Chapter 325: Preparations Before Entering the Instance
"Director He, don't be so irritable. It's a good thing that the nation has public trust." Team Leader Wu said while looking over the list.
Director He smoothed his slightly greasy hair and said with a dark face, "What good thing? You don't think about how I, as the director of the Finance Department, am supposed to balance the accounts. Currently, the nation allocates a fixed quota to each branch. What are we going to use to support other players?"
"Besides, these people are just here to freeload benefits; there won't be any return!"
"Players who meet our requirements can apply for additional quotas from higher up," Nie Xuan said. "It's not worth holding back some excellent players just for a few doses of Evolution Agent."
"If they're excellent players, they should be recruited into the Special Defense Department. Are they going to take the benefits and not contribute?" Director He pointed at his own head. "Look at me. I've lost so much hair over the institute's messy accounts. If you keep messing around like this, we won't even be able to pay next month's wages!"
Nie Xuan's face darkened. He really didn't want to argue with him anymore, but Team Leader Wu chuckled and said, "Serving the nation, what's losing a few strands of hair? Even if they shaved my head bald, I'd be fine with it."
"That's easy to say, but you need to understand my difficulties," Director He said. "The quotas allocated here are reserved for our players. The nation can't mass-produce Evolution Agents in a short time. For every bottle we give away, our players lose one. The Special Defense Department is the nation's future cornerstone."
Director He spoke earnestly, but he didn't notice the look Nie Xuan was giving him from the side.
"Those who haven't joined the Special Defense Department also include some excellent players. Just because they don't join doesn't mean they won't contribute to Zone 014. Don't just stare at that quota. Everything we do is for the future; otherwise, Jing City wouldn't have approved it." Team Leader Wu said seriously.
Director He was silent for a moment, then said, "Fine, do whatever you want. But when the institute runs short on supplies, don't come looking for me."
He left with his account books. Once the door closed, Team Leader Wu said, "That Old He can only see the small patch of land right in front of him. He can't even tell the difference between big matters and small ones."
"It's not that he can't tell the difference. It's that, like others in the Special Defense Department, he's consciously or unconsciously squeezing the living space of civilian players," Nie Xuan said coldly. "No wonder some players refuse to join the Special Defense Department no matter what. With people like him around, how can the nation have a future?"
Team Leader Wu frowned and looked at him. "What's wrong with you lately? Is your injury affecting your mood? Do you need to see a psychotherapist?"
"I'm fine," Nie Xuan said calmly. "How do you plan to handle the people on the list?"
"Persuade them to unite," Team Leader Wu said. "Having too few people really doesn't look good. At least we need to set a minimum number. We truly can't support so many players evolving. Spreading resources thin will only slow down everyone's progress."
Nie Xuan's expression softened slightly. "This situation will improve. D-level players can purchase large quantities of Evolution Agents through the game backend and instance worlds."
Team Leader Wu nodded slightly. "I hope the nation's efforts behind the scenes will bear fruit."
*
Finding a house wasn't as easy as expected. Although Yuan Yao had confidently said he could definitely buy one, he spent the next few days running around, contacting agents and sellers everywhere.
Yan Jiayu saw a post on the Vanguard Forum about a random instance appearing in a certain city, so she, Zhou Ning, and Hu Wenhu made an appointment to go find it.
Liu Jia had to return to the Special Defense Department in her city to continue her special training, and Shen Xin also planned to join, so the two of them left together.
After that drunken rant in the restaurant, it seemed like everyone's state had changed somewhat.
Xu Huo was still the same as before. Besides his daily chats with Brother Tu and using candy to coax the little girl from the amusement park out to play, he spent most of his time researching items and preparing to enter instances.
D-level players gained a luggage compartment, but the luggage compartment could only hold a limited number of things. Items like homemade explosives and firearms couldn't be stored in it. Neither the luggage compartment nor the item slot could store thermal weapons with high destructive power. So even if he bought them after entering an instance world, the quantity he could carry on him was extremely limited. If he encountered an instance with harsh restrictions, he might not even be able to use them.
So he had to compromise and put in some raw materials.
But even that was warned by the game: [This item is highly dangerous and cannot be retrieved upon entering the instance.]
This wasn't too hard to understand. He hadn't been to high-level instances, but low-level instances might be confined to a small area within a single building. If explosives could be freely deployed, there would be no need to do anything else upon entry—just blow up the venue directly.
He also tried gasoline, diesel, and alcohol. None of these could be stored. However, cooking oil, small firecrackers, and alcoholic beverages with a low alcohol concentration could be stored.
But the luggage compartment had limited space. It was mostly used to store food and water, so other things could only be stored in small amounts.
"Are you going to an instance?" the Painting Woman asked hesitantly.
"You've been hovering around me for days just to ask that?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow at her. "You want to go too?"
The Painting Woman quickly shook her head. "It's more fun here."
"Then stay here," Xu Huo said with a slight smile. "You're not my item. You can do whatever you want."
The Painting Woman's face bloomed like a flower, her eyes curving into slits. She raised her phone again. "Can you tell me the password to your bank card?"
"Don't push your luck." Xu Huo's smile disappeared.
The long pants on the Painting Woman instantly turned into a tight miniskirt. She crouched by the sofa, half-leaning over, giving him a pleading look.
Xu Huo glanced at her arms, which kept squeezing together. "You're just a piece of paper."
After that, he didn't even spare her another glance.
After fluttering her eyelashes for a while without getting a response, the Painting Woman's face changed instantly. She angrily typed: "I'm going on strike! I won't sweep the floor, wipe the tables, or wash your clothes for you!"
"Knowing how to negotiate shows you're making progress," Xu Huo patted her on the head. "I'll tell Yuan Yao not to give you any allowance later."
The Painting Woman instantly abandoned her pride, covering her face with one hand. "I'll be diligent."
Only then did Xu Huo take out a bank card and hand it to her. "I might be gone for a long time this trip. Don't spend it too fast. Change your clothes."
The Painting Woman happily took it, bounced around carelessly for a couple of steps, changed back into her previous loungewear, and cheerfully picked up the broom.
After preparing everything he needed, Xu Huo told Yuan Yao and then took out the ticket for Rose Castle Station and entered the game.
He had obtained the ticket for Rose Castle Station right after getting off the Preliminary Trial Train. The instance difficulty should be simpler compared to the D-level ticket he had obtained later, so he chose this one first to get used to D-level instances.
His vision flickered, and he entered the station.
A thick smell of blood hit his nostrils. In the corner, two gaunt people were gnawing on an equally emaciated corpse.
(End of Chapter)