Chapter 2830: Stellar Pharmaceuticals Factory Bombed
Although the Dimension Train does not publicly disclose the transport routes of the instruments, manual labor is inevitably involved in the process, so someone would definitely know which district these instruments were delivered to. Pu Yu guessed that Xu Huo also did not want to expose his hometown.
"Another way is to use a space starship for transport," she said. "You can arrange for a starship to pick up the goods. That way, you can decide where the space passage leads, and no one else will know."
"But you'll need to find people in advance to learn the relevant knowledge about the instruments. These precision instruments aren't that simple to operate."
Obviously, she had guessed the purpose of Xu Huo acquiring these instruments. Such a large item couldn't possibly be for his personal use alone.
Xu Huo nodded. "I'll arrange for people to handle this. Please do your best to prevent any information from leaking out."
"It's a small matter," Pu Yu said. "If you don't have a starship, I can also rent one to you at a low price."
Xu Huo smiled. "Let's talk about that later."
He needed to see how well the Special Defense Department was prepared. They had been restricting the level upgrades of players in the Special Defense Department and the military for a while now, presumably preparing for the integration of Zone 014 with the game. By now, there should be some results.
As for the instruments he was exchanging with Pu Yu, they could only be considered the icing on the cake.
For space starships, professional matters were best left to professionals. He planned to look into it at the Platinum Eye.
He stayed in Zone 003 for another two days. During this time, he met with Miss Zeng three more times, each time pressing her for details about the attack she had suffered. At the same time, he also hired some "technical experts" to investigate the doctor who had appeared in Dou Shengnan's spiritual world.
However, before the investigation yielded any results, a massive explosion occurred at Stellar Pharmaceuticals two nights later, causing the entire Flowing Gold City to tremble.
Xu Huo got up and rushed to the vicinity of the Stellar Pharmaceuticals factory immediately. He saw a huge black tornado churning back and forth inside the factory. The barriers that were not easily breached by props and the specially made metal protective walls were crushed like paper, reduced to powder. The buildings and the robots inside were not spared either.
The people in the factory had been evacuated in the first instance. At least, after expanding his spiritual realm to search, he found no trace of any person. Additionally, because of this tornado, the rescue players in Flowing Gold City dared not enter easily. They only set up barriers on the periphery to prevent the wind from rushing into other areas.
Just as Xu Huo was hesitating whether to go in and investigate, a team of people wearing the uniforms of Game Government Base members arrived. These people were different from the ones he had dealt with in Zone 011; they were all A-class players with nearly maxed-out evolution rates.
After arriving, the group expressionlessly activated instruments outside the factory. After detecting and confirming that the tornado originated from a space prop, they dispersed to different locations around the factory and successively released miniature flying devices, each carrying an instrument.
Unlike ordinary space jamming instruments, these small instruments did not directly disrupt the spatial forces churning inside the tornado. Instead, they made a vertical cut around the factory.
Indeed, after several jamming barriers formed around the factory, even the surrounding space rays became unstable. Although these jamming forces did not actually touch the tornado, they interfered with the space around it. Within less than half a minute, the tornado, lacking follow-up power, gradually shrank—the entire process didn't even generate any conflict.
Seeing this operation from the Game Government Base might be shocking at first, but upon reflection, one could understand. How could the Game Government lack masters who create props and instruments? Those who understand the principles of props should better understand how props take effect. They have different methods for different props, and the most effective way to deal with space props is to cut off its source of spatial power.
This was similar to the space instruments used by the districts for defense. They were effective, but as long as one obtained a high-level jamming instrument, they were also easy to destroy. Players accustomed to using props usually did not equip anti-jamming instruments—this was the advantage of the Game Government; they had an inexhaustible supply of instruments.
After the tornado subsided, a masked player appeared in the factory. Not only did they retrieve the prop, but they also waved at the onlookers outside. Their eyes seemed to carry a hint of a smile. They didn't bother with the people outside, threw a specially made communicator into the sky, and vanished from the spot.
The thrown communicator instantly hijacked the message collection terminal authority near the factory. Projection screens appeared all over the city. The first thing that sounded was a heart-wrenching scream, followed by a fleeting image of several people in surgical gowns surrounding a player bound to a tool chair.
The image flashed for only that instant, because the communicator was shattered by the Game Government Base personnel the next second. But that instant was enough for some people to see clearly. The masked person hadn't chosen this image randomly—some players recognized the person in the picture.
He was a famous player from Zone 003. Not long ago, he had withdrawn from the game due to mental evolution issues. The official statement was that he was receiving treatment. However, some people in the government knew that he had actually participated in Stellar Pharmaceuticals' therapeutic experiments. He had made this choice to pave the way for future generations. Who would have thought Stellar Pharmaceuticals would treat him like this?!
Just from the scars on the man's body in the image, it was clear he was definitely not receiving treatment. Especially his skull, which had multiple circular scar marks indicating he had undergone craniotomy more than once. This was prohibited by the mental treatment laws and regulations of Zone 003, because treating through resection or interference with brain matter carried enormous risks, and the sequelae were unpredictable. Now, Stellar Pharmaceuticals was actually using their heroic player for such inhumane experiments!
The few people from the Game Government Base quickly disappeared, which turned the anger of some Flowing Gold City players towards the District Government. Players would eventually degenerate. Their initial intention in participating in experimental treatments was to get better care, not to become experimental subjects for others to torture. After fighting for the district their whole lives, couldn't they even get this basic guarantee?
Zone 003's attitude towards the Game Government was still very tough. Within just ten minutes, videos of players besieging the Game Government Base were already posted on the message collection terminal.
Stellar Pharmaceuticals and the Game Government were not ostensibly the same entity, but how could a force in the game that used the word "Stellar" at the beginning of its name have nothing to do with the Game Government? So they demanded an explanation from the Game Government.
The enforcement players of Flowing Gold City took over the mess at the Stellar Pharmaceuticals factory and also set up a blockade around the area.
Xu Huo, along with many other players who had come to watch the excitement, was blocked outside. He watched all this expressionlessly when he suddenly heard someone sigh: "What a pity."
He abruptly turned his head, then looked around, but he couldn't find the source of the voice anywhere.