That's the result," Chang Shoujie said, looking at Xu Huo. "The environment in Zone 010 has changed too much. Not to mention traces from over twenty years ago, even traces from two or three years ago can't necessarily be found."
"Doesn't that mean there's no hope?" Deng Xiahei frowned.
But at this moment, Chang Shoujie suddenly said, "The number you showed me—it wasn't found in the CK12 laboratory, was it."
This statement stunned everyone present, and they all looked at Xu Huo in unison.
(Chapter End)