Chapter 398: The Cause of He Pu's Death
(Wait a moment) The Butterfly Lady took out a projector and cast the map of 011 Main District onto the study, with several decommissioned stations already marked on it.
"The chances of making a move at the station are very slim," she said. "Players deliberately sabotaging a station is a very serious matter. Even if someone wanted to strike, they would use other means and wouldn't start a fight directly at the station."
Xu Huo thought of the storage room at the dock. "Rongxin already knows the news has leaked."
He was also well aware of the matter of capturing people within the game.
"Even if the news is leaked, the weapons will still be delivered on time," the Butterfly Lady said. "This kind of cross-district transaction is hard to cancel, especially since it wasn't bought through normal channels."
Xu Huo carefully examined the markings she had made on the map and suddenly said, "You plan to go rob the weapons alone? What about your followers?"
"Just saying it casually, and you actually believe it." The Butterfly Lady approached 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, saying to him, "Since you also know about this matter, why don't you guess which station the weapons will come from, and then come up with a heist plan. If your plan satisfies me, how about I teach you something else?"
Her tone grew ambiguous toward the end of her words, inviting speculation.
However, Xu Huo caught the cold, scrutinizing light in her eyes and said, "You trust me that much?"
"No choice. Who told you to inherit the Rose Castle?" The Butterfly Lady idly toyed with her fan. "I also wanted the Rose Castle, but He Pu wasn't willing to give it to me. If you can't even handle such a small matter, I believe he wouldn't be angry if I killed you and inherited the castle."
She then turned to Mr. Dong. "Don't come disturb me again next time, or I'll tear your skin off."
After saying that, she left the map and exited the study. Xu Huo turned back to ask Mr. Dong, "Is she really a friend of He Pu's?"
Mr. Dong nodded. "Before the master passed away, he sent her gifts every year."
Xu Huo looked thoughtful, then took out the diamond key. "Do you know where the lock corresponding to this key is located?"
"There's an address on it," Mr. Dong said. "Mr. He Pu went alone to store the items. Are you going to retrieve them?"
"Did he tell you what was inside beforehand?"
"No." Mr. Dong's answer was concise.
Xu Huo pressed further with a couple more questions but found that he truly didn't know. It could be items, potions, or something else entirely—there was no specific indication.
"He Pu passed away from an illness. What illness did he have?"
"Organ failure," Mr. Dong said. "Incurable."
Xu Huo immediately realized something. "Was it because of evolution? Did he stop taking the evolution agent?"
"The evolution agent was useless," Mr. Dong said. "After Mr. He Pu fell ill, the evolution agent became ineffective."
He didn't intend to continue this topic and asked, "What would you like for lunch, sir?"
"Anything is fine." A shadow of gloom settled over Xu Huo's brow. The evolution agent becoming ineffective—was it because evolution had failed?
As early as in Decibel Town, he had known that some people, even after taking the evolution agent, would develop xenomorphization or weakening symptoms. At that time, the information he saw involved ordinary evolved humans and didn't mention players. Now that he thought about it, everyone was using a flawed evolution agent, and players were equally unable to avoid this phenomenon. It was just that players had a higher mortality rate, and some hadn't experienced this situation before dying in instances.
He Pu had set fires twenty-eight times, so his player level must have been quite high... This meant that even high-level players might not be able to avoid the side effects brought by the evolution agent.
No wonder there were so many potion research notes in the study. He Pu was probably trying to overcome the flaws of the evolution agent himself.
Having been to so many game districts, would he know about the Perfect Evolution Potion?
Xu Huo's heartbeat quickened for a few seconds before returning to normal. He had searched through all the notes in the study and found no mention of the Perfect Evolution Potion. When he asked Mr. Dong, Mr. Dong also didn't know. He wondered if there might be other things hidden elsewhere in this place.
Glancing around the study, his gaze fell on the diamond key, then shifted to the projected map.
He stayed in the study until the afternoon before going out. The Butterfly Lady was having afternoon tea in the garden and waved cheerfully. "Look, this is the butterfly sent by Duke Tal."
Several palm-sized golden butterflies struggled inside a glass cabinet, tied up with a ribbon and placed on the table as a gift.
"They're about to die," Xu Huo said as he sat down.
"They can live at most another twenty minutes." The Butterfly Lady's smile didn't waver as she admired the butterflies' rapidly fluttering wings in their struggle. "The more beautiful something is, the shorter its life."
"Did He Pu die from the aftereffects of evolution?" Xu Huo suddenly asked.
The Butterfly Lady gave him a strange look. "He was that old. Dying of old age isn't strange either."
Xu Huo paused. "According to the records in the photo album, his age wouldn't exceed sixty."
"That photo album is all about arson cases. He himself didn't appear in it."
In fact, even if he had appeared, it wouldn't necessarily reveal a person's age. Even without using items, there were potions that could preserve youth.
"His psychological changes," Xu Huo said. "He showed clear growth during the arsons. At first, he still had sympathy for ordinary people, but in later arson cases, it was almost invisible. However, he wasn't setting fires out of a game mentality; he was retaliating against the Game Government."
"Based on his psychological journey, I estimate he was no older than sixty. Let alone a player, even an ordinary person who hadn't taken the evolution agent wouldn't necessarily die at sixty, especially since he had been ill for more than five years."
"He never told me his real age either." The Butterfly Lady took a sip of tea. "I'm not his mother, so how would I know so clearly?"
"You want to know what he left for you, don't you?" She smiled. "Stop beating around the bush. I won't reveal more until you've done what I said. Otherwise, use that clever little brain of yours to figure it out."
Xu Huo wasn't in a hurry. He poured himself a cup of tea, leaned back in his chair, and said, "Even a clever woman can't cook without rice. Without any clues, it's not called guessing; it's called making things up out of thin air."
The Butterfly Lady pushed the pastries toward him. "The chef Mr. Dong found has good skills."
"How long have you known He Pu?" Xu Huo asked casually.
"Many years, I guess." The Butterfly Lady rested her chin on her hand, thinking. "I can't remember the exact time. He was doing well back then. I even went with him to set a couple of fires. It was quite fun."
"Can you set fires?" she asked.
This woman clearly knew about He Pu's former identity.
Xu Huo nodded. "I have an item of his."
"V. Fanshaw's tools of the trade?" The Butterfly Lady straightened her neck to ask. After receiving an affirmative answer, she suddenly burst into laughter, saying with particular delight, "Really? That's so interesting."
After laughing, she added, "If that's the case, there's quite a fate between you two. I wonder if it's by chance or by necessity."