Chapter 2975: Instance Clear
On the fifth day after the district government building was completed and the original government personnel and newly ascended players had carefully finalized the administrative lineup, the A-rank random instance "National Resources" was declared cleared.
As the thick fog dispersed and sunlight once again shone into the city, cheers surged from all directions like ocean waves.
At that moment, everyone in the city instinctively walked out of their rooms, stepped into the sunlight, and basked in the warmth.
"I never thought the sun could be so adorable before," some players cried tears of joy and shouted loudly, "I declare that from now on, I will never stay up late again. I will definitely get up every day to bask in the sun!"
Xu Huo stood by the window, reaching out to catch a ray of sunlight, a faint warmth transmitting from his fingertips.
The Painting Woman stood beside him, imitating his gesture and reaching out to catch the sun. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, but seeing his relaxed expression, she turned back and stretched her hand out even farther.
Da Mao, who had been lounging by the wall, ambled over, propped its front legs on the windowsill, and stuck its head out.
"Da Mao!" Yan Jiayu's voice suddenly rang out. She ran over from a distance, waving at them enthusiastically.
Da Mao immediately retracted its head, turned around, and paced around the room. It probably wanted to crawl under the bed, but its size was too large, and it flipped the bed over. Before it could scramble out from the broken bed boards, Yan Jiayu appeared in the room and pounced on it, hugging it tightly. "I'm so glad you came back. I was really worried you'd been beaten into rubble. Let me check if you're missing any limbs!"
With that, she hoisted Da Mao up and inspected it.
Da Mao was pulled and twisted all over. Finally, it nudged her arm with its head, opened its mouth, and spat out a wilted flower onto the ground.
Yan Jiayu stared at it in amazement. "Da Mao, you actually eat grass!"
Da Mao was equally astonished, eyeing the rotten flower on the ground suspiciously, then looking at the Painting Woman, then back at the flower.
Unfortunately, no one could explain it for it. Yan Jiayu just kept asking over and over whether it had suddenly come up with the idea or if it had been secretly eating things behind her back, whether it only ate grass or also meat, whether it preferred raw or cooked food, and whether it had any special meat preferences.
Da Mao listened for a while, then crawled over to the corner and pretended to be just a rock that couldn't understand human speech.
After Yan Jiayu had enough of being affectionate with it, she turned back to talk to Xu Huo. "Are you okay?"
"Not bad," Xu Huo said, looking at her. "You've recovered well."
Earlier, Yan Jiayu had gone into a high-risk random instance and returned severely injured. Even though her body had undergone a secondary evolution, it still took some time to recover.
"The Eerie Sound Knights member I killed wasn't that troublesome," Yan Jiayu said, stroking Da Mao's head. "Jin Feixue is dead too. The Eerie Sound Knights members should all be wiped out by now, right?"
"Most likely." He couldn't say it with absolute certainty. On the surface, only these few members of the Eerie Sound Knights remained, but they had support from player organizations behind them. It was hard to say whether there were other reserve members.
But with Jin Feixue dead, even if there were still members, the organization was essentially defunct in name.
"At least one major problem is solved." Yan Jiayu looked out the window. "Once this fusion ends, District 014 should stabilize. If there's another super instance, the district will be even safer."
Xu Huo turned back to the window, looking at the lush trees outside even in the winter sun, and nodded.
With the instance cleared, Jing City began to return to normal order. The government players could basically handle the subsequent matters, so Xu Huo took the Painting Woman back to Ting City.
Yuan Yao, Zhou Ning, and the others had entered instances one after another, but Gu Yu, who had moved to another district and come back to help, was temporarily staying in Ting City.
Not long after, Yu Qingqing also came looking for him. She had been trapped in an instance before and had only just gotten out.
They arranged to have a meal together.
"I originally planned to come out of the instance and dominate the scene, but I was a step too late," Yu Qingqing said with exaggerated regret. "All the tough ones were already killed by my brother."
"The fusion will continue for a long time, and new mutant plants appear every day," Gu Yu said, ladling her a bowl of soup. "There's still plenty to do."
Yu Qingqing didn't seem to have that awareness. "I just recently passed the critical point in my physical evolution. I'll rest a bit and then go to the Special Defense Department for testing."
"There's no Special Defense Department anymore," Gu Yu said. "Now there's only Enforcement Division One, Two, and Three. Given your situation, you should go to Division Two, which is made up of players from the former Special Defense Department and the military."
Yu Qingqing nodded, then looked at Xu Huo. "Cousin, you made such a big contribution this time. Did you get a position in the district government? In my opinion, only the position of Grand Archon would be worthy of this kind of merit."
Xu Huo didn't need to guess what she was thinking. "You want to join the district government too?"
"If you go, I'll go too," Yu Qingqing said. "Besides, the district government will definitely give preferential treatment to internal staff. I want good items."
"Working in the district government means following rules. Can you handle that?" Xu Huo said bluntly. "If you cause trouble, don't say you know me."
Yu Qingqing rolled her eyes, then added, "Even if I don't say it, others will know... As the biggest contributor to District 014, and me as the contributor's cousin, shouldn't I be given preferential treatment?"
Xu Huo picked up some food with his chopsticks and put it on her plate. "Finish eating and go back to see your family. They should be back by now."
Yu Qingqing knew she had no hope and didn't dwell on it. Instead, she said, "Aren't you going back? They must miss you a lot."
"I'll go back in a couple of days." Xu Huo didn't say much more and instead asked about Gu Yu's recent situation.
Gu Yu had originally been a celebrity, but that job had become unsustainable. She had paid a high settlement fee and moved to another district to settle down. The living environment in districts with well-established systems was quite good. After paying the settlement fee, there were no other major daily expenses.
She could still afford food and clothing, but being unfamiliar with the place and finding it hard to build relationships with those around her, she inevitably felt like a stranger adrift in a foreign land.
"Why don't you move back?" Yu Qingqing asked. "If you go out and just say you're my cousin's friend, who would dare to bully you?"
Gu Yu glanced at Xu Huo, lowered her head, and smiled. "It's not that simple."
Gu Yu had family to take care of. Moving to another district wasn't just for herself; she was also worried that if she died unexpectedly, her family would have no one to look after them. Districts with better development had comprehensive welfare systems, and the families of players would be properly cared for.
District 014 was still struggling, and in her opinion, there would still be plenty of contention among players in the future.
"In fact, not getting involved in the district government is a good thing." She paused before continuing. "With Old Xu's strength, no one in District 014 would dare to disrespect him. But if he enters the government system, he'll inevitably have to take a stance and won't be able to avoid factional struggles. Some people may not seem that strong, but they're very good at manipulating situations and are used to letting others charge ahead and take the blame. There's no need to work hard and end up taking the fall."
Yu Qingqing had a different view. "If you're strong enough, where can't you go? It would be a joke if my brother, who is this strong, still has to avoid them!"