Chapter 2654: The Truth of the National Heirloom Treasure
"Gao Hui brought so many players with him when he appeared in Yuejiao Duchy. There was no way to keep that secret. Many people in Yuejiao Duchy were hunting him down. He only managed to disappear for a short time after fleeing to a city where the Wan family had lived over a decade ago."
"He didn't know whether Gao Hui was carrying the token, or what the national heirloom treasure actually was. My adoptive father didn't know either. But not long after, Gao Hui reappeared. This time, the number of players protecting him had decreased by more than half. Less than half a year later, rumors of Gao Hui's death first spread in the border towns."
"My adoptive father went to verify it himself but found no solid evidence. However, after returning, he said that Gao Hui's death was definitely connected to the Wan family, and perhaps to even more descendants of the Gao surname."
"Gao Hui seeking out the Gao descendants became his death warrant instead. I suspect that among the forces hunting him, quite a few were Gao descendants themselves, or at least instigated by them."
Bei Bao said with a hint of schadenfreude, "He did so many evil deeds. This outcome was too good for him."
Xu Huo didn't respond, because there was an obvious contradiction in this matter.
Gao Hui had first fled from Isle Country, then returned to Zone 039, going to Yongta and Yuejiao Duchy.
There must have been Gao descendants within Isle Country as well, and in considerable numbers. It was impossible that he hadn't sought them out at all. This was evident from the fact that he had sought help from the Supreme God's Tribunal in advance. But if he had already confirmed that the Gao descendants within Isle Country wouldn't help him, why was he so certain that the Gao descendants in Yongta and Yuejiao Duchy would definitely help him?
He must have faced rejection more than once. Yongta and Yuejiao Duchy couldn't have been unaware of the situation in Isle Country. Was Gao Hui stubbornly clinging to a lifeline, or did he have another card up his sleeve?
Furthermore, the Gao descendants' attitude toward him was also strange. Given their state of watching Isle Country's internal turmoil for twenty years from the sidelines, these people didn't seem like the type to eliminate a scourge for the nation. They might kill him if he showed up at their doorstep, but sending people to hunt him down was unnecessary.
The national heirloom treasure had long since transcended the category of "token." The Gao descendants had gone into hiding and were unlikely to expose themselves just to fight over a few items. They had passed down their heritage for centuries. Even if they continued to carry the surname, they posed no threat to themselves or to national governments. So even if Gao Hui knew the identities of many of them, it would be difficult to use that to coerce them into action.
Zone 039 had been war-torn for a long time. The three current nations had long since absorbed countless other countries, so there was no basis for serving a former nation and betraying one's current country...
Gao Hui knew the identities of many Gao descendants in Yuejiao Duchy, and the Gao descendants played a key role in hunting him down and his death. The Gao descendants killing Gao Hui was more likely to prevent their own identities from being exposed. And Gao Hui dared to use this seemingly weak card to approach them...
If that were the case, it meant that the card in Gao Hui's hand was indeed a real trump card, and the Gao descendants truly didn't want to be exposed.
Since the Gao descendants didn't want to be exposed, and Gao Hui knew so much about them, then what he held in his hands became obvious—a register recording the identities of Gao descendants passed down through generations.
Or rather, a genealogy would be more accurate.
This deduction was quite reasonable. First, the Gao surname's inheritance had an inexplicable connection with the Supreme God Cult. And the fact that the Supreme God Cult had survived to this day was likely related to successive rulers. If the rulers allowed the Supreme God Cult to exist, then the Gao surname, as part of that organization, being traced and recorded through the generations was normal. It made sense for this register to be in the hands of the nation's supreme ruler.
However, for this series of actions to exist logically, there was a necessary prerequisite: the Gao surname had to have value worth passing down, or in some people's eyes, only the Gao surname had such value.
This inevitably brought up the origin of the "national heirloom treasure"—Peng Guan. The descendants of Peng Guan had historically merged with the Supreme God Cult. What if the reason the Supreme God Cult had survived to this day was because the Peng Guan descendants had become the core of this religion?
Thinking this far, Xu Huo felt a bit more settled. He pulled the battered boss from downstairs in front of him and said directly, "Are you a descendant of Peng Guan?"
The boss seemed too dazed by the pain to respond. But when Xu Huo tried to inject the needle into his skin, the man, who had seemed lost in thought just moments ago, slashed his hand toward Xu Huo's wrist at lightning speed, a thin blade appearing between his flipping fingers!
Xu Huo instinctively let go but didn't press the attack. Instead, he touched the "Time Ring."
After breaking free, the boss turned and lunged at Bei Bao. But when the time power swept over him and was neutralized by a space item, he vanished from the room without hesitation!
Bei Bao watched this scene, the word "absurd" practically spilling from her eyes. After a moment, she said weakly, "I don't know whether to curse him or myself."
Xu Huo's theory had been confirmed. Whether the man escaped or not no longer mattered.
The Gao and Peng surnames might have merged over such a long period. The Peng Guan descendants, as an assassin family tradition, formed two sides of the same coin with the Gao descendants. On the surface, the Gao descendants formed a register held by the ruler, while the Peng descendants used the Supreme God Cult as cover to continue their original assassin family traditions.
Legend had it that this assassin family possessed innate abilities beyond ordinary people. It was precisely because of these abilities that they had survived to this day. Moreover, compared to the Gao surname, the Peng surname likely had an unbroken bloodline inheritance.
However, even if the two families were related, they had been scattered relatives for centuries. Even if the Peng Guan descendants produced talents in every generation, relying solely on the Gao surname and the children born from unions with the Peng surname couldn't truly mobilize the Peng descendants.
So from the Gao surname's register, one could probably trace the Peng descendants. But with the passage of time and the rise of players today, capable Peng descendants could easily move their families to other zones to live safely.
Therefore, the register's threat did exist, but it wasn't enough to threaten all members of the Gao and Peng surnames.
However, the current state of the Gao and Peng surnames was difficult to ascertain. When Gao Hui went to Yongta and Yuejiao Duchy and was hunted down, it was possible that some members of these two families held important positions in those countries and were taking precautions against political enemies.
Now, the whereabouts of the national heirloom treasure were unknown, and there were too many unclear accounts in between. It was hard to say what consequences "bringing out the national heirloom treasure" would actually trigger. But no matter how one imagined it, the possibility of everyone uniting to build Isle Country was almost zero. Moreover, with the rise of player factions, the former rulers' beautiful dream of using the Peng Guan descendants as a surprise force could only remain a dream.
Still, the "national heirloom treasure" had to be found. Xu Huo stuffed Wan Yao into a container item and said to Bei Bao, "Now I need to go to the Wan family."