Chapter 2009: A Bumper Harvest
"I don't lack any items or potions," Xu Huo said. "Give me the records from when Zheng Yuci was working."
Teacher Zhao hesitated. "I can't make that decision."
"The experiment in Jade Spring City has already fallen through. No one else can reach Zheng Yuci's level. Besides, he's already disposed of the potions and the players who participated in the surgery. He wouldn't leave you much of value in the daily records either." Xu Huo said bluntly. "If you're thinking of finding someone else to take over this experiment, you might as well give up."
The words were harsh, but they were the truth. Otherwise, the East District wouldn't have arranged for several A-rank players to protect Zheng Yuci. Of course, those A-rank players were now missing, but that didn't mean they would completely abandon the experiment. Even if it wasn't for research, the East District still had so many players who had undergone surgery.
But the Rebel Army didn't have as many concerns. Zhang Xian found Xu Huo privately and handed him a recorder. "This recorder was obtained from a psychotherapist. They stole the experimental records from the Agor Headquarters. It contains some experimental data and records of two surgeries, which should have been filmed with Zheng Yuci's permission."
"Logically, there should be many such experimental records, but after the attack on the Agor Headquarters, all these records were wiped clean. If you're not at ease, you can search the database yourself."
Xu Huo took the recorder. He wasn't taking it to obtain anything related to the experiment; his focus was on Zheng Yuci.
As an exchange, he gave Zhang Xian a box of standard bacterial potions. "I can't spare any more. You'll have to figure out the rest yourselves. The East District isn't short on money; they should be able to buy enough potions."
Zhang Xian wasn't so optimistic, but he still expressed his gratitude to Xu Huo. After all, if it weren't for him, no one could predict what Zheng Yuci might have accomplished with the help of the East District players.
"You're welcome." Xu Huo gave a faint smile. "If I ever have the chance to come to Zone 035 again, I hope the situation in Jade Spring City will be better than it is now."
"It definitely will be." The leader of the Rebel Army, who had already removed his evil ghost mask, walked over from not far away and said with certainty.
"Until we meet again." Taking out his ticket, Xu Huo left Zone 035.
After boarding the train back to Zone 011, he began to check the rewards from this instance.
With a double S-rank clearance, the "Justice" instance rewards were also substantial.
First, he gained a new trait, "Protagonist's Halo." This was an extended trait of the main trait "The Only Protagonist," and its description was as follows:
[Although the chance of becoming the protagonist may be only one in ten thousand, when a passerby becomes the protagonist, they naturally possess the treatment a protagonist deserves, including the protagonist's halo. When the protagonist's halo appears, the passerby-turned-protagonist miraculously gains special skills including but not limited to "never being hit by random attacks," "always surviving encounters with powerful enemies through sheer coincidence," and "gaining unexpected benefits from every setback." In summary, while greatly reducing the passerby's mortality rate, it also grants decent luck.]
[Please note that its activation time is only ten minutes.]
[Note: If you can't shake off an enemy or escape a predicament within ten minutes, it proves your luck has hit rock bottom. Rather than struggling to survive, it's better to face death calmly.]
Xu Huo glanced at it and skipped directly to the items.
There were four A-rank items.
"Auto Film," a spatial defense item that can be directly attached to the skin. It is no different from human skin, possesses extremely high defense while not hindering combat, and can be used continuously for five minutes.
"The Weight of Life," a gravity item that can alter the gravity on players within a one-kilometer range, suppressing them all to the ground. However, this item does not distinguish between friend and foe; the holder is also affected.
"Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe," a mental-type item that can quickly lock onto one or several players in specific mental power scenarios, exponentially enhancing mental interference or mental control.
"Justice's Holy Light," a luminous item that prevents those with malicious intent from opening their eyes. When the light of justice shines, no despicable person dares to look directly at it.
Among the four items, "Auto Film" suited Xu Huo's needs perfectly. The defense items he already possessed were of good quality, but the problem was that they couldn't be used for long periods, and they also restricted his movements during use. This one perfectly solved both issues.
"The Weight of Life" was clearly a restriction-type item, while "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" was an enhancement item. He wondered if it would work even better when combined with "City Sand Table."
As for "Justice's Holy Light," he took it out to look at it. It was an eye inlaid with dozens of gems of various sizes, each about half a palm in size. It was very dazzling and looked more like a piece of jewelry.
When the item was activated, the gems on the gem eye began to release light and float upward. The light wasn't particularly harsh, but it gave people an urge to turn their heads away. Xu Huo was fine, but a female player sitting across from him turned her head all the way to her shoulder and used her hand to block it: "Put it away!"
The female player was sitting directly opposite him, so the item was always in her field of vision, making her react the fastest. The two players next to them only looked over after she spoke, and their first reaction was also to quickly turn their heads away.
Although the principle wasn't clear, the "Holy Light" that made people dare not look directly could indeed block vision, but it was targeted.
Putting the item away, Xu Huo smiled apologetically at the others.
There weren't many people in the carriage. Some were resting from injuries, and others were using items. Everyone minded their own business, and no one picked a fight over it. After giving him an unfriendly glance, they let it go.
After the instance level increased, it was normal to receive more A-rank items for high-rated clearances. Correspondingly, the number of B-rank items also increased, including defense, attack, and enhancement types. All could be used as supplementary items and were of good quality.
Among them, two were particularly interesting. One was "Free Wind," which could form a strong wind within a few hundred meters around the holder. The strong wind could use the objects it picked up as weapons to randomly kill people, with no fixed trajectory or killing moves—a very casual attack item.
The second was "One Radish, One Hole." This item's effect was similar to "The Weight of Life," but it was small-scale, targeting only one or a few people. When used, it could quickly drive a person into the ground, leaving only their head exposed. According to the item's description, regardless of the type of ground—soil, brick, or metal—it would generally take effect.
[Note: Please be aware that planting a radish is easy, but pulling it out is hard. A human-head radish can also bite, so the holder must be careful when harvesting.]
I've been taking a break to recharge lately, so the updates are a bit more relaxed. Don't worry, everyone. I'll get back to a normal update schedule after a rest. ^_^
(Chapter End)