Chapter 2239: Is It Illegal to Go Out at Night?
“It’s my dad,” the woman said helplessly. “He loves drinking and fell asleep before it even got dark. Don’t worry, he won’t wake up. Do you have any dietary restrictions? I can cook anything as long as I have a recipe.”
“Just make two local dishes,” Xu Huo said, sitting down and placing a few White Notes on the table. “I’m new here, so I want to try the specialties.”
The woman didn’t hesitate. She took the money first, then washed the fruit he had brought. “I’ll cut this up for you to snack on. Dinner will be ready soon.”
The fruit was quickly brought back to the table, and Xu Huo leaned back in his chair, eating the fruit idly while chatting with the woman.
From their conversation, he learned that the woman was born in this city. By the time she was born, the city was already under the management of a Player Organization. She had never left the city, and almost all the outsiders she had ever seen were players. Because most of the city’s original inhabitants were criminals or their descendants, the overall environment was poor, and no outsiders were willing to get involved. Those with power, whether good or bad, could live well. For someone like her, who couldn’t even afford an Evolution Agent, if it weren’t for a few relatives, she didn’t know what would have become of her here.
Midway through, the woman took a break to bring him a glass of water. Noticing the fruit plate was empty, she said, “Oh, would you like some other fruit? I have a few more at home.”
Xu Huo declined.
The woman didn’t press further. As she headed back into the kitchen, she added, “Not all descendants of bad people are bad, but you still need to be careful. Some people might not be capable of major crimes, but cheating and scamming are common.”
Soon, the food was served. The woman invited Xu Huo to eat. “If it’s not enough, I can make more.”
“No, this is fine,” Xu Huo said, picking up his chopsticks.
By the time dinner was over, it was already dark. The woman went ahead to look for backup lighting tools. “The power here often goes out at night, and the public lighting won’t work.”
Xu Huo checked the time. It was 7:52.
He walked to the window and saw that the lights in the distant parts of the city had already gone out. The city, which had seemed lively earlier, was now almost empty of people outside. It was as if the entire city was being slowly swallowed by darkness.
“Why don’t you just stay here for the night?” the woman said as the lights in the room suddenly went out. She clicked the switch several times before a backup lamp flickered on. She looked at Xu Huo hopefully. “I can give you a discount on the room.”
“No need. I have a place to stay.” Xu Huo moved toward the door. The woman quickly followed, adding, “I can prepare some late-night snacks for you too. It’s not safe outside after dark. It’s better not to go out…”
Xu Huo had already turned the doorknob, but at her words, he suddenly turned around. “You have a point. I’ll stay for the night.”
The woman’s smile faltered for a moment before she quickly led him to another bedroom. “This room is very clean. I’ll sleep in the living room tonight. If you need anything, just call me. I can prepare a late-night snack or some fruit.”
Xu Huo glanced at the bedroom. It was indeed very clean. The walls, floor, and bedsheets had all been cleaned with a cleaning agent. The floor-to-ceiling window had been broken and was only covered by a curtain. There was also a balcony outside that overlooked the street.
The room was quite good, even better than the environment of the neighbor who was sleeping off his drunkenness.
After arranging the room, the woman withdrew.
The city suddenly became eerily quiet, but that silence didn’t last long. From time to time, sounds of fighting could be heard in the distance, and there were quite a few players around this building.
The fruit the middle-aged woman had given him was poisoned, and the vegetables the younger woman used for cooking were also toxic. They might not have been accomplices, but they both tacitly poisoned the food of outsiders.
After the power outage, the woman probably didn’t want him to stay. Additionally, there was a sizable spring mechanism under the bed in this room, and the unsealed window suggested they weren’t exactly welcoming to outsiders.
Furthermore, logically speaking, if the woman had poisoned the food, she must have had some motive. But after nightfall, she instead woke up the man sleeping in the next room. They opened a hatch in the floor of that bedroom, climbed down, and then passed through the empty rooms on the second and first floors to enter the basement.
Basements were very popular here. Almost every building had one underneath. Some were carefully modified and could be lived in for a while, while others were just hastily dug holes with a few simple supplies.
This was a city of sin, and the Clearance Players were there to kill. It wasn’t safe even during the day, let alone at night. It was normal to want to hide in a basement. And as a player, Xu Huo would be both hunter and prey. It wasn’t strange for ordinary people to want to avoid them.
The only strange thing was that player activity was too low after dark.
For most players, day and night didn’t make much difference. After evolution, there were no strict sleep schedules. Many even preferred the nighttime atmosphere and would deliberately do things at night. But here, the night seemed especially dangerous. Players didn’t come out to cause trouble, and local criminals stayed hidden in their homes… If no one came out, what danger was there on the streets?
Moreover, there were too many players watching him.
He was a new face and had come to ask questions. Experienced players probably wouldn’t pay too much attention to a Clearance Player like him. After all, their targets were criminals. A newcomer hadn’t yet had the chance to become a criminal. And his unlocked area had already expanded, so it was unlikely that ordinary situations could force him out of it. As for other criminal acts…
Unfortunately, there were no ready-made legal texts. He didn’t know if the definition of a wanted criminal in this Instance included damaging public property.
Xu Huo had a domestic robot take his place on the bed while he went to the second floor. Whether players or ordinary people, their range of activity was within the buildings. As long as he didn’t go outside, changing rooms or even houses should be about the same.
In less than half an hour, there was movement upstairs. The domestic robot, along with the mattress, was flipped out the window. Mid-fall, the robot tried to grab the railing to save itself, but it was attacked by at least six players in the vicinity. As before, their goal wasn’t to kill the robot but to force it to fall.
Could it be that going out at night was illegal?
But once the robot landed on the street, the players stopped their attacks.
Someone had identified it as a robot and made no further moves.
Xu Huo had the robot return to the third floor while he went down to the first floor. He knocked on the floor and asked the father and daughter to come out and talk.
The two came out, regretful and fearful. The woman knelt on the ground. “I didn’t mean any harm. I just didn’t want you to stay here. When players fight, they tear down houses. This is my home…”
“Then you shouldn’t have invited me to eat in the first place,” Xu Huo interrupted. “You weren’t afraid of me tearing down the house. You just wanted to harm someone.”
Without giving her a chance to explain, he placed a syringe on the table. “Are you going to talk, or do you want this to help you?”