Chapter 2936: Value
Xu Huo finally looked up, gazing at the few people before him, and said in a deep voice, "Of course there is. Whether you do evil or good is your own choice."
Of course, for those who yearn for peace, the ideal state is for everyone to obey the law and not harm others. But the game world is different. Players who survive have blood on their hands, let alone those who plunder others' resources.
"Demanding that others abide by the law on your own turf—do you honestly follow other people's laws when you're in other districts?" the female player said. "Today, the disparity in strength between you and me is, in the end, a matter of who is stronger. Why slap the label of good and evil on it?"
"When you're strong, you represent good. When you're weak in the future, you'll become evil."
"Did you become an A-rank player by winning debate competitions?" Xu Huo said flatly. "Are you trying to reason with me now?"
Primordial Stone—what a temptation that was. Something right in front of them, yet they were being brushed off with just a few words. How could they be willing to accept that?
But at that moment, a player beside her stopped the female player who wanted to say more. He shook his head at her, then looked at Xu Huo. "We won't actively cause trouble in Zone 014, but conflicts in instances are unavoidable."
"Make sure ordinary residents aren't caught in the crossfire," Xu Huo said.
"Naturally," the man replied, then signaled the others to prepare for withdrawal.
Xu Huo raised his hand, signaling the players outside the county town not to block them.
Soon, these A-rank players left the small county town one after another.
"Mr. Xu, where do you plan to go next?" the Xiang siblings asked, not questioning his decision at all, instead preparing for the next step.
"To Harmony Sea City," Xu Huo said, standing up.
On the way to Harmony Sea City, Xu Huo received a detailed report on the random instance there.
The rank of this random instance was not low, which was why it could swallow a third of the population in one go. Although Harmony Sea City was only a medium-sized city, a third of its population was still terrifying. This inevitably made people suspect the internal scale of this random instance.
The instance was codenamed Wisteria because purple vines had grown overnight throughout the city. It wasn't a native species of Zone 014 and seemed to have spread from another district. This vine grew extremely fast. As long as it survived, a single vine could cover an area of several hundred meters in just a few days. The nearly ten-kilometer radius centered on this coverage would be shrouded in pollen released by the vines, causing anyone within it to unknowingly fall into a deep sleep.
"In fact, more than three-quarters of Harmony Sea City has already been occupied by the pollen. Our people dare not venture deep into the heartland rashly. We can only evacuate personnel along the city's edge first. But based on the evacuation situation, the number of missing people has already far exceeded one-third of the total population." Xu Huo had already arrived outside Harmony Sea City. Standing in the air, looking at the city almost completely covered by a purple-pink mist, he listened to Xiang Yao's report before asking, "Have any Zone 014 players gone in?"
"That's the strange part," Xiang Yao said. "The proportion of players in Harmony Sea City's population is not low. Apart from those who entered instances or were supporting other cities, at least a thousand players were stranded in the city. But so far, we haven't been able to contact any of them."
"In addition, robots and aircraft have searched some players' residences but found no trace of them."
"Are there any residents left in the city who haven't been evacuated?" Xu Huo asked.
"A few areas are still unfinished," Xiang Yao said. "Many residents have fallen into a deep sleep and can't be easily awakened. The robots' speed is limited, but fortunately, using teleportation devices and items within the city is unrestricted. We can open passages remotely, have the robots inject medication to wake the residents, and then let them evacuate from the nearest point."
"Mr. Xu, we've compared this with similar random instances in other districts. Instances that can cover an entire city and swallow both players and ordinary residents are usually B-rank or above. Although random instances usually restrict the venue, unlike regular ticket instances, the instance space of random instances is mostly independent. Even if the venue is destroyed, those sucked into the instance may not necessarily return the same way."
"We know you're eager to save people, but rashly entering a completely unknown random instance carries enormous risks. And if you become trapped in the instance, the losses incurred will far outweigh the complete destruction of Harmony Sea City."
Data was cold, but it also didn't lie. In the war zones Xu Huo had visited, many powerful players from other districts had quieted down. These people, even individually, could cause massive damage to a city, let alone in a group. Without Xu Huo, the nation would have paid countless lives to get through this period safely. Now, many players from other districts feared Xu Huo and dared not act recklessly. But the district fusion still had a long time to go. If he suddenly disappeared or became trapped, those with ulterior motives might stage a comeback.
Take the Primordial Stone conflict that nearly erupted just now. If Xu Huo hadn't discovered it, Zone 014 might not have been able to keep the Primordial Stone from over twenty players from other districts. Even if they temporarily held onto it, these people had plenty of ways to force them to hand it over.
This wasn't like the Super Item incident. The Super Item was something the nation genuinely didn't have, so they had to burn their bridges. But holding the Primordial Stone meant making a choice.
Xu Huo had already handled almost all the first-level war zones within Country X, and because of his presence, the number of violent incidents had sharply decreased. That was enough.
"My matters are almost done," he said to Xiang Yao. "Have the military and the Special Defense Department send fewer people to guard the mines. Those things can be retrieved later if lost. It's not worth sacrificing so many players' lives."
Primordial Stone was a very important resource, but given Zone 014's current conditions, they lacked both the research and development capabilities and the strength for equal trade. Holding onto it would only gather dust. And since the news had already leaked, it wasn't worth protecting at all costs at this time.
"There are quite a few local players entering instances. Does the Special Defense Department have follow-up support?"
"Yes," sensing his coldness, Xiang Yao quickly said, "Every city has strategic teams formed by the Special Defense Department or player organizations, specifically to investigate instances or analyze information for players entering them."
"Has the Holy Sword Society been active domestically?" Xu Huo asked again.
"We did detect the presence of many Holy Sword Society members before, but most of them have hidden their identities after entering and haven't deliberately caused trouble," Xiang Yao replied.
Xu Huo nodded. "Keep an eye on the movements of the Holy Sword Society and the Eerie Sound Knights. I'm going into the instance now."
With that, his figure vanished into the purple-pink mist.