Chapter 388: The Hidden Purpose
Shi Youzhi had already finished his call. He greeted his team members and prepared to take the Ai family into the station city outside the desert.
Only after the two had left did She Ping complain, "They fix the station, and everyone wants to find out who did it. Some people just have to stir up trouble for no reason."
The female team member tossed him a pack of cookies. "Eat something first. The captain doesn't know when he'll be back. Fill your stomach before you start nagging."
Wan Tingfang went over to get some food and took the opportunity to ask, "Can't we enter the station city?"
Although the relationship between the two sides wasn't great, base personnel were free to enter and exit major cities.
The female team member shook her head. "It's best not to go if you can avoid it. You saw it too—the repair device has a self-destruct mechanism. If we take the machine in and it inexplicably self-destructs, all our rewards will be deducted."
"I see." Wan Tingfang simply sat down next to her and started chatting.
"You're pretty quick on your feet," She Ping said as he walked over and handed Xu Huo a bottle of water.
Xu Huo thanked him and took it, striking up a conversation. "Does the Supply Department run into this kind of thing often?"
"Not too often, but not rarely either." She Ping was calm. "Some players aren't even after the device; they're just causing trouble for the sake of it."
Players trapped in the game with no way out, harboring hatred toward game personnel under extreme emotions—that wasn't surprising.
Xu Huo steered the topic away and asked, "Where were you originally from as a player?"
"I'm not a player." She Ping glanced at him. "You should have heard of the gray players in the Game Government."
Xu Huo nodded.
"Although some gray players were originally game players, most of them weren't players before—just evolvers. After joining the Game Government, they get a gray player identity and can use items."
She Ping paused here and added, "Compared to real battle-hardened players, they're far behind."
Xu Huo didn't need him to spell it out. Working for the Game Government came with security but also high risk. A small number of players might become instance holders through other means or simply join the Game Government, but the vast majority stood on the opposing side. The conflict was fundamentally irreconcilable.
"Even if an ordinary player joins the base, they won't get a gray player identity," She Ping reminded him. "Or rather, they won't live long enough to get one."
"I want to establish a foothold in District 011. Whether I get a gray player identity isn't that important." Xu Huo took a sip of water before speaking.
This was their first meeting, with no prior relationship, so the topic was kept brief.
The other team members showed little interest in welcoming a potential new companion. They took turns resting and standing guard, barely communicating.
Shi Youzhi and Ai Jia didn't return until dusk, looking grim. They brought back two transport vehicles, loaded the instruments, and then called everyone to head back to the base city. Those who couldn't find seats in the back had to squeeze in up front.
On the return trip, Xu Huo learned from the conversations between Ai Jia and the others that it wasn't just one station in District 011 that had been damaged recently. The two other sub-districts connected by the Dimension Train had also reported station malfunctions. After capturing the blood xenomorph, Shi Youzhi had taken people to deal with those, but the situation was similar to today's—after some players caused damage, they had to wrangle with the local government over paperwork for two days before returning.
What should have taken less than a day was deliberately delayed by the local government. It would probably be another month or two before they could go back to fix it.
Unexpectedly, just half a month later, the main District 011, where the base city was located, encountered the same problem.
"Are there any other stations closed in this district?" Xu Huo suddenly asked.
"There's one more, in a different direction, about the same distance from the base city." Shi Youzhi stared at him. "Why do you ask?"
Xu Huo smiled. "I don't know what signs precede a war breaking out in a game district, but back in my hometown, destroying key transportation routes before a war is a common tactic."
The people present were stunned. Ai Jia reacted quickly. "Impossible. The main District 011 has several stations, and the base city is the most central one here..."
Before he could finish, his own expression changed.
"Garden Castle Station is located in the heart of a bustling city. Even if someone wanted to destroy it, it wouldn't be that easy, let alone—"
"Let alone, if someone wanted to cause trouble, the most forward base city in the main District 011 would be a prime target." Shi Youzhi finished his sentence.
"I'll contact Uncle Sanyang immediately," She Ping said.
Shi Youzhi and Ai Jia both stopped him at the same time. "If something big really is happening, the communicator isn't safe either."
"Maybe nothing's actually going on. I might just be overthinking it," Xu Huo added. "I just thought those people's motives were a bit strange."
Shi Youzhi and the others were used to players picking fights. They were accustomed to hit-and-run tactics, treating them like routine entries in a ledger—fight a round, then each go their separate ways. They had never considered that there might be another reason behind it all.
For a large game district, especially one with a high degree of gamification, a war wouldn't break out so gently. At that level, it would either involve two comparable districts or the intervention of super players; otherwise, a large-scale war wouldn't form.
Xu Huo's words were shocking at first, but upon calm reflection, the probability was very low.
Still, that didn't mean nothing was happening behind the scenes.
She Ping was fuming. "When we get back, we'll investigate thoroughly. If someone deliberately sabotaged the stations, I won't let those bastards off!"
The return trip was uneventful. Since the vehicles were heading back to the base, Xu Huo and Wan Tingfang, who didn't live nearby, got off early.
The obvious benefit of technological development was increased speed and time savings. When the two got off, it wasn't too late, so Wan Tingfang invited him for a drink at a bar.
She hadn't been on the same vehicle as him earlier, so she hadn't heard Xu Huo's alarming remarks. Now she was in a good mood. "We did our part this time. The probationary status should be converted to full soon."
"Didn't you say that even if we join, we won't get a gray player identity?" Xu Huo said. "Besides, they don't seem short-handed."
"How are they not short-handed? I heard through the grapevine that the base laid off a lot of players a few days ago. They're exactly in need of people right now. Otherwise, they wouldn't have called us in on short notice today." Wan Tingfang said confidently. "Actually, calling us means they're interested. They just want to test us out."
She let out a long sigh. "Even if I can't become a gray player, joining the base is still good. It's much better than joining the District 011 Enforcement Department. At least applying for items is easier. Good items are way too expensive now—I can't afford them even if I skip meals. I've been saving up to buy items, eating only two meals a day instead of three."
Xu Huo just smiled and let it go. If she couldn't afford to eat, how could she afford to participate in a simulation instance game with limited utility?
"You're a C-level player?" Wan Tingfang stopped complaining and started probing him instead.