Chapter 1865: Another Act of Providence
What a joke. Deng Xiahei and the others were definitely on Xu Huo's side. Since even Chang Shoujie believed that Xu Huo had obtained more information about Melissa, and might even know her whereabouts, only a fool would side with Chang Shoujie to argue about Xu Huo's "deception." Besides, from beginning to end, no one had ever proposed how to form a team for clearing the instance, unless everyone had agreed on how to distribute the rewards before clearing it.
"Don't think all players are unscrupulous. Most of the time, we're reasonable," Juan Er added, especially when they couldn't win.
Chang Shoujie's face was very ugly, but there was nothing else he could do.
"I think he doesn't know anything," Pink Hair said again.
"This is your last chance." Xu Huo looked at Chang Shoujie. "You have ten minutes to think it over."
With that, he left him aside and went into the RV to rest.
Some people crouched outside, while others followed into the RV. Everyone tacitly refrained from asking about Melissa and the Xenomorph, eating and drinking a little as they waited for the ten minutes to pass.
The temperature in the desert was too high. Within a few minutes, Chang Shoujie, who had no shelter, was already sweating profusely and looked a bit weak.
"Will he be okay?" Deng Xiahei glanced into the RV.
"It's not even ten minutes. People aren't that fragile." Xiao Hui crouched about five meters away from Chang Shoujie, resting his head on his hands as he stared at him. "Why are you being so stubborn? We haven't tortured you for information, which is already generous. You don't really think that as long as you're tough enough, we won't get the truth out of you, do you? You haven't been active in the game for years. You don't know how advanced the potions are now. Some truth serums will make you spill everything, even about peeping at women taking baths."
"Even if you can resist the potion, you must have people or things you care about, right? Like that young man with you, or the players in the Polar Safe Zone. If you think they're not important, then you have to save Melissa. If Melissa dies too, won't your whole life have been for nothing?"
"Everyone has been very tolerant of you." Xiao Hui grinned. "If it were me, from the moment you told your first lie, all your teeth would be gone. Or I'd just throw you somewhere crowded. A lot of people in Zone 010 haven't had a full meal in years or even a decade. Seeing someone delivered to their doorstep, they'd definitely..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly lurched sideways to avoid a flying knife, then leaped several dozen meters away in a few bounds. He shouted at Pink Hair, who had attacked him, "You're asking for death!"
Pink Hair's face was cold. "You talk too much. It's annoying."
Whether it was annoying or not, it looked like the two of them were about to fight to the death.
Xu Huo got out of the RV and reminded them to fight farther away before asking Chang Shoujie if he had made up his mind.
"If I still refuse to speak, what will you do?" Chang Shoujie asked.
"Send you to the Polar Safe Zone." Xu Huo said. "There are so many people in Zone 010. There's bound to be a second person who knows. If you won't talk, someone else will."
Even Chang Shoujie was surprised by his patience, but he also understood his implication. If someone else were to ask, the methods wouldn't be so gentle. Not every player in Zone 010 was as free of weaknesses as he was.
"I can tell you the location of the living Xenomorph specimen, but it depends on whether you dare to go." Chang Shoujie said.
"You're not going to say it's in the center of the Sand Sea, are you?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"That's right," Chang Shoujie said. "I told you before, I participated in the construction of the Sand Sea Safe Zone, including a place specifically used to imprison Xenomorphs. The numbered Xenomorph might be one of the triggers for the drastic changes in Zone 010, so I had to put it in the safest place."
"Later, my repeated attempts to retake the safe zone were also for this reason."
After hearing his words, before Xu Huo could speak, Big Comb-Back couldn't help but say, "Here we go again? You used the Newborn incident to make the Zone 010 players fight the outer zone players in the Sand Sea, and now you want to lure us to the Sand Sea Safe Zone to help you deal with those Cannibal Players? Your schemes are flying everywhere!"
"Yes," Chang Shoujie admitted bluntly. "But the Sand Sea Safe Zone is currently the only place with a numbered Xenomorph. If those Cannibal Players aren't just killing Xenomorphs for fun when they have nothing better to do, they should be able to see the special nature of that Xenomorph."
"Isn't that the end of it?" Juan Er said. "Most of those Cannibal Players don't have much brains. Food is scarce in Zone 010. Why would they keep a Xenomorph alive?"
The others nodded slightly, also having another question: they didn't really want to follow Xu Huo on this risky venture.
There were quite a few outer zone players in the Sand Sea Safe Zone, some of whom had failed to clear instances and were stranded. It wasn't impossible for them to have been there for a year or two, or even two or three. As soon as they went out, they would likely face deadly high-risk random instances. Rather than risk their lives, it was better to live in hiding. So they would do their best to hinder later players trying to clear instances, using methods including but not limited to spreading false information, destroying key elements for clearing, and carrying out assassinations.
The center of the Sand Sea was a high-risk place for them.
"We just showed our faces in the Polar Safe Zone," Zeng Zhao also said. "Going there in such a large group will definitely attract the attention of the Sand Sea center."
"Is he telling the truth?" Deng Xiahei also said. "From the moment we first met him, he hasn't spoken a single truthful word. He led us in a huge circle just to find Dr. Joyce. Now we've run here on a wild goose chase, negotiations have failed, and he wants to lead us to the Sand Sea Safe Zone. Can we still trust him?"
Deng Xiahei was different from the others. He stared at Xu Huo, not understanding why he was willing to do all this useless work.
Before Xu Huo could speak, his robot emerged from under the sand, holding a shabby plastic box. It approached and opened the box in front of him. "These chips match the search target."
Xu Huo glanced at them. The carriers of these chips had clear markings, somewhat similar to the numbers deciphered from the chip carried by the big-headed Xenomorph in Zone 017 that Meng Cun had obtained. However, they didn't start with CKX, but with CKW.
The preceding CK should refer to the number for Zone 010, which was the same as the safe zone numbers here.
Chang Shoujie wasn't entirely lying.
"Why do the safe zones in Zone 010 use CK as the prefix for their numbers?" Xu Huo asked. "Later, when Zone 010 was conducting Xenomorph research, why did you engrave similar numbers on the Xenomorph bones?"
"Because we also wanted to know the origin of these Xenomorphs." Chang Shoujie said. "At the beginning of the safe zone construction and Xenomorph research, everyone in Zone 010 was determined to trace the source of the Xenomorphs. But as the situation deteriorated sharply and survival became a problem, that ambition naturally faded."
"However, this can be seen as another form of transmission. Because the cultural and historical heritage of Zone 010 has been largely destroyed, and various materials related to Xenomorph research, as well as the earliest batch of safe zones, have almost completely disappeared. Only these numbers engraved on the Xenomorph bones remain."
He even showed a strange smile at this point. "Now it seems, this is another act of Providence."
(Chapter End)