Chapter 2496: Scent of Medicine
"I've never seen other districts take the disappearance of outer zone players so seriously before," Bubble Bean said. "There are only two possibilities for this situation: either District 001 suffered a major loss due to outer zone player disappearances, or the disappearances have already affected District 001's development, forcing the district government to take it seriously."
The long-haired player didn't know the inside story on this matter. In smaller towns like Mao Guo Town, which also served as instance sites, many outer zone players passed through, making it harder to determine if someone had truly disappeared, and the Enforcement Team didn't have enough manpower for it.
However, he often heard of people asking the Enforcement Team to help find someone, but it always ended in one of two outcomes: either the matter was dropped, or the person found had left on their own.
In other words, as long as someone could be found, they were usually taken to some entertainment venue, with no other circumstances involved.
This didn't mean District 001 was safe. On the contrary, it meant that once an outer zone player encountered an incident and disappeared—provided a friend was certain the person couldn't have left for no reason and was unreachable—there was basically no follow-up.
There must have been plenty of similar cases, otherwise it wouldn't have reached the point where District 001 enacted laws.
"This law and related regulations," the long-haired player said, "were first proposed by an outer zone player serving in the district government. You can still find relevant information on the Message Collection Terminal now."
Bubble Bean looked some up. "Sounds nice, but crying thief while being the thief yourself is standard practice for those in power."
While they were talking, Xu Huo, who had walked to the window, had been staring at the medicine-scent lamps on the street outside. After a long while, he asked, "About how often do these lamps spray smoke?"
"The timing varies," the long-haired player said. "It's like that in many cities."
"What did you mean by what you said earlier?"
He was referring to Xu Huo's earlier statement that they couldn't leave.
"Fact," Xu Huo said. "The other side hasn't given up tracking us, and since they didn't make a move in Medicine City, they can only wait outside."
"When we entered the city, I noticed some special devices installed along the city's edge. Those should be jamming devices."
The principle behind Space Teleportation Items and devices is to open a fast spatial channel in space, allowing instant travel to another location. Since it relies on space power, to restrict players, local governments can create barrier-like spatial blockades around the city's perimeter. This way, even if a teleportation item successfully activates, the player will be intercepted at the city's edge.
Although this isn't as comprehensive as deploying jammers throughout the entire city, it's more than enough to trap someone.
Without being able to leave quickly via teleportation items, no matter how fast a player is, they'd have to rely on running.
"The people tracking us aren't entering Medicine City—not necessarily because it's outside their sphere of influence, but possibly because they've reached a cooperation agreement with the people in Medicine City," Xu Huo said. "If the information on the Cat Whisker Fruit has a time limit, then trapping us here is enough."
"If the item arrives late, can we still count as clearing?" Bubble Bean was more concerned about this issue.
"Hard to say." Xu Huo closed the curtains.
"Then we need to find a way out," Bubble Bean said. "As long as we successfully escape, those people definitely won't expect us to turn back to Wind Apricot City."
As for the method of escape, there were many options—it just depended on who could run fast enough.
The teleportation channels within the city couldn't be closed forever. For example, large enterprises transporting goods would inevitably use teleportation tools. However, higher-level teleportation items might not be within the jamming range, so the trackers could still block them for a long time. The best way for them to get out would be to use the teleportation channels of local businesses.
This wasn't difficult. There were factories everywhere nearby; they just had to seize the opportunity when someone was shipping goods.
Action was better than words. Bubble Bean prepared to go out and find a suitable teleportation channel.
Xu Huo stopped him. "Don't act alone."
Then he looked at the long-haired player. "How far have Wen Xin and the others gotten?"
Ling Ling, along with Wen Xin's group and the two Wan Clan members disguised as him, were traveling together.
"They're almost at Medicine City too," the long-haired player said. "The journey has been smooth so far. No one's been hurt."
"Let me know when they arrive," Xu Huo said. "I have something I need their help with."
The long-haired player nodded.
Dusk had already fallen. Although they had booked two rooms, for safety, they all squeezed into one, arranged a watch order for the night, and then settled onto the sofa and floor to rest.
"Pssh!" The medicine-scent lamps outside made a hissing sound when they sprayed smoke, especially noticeable at night. Xu Huo smelled the pervasive fragrance and leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest.
As time passed, Bubble Bean and the others gradually fell asleep, but not deeply—they would stir at the slightest noise.
"Didn't you hear something?" Bubble Bean finally couldn't help asking after sitting up from the floor for the third time.
"What sound are you talking about?" Xu Huo didn't even open his eyes. "There are sounds everywhere outside."
They had deliberately left a gap in the window to better monitor the outside situation.
"A bubbling sound, like boiling medicine," Bubble Bean said. "Are the boiler rooms of the pharmaceutical factories all underground? Are they making medicine or decocting it?"
Xu Huo finally took this seriously. He stood up and asked, "What bubbling sound?"
Bubble Bean described it to him and asked in surprise, "You can't hear it?"
Xu Huo signaled for him to check himself, while also examining the surroundings for any other Mental Evolvers.
The final result was that Bubble Bean wasn't poisoned, there was no poison in the air, and the situation nearby was roughly the same as before they fell asleep, with little change.
"There's really nothing underground?" Bubble Bean didn't quite believe it.
"There are pipes under the medicine-scent lamps," Xu Huo said. "Small robots clean them every hour. There's not even enough water inside to accumulate."
Bubble Bean's senses weren't that sharp; he could only feel the pipes a few meters below the streetlights, but once the pipes turned, he couldn't probe further.
But the anomaly was wrong. He woke up the long-haired player and the other person, asking if they had heard the same sound.
However, no one else had heard it, including the Painting Woman.
"How strange," Bubble Bean couldn't figure it out. "Why can only I hear it?"
"Are you sick?" the Painting Woman asked. "A sick brain can also make you hear sounds you shouldn't."
Bubble Bean had no response to that, but he didn't dare rest anymore. He held out until nearly dawn before finally giving in. "I haven't rested well for days. I'll take a nap. Wake me in an hour."
He moved to the sofa and was asleep almost as soon as he lay down.
By the time it was fully light, nothing unexpected had happened. Wen Xin's group had already checked into a nearby hotel. Xu Huo left the Painting Woman to watch over the Old Lady, and while going downstairs to buy breakfast, he swapped back with the Wan Clan member disguised as him, then headed straight to another hotel to find Wen Xin and the others.