Chapter 2960: National Resources
Xu Huo usually dealt more with the Special Defense Department, and within that department, he primarily interacted with Nie Xuan and Team Leader Wu, rarely contacting higher-ups like Minister Ji, let alone the military and the top levels of the entire nation.
Of course, everyone present in the room had definitely read his file.
“Once again, thank you for your contributions to Country X and Zone 014. You are a hero of the entire Zone 014,” the old man said, shaking hands with Xu Huo.
Xu Huo didn’t say anything polite in return, just nodded and asked, “What’s the situation with the random instance?”
At the old man’s signal, Minister Ji quickly projected the information regarding this instance.
“This instance is called ‘National Resources.’ The clearance requirement is for players to plan a reasonable population size based on the resources of the instance area.”
“According to the information sent back by various players so far, every minute after the instance begins, someone suddenly dies of suffocation. There is no specific pattern regarding location, age, or gender. As of just now, the number of deaths from suffocation has reached one hundred and twenty-seven.”
“The scope of the instance area is the entire Jing City.”
Minister Ji brought up a map. “The city suburbs serve as the boundary. The city is shrouded in thick fog, with no passage in or out. Items and devices cannot break through the boundary.”
“However, we can contact the outside. From the outside, Jing City appears completely engulfed in the fog, and they also cannot enter.”
“Judging from the instance’s name and clearance requirements, the true intention of this instance is to make players reduce the population.”
“According to the city happiness index released by the Dimension Game in the first half of the year, based on Jing City’s infrastructure, the population has already far exceeded the standard. Our current plan is to have players disperse to different areas to distribute protective barriers and send some ordinary residents out.”
“Considering the need for a reasonable population structure, we have selected an appropriate number of people from different age groups. So far, we have sent out over a dozen batches, but the number of suffocation deaths has not decreased. However, after wearing gas masks, the majority of those who suffocate are elderly or those with pre-existing illnesses.”
While listening to Minister Ji’s briefing, Xu Huo also browsed through detailed information and some inferences sent by various players.
The people in the meeting room seemed to be reading the materials, but in reality, they were all staring at him, as if trying to see if he had any ideas for clearing the instance.
“Have you considered sending everyone out?” Xu Huo looked up.
Minister Ji glanced at the others around the conference table before replying, “We cannot abandon the city.”
Jing City was a symbol of Country X. Unless absolutely necessary, they could not give it up.
“It’s not about abandoning the city,” Xu Huo said. “So far, there have been no cases of players dying from suffocation. Physique and antidotes should both be useful. The guidelines issued by the game may not apply to this instance. Instead of slowly experimenting, it’s better to save the people in front of us first.”
Some random instances have fixed trigger points after appearing, but others frequently change trigger locations. If this instance moves quickly, they don’t have to stubbornly stay here.
“But there are too many people,” Minister Ji stated the difficult part. The reality was that their container items were very limited. Not only in Jing City, but there were also many ordinary people trapped in instances in other cities. They couldn’t possibly allocate all their resources to Jing City.
“Then proceed with your evacuation plan for now,” Xu Huo said. “Wait a little longer, and maybe there will be other gains.”
Everyone looked at each other. Finally, the old man at the head of the table said, “We won’t be able to leave the instance anytime soon. Everyone should rest for a while.”
Due to the matter of the fusion, coupled with the Eerie Sound Knights as a ticking time bomb, every single person here had hardly rested. Players could still hold on, but non-players, even with the help of potions, couldn’t keep pushing past their physical limits.
“Arrange a room for me,” Xu Huo said, looking tired.
Minister Ji quickly stood up to take him, also calling for Nie Xuan to come along. “You two are both heroes. Forget about the instance for now. Get a good night’s sleep, clear your minds, and then think about things.”
Nie Xuan wasn’t really thinking about resting, but seeing Xu Huo leave, he also had questions he wanted to ask, so he followed them out.
Most of the rooms inside the safe zone didn’t have special partitions, in case any unexpected situations needed to be discovered quickly. Minister Ji asked Xu Huo to make do while telling Nie Xuan not to disturb him.
Nie Xuan watched his performance expressionlessly before walking into the adjacent room.
The Painting Woman and Big Mao naturally followed Xu Huo. When Minister Ji suggested they could stay in the room opposite, the Painting Woman didn’t even glance at him, pushed him aside, and walked into Xu Huo’s room. Big Mao, bringing up the rear, flicked his tail and “slapped” the door shut.
“Cough!” As soon as the door closed, Xu Huo couldn’t help but cough, spitting a few more drops of blood from his throat. He took the handkerchief the Painting Woman handed him, wiped his mouth, and sat down in a chair. After stretching his body, he drank two bottles of healing potion.
The Painting Woman crouched by the chair, tilting her head to look at him. “Are you badly hurt? Are you going to die?”
“I won’t die for now,” Xu Huo said. The pain prevented him from calming down. The vibration from that cross-shaped hyperdimensional device had injured his internal organs. Even though his body’s recovery ability wasn’t weak, the injuries to his organs wouldn’t heal quickly.
The potions had limited effect; what he needed now was time.
“Can you see the situation in Jing City?” he asked the Painting Woman after a while, when the pain in his chest and abdomen had eased a bit.
The Painting Woman shook her head and typed, “Jing City isn’t mine.”
It was unrealistic to expect the government to transfer Jing City to the Painting Woman’s name. Even if they could move all non-players out, the players would still need to clear the instance to end it. Whether the instance area would move afterward was another matter.
“Then keep an eye on the surroundings,” Xu Huo said.
That was no problem. The safe zone, no matter how big, was still a single building structure.
“Knock, knock!” The door was rapped.
The Painting Woman ran to open it. It was Nie Xuan. He had brought some potions and food. Seeing Xu Huo leaning back in the chair, his brows furrowed slightly. “Injured that badly?”
“I need to rest for a while,” Xu Huo said. “Did you come to see me about something?”
“Just to check on you,” Nie Xuan said, placing the potions on the table. “Brought some medicine symbolically, but I guess you don’t lack any.”
“I was going to discuss the instance with you, but it looks like you should rest first.”
“You talk, I’ll listen,” Xu Huo said. “What are your thoughts?”
“I know the situation in Jing City to some extent,” Nie Xuan said. “Not only is it impossible to teleport all the residents out in a very short time, but even all the players here can’t leave through container items.”
Xu Huo understood. “The military and the Special Defense Department’s trump card players are all here?”
Nie Xuan nodded. “Container items affect the player’s physical state. No one is willing to risk it.”