Chapter 2026: Invitation from the Vilna Family
After rejecting Mr. Dong's proposal, Xu Huo had another good sleep and only began dealing with the belongings of the players he had killed in Jade Spring City the next morning.
The quantity was indeed considerable. Besides items, instruments, potions, and tickets, there were also many other miscellaneous things.
There were a few A-grade items, but none were top-tier. He only picked out one defensive item, "Rainbow Light." From the B-grade items, he selected two that assisted in releasing spiritual power, and from the instruments, he chose a few jamming types, mainly used to disrupt mechanical combat tools, such as robots and aircraft.
For the rest, he mostly traded them with the Special Defense Department. Exchanging items for items was fine, or the Special Defense Department could buy them at a high price. Adding in the instruments he had sent back earlier, besides two defensive items targeting traits that looked decent, he also received an IOU. It was clear that even more White Notes couldn't match the value of these A-grade items, so the Special Defense Department promised to find him high-level spiritual items for him.
If the people in the Special Defense Department could use the truly good stuff, how could it ever come to him?
However, this was already the greatest sincerity the Special Defense Department could offer, because top-tier good items weren't something they could buy just because they had money.
Xu Huo didn't say much and accepted the IOU.
As for the other potions, tickets, and ordinary instruments, aside from giving some to Yuan Yao, Zhou Ning, and Gu Yu, he packed up and sold the rest.
As for the things in the luggage compartment, they were mostly valuable items from different districts, along with some collections that clearly looked like personal hobbies. He took out the Subclass Stones and precious metals, then sold or disposed of the rest.
After handling all this, Xu Huo's head started to ache again. He set aside the pile of books on spiritual evolution stacked on the desk, got up, and went downstairs for a walk.
The flowers in the garden had been changed batch after batch, many of them planted by Dr. Deng. He casually broke off a yellow flower bud and held it in his hand, then asked the person sitting on the other side of the garden, "You look much better."
The person basking in the sun on the other side of the garden was Meng Cun. Due to his special brain evolution, his body wasn't in good shape, and he was obsessed with deciphering chips. He usually stayed upstairs, so it was rare to run into him.
It was because of the parts he had deciphered that weren't completely overwritten that the Melissa Instance came into being. Unfortunately, Xu Huo hadn't gained much information about the Stellar Pharmaceuticals Laboratory from the Melissa Instance either.
Meng Cun knew this result, so he looked a bit disheartened.
"I'm fine," Meng Cun replied, his gaze continuing to drift blankly onto the flowers in front of him.
"Do you want to see some old friends?" Xu Huo asked again.
Meng Cun's eyes clearly lit up, and he turned to look at him. "Do you know where they went?"
After entering District 011, Meng Cun had his player status suspended through Mr. Dong's efforts. He could no longer open his personal panel, so he had completely lost contact with the players from the original District 017.
He knew the reason he was saved, so he said, "It's a pity I didn't help you much."
"Hard to say," Xu Huo said calmly. "Maybe you'll help me a great deal in the future."
Such an offhand remark made Meng Cun slowly suppress his smile. "Mr. Xu, the things I can help you with are very limited."
"It doesn't matter. You can continue deciphering chips," Xu Huo said. "Fishing for a needle in a haystack—maybe one day you'll fish out something useful. If you want to contact Jin Zi or other players, I can pass along the message."
Meng Cun knew he couldn't refuse, so he proposed recording a separate video. But before leaving, he suddenly brought up another matter. "There's one thing I've always wanted to ask. You sent those two children away to avoid trouble, right?"
"In this short time, the number of visitors to the castle has noticeably increased. Most of them come because of your reputation for being generous, but one person is different. He came three days ago—an elderly man who didn't look like an ordinary noble. You can ask Mr. Dong for more details."
After Meng Cun left, Xu Huo rubbed his brow. He called for Mr. Dong and asked about this visitor.
"He's a collateral branch of the Vilna family," Mr. Dong said, describing the man's appearance—tall and straight but gaunt, with sharp eyes but a face full of wrinkles, looking more like an old man suffering from a long illness. "He calls himself Huahan Vilna. According to the Vilna family's tradition, he visits various families one by one before the New Year."
"Is he a player?" Xu Huo asked. "Does the Vilna family have this custom?"
Vilna was the surname of a major noble family in District 011. The famous young talent he had met a few times, Ashis Werner, was the next-generation leader of this family. Like all players from noble backgrounds, they possessed an innate elegance and composure, interacting with others flawlessly. While combining strength and background, they also made people feel as warm as a spring breeze, appearing perfect. However, it was precisely this perfection that revealed their arrogance, because people only display this kind of one-sided, illusory hypocrisy when socializing downward.
It was hard to imagine such a family having this kind of tradition.
"This tradition started twenty-three years ago," Mr. Dong said, having investigated these details during his first encounter. "They publicly claim to conduct pre-New Year visits every year, but they don't necessarily come annually. However, the one who always shows up is this Mr. Huahan Vilna, and his appearance hasn't changed."
"Just visits?" Countless reasons surged through Xu Huo's mind.
"The Vilna family invites you to attend the last party before the New Year in five days," Mr. Dong said. "The venue is at one of the Vilna family's estates."
"I want to go too," the Painting Woman suddenly popped up, interrupting them.
"It's not anything fun," Xu Huo paused, then added, "It seems certain that the Super Player of District 011 is named Vilna."
Mr. Dong remained silent. In District 011, people generally didn't openly discuss that Super Player.
Unless he abandoned Rose Castle, Xu Huo couldn't leave District 011 for now.
"Help me prepare a suitable formal suit," Xu Huo said to Mr. Dong.
"If it's not fun, why are you going?" the Painting Woman asked in confusion.
"Because when you're sick, you have to take medicine. Even if you don't want to, you still have to," Xu Huo said.
The Painting Woman didn't understand the implication of his words, but she grasped the literal meaning, so she told him to sit down and went to pour water herself.
"Mr. Huahan has met Miss Li Chun," Mr. Dong reminded him.
"Everything is piling up at once," Xu Huo said, falling silent for a moment before looking at the person beside him. "Mr. Dong, have you ever considered moving somewhere else?"
Mr. Dong maintained the same demeanor he had when he first arrived at Rose Castle, answering gently and politely with his ventriloquism, "I plan to live here forever."
After a pause, he added, "Of course, I also hope Miss Koko won't inherit the castle so soon."
Xu Huo smiled faintly. "It won't be that soon."
(End of chapter)