Chapter 3151: Current State of Zone 009
The Field family had always attracted attention, and this time the commotion was considerable, so naturally not many people cared about other minor incidents. As for Jean and the others who knew Xu Huo had taken the Angel's Left Eye, they very wisely concealed this information—after all, as long as they confirmed that whatever was obtained from the instance site had been handed over to Carol, it didn't matter who actually found it. Xu Huo hadn't killed them at the time, but that didn't mean he wouldn't come looking for trouble later. Who knew if he had some special tracking item on him?
Being targeted by a player like that was absolutely not a good thing, so it was better to keep their mouths tightly shut, at least proving they had some self-awareness.
If, by some chance, the news accidentally leaked—after all, there were so many players in the instance site at the time, someone might have seen it—then they would release more false information. Anyway, as participants, half-truths from them would still be believable to some. In short, they just wouldn't cause trouble for Xu Huo.
Xu Huo, still on the train, had yet to appreciate their good intentions. He wasn't surprised by the news about Carol and the Field family. Given Carol's attitude, she would definitely go back and argue with her family. As for the reason for the argument, when he had mentioned Curved Time earlier, he had also been testing whether the Field family knew about it. If they did, it meant that Curved Time had indeed been involved in Carmen's death, which was somewhat similar to the battle situation of the figure in the box mirror.
This suggested that Carmen might also have had a Time Rewind item, and likewise, his enemies did too, as did the Game Government.
In other words, the final outcome of this war involving multiple Super Players was actually the result of many Time Rewinds. On the surface, it ended with Carmen's death, but in reality, he might have made many attempts and died many times, ultimately exhausting all options and being unable to turn the tide.
If that were the case, it was indeed despairing—knowing the final outcome, no matter how hard you struggled, you couldn't escape it. What could be more hopeless than that?
But Xu Huo felt it shouldn't come to that. His intuition told him that Carmen Field should have been more resilient, that he wouldn't have been utterly crushed by the despair of knowing he would ultimately die in battle. There must have been something on a higher level that shattered his conviction...
Thinking this far, Xu Huo's expression paused slightly. He bought a return ticket to Zone E27-009 on Under Dimension, got off at the next station, and used the return ticket to go directly to Zone 009.
The last time he had come to Zone 009 was when this district merged with the game. Although the number 009 came before 011, because 011 had developed and swallowed up several neighboring zones, the freed-up numbers were given to zones that appeared later. So Zone 009 had only merged with the game a year ago.
But it wasn't as lucky as Zone 014. When the zone merged, other districts had already reached out to take advantage. Coupled with the fact that Zone 009 initially concealed information about Evolvers, it led to a long period of internal chaos. Player management couldn't keep up, and because the factions were scattered and lacked unity, the player skill levels varied greatly by the time the full integration occurred. With internal and external factors combined, although Zone 009 stumbled through the most dangerous period, it was severely weakened, suffering heavy population losses.
The situation during the integration period would affect the subsequent development of the zone. Although a new district government was eventually established, the overall decline was evident. The government's lack of control was reflected not only in its slow response strategies to randomly appearing instances but also in its failure to properly prevent and control players from other zones. Since the integration, small-scale player wars had been constantly erupting within the zone. Some player organizations were out of control, sometimes even ignoring the district government's orders and openly starting battles in densely populated areas to compete for resources.
In fact, when Xu Huo had last visited, Zone 009 hadn't reached this point. At that time, many player organizations were still doing their utmost to rescue ordinary people. But the problem was that too many of those players had died, leaving no one to carry on. The zone's situation had changed dramatically in a short time. It was said that two government civil wars had broken out after the battle, leading to the current new district government.
Needless to say, Zone 009 lacked powerful player factions. This was the final compromise among all parties. But the stalemate among multiple factions led to unclear responsibilities and mutual buck-passing, making it even less likely that anyone would want to put in the effort to manage the zone's affairs.
This wasn't something a few players or one or two player organizations could turn around. Zone 009 was constantly being drained. It wasn't hard to imagine what the zone would eventually become if this continued.
Xu Huo had been willing to expose his true strength during the Zone 014 integration battle for two reasons. First, Zone 014 indeed needed someone who could hold the line. Second, on the path of zone evolution, players themselves were one of the important criteria for measuring a zone's value. The stronger he was, the stronger the players, and the less pressure the zone's development would face. A Temporal Evolver was undoubtedly a trump card. For the sake of this trump card, many people would be willing to make way.
Zone 009 had lost its best opportunity and suffered a heavy blow at a critical moment. The current disorder in the zone was to be expected.
Xu Huo used his return ticket to enter Zone 009. The moment he stepped out, he was blocked by a Blockade Barrier, and several Binding Items flew toward him. He drew his sword and cut the items apart, then turned to look at the players lying in ambush nearby—it wasn't hard to figure out. They were specifically fishing for people using return tickets, hence the pre-arranged ambush.
But after he cut the Binding Items, whistles of varying pitches sounded from a distance. The ambushing players quickly retreated, even taking the Blockade Barrier with them.
Watching them disappear completely within seconds, Xu Huo couldn't help but laugh. These people really knew when to bend and when to stand firm.
Not intending to delve deeper, he looked around. It was clear that the once-prosperous city now had many broken places left unrepaired. Night had just fallen, and the streets were completely empty. The reinforced doors of the shops were tightly shut. Every household had curtains covering the windows; those with glass windows had them all drawn, and those with broken windows had simply sealed them shut with wooden boards or metal bars.
In Xu Huo's previous zones, even when players appeared, people hiding at home would still secretly peek outside. Although the commotion just now wasn't loud, in a quiet city, how could it go unnoticed? But until now, the surrounding residents seemed to have fallen into absolute slumber, hiding in their beds or closets with their eyes and ears closed.
Xu Huo's current mental range was enough to cover the entire city, so he was aware of every movement within it. Naturally, he also saw the notices plastered layer upon layer like plasters on various buildings. Among the various messy regulations, there was actually one legal provision stamped by the district government, stating that after dark, ordinary people were not allowed to walk the streets, nor were they permitted to secretly observe players. If discovered, even if the players didn't pursue the matter, once reported by others, the district government would impose severe penalties.