Chapter 3082: I Ask, You Answer
Xu Huo naturally wasn't spared, but these spatial forces were relatively gentle, merely wedging him in the middle and pushing him toward an unknown location. However, judging by what he could see, he was still in the Wasteland Zone.
After only a few minutes of being clamped, he regained his freedom and stood once again on the empty Wasteland Zone. A short section of Space Wall had appeared nearby.
Just as he was about to walk over and examine it, he saw the Rabbit Eye Star ahead rising and gradually approaching. The space was dyed a patch of red. The wasteland, separated by a single line, suddenly became lush with green grass. He could faintly hear the calls of animals and the sound of dew dripping.
Time Rewind… Xu Huo stood outside the green land, not rashly touching that space.
This was different from the memory playback recorded by Time Power. Curved Time could truly make the people and things within a space return to the past. He himself didn't belong to this district, so he had no way of knowing whether the spaces could be self-consistent in this situation. But based on the disappearance of Curved Time on the Corpse Wall earlier, he could sense that Curved Time was unstable. Even if it rewound time, it couldn't maintain it for long, let alone reach the level of "Three Seconds of Life" that could make the entire district's time reverse by three seconds.
Therefore, Curved Time was difficult to grasp in terms of length, volume, and stability, and it was even harder to determine its relationship with space.
However, being able to hear sounds was another difference from the previous Corpse Wall.
He didn't move. He studied the Rabbit Eye Star at the end of the line until it gradually erupted, and meteorites began to fall again.
Observing from such a close distance, Xu Huo saw a red light streak out from it, heading in a certain direction.
"What is this?" Ding Xiang, who had emerged from the Space Wall, was almost stunned by the sight. Instinctively sensing danger, she wanted to tell Xu Huo to step back, but she didn't expect that before the meteorites even landed, the green plain in front of them was blown away by the wind, and desolation returned once more.
Only then did Xu Huo turn around and look at her. "I saw a female player in the Corpse Wall who looks very much like you. She probably came to this island about ten years ago."
Ding Xiang's expression was still relatively calm, but human emotions could never be completely concealed. Slight changes in breathing, instinctive reactions in the pupils, even a faint tremor on the skin—all represented a person's response to the outside world. A person might train to control some of their body's reactions, but they couldn't control their own brain.
Seeing her remain silent for a long time, Xu Huo let out a light laugh. "I mean you no harm. I just want to understand a few things."
"What are you looking for on this island?"
"I don't understand what you mean by that." Ding Xiang's face showed obvious wariness, and she was ready to step back and put distance between them at any moment.
"There are no restriction chips implanted in your brains," Xu Huo said. "That means you can't self-harm your brains when being interrogated. You can only rely on the potion sewn into your bodies to commit suicide."
"But I think the main purpose of sewing in the potion isn't to end your lives at a critical moment. Otherwise, there would be simpler methods."
"There are many Enforcement Department players in the Corpse Wall, as well as people like you. If I'm guessing correctly, you should be from the Inspection Department."
Ding Xiang's pupils uncontrollably contracted. She turned to flee, but the Space Barrier had already blocked her retreat. She had no choice but to turn around and face Xu Huo again, while her hand also reached for her arm.
"Don't move," Xu Huo commanded softly.
Ding Xiang's hand paused, then her eyes widened as she looked at Xu Huo in disbelief.
"Your companion is a Mental Evolver. You should understand the feeling of being interfered with and controlled." The man in front slowly walked toward her. "She didn't have time to tell you what she discovered."
Ding Xiang reacted quickly. "You're also a Mental Evolver! In that arena match earlier, no one helped you, and you didn't Degenerate. The nosebleed was a fake created with Mental Power!"
"Never mind that," Xu Huo said, fixing his gaze on her eyes. "Did you come to the island to investigate the inside story of Challenge Island, or to look for what Dr. Wu left behind?"
"It seems to be the former. A bit of a pity."
"But since you're from the District Government, you should have some understanding of the situation on Challenge Island. The Enforcement Department is sending people out in full force to look for something. You should know what it is."
"Mm, it seems you know a bit."
"Is it the Perfect Potion, or something else?"
"So it's both."
"The meteorites from the Rabbit Eye Star fell on Challenge Island, creating a large number of special ores. Perhaps they even caused geological changes. Could it be that a Primordial Stone was born on the island?"
"It really is a Primordial Stone? It can't be the Time Origin, can it?"
"It seems not. Then is it something that certain people in District 025 particularly want? A Mother Stone?"
"Wrong guess again…"
Listening to his self-questioning and self-answering, Ding Xiang couldn't stop trembling. She had undergone professional training, enough to fool even a lie detector. But at this moment, her brain felt as if it were laid open for others to see. No emotion could be hidden from him. She had seen many Mental Evolvers, far stronger ones than Yilan, but none of them could be like him, as if he could see right through a person's brain!
"Don't be afraid," Xu Huo paused and said gently to her. "I told you earlier, I mean you no harm. I have other purposes for coming to the island. I won't interfere with what you do. Tell me what I want to know, and when the time is right, I might be able to help you out as well."
Ding Xiang stared at him for a long time, carefully observing his expression, even trying to see through every pore on his face. But she couldn't discern anything, let alone tell whether he was telling the truth or lying.
"It seems I don't have much of a choice." She lowered her eyes slightly, her eyelids covering her gaze. "I don't know much about what you want to know."
"Challenge Island did experience a meteorite fall. There were indeed rumors for a while that a Primordial Stone might have been born. But the Enforcement Department searched for many years and never found it, and eventually, it was dropped."
"A Primordial Stone should be easy to find," Xu Huo said.
"Dr. Wu came here. What was once easy to find became not so easy anymore," Ding Xiang said.
"You mean Dr. Wu didn't take the Primordial Stone away but deliberately left it on the island?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Is the Primordial Stone related to the Perfect Potion?"
"Haven't you already guessed?" Ding Xiang put it more plainly. "Some people within the government believe that one of the raw materials Dr. Wu used to make the Perfect Potion is on the island."
That was why they sent people in waves to look for it. With District 025's strength, the allure of a single Perfect Potion was no longer enough. A Primordial Stone was worth fighting for, but a Primordial Stone linked to the Perfect Potion was worth any cost.
"Can't District 025 even replicate the formula for the Perfect Potion?" Xu Huo paused slightly. Could it be that no one at the A-level Wormhole Point had managed to create a Perfect Potion or one comparable to it?
Given the Game Government's and the A-level Wormhole Point's foundations, what materials could they not know about or obtain? Unless… the formula included something they simply couldn't control!