Chapter 397: A Serious Test
After reaching this conclusion, Xu Huo instinctively frowned. The game world was so vast that the odds of two players from different game zones forming a connection and meeting were incredibly low, unless they actively sought each other out or arranged a meeting. The probability of such a coincidental link and chance encounter was unimaginably small.
He had obtained V. Fanshaw's lighter through the game, and then, during his first choice of a foothold, he had unexpectedly inherited Rose Castle. This overly coincidental chain of events made him instinctively want to dig into the meaning behind it.
The photo album was only half full. After the news of V. Fanshaw's last arson in the middle, someone had written a sentence with a pen:
"I have fallen very ill. I hope to have an heir."
Xu Huo frowned. This sentence wasn't written for him to see, but for whoever flipped through this album.
Below the text lay an irregular black stone. It looked somewhat like an ore, but its texture resembled a metal object that had been tempered through countless refinements.
Restraining himself from touching the stone, the Butterfly Lady behind him spoke up, "He Pu left it for you. Don't you want it?"
Xu Huo turned to meet her gaze. "First giving me a house, then giving me items. Such good fortune makes me wonder if this is a trap."
The Butterfly Lady didn't mock his player level but nodded seriously. "I'd think the same in your shoes. But He Pu was a good person, so you can rest assured. Besides, he's already dead. Even if you take his things without doing anything, he won't jump out of his coffin."
Xu Huo couldn't help but smile slightly. "Weren't you two good friends? Taking his things and then undermining him like that isn't very considerate."
The Butterfly Lady stroked the box and said, "He wouldn't mind."
With that, she handed the box back to him. "I've already taken what I need, but this is a multi-layered box. I can't open the bottom layer. The contents inside should be for you. Take them yourself."
"You've undergone secondary evolution," she nodded. "You shouldn't need me to teach you how to get it."
Xu Huo put down the photo album and took the box. He focused his attention on the eye carving on the box. The next moment, overlapping shadows appeared around the lines of the eye carving. Then the shadows expanded, as if countless eyes were nested inside and outside the original one. Following that, these eyes began to rotate in an interlaced pattern, like a blooming flower spinning open.
After watching for a few seconds, he noticed that several of these eyes rotated according to a specific pattern, like a special combination lock.
He stopped three eyes in sequence, and then the carved eye on the box sank downward, and the lid's lock clicked open.
Placing the box back on the table, Xu Huo opened the lid. Resting on the black velvet was only a diamond key. Engraved on the bottom of the key were very small numbers: E27-001-01.
"Being mysterious," the Butterfly Lady glanced at it and explained lazily. "He left something in Zone 001. You need to take the key there to get it."
"What would he specifically leave in Zone 001?" Xu Huo asked.
The Butterfly Lady said she didn't know and added, "You take the item. The box is mine."
It wasn't just the box; she also took the wooden horse from the room.
Xu Huo gave her a look, then reached out and took the photo album.
The two walked out of the darkness again. Returning to the study, the Butterfly Lady closed the door and tossed the brass key to him. "This place is yours now."
Xu Huo caught it. "What are you doing in Zone 011? Really buying weapons?"
The Butterfly Lady snorted. "Do I need to buy weapons? Of course, I'll steal them."
Xu Huo's mind turned. "Was it you who destroyed the station?"
The Butterfly Lady glanced at him. "Someone deliberately destroyed the station?"
So she didn't know about this.
"You're a bit smarter than I thought. You've only been in Zone 011 for a few days, right?" The Butterfly Lady crooked her finger for him to follow. "Have you found out who destroyed the station?"
"Black market dealers in the lower city," Xu Huo said.
"A batch of weapons ordered by Rongxin is about to be shipped to Zone 011... Looks like you already know."
"Guessed it." Xu Huo hadn't been certain before; he only knew some fragmented information.
"Your guess is right. There is indeed a batch of smuggled weapons being shipped here," the Butterfly Lady said. "I'm not the only one after these weapons."
"The weapons will be transported through the stations. By destroying some stations, if someone wants to steal the weapons, they'll strike from the remaining stations," Xu Huo said.
Someone within Rongxin Group had leaked the weapon information, and players in the lower city had bribed other players to cause trouble at the base, preventing them from repairing the stations, leaving a few stations reserved for easier ambushes.
The Butterfly Lady took out a projector and cast a map of the 011 main zone onto the study wall. Several decommissioned stations were already marked on it.
"The chances of striking at the station are very low," she said. "Players deliberately destroying a station is a very serious matter. Even if someone wants to act, they'll use other means, not start a war directly at the station."
Xu Huo thought of the warehouse at the dock. "Rongxin already knows the information has leaked."
He was also aware of the arrests happening in the game.
"Even if the information is leaked, the weapons will still be delivered on time," the Butterfly Lady said. "This kind of cross-zone transaction is hard to cancel, especially since it wasn't bought through normal channels."
Xu Huo carefully examined her markings on the map and suddenly said, "You plan to steal the weapons alone? What about your followers?"
"Just talking casually. You actually believed that?" The Butterfly Lady stepped closer to him and raised her hand, saying, "Don't move."
Before her hand could get close, Mr. Dong silently appeared beside the two of them.
The Butterfly Lady smiled, withdrew her hand, and instead opened her fan. She said to him, "Since you know about this, why don't you guess which station the weapons will come from and come up with a heist plan? If your plan satisfies me, how about I teach you something else?"
Her tone turned ambiguous at the end, inviting speculation.
However, Xu Huo caught the cold, scrutinizing gleam in her eyes. He said, "You trust me that much?"
"No choice. You inherited Rose Castle," the Butterfly Lady said casually, fiddling with her fan. "I wanted Rose Castle too, but He Pu wasn't willing to give it to me. If you can't even handle this small matter, I believe killing you and inheriting the castle won't make him angry."
She then turned to Mr. Dong. "Don't disturb me again next time, or I'll skin you alive."
With that, she left the map and exited the study. Xu Huo turned to ask Mr. Dong, "Is she really He Pu's friend?"
Mr. Dong nodded. "Before the master passed away, he sent her gifts every year."
Xu Huo fell into thought, then took out the diamond key. "Do you know where the lock corresponding to this key is?"
"There's an address on it," Mr. Dong said. "Mr. He Pu went alone to store his things. Are you planning to go get it?"