Chapter 2878: Bookworm's Reply
"...Although he had obtained the needed potion, this feeling of having his path preset and being secretly watched did not sit well with Xu Huo. He began to reflect on when Dr. Zhang had re-targeted him. Was it because of Zheng Yuci? Or the Intelligence Ball? Or even earlier?"
"As mentioned before, anger had temporarily cost him his rationality. Now it seemed that the period of lost rationality had lasted a bit too long."
"Dr. Zhang producing an S-grade potion corresponding to his evolution rate had thrown him into complete disarray. This was most likely the potion's very purpose, especially since the other party had tampered with it. From a cost perspective, taking this step earlier could greatly increase the success rate."
"But Dr. Zhang's open play left Xu Huo puzzled. The man had deliberately sent a disciple to deliver the potion, as if blatantly declaring his watchfulness. Someone who could lose rationality from anger couldn't accurately judge Dr. Zhang's true intentions."
"Xu Huo had started his perfect evolution very early on. Strangely, why hadn't he considered that other perfect evolvers might exist in the game? Arrogance breeds shortsightedness—this is an eternal truth."
"...Although the hidden dangers in the potion had been removed, the timid man still decided to shelve it for now. What could he do? Faced with potential future risks, the current forbearance and compromise were acceptable."
"...That player named Que Niao had repeatedly poisoned the air, but unfortunately, the player in charge of cleaning was too meticulous, rendering her small, repeated doses ineffective..."
...
"...The Cube Space had demonstrated effects it had never shown before, using the instance venue. As an item from an A-level wormhole point that could allow non-spatial evolvers to control spatial power, its current effects were hardly worthy of its grade..."
...
"The moment he stepped out of the instance, countless eyes locked onto him. Perhaps because there were too many watchers, Xu Huo failed to notice a 'familiar face' flash by. From the way this person approached briefly and then retreated, it was most likely someone seeking revenge..."
"However, he had too many enemies. Even if he noticed, there was no need to bother tracing it back. If they wanted to kill him, they would show themselves eventually..."
...
"Seeing others evolve their traits so well, Xu Huo felt genuine envy. But he was not a diligent person, unwilling even to try the path of quantitative change leading to qualitative change..."
...
"The Lucky Dice was a precognition-type item. But its precognitive effects were based on chance. Was it a reversal of time? Or a prediction based on current reality?"
Scattered papers lay on the table. Xu Huo skipped the obviously emotionally colored parts and read through them all.
Regarding the perfect potion, he indeed did not plan to use it. Although his childhood personality had removed the hidden device within the potion, Dr. Zhang had navigated the game for years without ever being caught. There was no need to take that risk.
As for the "familiar face" seeking revenge, his first thought was the Eerie Sound Knights. Dr. Zhang sending someone to deliver the potion likely wouldn't let Xue Lang know. And among his recent enemies, there was no one else besides the Eerie Sound Knights.
If the Box Carrier had come investigating the instance authorization, he wouldn't have left after arriving.
Of course, the Holy Sword Society was also possible, but most of those from the society who had met him and clashed with him were dead. Under a changed appearance, it was hard for them to seek revenge.
What caught his attention was the part about the "Lucky Dice."
Under normal judgment, a precognition-type item should provide predictions based on the current reality. This also fit the circumstances when the dice was used.
But Xu Huo knew about curved time and also possessed a time-reversal item. So the results shown by a precognition item could very well be a display that had been rewound after the event had already occurred.
Of course, this didn't mean the "Lucky Dice" was a time-type item. And while curved time could allow time to rewind, it was very difficult to capture. "Three Seconds of Life" was an item born by chance, not deliberately crafted.
The only place where he had clearly witnessed curved time was in Pumpkin City, set up by Dr. Wu. Although Dr. Wu himself said curved time was hard to capture, he seemed to have achieved it... If there were an item that could use curved time for time reversal to predict the future, it could change many things.
Naturally, such an item was rare and hard to come by. Dr. Wu could even give away super items. If he could make such an item, he might also hide it in different game districts, just like the perfect potion.
Putting away these papers, Xu Huo began to check the messages under the dimension.
First were Yan Jiayu and Bai Kou. They hadn't received any news about the Painting Woman or Da Mao yet. But the transport ship and space channel instrument Xu Huo wanted to borrow were already prepared by Bai Kou.
Next was the Box Carrier. He remained silent, causing no waves over the lost instance authorization. The district where the instance was located hadn't been attacked by him either.
Then there was Pu Yu. She had prepared some large instruments and asked when he could receive them.
The contact from District 014 was the usual three things: asking about his recent situation, inquiring about instance strategies, and painting grand visions.
What surprised Xu Huo a bit was that "Bookworm" had actually replied to his message.
According to their previous agreement to stop selling AS-01CL ore, Bookworm had sent him a ticket, telling him that when the train passed through a specific space, he should leave the train and search along both sides of the tracks to find Stellar Pharmaceuticals' secret laboratory... This was a bit beyond the scope.
Although Xu Huo had previously guessed that the space on both sides of the tracks might be used by the game, that was chaotic space, mixed with hyperdimensional space power. It wasn't a place he could venture into now.
However, Bookworm also provided an alternative: in a certain district, there was a leftover instance venue from Stellar Pharmaceuticals. Originally a secret experimental site, Stellar Pharmaceuticals hadn't had time to evacuate and destroy everything inside when the instance suddenly emerged. There, he might trace back and find other clues about Stellar Pharmaceuticals.
But that was a high-difficulty A-level instance.
For the other party to so confidently claim that the space near the tracks was Stellar Pharmaceuticals' territory and to know about their former secret experimental site, their information network was undeniably extensive.
After thinking for a moment, he rejected the ticket and instead asked for clues about the perfect potion.
"Clues about the perfect potion are lagging. Are you sure you want this?" Bookworm replied. "Even if you get the clues and go, the potion might have already been taken by someone else."
"Just this," Xu Huo replied.
Soon, a file was sent over. "The potion grade corresponding to each location is written after the address. These are also the most likely places to find the potion now. Some locations Dr. Wu has been seen at, others are based on existing data analysis. Choose for yourself."
Xu Huo scanned it, and his eyes narrowed slightly. The S-grade potion was actually ranked at P10S!