Chapter 1875: Arrangements for Little Melissa
The conversation had reached an impasse.
Both Chang Shoujie and Liao Xiaoyi had the intention of protecting the child, but on that basis, Chang Shoujie still hoped to use Melissa's mutated genes to develop a gene agent for Black Thorn Disease, while Liao Xiaoyi placed more value on the comrades fighting side by side, unwilling to sacrifice them recklessly for the future like Chang Shoujie would.
Regarding the gene agent, Xu Huo couldn't guarantee anything, so Liao Xiaoyi's choice was more practical.
"Let's put this matter aside for now. The most urgent thing isn't Melissa," Xu Huo said.
Liao Xiaoyi stood up. "The Sand Sea Safe Zone made such a big move this time. I don't know what they're plotting, but we can't let them quietly destroy all the safe zones we've worked so hard to build!"
Just as she finished speaking, someone knocked on the door outside. It was probably something that required her personal attention, so Liao Xiaoyi didn't say anything more and left.
Chang Shoujie turned back to look at Xu Huo. "What do you plan to do?"
The earlier dispute had seemed to be about their differing philosophies, but in reality, it was providing Xu Huo with options for placing Melissa, because without his nod, the people from Zone 010 couldn't take Melissa away smoothly.
"Let's see how things go," Xu Huo said without giving a clear answer. He picked up Melissa, walked to the door, opened it, set her down on the ground, and pointed toward the resting players outside the room, signaling for her to go play.
Children have a natural curiosity about the outside world. With eyes full of unfamiliar people and things, little Melissa, who had just learned to walk, stumbled unsteadily toward the nearest person.
It was a young player who probably hadn't had much contact with children. For a moment, he was flustered, stiffly holding Melissa by the shoulders with his arms locked, crouching on the ground as they stared at each other.
"Daddy!" Little Melissa gave him the usual first strike, then turned and lunged toward the next person.
The Zone 010 players, who had never received such treatment, were all intrigued. Whether they were healing or resting, they actively stepped forward, standing in Melissa's path and waiting for her to pounce.
The laughter of the adults seemed to encourage little Melissa. She called out and laughed, full of energy.
After the initial awkwardness, the players gradually loosened up. At first, they teased her a little, but eventually, everyone wanted to pick her up and bounce her, using novel objects to catch her attention or coaxing her to learn new words.
Little Melissa made a full circle around the room, learning the words "uncle" and "auntie," and successfully gathered a small pile of particularly cute-looking items.
"Daddy!" Just then, Juan Er walked in from outside. Seeing him, little Melissa ran over with her things.
Juan Er casually picked her up, accepting the items she handed him as he said, "Thinking of Daddy when you have good stuff—good girl!"
This remark made the surrounding Zone 010 players quite displeased, but in the end, no one said anything, since Melissa was their find.
Liao Xiaoyi, who had finished handling her affairs, also returned. Seeing the scene in the room, her gaze instinctively turned to Xu Huo.
From a few meters away, Xu Huo gave her a slight nod.
In the other room, Chang Shoujie had already understood Xu Huo's intention. "Why not just take the child away?"
"She's from Zone 010," Xu Huo said flatly. "Of course, it's best for her to stay with her own people."
"Will that clear the instance?" Chang Shoujie asked again.
"Eighty percent chance," Xu Huo replied, planning to let them play for a while first.
Deng Xiahei and the others still had clearance tasks, so after briefly gathering information, they returned to Xu Huo.
"Zone 010 has two attitudes toward the Sand Sea Safe Zone. One prioritizes preserving their own safe zone, and the other plans to take the initiative to attack. Currently, the latter is in the majority, and they're mostly discussing when to act," Deng Xiahei said.
"Most people think they shouldn't rush things," Xiao Hui shrugged. "They want to wait until their injuries are better or until more players from other districts return before making a move."
That made sense. The Sand Sea Safe Zone probably needed time to regroup as well, which was why Zone 010 felt they had some breathing room.
"Isn't this the perfect opportunity?" Wu Ge said. "Strike first, especially since I've offered to help and I know a bit about the Sand Sea Safe Zone's situation."
"Is there any explanation for the Sand Sea Safe Zone's actions this time?" Xu Huo asked.
"Not sure. Even the Zone 010 people haven't figured it out yet. They're still arranging people to gather information."
Xu Huo hesitated briefly before saying, "Wait a little longer."
Wait for what? Naturally, they were waiting for Melissa's instance to conclude.
By evening, most of the players who could move around in the Guangyao Safe Zone had seen little Melissa. Even the ordinary residents of the city, upon hearing the news, came over to take a look, though due to the child's special nature, she wasn't allowed to appear before more people.
During dinner, everyone gathered around little Melissa, showing rare smiles.
Little Melissa wasn't shy at all. Whenever she saw someone teasing her, she would run over. During the meal, she tirelessly ran through the crowd, even acquiring some inedible food, which she naturally gave to Juan Er and the others. Juan Er got the lion's share, while Xu Huo and a few others each got a few beans.
Juan Er was quite proud, thinking that the "daddy" lesson hadn't been in vain.
Perhaps she was having too much fun. When another player tried to coax her with food, little Melissa suddenly collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as she fell backward!
The player was terrified, quickly catching her and pulling out a potion, but he didn't dare inject it into her.
Xu Huo walked over quickly, signaling everyone to step back. He used a space barrier to isolate a small area, then removed little Melissa's protective mask, allowing her to breathe freely.
The child's face had turned purple from the strain, but fortunately, she recovered after a moment. However, she looked much more listless, having lost all her previous liveliness and energy.
Those with sharp eyes had already noticed the bones at the back of her neck, their expressions turning complicated.
At that moment, Liao Xiaoyi stood up and publicly acknowledged Melissa's identity. She also told everyone the full story of why she had been placed in a hibernation pod, emphasizing that Melissa's genes could not and would not be allowed to continue in Zone 010. Then she asked everyone whether they were willing to raise the child.
"What kind of talk is that?" Ban Yan was the first to speak. "She's a child of Zone 010. Isn't it our duty to raise her?"
No one objected to this. Liao Xiaoyi nodded and continued explaining Melissa's condition. "Melissa gets sick easily and needs very careful care. The safe zone raising her will have to allocate a significant amount of funds."
Surprisingly, no one had any objections to this either. Gan Feng directly said, "We might not be able to afford many, but just one—no problem."
"Yeah, Sister Liao, you're underestimating us too much!" someone chimed in with a laugh.