Chapter 2650: Names on the Family Tree
Xu Huo unhurriedly took out the Black Blade, his hand lifting gently. As a cold light swept across the courtyard, this B-rank player lost his life without any chance to resist.
Wiping the bloodstains off the blade with a handkerchief, he didn't look at the others whose expressions had changed drastically. He only said calmly, "It's a pity that time items can't be used consecutively."
Hearing this, the Unlucky One and the Female Player immediately tried to flee. However, with just a flicker of their gaze, they involuntarily looked back at Xu Huo, meeting his eyes. Without needing further words, the moment their gazes connected, they realized this was a trap—Xu Huo was waiting for them to run!
Death was like the wind, seemingly tightening around their necks.
"What exactly do you want?" the Female Player gritted out.
Xu Huo put away the Black Blade and took three injections from the Luggage Compartment. "I want you to help me with something."
"Three doses of poison, one for each of you. Finish my task, then come back for the antidote. Of course, if you can find the antidote yourselves, that's your luck. If not, then come back to me honestly."
"Or, if any of you can bring the National Heirloom Treasure directly before me, I'll give you the antidote immediately."
"Are you kidding?!" the Bald Head blurted out. "How is that any different from killing us outright?!"
"The difference is that you have a certain chance of getting away," Xu Huo said, tossing down the words. He left the poison and a contact method before returning to his room.
Among the three, although the Bald Head and the Female Player were on the attacking side, they hadn't been in the game long. Even if they failed the instance, they wouldn't face a high-risk random penalty at worst. And if they actually helped the enemy side find the National Heirloom Treasure, it wouldn't cost them their lives. In that case, they had no reason to fight to the death.
The Unlucky One was on the defending side, so Xu Huo's goal was his goal—the only difference now was an extra shackle.
"No wonder he killed off the Stranded Player," the Female Player sneered. "Afraid they'd fight him to the death, huh."
"Fight to the death? Could they even win?" the Unlucky One said.
The three fell into silence. Even though Xu Huo wasn't in front of them, they still felt immense pressure. It seemed that if they didn't take this poison injection, they wouldn't have a chance to leave this courtyard alive.
"I hope you keep your word!" the Unlucky One shouted. He grabbed an injection first and jabbed it into his arm.
As the liquid entered, the skin around the needle hole immediately turned black. The toxin spread along his body's meridians, quickly covering half his arm.
The erosion was too fast. The Unlucky One immediately leaped out of the courtyard, and before he had even gone far, he couldn't help but take an antidote.
Seeing him leave smoothly, the other two each took their injections.
Less than half an hour later, all three contacted Xu Huo, asking what he wanted them to do.
Xu Huo didn't reply immediately. The poison was developed by Dr. Deng based on the toxic fungus Xu Huo had brought back. It had strong reproductive capabilities. Ordinary antidotes only treated the symptoms, not the root cause—the fungus would keep growing and recurring. A one-shot antidote required a targeted formula, or else long-term treatment.
Trapped in Zone 039 and having to do instances, they clearly didn't have those conditions. Coming to him for the antidote was the best and easiest option.
Over the next three hours, the three contacted him at different frequencies, increasingly urgently asking what he wanted them to do.
After Gong Shu had written down everyone she could remember and circled those who might still be alive, Xu Huo did a preliminary screening based on the information from the Message Collection Terminal. Only then did he send different instructions to the three.
Their task was to investigate the people on the family tree. Although many had died, it was still a family tree, involving too many people.
After the initial screening, only ten names were on the first batch to investigate. He assigned the other nine to them, keeping only one for himself to handle personally.
After lingering in Linghe Town for another half day, he headed to Yuejiao Duchy.
By the time he crossed the border, where skirmishes occasionally flared up, it was already dark. During the day, the temperature here was extremely high, but at night it was quite cool. It took him some effort to find local residents living in the nearby mountains. From them, he learned that "Wan Ping" on the family tree was actually "Wang Ping," the commander of the border front, who had only changed his surname two years ago.
"Wang Ping" had a large family. Several of his nephews and nieces were outstanding players, which was why he could serve as the border commander. He usually didn't show his face, living in a city far from the border. Finding him was also very easy—no address needed. After entering the city, just look for the most beautiful building; that was Wang Ping's home.
Although he had heard about it beforehand, seeing the building from far outside the city still slightly exceeded his imagination.
The small city wasn't particularly tiny. Its residential buildings were mostly high-rises, old and weathered, giving everything a grayish look. But at the city center, one building was especially dazzling—as if all the city's lights combined couldn't match its brilliance. Even at night, the castle-like structure stood clearly in the city center. The surrounding streets had been converted into parks or lawns, complete with two sizable artificial lakes...
The entire building was completely out of place with the city.
Even at night, quite a few young people came to gawk and take photos nearby.
When Xu Huo arrived nearby, a helicopter happened to land on the lawn. Two men stepped out one after another.
As soon as they landed, they waved to the distant onlookers, drawing waves of screams that grew louder and louder.
The middle-aged man in front was Wang Ping, and the one behind him was his youngest son, a minor celebrity in Yuejiao Duchy.
Someone came out of the castle to greet them. Servants lined up in two rows, bowing and sweetly calling out, "Welcome home, Master and Young Master."
The castle door closed, and at the same time, the Defense Barrier activated. From the outside, nothing inside could be seen anymore, nor could anyone eavesdrop on the conversations within the castle.
On the Dou family's family tree, Wan Ping should be at least seventy years old. The Wan family had originally been wealthy merchants, skilled in business, and were a prime target for recruitment, so they had lived well even during wartime.
Their real rise began when Wan Ping and his three brothers successively became players. Wang Ping's information was easy to find. After becoming a C-rank player, he retired from the game and inherited the Wan family. The other three brothers' whereabouts were unknown.
Now, Wang Ping had nearly twenty nephews and nieces, thirty grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The third generation was still young; the backbone was the middle generation. Among these twenty nephews and nieces, apart from Wang Ping's eldest son, second son, and his youngest son who had just come of age—confirmed to be his biological children with known mothers—the mothers of the other children were unknown, and their appearances differed greatly from his. The parents of the nephews and nieces were even more untraceable.
In such a large family, half of the people actually lived in this castle.
Whether intentionally or not, on the Dou family's family tree, only two of Wang Ping's descendants were recorded, and the grandchildren only included the children of those two.
As for Wang Ping's three brothers, the second brother was skipped, while the third and fourth were recorded.