Chapter 3083: Searching for Potions and Primordial Stones
Xu Huo's gaze fixed briefly on the small space wall not far away before returning to Ding Xiang. "The raw materials for the Perfect Potion should be just a rumor. What kind of Primordial Stone can't be found in the game world?"
"So as people searched, they eventually stopped looking." Ding Xiang didn't think there was anything wrong with wanting to find the materials for making the Perfect Potion, but she believed such things couldn't exist on Challenge Island—at least Dr. Wu definitely wouldn't have left them behind. The Perfect Potion itself was possible, but they hadn't found that either.
"Since you're coming to Challenge Island, you should have looked at materials related to the island. Tell me about them," Xu Huo said.
Ding Xiang didn't hide anything. After all, what he wanted to know was about Challenge Island, nothing else. And what happened on Challenge Island wasn't some absolute secret. Even when news of the Perfect Potion first spread, the District Government had encouraged players to come to the island to search.
These matters had once been all over the Message Collection Terminal, only later being deemed useless information and cleaned out during the terminal's regular purges.
Challenge Island wasn't in Zone 025 but was a small sub-district under Zone 025's jurisdiction. This sub-district was essentially equivalent to certain zones deemed worthless—tickets couldn't reach it, Instance Dungeons had disappeared, stations had vanished. As for why players' Personal Panels were shut down after entering, that wasn't the sub-district's problem but because special instruments had been placed outside the island.
In other words, as long as one left the island's range, a player's Personal Panel could be opened. But leaving the island wasn't easy either.
Rabbit Eye Star approached Zone 025 with some regularity, but not on Challenge Island. It could appear or disappear at any time. However, at some point fifty years ago, it suddenly began rubbing against Challenge Island's sub-district, leading to the first meteorite fall.
Planets rubbing against or even colliding with each other wasn't unusual—many planets had disappeared or been destroyed this way. So when meteorites struck the island, the District Government didn't pay much attention—until survey personnel accidentally discovered traces of Dr. Wu on the island.
This was originally an uninhabited island. Before being cordoned off, it was home to many sea beasts. Larger ones wouldn't venture deep into the island, but smaller ones that could stay out of water for longer periods roamed both inside and outside the island. When the survey team encountered Dr. Wu, they thought he was just another worker sent by some government department. It was only after the survey ended and they returned with data that the District Government, based on this stranger's appearance, behavior, and speech patterns, determined he was most likely Dr. Wu.
Later, when players landed on the island, they discovered some instruments and vessels needed for making potions, further confirming that person was Dr. Wu.
Challenge Island originally had Chaos Space inside, concentrated in the southwestern part of the island. Players landing would avoid this area. However, after the second meteorite fall, the Chaos Space underwent tremendous changes—it no longer gathered in one place but was chaotically scattered throughout the entire Wasteland Zone. The only saving grace was that it didn't appear all the time. If you timed it right and avoided it as much as possible, you could get through—but how to navigate was something only the Enforcement Department players who landed on the island knew.
Dr. Wu had previously appeared mostly in relatively populated areas. He seemed to be cultivating followers, enjoying entering research institutes in different sub-districts to mentor newcomers as a guide and senior, sometimes leaving potions, sometimes not. But appearing on an uninhabited sub-district island made the District Government's think tank start pondering.
Dr. Wu's traces were intermittent. As he moved between various sub-districts, there were always gaps of varying lengths. Many sub-districts had studied the Perfect Potion's Class A Wormhole points. To be honest, the raw materials weren't much different from those used to make Evolution Potions. Even with different formulas, the District Government couldn't detect any completely unknown new substances. So they thought perhaps materials born under specific conditions were needed.
Dr. Wu's lingering on Challenge Island was most likely for this reason. That's why the District Government sent people to search. And because of the meteorite strikes, the most common things appearing on Challenge Island were red ores, and those ores with flowing sand inside had already been classified as Subclass Stones.
Generally, where there were Subclass Stones, there would definitely be Primordial Stones. But the Primordial Stones had disappeared—did this mean what Dr. Wu needed was related to this type of Primordial Stone?
As for why the District Government was so certain Dr. Wu would leave the Primordial Stones on the island, the reason lay in his conversation with the survey personnel. Ding Xiang didn't know the original content, but the conclusion in the materials was exactly this.
So the Enforcement Team came one after another to search, but casualties were heavy.
When the District Government couldn't find anything, they relaxed permissions and actively sent players to search. Still, many died, and no one found any clues.
"What's with that red light?" Xu Huo asked.
"It's said to be a recording of space under specific conditions," Ding Xiang said. "Some people say it might be the scene of the Primordial Stone flying out during the meteorite impact. Many have followed the red light's direction to search, but unfortunately, no gains."
"To keep Challenge Island in its original state, the District Government set up special instruments on the island to prevent Rabbit Eye Star from getting too close."
Ding Xiang paused here. "That's all I know about Challenge Island. As for Dr. Wu and the Perfect Potion, I know even less."
"The direction of the red light seems to be heading toward the island's center," Xu Huo said.
Ding Xiang was quite surprised, then after a moment realized he must have seen traces of the red light in the scene that just appeared. She pressed her lips together before saying, "I really don't know what's going on at the island's center."
Xu Huo nodded. "Then tell me how Challenge Island came to be."
Ding Xiang hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "After the District Government withdrew, the island was resold to Alton Corporation for mining, under the pretext of ore extraction."
She didn't say anything further, as it involved her work content.
But Xu Huo could guess. "A large number of players from Zone 025's Player Home, or unattached Degenerate Players, suddenly disappeared without a trace. Cases piled up, and the District Government began investigating. They might have encountered some resistance, which also meant public officials were involved, so the Inspection Department stepped in."
"Logically speaking, even if the game channels were cut off, Challenge Island—an underground show that forced players onto the island through threats and inducements—shouldn't have been hard for the government to shut down internally. But you didn't do that. Instead, you've continuously sent people to the island for the past ten years. Surely gathering evidence can't be that difficult."
"Does it really require evidence?" He looked at her. "Instead of wasting time on Challenge Island, why not directly arrest Alton Corporation's people, or the suspects within the government, and use simpler methods to make them confess their crimes?"