Chapter 2739: District 022
Xu Huo did not return to Rose Castle. After leaving Huahan's residence, he went straight into the station.
He contacted Old Mr. Xi through the game channel, telling him to hide and lie low for a while.
As soon as the old man heard that the props he had made might have been lost in a Super Player's instance, he packed up and fled without a second word, repeatedly urging Xu Huo not to contact him for at least a year or two, and not to tell him which Super Player it was—he didn't want to know any details.
Seeing that the old man was still in good spirits, Xu Huo could only wish him good luck.
On the train, a female player sat down opposite him. She smiled and said, "Handsome, we've been on the same train for a day and a half now. Your destination should be the same as mine. Instead of finding companions in a strange place, why don't we get familiar with each other early? That way, we can look out for one another when we reach the instance site."
Xu Huo turned off his communicator and nodded to her in greeting. "My name is Xu Zhi."
"Zhou Juanjuan." The female player pointed to the side. "I have two companions with me."
The man sitting on the sofa nearby hooked his sunglasses down with a finger, lifted his eyes, and nodded at Xu Huo. "Zhan Erliu. Brother, I can tell from your extraordinary bone structure that you're no ordinary man. Want me to cast a fortune? It'll be absolutely accurate!"
Xu Huo politely declined.
"Rivi." Another player walked over and sat directly across from Xu Huo. "We're on the same train—what a coincidence. I'm from the D12 wormhole point. And you?"
Xu Huo casually named a wormhole point. Rivi didn't care whether it was true or false and, acting like an old friend, started talking about the customs and cuisine of his hometown, saying he had been away for months without time to go back and really missed the food there.
Zhou Juanjuan checked the ticket information, confirmed that Xu Huo was from the same district as them, and said, "I investigated before we set out. There's only one instance near this station, so we're most likely going to the same one. You should all know the details of the instance by now, right?"
"There's a guide on Under Dimension," Rivi immediately said. "It's not a particularly difficult instance. The key is that the clues are quite scattered."
Zhan Erliu waved his hand. "Misfortune lurks within fortune, and fortune hides within misfortune. The simpler an instance looks, the harder it might be to clear. How about I do an on-the-spot divination to see the luck of the four of us?"
Zhou Juanjuan wasn't interested. She rested her chin on her hand and watched Rivi play along.
Rivi leaned all the way over to Zhan Erliu's table, watching him take out a few engraved stones and arrange them on the table. After muttering some incantations, he finally activated his trait—and that was the key point. Once the trait was activated, his hand uncontrollably landed on one of the stones.
"What's the result?" Rivi asked eagerly.
Zhan Erliu adjusted his sunglasses, stroked his chin, and said, "Hard to say. There are both good and bad signs."
"So, more good or more bad?"
"Fifty-fifty." Zhan Erliu let out a breath. "It seems there's risk in opportunity and opportunity in risk."
"That's basically saying nothing." Rivi lost interest.
Zhan Erliu grinned. "This isn't a bad omen. My previous divinations were all about nine deaths and one life."
"You're still alive, which means your divinations aren't accurate," Xu Huo said.
Zhan Erliu raised his index finger and wagged it. "If luck is bad, strength makes up for it. That only proves I'm exceptionally strong."
"Let's get back to the instance," Zhou Juanjuan said. "We're most likely going into a search-and-find instance. I don't know what guides you've bought, but my guide mentions that there are several route maps for clearing the instance, some easy and some hard. However, these route maps change constantly, so the choice is very important."
Xu Huo had also bought a guide.
This wasn't a simple search-and-find instance. It was a festival event that had gradually evolved from traditional culture. Simply put, someone would provide fixed route maps, and those who obtained them had to enter each node in order and retrieve an item as proof.
The locations on the route were not fixed, nor were the tokens. Of course, it definitely wasn't as easy and cheap as picking a flower from a park. Previous guides mentioned that someone had even opened a blind box and ended up at a District Government.
Overall, it was an instance that relied heavily on luck.
The only advantage was that the instance allowed teaming up, and not every team member had to explore every fixed location together. Some branching paths could be taken separately. As long as one person retrieved the token, that stage was considered cleared.
Zhou Juanjuan was well-prepared. She had done data statistics in advance. "No one knows which locations will be on the route map until it's opened. Also, some locations on the map only unlock after the previous location's token is obtained. But from what I've observed, route maps containing these locations generally have lower risk. If we don't get one, we can trade with others."
Xu Huo glanced at it. "One-third of these locations appear very frequently, almost in every route map."
"So it depends on which of the remaining locations appear more often." Zhou Juanjuan was confident. "Someone is bound to trade route maps before we start. Even if we don't find a suitable one, there's no need to worry."
The nearby Rivi and Zhan Erliu had no objections, but to be safe, they thought it best to ask around with the locals once they arrived.
Another day passed before the train reached the district.
Outside Youzhu Station.
Xu Huo and the others watched the flying vehicles coming and going and the layered buildings suspended high in the air, and their moods weren't great.
The more technologically advanced a district was, the more means there were to restrict players, and the more complete the legal system. If an alarm was triggered, they could easily be wanted.
"Hey, you up front, could you make way?" A tour guide leading a group of tourists from another district gestured for them not to block the entrance.
The radiant and meticulously dressed tourists looked them over, whispering and laughing among themselves.
"They're all players from other districts, right? Their clothes are so ugly, not fashionable at all."
"I wonder what route maps there will be this year. I'm tired of the old routes."
"Wasn't last quarter's route pretty interesting? A lot of players came up with creative ways to play. It was quite fun..."
The tourists chatted and laughed as they walked away. They were locals of this district, just returning from a trip to another district. Once out of the station, they dispersed.
Xu Huo bought a local communicator from a nearby shop and logged into the Message Collection Terminal to learn about the instance information.
The reason the locals were so interested was that the instance they were about to do was quite famous in District 022. The route maps required "checking in" at different locations. This not only boosted the local economy but also gave the people of District 022 something to do in their spare time. Many even volunteered to provide locations, and there were plenty of betting pools on different route maps and famous locations.
"We're being treated like monkeys in a zoo," Rivi said with a grim expression.