Chapter 2339: News of the Food Guest
Xu Huo thought for a moment, then wrote down:
[Please pay attention to distinguishing your own identity from that of the patient.]
After submitting, the instance upgrade was considered complete for the time being. After two upgrades, he had also grasped some tricks to instance upgrades. Compared to the Hundred-Person Art Museum, which upgraded because of the painted glasses, the upgrade cost for the Seventeenth Hospital was much higher. Of course, the effect was also significant. Mental-type instances had gained space. If upgraded again in the future, the hospital might completely split into two spaces. The more stable the newly generated space, the harder it was to break through, and the greater the difficulty of the instance.
The number of times the instance could be opened per year became twice. As for the game's reminder... it was neither here nor there. The "Seventeenth Hospital" was just a supplementary means for him. He didn't plan to rely on the hospital to avoid instances, nor did he need the identity of a Gray Player. So as long as he avoided opening an instance once a month for three consecutive months, he could avoid permanent instances. Naturally, the game wouldn't fence off areas for his random instances or restrict his activities.
The instance had been successfully upgraded. He just needed to find some time to bring someone in to test it.
Of course, he couldn't choose a place with too many players, because random instances had no time limit. Players could keep entering while it was open. If players kept coming endlessly, the instance would never close.
After putting away the instance, he went back to the Location Item area to rest.
He slept well and didn't get up until the sun was high the next day. Gu Yu and the others had left him some food and gone fishing by the nearby river. Only Nie Xuan stayed behind because he had matters to handle.
"Working remotely?" Xu Huo brought his breakfast out and sat down, glancing at the busy man on the other side.
Nie Xuan's eyes were still on the holographic projection screen. "Can't be helped. I can't just wash my hands of everything completely."
"That's how people who like to worry are," Xu Huo said.
Nie Xuan smiled. "There's so much to do, someone has to do it. Rather than letting those with ulterior motives take over, it's better to do it myself. At least I can guarantee fairness and justice when I'm in charge."
Xu Huo nodded. "Indeed, you can't let the Special Defense Department fall into other hands."
"I've already sent your experience with time power back to headquarters. There's not much good stuff to give you in return, so headquarters... sent an IOU?" Nie Xuan frowned. "Are these old bastards shameless or what?"
Xu Huo didn't mind. "It's fine to owe it. Collecting now wouldn't be worth it. When the game fully merges, maybe the Special Defense Department and the military will regret it."
"Good items only work best in the right hands." Nie Xuan didn't care much about internal versus external distinctions, as long as the person wasn't morally questionable. With that, he sent a message back to headquarters to haggle, finally settling on a price that met his expectations before repeating it.
Besides White Notes, the only things the Special Defense Department could promise Xu Huo were items and instruments. They already owed him several A-grade mental items and instruments, and today they added space items and super instruments. The Special Defense Department figured it was just a blank check, so they negotiated lightly, even hinting that if Xu Huo was willing to mentor their people, they could offer a higher price.
"A higher price?" Xu Huo wasn't surprised that he was under the Special Defense Department's surveillance, as long as they didn't come close to cause trouble. "Can the Special Defense Department still come up with a higher price? It wouldn't be super items and super instruments, would it?"
"As far as I know, neither the Special Defense Department nor the military has either of those." Nie Xuan paused, then said, "I've heard that Country Y managed to get a super instrument, but the details are unclear. It's just a rumor."
"Then no deal." Xu Huo said. "If they manage to fish out super items and super instruments from instances in the future, I might consider it."
Nie Xuan replied on his behalf. Headquarters didn't press the issue and kept the exchange proposal on the table.
"By then, maybe Zone 014 can produce more Super Evolvers," Nie Xuan said.
"Different strengths, different needs. There are no Temporal Evolvers now, but there might be in the future. Leaving this opportunity for the right person is a thoughtful move by the Special Defense Department," Xu Huo said. After all, Nie Xuan was free labor. If others came, they'd get nothing anyway, so he might as well not waste the chance.
As they talked, Xu Huo finished his breakfast. Nie Xuan had work to do, and he also had business to attend to.
The Water Cube Barrier was helpless for now. Next, he needed to find the Perfect Potion. According to Dr. Wu's hint, a player named "Food Guest" possessed the Perfect Potion. He had to find this person.
The night before last, he had already gathered all the information on possible "Food Guests" and posted a bounty for traces of the "Food Guest." But since he didn't know what the real "Food Guest" looked like, analyzing the information was difficult.
However, since Dr. Wu specifically mentioned this person, whether friend or foe was uncertain, but they should at least be an Advanced Player. So players below C-grade could be ruled out first.
The other party possessed the Perfect Potion, so they might be a Perfect Evolver or a follower of Dr. Wu. Considering that Dr. Wu knew them, it was unlikely they had just stumbled upon a potion in some instance. Their situation was probably similar to Xu Huo's—they had at least encountered Dr. Wu's projection in an instance.
If so, the range could be narrowed further. Tentatively set at B-grade.
Second, the name "Food Guest" must have some recognition. Otherwise, in such a vast game world, there would be no way to find them. On Under Dimension, many usernames contained "Food Guest," but based on the information revealed in their posts, the number of candidates meeting the criteria was already small.
He couldn't filter the rest, so he simply sent them messages to probe for information about Dr. Wu and the Perfect Potion.
But this didn't mean the real "Food Guest" was among them. He also had to consider the possibility that the "Food Guest" had never posted on Under Dimension. So he supplemented with the Bounty Platform.
The Bounty Platform covered the entire game, which should be comprehensive. If someone had truly encountered the "Food Guest," then this "Food Guest" must be relatively famous, which better matched his target.
Now, he had to reply to messages on Under Dimension and analyze which of the answers from the Bounty Platform might be the Food Guest he was looking for.
"Food Guest" could be a nickname or a code name. So even if the answers about "Food Guest" provided by the Bounty Platform weren't what he needed, they weren't necessarily false. Therefore, after the Bounty Platform verified that the respondents' evidence wasn't fabricated, he still had to pay White Notes.
Xu Huo didn't know how many "Food Guests" there were in the game, but he received nearly three hundred pieces of information about "Food Guest," complete with pictures and clues.
He opened over a dozen projection screens to review this information. Besides himself, he also released his other three personalities to work.