Chapter 317: Exceeding Expectations
"Not as good as the Special Defense Department." Xu Huo fastened the last button on his coat. "I heard you've made new friends. Congratulations."
Team Leader Song and Dai Wenqian behind him both fixed their gazes on him.
"Xu Huo, how do you know about this? Did you hear it?" Compared to Song and Dai's wariness, Team Leader Wu was more concerned about Xu Huo's secondary evolution. "Can brain evolution achieve this effect?"
Indeed, five minutes ago, someone from the Player Association had come to negotiate with them, but that happened on the first floor.
"Not like I have clairvoyance or super hearing. How could I have heard it?" Xu Huo said. "I heard from Yuan Yao that the Player Association didn't kill a single Special Defense Department member. That alone shows their sincerity."
Yuan Yao quickly chimed in, "Right, right! And you guys even arrested some Player Association people."
"That's the price they pay for disrupting Special Defense Department operations." Team Leader Song said grimly. "Using tricks to rescue their companions and messing with the Special Defense Department—I will never tolerate such players!"
"No need for veiled insults," Xu Huo said again. "I'm heading back to Ting City now. Team Leader Wu, can I hitch a ride?"
"Of course, no problem." Team Leader Wu glanced at Team Leader Song. "But Team Leader Song has something to say to you."
Team Leader Song pulled up a chair and sat face to face with Xu Huo. The gist was that this whole mess had been caused by Xu Huo. The Special Defense Department had lost quite a few people, and several players had died. Cleaning up after him was fine, but Xu Huo needed to show some sincerity.
"Isn't our sincerity enough?" Yuan Yao crouched nearby. "Who do you think reported that Iron Triangle? It was all on my Brother Xu's orders. He was colluding with foreigners. If you follow that lead, you might dig up something big. Isn't that credit enough?"
Team Leader Song was stunned. Dai Wenqian asked, "Weren't you gone with the people from the hospital? Xu Huo was still unconscious at the time."
Yuan Yao was brimming with confidence and wore an expression that said, "Don't worry about it." He said, "Just know that we did it. Why ask so many questions?"
Team Leader Song was half-convinced. "I'll verify this later. If it's true, I'll count it as a merit for you."
With that, he got up and left the room. Dai Wenqian lingered behind, his hand on the half-open door as he turned back.
He was different from Team Leader Song. Because he had indeed seen Xu Huo's figure outside, he didn't doubt the truth of the words, but he did doubt Xu Huo's intentions.
He had taken Zheng Ke and the others to chase someone, only to realize after circling around a few times that they were being led around by the nose. But when he returned to the hospital, he learned that Wang Ya and the others were all dead. Although the Special Defense Department's inspection concluded that the Triangle Mask group had killed them, and Huang Junjie, who had come to talk earlier, claimed the Player Association had taken out those people, the story was patched up. But to believe that Xu Huo had no hand in this—he wouldn't!
Connecting with the Player Association, joining forces with them to kill the Iron Triangle and the others, deliberately luring him away to kill his men—not only had Xu Huo clipped his wings, but he had also made the Player Association negotiate with the Special Defense Department on their own, costing him a golden opportunity. Xu Huo was deliberately targeting him!
He had intended to give Xu Huo a warning, but when he looked at Xu Huo, the other man was looking back at him.
Their eyes met. Every hair on Dai Wenqian's body instantly stood on end. Almost by reflex, he stepped back and slammed the door shut.
"Bang!" The sound of the door closing was quite loud. Team Leader Wu rolled his eyes. "How disgraceful!"
"Team Leader Wu," Xu Huo withdrew his gaze, "I'll trade something else for those two injections from the Special Defense Department."
"Don't mention it," Team Leader Wu said cheerfully. "The nation is never stingy with talent. Besides, you helped the Special Defense Department this time. I'll definitely write a report to commend you."
Xu Huo wasn't particularly concerned about that. Instead, he brought up another matter. "Do you have any leads on the sudden darkness in Flower City?"
"Not yet, but it should be similar to the Fog City that appeared the day before. I'll let you know once the experts come to a conclusion," Team Leader Wu said.
Team Leader Wu couldn't leave just yet, so he arranged a car to take Xu Huo and the others back, along with Sima Xiao'er and the rest.
"The Special Defense Department is just letting us go like this?" Hu Wenhu scratched his head, finding it unbelievable. "That Team Leader Song was clearly looking for trouble. Is there a backup plan?"
"How could he still have time for you?" Sima Xiao'er looked up from his game. "He's busy catching big fish to claim credit. He even pushed the negotiation with the Player Association onto our team leader."
Zhou Ning glanced at him but held back what she wanted to say.
"But even if he wanted to do something, there's nothing to fear," Yuan Yao said. "Worst case, we escape into an instance."
"The Special Defense Department has senior team leaders and junior team leaders. Team Leader Song seems to be in charge of several provinces," Shen Xin said. "With his status, he wouldn't fixate on a single player. But Dai Wenqian... he's not a good person."
"No past grievances, no recent grudges. He has no reason to target us," Liu Jia said, lying through her teeth.
Zhou Ning and the others knew full well that Dai Wenqian's men had died by their hands. But they had checked thoroughly and were sure they hadn't left any traces that could be used against them.
Everyone tacitly understood. Sima Xiao'er didn't catch their subtle exchanges and pulled them into a game, with Painting Woman and Yan Jiayu cheering them on.
Xu Huo sat in the front, resting with his eyes closed, pondering the events in Flower City.
He had stumbled into the Fog Zone Hospital and undergone secondary evolution—super evolution. But after evolving, his physique couldn't keep up, leading to the severe headache as a side effect. However, this symptom had eased after the dark space descended and his spiritual power was released.
It was unclear how useful those two injections from the Special Defense Department would be. The dark space's appearance was too coincidental—it wasn't an instance, it didn't kill anyone, and everyone who disappeared returned intact.
Although the possibility of such a bizarre moving space existing in the game couldn't be ruled out, it had perfectly resolved his immediate problem. That was too much of a coincidence.
Tang Guangbo... Xu Huo chewed on the name a few times before letting it go. Testing him would come at too great a cost, and even if the results were what he suspected, they might not be what he wanted.
The gains from this trip to Flower City had exceeded his expectations. He had obtained a mobile instance entrance, which was essentially an extra special escape route. Then came the secondary evolution, successfully surviving the risk period to complete super evolution. Additionally, he had acquired an instance authorization, adding another layer of security for entering and exiting instances.
There were also the item rewards from hunting players, but they were insignificant compared to the super evolution and instance authorization.
As for the fleeting dark space, he would have to wait and see if the Special Defense Department could provide an explanation.
"Drive into the woods ahead," Xu Huo said to the driver, opening his eyes.
The driver glanced at the navigation. "There's no road in there."
"Just drive in first." Xu Huo finished speaking and turned to the people in the back. "Stop playing. We've got trouble."