Chapter 2343: Huahan Werner's Visit
But arriving here was already enough; Xu Huo couldn’t afford to spend too much time. Next, he still needed to go to Zone 011 before he could search for the Food Guest.
The others naturally understood. They were aware of the Special Defense Department’s recent movements. To avoid being ambushed, leaving Zone 014 as soon as possible was the most correct choice.
Ordinary players were no match for him, but if they managed to set up a few instances to stall for time, it would become very troublesome.
Before leaving, Xu Huo made a video call to his family, then carved out a small, enclosed garden at his residence, planting some mushrooms inside. After some consideration, he ultimately decided not to leave behind the seed he had extracted from the Goddess using the Super Item. Instead, he found a flowerpot, buried the Nuwa Stone along with it, and placed it in the luggage compartment.
Only after doing all this did he use his ticket to travel to Zone 011.
With the children and adults gone, the ancient castle became much quieter. Mr. Dong was undoubtedly happy to see him and the Painting Woman return. A trace of a smile even appeared on his usually expressionless face. As soon as they entered, he urged the kitchen to prepare drinks and fruit for them.
“Dr. Deng isn’t home?” Xu Huo noticed no one was in the experimental building.
“Dr. Deng went out to visit friends,” Mr. Dong replied. “Recently, Dr. Deng has made some like-minded acquaintances.”
Xu Huo nodded at this. Dr. Deng was shrewd enough; he probably wouldn’t suffer any losses.
News traveled fast in Zone 011. Within just an hour of his arrival at the castle, messages of concern poured in from all sides. The general gist was congratulations on his safe return from the instance once again, and an invitation to meet for a meal if he had the time.
One hour—he estimated they had deliberately held back out of politeness.
However, Xu Huo had no time for socializing now. He handed all the messages over to Mr. Dong to handle, while he himself wrote a formal letter of visit to be delivered to the Vilna Family.
That’s right, he had decided to meet Huahan Werner after all.
During their last meeting, Huahan Werner had extended a hand of friendship. Although there wasn’t a strong intent to recruit him, any cooperation would inevitably require compromise with the Vilna Family and Zone 011. But this meeting wasn’t about evolution. He wondered if Huahan Werner’s vast knowledge could shed light on the origin of the Water Cube and how to eliminate it.
That night, a reply came from the Vilna Family, stating that Mr. Huahan was away on business with no fixed return date. However, they had forwarded the message, and if Mr. Huahan wished to see him, he would reply within three days.
Three days. Xu Huo decided to wait three days.
But before the Vilna Family’s reply arrived, Huahan Werner himself came to Rose Castle first.
He arrived the following evening, appearing silently in the castle’s main hall. He glanced up towards the upper floor and gave a meaningful smile.
Xu Huo immediately descended to the hall. As soon as they met, they both gained a rough understanding of each other’s current state.
Huahan Werner could see he was in a predicament, but showed no sign of mockery.
Xu Huo, for his part, was merely testing the waters, not insisting that the Vilna Family solve this problem for him.
They sat down. Xu Huo poured tea for Huahan Werner and spoke first, “I’m sorry to trouble you to come all this way. I thought you wouldn’t be back for a while.”
Huahan took a sip of tea. “The family doesn’t really know my whereabouts. I’ve actually been here all along, never left…”
He smiled at Xu Huo. “This way, I can avoid a lot of annoying matters.”
Xu Huo smiled back. He had known from their last meeting that Huahan Werner’s relationship with the Vilna Family wasn’t very close. The Vilna Family was eager to find someone to succeed him, and while Huahan himself had that intention, he was taking a very casual, ‘let it happen’ approach.
“You’ve improved a lot,” Huahan said, scrutinizing him. “To get back on the right track so quickly and advance at such a rapid pace—you are the most talented Evolver I have ever met.”
He placed a tiny flower on the table. “Try it.”
Xu Huo mobilized his Time Power and projected it onto the flower. The influence of the Time Power wasn’t extremely fast, but the changes in the small flower were still clearly visible.
“Not bad, not bad,” Huahan nodded. “This proves you’ve not only found the right direction but also mastered some technique.”
“In your presence, I won’t be modest,” Xu Huo said. “It’s just that the range of Time Power I can control has increased. The Time Power I can control is still random, and before activating it, it’s not easy to judge the difference between it and the space I’m in.”
He had witnessed the issue of time flow rate in Pumpkin City and the city center controlled by the Water Cube. But that was the result of highly concentrated Time Power, where the change in flow rate became more obvious. To make quick judgments during use was extremely challenging.
“This isn’t an insurmountable problem,” Huahan said. “Once your Evolution Rate increases a bit more, such minor issues will resolve themselves. Right now, you’re just not sharp enough yet.”
He smiled again. “Your Evolution Rate is quite interesting too.”
Generally, high-level players’ evolution speed slows down as the effect of Evolution Agents diminishes. They might drink a whole bunch of agents and only evolve by 1% or 2%, showing no noticeable difference in a short time. But Xu Huo’s Evolution Rate had already exceeded 50%. There shouldn’t be any more exponential growth; if there were, it would be abnormal.
Xu Huo’s expression shifted slightly. To prevent outsiders from seeing clues in his Evolution Rate, he had been wearing a specially made prop suit designed to conceal it. Yet Huahan Werner had seen through it at a single glance.
“Don’t be nervous.” Huahan raised his hand, signaling him to calm down. “You young people think too much. If I wanted to kill you, would it be for a trivial reason like your Evolution Rate?”
“Let’s get back to your problem.” He fixed his gaze on Xu Huo’s chest area, then bent his thumb and index finger, flicking them slightly in the air. A wave of Time Power vibration radiated from him, covering the entire castle. The immense power seemed to distort the air itself. Xu Huo, caught in the center, felt as if he were being twisted as well. He was struck by the impact, involuntarily bending over, his mind plunged into an indescribable blankness, his brain buzzing.
Then, he saw a tiny, thumb-sized transparent cube overflow from his chest, pulsing like water as it detached from his body. At the same time, the Water Cube Barrier appeared around him. Unlike the previous prop attacks, this barrier churned at high speed like a wave, but it only churned; it wasn’t destroyed.
And in the next second, that ejected water cube retracted back into his body!
Xu Huo was supported by a force and sat back down on the sofa. Huahan said to him, “This thing is superior to any Defense Item for you at your current stage.”