Chapter 3033: All Faces Equal
Back inside the first inpatient building, Zong Lanzhi asked Liao Na, "What kind of person do you think Xu Huo is?"
Liao Na thought for a moment and said, "Someone different from us."
Zong Lanzhi glanced at her.
Liao Na smiled. "Didn't we have our suspicions before? After all, it was too much of a coincidence—the Super Item being snatched right in plain sight, as if it was specifically meant to untie the knot for District 014."
That was the truth. As long as the truth wasn't laid out clearly before their eyes, countless speculations would arise. Yet the truth might not be as exciting as those speculations, nor would it necessarily align with what people wanted to believe.
The truth could be very simple, so simple that there was nothing to say about it.
"Brother Zong, people are inherently different," Liao Na said. "Xu Huo was great when he helped District 014 break free, but there are very few great people in this world, and greatness isn't the only thing that holds value. Besides, when you think about it, the word 'great' is mostly altruistic. You're not that kind of person."
Zong Lanzhi couldn't help but laugh out loud. After a moment, he wiped his face. "You're right. He and I are indeed different people. He doesn't care at all about others' opinions, while I'm still seeking validation from the outside."
"What you do isn't important; what you think is what matters."
Liao Na stared at him for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes. "Stop wallowing in self-pity. Use this time to figure out how to clear the Instance. At least survive and get out before you can achieve your grand ambitions."
Zong Lanzhi turned his head to look at her. "Are you mocking me?"
"Congratulations, you caught that." Liao Na tugged at him. "Let's go."
Zong Lanzhi had always believed that how much a person could accomplish wasn't just about the present. Perhaps paying a small price now could yield better rewards in the future—that was worth it in his eyes. Even if others didn't understand now, they would eventually, and then people would come to praise the wise decisions of those who came before.
Someone who could make the right choice didn't need others' understanding.
He had been so far-sighted, yet now someone was showing him through action that his understanding was wrong. The future he had envisioned never came to pass because someone demonstrated on the spot what it meant to see immediate results. This not only destroyed the "enduring humiliation for a greater purpose" he had planned for but also shattered the pride he had always carried, plainly telling him what the gap was.
There was a gap between people.
That phrase used to apply to others compared to him, but today it applied to him compared to Xu Huo.
Zong Lanzhi didn't wallow in his emotions for long. Before too much time passed, he pulled himself together and focused on clearing the Instance.
He was indeed very clever. Using the characteristics of a mental-type Instance, he not only imagined a dangerous building but also made the stone statues grow moss through visualization. The moss, scraped off by their movements, indirectly revealed the security guard's whereabouts and allowed them to deduce that the stone statues were actually the night guards.
Although everyone's faces swelled up equally in the process, at least they could clear the Instance. Only the players trapped in the morgue and the prison hadn't come out yet.
However, Xu Huo didn't make things too difficult for them. Once he had practiced enough, he had the Painting Woman lead them out. Of course, the few who had been pulled into the spatial cracks by the stone statues would never return.
Jiang Ke had also been thrown into the invisible prison later. He, Pan Bufan, Meng Junyan, and two other players who had entered afterward had already given up and were playing cards in another space. When they suddenly saw the Painting Woman appear, all grudges and grievances vanished. As long as they didn't have to wait in that empty place to starve to death, what did a few quarrels, fights, and slaps matter!
"Brother Zong!" Jiang Ke's eyes welled up when he saw Zong Lanzhi's face marked with fingerprints.
Zong Lanzhi barely managed to twitch the corner of his mouth. "It's good that you're out."
"Just surviving is enough." Xiao Yue also looked at Meng Junyan, who acted like nothing had happened, and said.
Meng Junyan grinned cheerfully at the group of swollen faces. "I have a Self-Healing Agent. Do you want some?"
Who would dare take it? The moment their faces deflated, they'd be dragged back out for another round of beating. It was better to stay swollen and suffer a few fewer slaps. But players recovered quickly, and everyone inevitably went through several rounds.
"No way, you're all going out looking like pig heads?" Meng Junyan said with exaggerated surprise.
Xiao Yue habitually glared at him. "Can you keep your mouth shut for once?"
Meng Junyan remained cheeky. "Can we go now?"
"Go, go." The Painting Woman came to see them off and thoughtfully handed each of them a lollipop, then belatedly threatened them, "Don't tell anyone I can control paper, okay? Xu Huo said it's a secret."
Zong Lanzhi was in a much better mood now. "We'll definitely keep it secret. But Miss Lichun, if you ever get tired of staying by Mr. Xu's side, you're welcome to come play with us. Our treatment won't be any worse than what you get with Mr. Xu."
The Painting Woman waved goodbye.
The group walked out of the Seventeenth Hospital and out of the town. But what they didn't expect was that as soon as they stepped out, they came face to face with their companions who had come to wait for them, as well as other core members of the Enforcement Headquarters.
Probably worried that Xu Huo might really kill them all, the Enforcement Headquarters had sent quite a few people.
The moment they met face to face, Zong Lanzhi, Xiao Yue, and the others, who valued their dignity, used items to escape. The other players waiting outside watched the now-empty town entrance and called for everyone to go home.
But somehow, the scene of their exit was captured and uploaded to the player forum. Although it was quickly banned across the entire network, the news couldn't be contained within the player circle. Within half a day, any player with connections knew that Zong Lanzhi, Xiao Yue, and the other newly appointed Enforcement Department backbone members had been released only after Xu Huo had slapped their faces swollen.
There had been no follow-up on the earlier starship incident, and the outer districts didn't seem to be continuing their attack. So District 014 returned to its previous rhythm. Some people with free time naturally enjoyed watching their embarrassment.
But Zong Lanzhi and the others didn't act as aggressively as before. They calmly waited for this storm to pass, as if they had truly settled down.
Regardless of how they felt, Xu Huo was in a good mood. He took the Painting Woman back to his residence in Jing City and began sorting through the supplies that Nie Xuan had been sending over in batches.
In addition to the special items and single-use survival items given earlier, this shipment included a large number of Subclass Stones, one Primordial Stone, and some strange vouchers—such as one that could force a transaction with an Instance boss, or another that could exchange for a three-minute time freeze in certain crisis situations, and so on.
Overall, they were all high-value items.
The Primordial Stone came with a test report. It was a space-attribute Primordial Stone, only the size of a fingernail. The Enforcement Headquarters experts suggested he set it aside for now, as it might affect the surrounding ores. If not, that was fine too. Their main concern was wasting the Primordial Stone, since it was non-renewable and a very precious resource. Using the whole thing to craft an item would be a bit extravagant and wasteful.
Xu Huo didn't have anyone suitable for that purpose at the moment, so he packed the stone away and placed it with the other Primordial Stones.
In the following period, District 014 didn't experience many uncontrollable incidents. While the government maintained order, the Enforcement Headquarters finally made contact with the Game Government. The Game Government provided them with some advanced technology at a low price for the construction of District 014. Additionally, the quotas for Gray Players and Non-Player Tickets were gradually distributed, making the District Government truly legitimate.
Once everything was handled properly, Xu Huo finally left District 014 once again.