Chapter 3131: The Ultimate State of Temporal-Spatial Evolution
"Or maybe I'm just doing a good deed today, wanting to help a stranger for no reason at all?" Carol's smile deepened.
"Not exactly a stranger," Xu Huo said. "We've met before."
In E27-001, he had once seen Carol from afar on the street, and at other times, there was plenty of tabloid news.
Carol squinted, speaking seriously, "I don't remember that."
"Isn't forgetting a good thing?" Xu Huo said. "It means the past ties are severed, and from this moment on, we truly get to know each other."
Carol studied him for a few seconds, then burst into laughter. "So our connection started that early."
Although it was only Xu Huo who had seen Carol in District 001, today's visit to the Field Estate clearly showed that Carol also knew about him, even going out of his way to return.
Geniuses in the game were few and far between. People with the potential to become Super Players wouldn't suddenly appear one after another. Besides, Xu Huo's evolutionary traits were fairly obvious, making it easy to connect him to the recently emerged A-rank player with dual temporal and spatial evolution.
Spatial evolution didn't leave much of a memory imprint, but temporal evolution was different—it was a rarity in the game. A simple verification with Districts 011 and 014 would make it easy to figure out.
That was why Carol had rushed back. The Field family's attitude had also shifted, but they didn't want to bet on a player backed by a Super Player. Carol, who had been expelled from the family, had fewer concerns... or rather, as long as he still bore the Field name, he would ultimately represent the family in the end.
So the head of the Field family didn't come forward to recruit him, but they didn't stop Carol from bringing him to the unopened ruins either. Their ambiguous stance was itself an attitude.
"Given your current conditions, I can't get anything that would truly tempt me," Carol said again. "But I can consider it as you owing me a favor—a personal favor from me."
Xu Huo's expression turned strange. "Is that acceptable?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Carol said nonchalantly. "I know what those old farts are planning. They want to use my name to let a few crumbs slip through their fingers, so they can reap the rewards later."
"You don't need to thank them. Just thank me."
Xu Huo smiled. "Favors aren't easy to repay... but this is more beneficial for me. After all, in the future, I can choose whether to repay this favor or not."
Carol wasn't worried. Instead, he looked at him meaningfully. "As long as we haven't jumped out of the game world, we'll eventually end up on the same path. By then, whether the favor is repaid or not won't matter."
He then took out a silver ring. "This is a single-use item my grandfather found before he died. It can release a small energy field, allowing you to directly observe and feel gravity. It's an item that aids evolution."
"Like my grandfather, I have no talent in this area, so I've kept this ring unused."
"A special venue, plus an auxiliary item—this already provides all the conditions most likely to lead to secondary evolution..."
Carol paused, shifting his gaze from the ring to Xu Huo. "No, that's not right. It's still missing a talented, lucky person."
The ring left his hand, floating slowly toward Xu Huo, and a map appeared in the air alongside it. "This is a confirmed safe route map. The white-marked sections have hardly changed and are absolutely safe. The green and yellow areas transition in order. We're currently in the green zone, which is relatively stable, but it could still be affected by changes in the yellow zone. So you'll have to go deeper on your own."
"Beyond the yellow zone, the red zone is where spatial fluctuations are greatest. The Game Government and District Government have long abandoned exploration there. Don't go in either—just stay in the yellow zone."
"If you really have the talent, the yellow zone will be enough. If you don't, no matter where you go, it'll be a waste of effort."
He spoke seriously, "You have to come out alive."
Xu Huo grasped the ring, memorized the map again, and then said with a smile, "I'll trouble you to wait for me outside."
"No one will go in to disturb you until you come out," Carol promised solemnly.
Xu Huo nodded, bypassed the gray vortex, and headed toward the farther yellow zone.
Carol watched him go, his gaze fixed until Xu Huo was blocked by chaotic rocks and spatial entities. After staring for a few more seconds, he turned and walked toward the boundary between the green and white zones.
Entering the yellow zone, Xu Huo felt the pulling force in the air grow stronger, like a fierce wind pressing in, forcing him to exert effort to walk steadily. These pulling forces didn't completely cancel each other out—one moment they pulled forward, the next they might pull backward, causing him to stagger.
This was still within the designated relatively safe area. Farther away, even seemingly stable spatial entities could collapse under the strain, triggering a small-scale wave of spatial bodies.
Xu Huo slowed down to observe. He noticed that after a spatial body wave lasted for a while, it would stabilize under the influence of gravity, and only then did he continue forward.
However, the fact that these spatial entities could maintain their form under such conditions also indicated that the energy causing this state was not to be underestimated.
After a few more minutes, he found it difficult to move forward. Forces from different directions pulled at various parts of his body. Even wearing the protective gear Carol had given him specifically for defense, he could feel his physical limits.
Whether in the green or yellow zone, the gravitational forces appeared balanced, but in reality, they didn't cancel each other out. If they truly did, a person would be weightless and floating, not struggling to walk.
After pausing for a moment, he tried to manipulate the surrounding space rays on a small scale. He attempted several times without success. The spacetime in this district had already changed, making spatial manipulation extremely difficult. The same likely applied to temporal power, but he dared not try that easily.
Ultimately, gravity was the curvature of spacetime. At this moment, this district had become a chaotic, unstable field. The changes in spacetime were impossible to predict, so the consequences of trying to manipulate spacetime forces were equally unpredictable. Just as time rays could lose directional control when passing through a hyperdimensional space barrier, no one knew what changes would occur here.
Come to think of it, could he still control temporal power?
Perhaps he could. Although it was chaotic here, with multiple forces pulling at his body, the time within the safe zone was stable. There was no temporal desynchronization on him or in his surroundings.
He wasn't sure if this was due to the protective gear or if the venue itself had achieved some kind of stable balance.
But standing there, Xu Huo suddenly realized that this might be what Carmen Field had been pursuing—"gravity," the ultimate state of temporal-spatial evolution.