Chapter 1896: An Adventure Belonging to the Young Nobles
Since the Super Player had left District 011, something must have happened that made his departure absolutely necessary; otherwise, he wouldn't have left in such a hurry. Of course, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, with so many predecessors in the game, incidents like Carmen Field's "equipment drop" could happen at any time. It was normal for Super Players to go join the excitement, and this was just one of many possible scenarios.
Of course, this time the Super Player left in such a rush that many players returned to their families from the instances. Although they didn't know the detailed inside story, some people made guesses based on bits and pieces of information, so the rumors spreading were all over the place. Generally speaking, those spreading these rumors maintained an optimistic attitude, believing that the Super Player's departure and eventual return would definitely bring benefits to District 011.
Furthermore, someone mentioned that they had discovered a residence where the Super Player had stayed and planned to go "exploring" while he was away.
Yes, the other party said "exploring," because the higher a player's level, the more likely they were to obtain bizarre props and instruments from the game. It was perfectly normal to use them to fortify one's own residence. Moreover, the Super Player in District 011 was also a Super Evolver, so the place he had arranged would definitely contain Evolution power.
"Isn't the primary condition for becoming a Super Evolver finding a suitable Evolution site?" said the young noble who was encouraging the others to go along. "Maybe if we go, we can even undergo Super Evolution?"
These few people were hiding in a room discussing this. Xu Huo was resting on the adjacent terrace. There were five people in total, and their voices were clear.
"Besides, every year the family arranges for people to go receive Super Evolution guidance. Some people go year after year, coming back empty-handed every time, yet they still refuse to give us the opportunity. Are you willing to live such a mediocre life forever?"
"As long as we cross that threshold, our status in the family will change overnight. Then they'll have to watch our expressions!"
These words really struck a chord with the group. Someone was clearly tempted and quickly asked, "What if something goes wrong?"
"Just bring your ticket with you. You know how to use a ticket to escape, right?" said the one who first proposed the idea. "Besides, I've heard from others that people have gone before. They got trapped in the mansion but were eventually rescued and only got a scolding. At worst, we come back and get yelled at. It's not like we'll die."
The group quickly agreed and decided to go together. They set a time and meeting place, then each made up different excuses to leave home.
Based on the location they mentioned, Xu Huo searched for relevant nearby information. That area was a natural scenic protection zone, with only part of the scenery open to the public. The deeper, more remote areas were sealed off, blocked by instruments. The number of tourists allowed each year was also limited, and the area would occasionally announce closures.
It did look like some kind of secret base had been established there.
After spending some time preparing, Xu Huo followed the route the young nobles had taken and went to that scenic area.
There were quite a few tourists in the natural scenic area. As Xu Huo queued up to take the cable car, he glanced at the introduction to the scenic area.
The barrier of the sealed zone was invisible to the naked eye. That is, even while sitting on the cable car, one could still see the scenery of the sealed zone, but one absolutely could not cross the warning signs, otherwise there was a risk of injury.
From the cable car, the sealed zone appeared to consist of large mountains inside. It was impossible to see what was inside from any angle. Xu Huo also used his Space power to its fullest extent, but he was still faced with nothing but mountains.
The young nobles who had arrived earlier were also playing on the mountain. They were similarly observing the terrain, but they weren't planning to forcefully break through the sealed line. Instead, they intended to use the staff passage.
If someone lived in the mountain area, there had to be a way in and out. Otherwise, how could the interior be maintained?
Bribing people was impossible, but one of them used a prop given by the family to follow a staff member. After going around in circles several times, they finally discovered an underground passage. The passage seemed to lead directly into the sealed area. Its location wasn't even particularly hidden; it looked like an ordinary door in a storage room. At first glance, one would think that behind that door there might only be some discarded items that were no longer in use.
"Deliberately making it mysterious," the young noble who had successfully spied on it said with disdain. "The scenic area is so well-maintained. How could there be such an outdated storage room?"
The others thought it made sense, but someone also reminded them that it might be a trap. It would be best to first observe the staff's comings and goings.
However, in Xu Huo's view, this might not have been intentional. District 011's economy was decent, but that didn't mean every place was equipped with the latest technology. This scenic area had likely been put into use very early on. Since the passage to the sealed area was underground, it generally wouldn't be used by players. For ordinary staff, the access passage didn't need to be made too fancy; as long as it was usable, that was fine.
Furthermore, regardless of whether the mountain area was a residence specifically allocated by the District Government for the Super Player, some other secret base, or perhaps a scientific research protection zone, over-maintaining the underground passage was unnecessary and might instead attract attention.
Of course, if it was the Super Player's residence, whether it attracted attention or not didn't matter.
In the end, the five of them decided to go through the underground passage. However, the scenic area had alarm devices installed both inside and outside. Breaking through after closing time would attract attention instead, so they planned to sneak into the work area during the day and act after the staff had left.
This was an adventure belonging to the young nobles, so all five were very excited. They hid in the room of a staff member who had taken leave and waited until nightfall.
Xu Huo had come down early on the cable car. He observed the inspection mode of the instruments from outside, then went to the main control room to figure out the instrument setups at various locations. Only then did he avoid the instrument detection and enter the work area.
There weren't many employees on leave, but at the same time, there weren't many rooms with people in them. So Xu Huo moved between these empty rooms without surveillance, or when passing through walls, he simply rested inside wardrobes, waiting until nightfall.
At night, all the surveillance in the work area was turned on. Although the few young nobles couldn't pass through walls directly, they used props to easily avoid the surveillance and enter the underground passage. The passage had only two electronic eyes placed far apart, but the ground was equipped with pressure sensors, so they couldn't walk on it. Instead, they used props to hover through.
After avoiding the electronic eyes, they quickly finished traversing the underground passage and exited through a doorway near the foot of a mountain on the other side.
There were no surveillance instruments outside this area, so the group boldly moved forward. However, since it was a natural reserve, there were certainly no paths in the forest. Not only were there no paths, but the overly lush vegetation could even block the view.
They sent a flying device to circle the area, but unfortunately, they found nothing. The shortest man among them asked the leader, "Is this the place? Are you sure you didn't find the wrong spot?" (Chapter End)