Chapter 370: New Friend
It was clear that Super Items were not only crucial for players, but even for some backward game zones.
There wasn’t much detailed information about the "Field Battle Angel" online, but rumors suggested it was a Super Item that could simultaneously affect time, space, and life, making it a top-tier Super Item. That was why it attracted so many advanced players, and even players from other wormhole points came upon hearing the news.
No one knew who would end up with this Super Item, but the Paper Servant Master had drawn all the fire, comparable to when "Three Seconds of Life" was announced across all wormhole points. The difference was that the Paper Servant Master was a Super Player, possessing combat power incomparable to an E-level player or a new game zone.
"Really inhuman behavior," Xu Huo remarked, then searched for news about the Enforcement Department.
Ran Ying was quite famous, and she was also the image representative of the Black Epaulets within the Enforcement Department. The official network displayed her photo.
The Black Epaulets and White Epaulets were two types of Enforcement Department uniforms with the same design but different colors. Players in these two uniforms had different roles, independent of other government departments. Unlike other departments, the Enforcement Department had no ordinary people or Evolvers—all its members were players.
The information available about the Enforcement Department was all positive, usually about group actions. There was little about individuals, and members were relatively secretive. Only Ran Ying, as the image representative, had some harmless gossip.
Xu Huo’s gaze lingered on her personal profile for a few seconds before he closed the projection and pulled up his contact list.
This contact list now had three people: Shi Youzhi, captain of the first brigade of the Game Government Orbital Supply Department; Deng Xuan, a player who sold items and stole on the trains; and the third was Ran Ying.
He hesitated over the first two names, then selected the first one and sent a message asking if he could come for a record the next day.
Shi Youzhi replied quickly, simply telling him to wait at the Government Base, as he started work at eight in the morning.
After getting a definite reply, Xu Huo called the hotel staff, temporarily changed rooms, and then rested.
No one disturbed him all night. At seven in the morning, the staff delivered a free breakfast and told him that because he hadn’t asked for a membership card in time yesterday, he hadn’t received the discount he was entitled to. So breakfast was complimentary. If he wanted to stay at the Yongxing Hotel again tonight, he could upgrade to a top-tier suite at 20% off. This suite had dedicated security, and any visitor entering the floor without permission would be considered an intruder.
"Wow, even at 20% off, that’s still forty thousand," Xu Huo remarked at the hotel’s blatant robbery.
The floor manager smiled and said, "Any city is unfriendly to outsiders. Although you have a friend like Captain Ran, Yongxing can give you a unique sense of security."
Xu Huo hesitated briefly, then said, "I need a car today. Can you arrange a vehicle for round-the-clock service?"
"That’s only proper," the floor manager said, taking his membership card and having someone handle the check-in.
"I’m a bit curious. Players’ appearances and IDs aren’t bound together, and Yongxing Hotel doesn’t do biometric verification on players. How do you accurately send the bill to the player’s personal panel?" Xu Huo asked.
"The moment you enter the hotel, your identity appears on the hotel’s internal system. Although the hotel’s facilities seem to be operated by people, most are controlled by machinery and the game’s internal system," the floor manager said with a smile. "You are definitely a potential customer for Yongxing. There’s no need to keep these small matters secret from you."
Xu Huo nodded slightly. In essence, it used the same monitoring system as the Dimension Rift game.
"Is Yongxing Hotel also a game asset?" he asked casually.
"It’s just a cooperative relationship," the floor manager said, politely handing him his umbrella, then added, "Captain Ran just said she’d come to have breakfast with you."
"You didn’t tell her I changed rooms, did you?"
"The room number is confidential." The floor manager led him to one end of the floor. "This is a private passage for guests. You don’t have to go out through the first floor."
It was a small parking room. As soon as the window opened, he could fly directly out from upstairs. The car and driver were already prepared, and Xu Huo could leave as soon as he got in.
As the car drove away, Xu Huo saw Ran Ying’s silver sports car through the fully sealed windows. Most cars in 011 were specially modified so that the inside couldn’t be seen from the outside. Even if they passed each other, neither side would know who was in the other car.
After avoiding Ran Ying, Xu Huo headed straight for the Game Government Base.
The Game Government Base was located on the north side of the main city. It wasn’t a large area, but it was guarded by robots.
The driver stopped the car outside. "There’s a cordon ahead. The car can’t go through."
Xu Huo checked the time. He was a bit early, but he still got out and looked up at the building in front of him.
The base’s six buildings all had silver exteriors. The surrounding five were triangular, and the largest one in the center was cylindrical, estimated to be over a thousand meters high. In front of the building stood a huge metal stele that exactly blocked the main entrance. Most of the stele’s surface was engraved with names in different languages. Xu Huo wondered what the stele was commemorating.
"Pretty early, huh?" a rough voice came from behind.
Xu Huo turned around and saw a burly man in a suit, carrying a large box under each arm, walking over hurriedly. The man nodded and gestured for him to follow.
The robots inside the cordon scanned him and quickly let them pass, then returned to their positions after the two had gone through.
Xu Huo thought this was the base’s external checkpoint, but as they walked past the metal stele, a beam of light projected from it. When he passed through, the characters on the inside of the stele were erased, replaced by an electronic screen recording his physical features, along with a text announcement: "Attention all departments: A player has entered the base area."
No sound could be heard outside, but once inside the building, the lobby not only had a holographic projection of him but also an alarm. It only stopped when Shi Youzhi used his access card to disable it, though two bee-shaped drones still followed him around.
Shi Youzhi led him to the third floor and pointed to the right. "That’s the records department. You can go register now. Just explain the whole situation."
Xu Huo looked around. "I thought the Government Base would have more people."
Shi Youzhi glanced at him. "The Game Government Base doesn’t have that many office workers. Just go quickly."
With that, he walked toward the left corridor, still carrying his boxes. The wall, which looked solid, suddenly turned glassy, opened, and then closed again. The special simulation material quickly reverted to the same color as the corridor.
Shi Youzhi’s attitude was different from two days ago.
Xu Huo didn’t linger. He went to the right corridor as instructed. As soon as he walked over, the door opened. In a smoke-filled environment, a hand holding a cigarette emerged from a pile of square boxes and pointed to the chair in front. "Sit."
(Chapter End)