Chapter 401: Track Records
"These places have harsh environments, unsuitable for humans and animals to survive, so most are very barren. Forget people, you can't even see any xenomorphs, especially at space distortion points. It can be said that apart from the train, there is no safe place anywhere."
"It's precisely because it's hard to figure out the patterns, and whether xenomorphs will appear is unpredictable. The train's jolting isn't entirely due to xenomorphs."
"Not only are there xenomorphs, but also unknown viruses, radiation, or other unpredictable dangers. That's why high-risk instances make players talk about them with fear."
She Ping said a lot in one breath, finally summarizing: "After all, the tracks are also part of the game. The places we go must be within the game's coverage. Not to mention places that might come into contact with high-risk instances, even places you can see, the train and the outside of the train are two different worlds. Unless the train is completely destroyed, leaving the train under any circumstances is unwise."
"Those places seen along the tracks are also part of the game..." Xu Huo said. "So that means some high-risk instances are actually cut off from ordinary instance worlds, completely abandoned worlds."
Not only that, but it was possible that some spaces were indeed uninhabitable for living things due to their own harsh environments, but there must also be man-made factors. Why were there so many xenomorphs appearing around the tracks? Was it entirely due to initial trial players? Not necessarily.
"You could say that." Ai Jia took over the conversation.
"After leaving the train, can't you use the ticket to leave?" Xu Huo continued asking.
"It's difficult." Ai Jia said: "Our tickets are like signal transmitters. The space near the tracks is complex, and the ticket may not be able to connect to a nearby station. But nothing is absolute; you might get lucky."
"If you could use the ticket freely on the train, we should be able to teleport directly onto the train, not go to the station first." Sun Chuan interjected from the side.
"Wasn't the initial trial train boarding directly?" Wan Tingfang asked in confusion.
"That's different." Ai Jia waved his hand.
"Why is it different? Isn't it all boarding?" Wan Tingfang didn't understand.
Xu Huo had the same doubt. If a train on the tracks couldn't receive the ticket signal, then new players should first take their tickets to the station, not be forcibly teleported onto the train to start the game.
"This involves the game program, I can't explain it clearly either." Ai Jia smiled wryly. "To be honest, I'm terrible at physics. I can't figure out things like space crossing or dimensional stations. Of course, this knowledge is also confidential."
Knowledge and technology blockade—that wasn't hard to understand.
"Maybe when we become advanced players, we'll understand more." Xu Huo said with a smile.
Wan Tingfang had to back down, saying somewhat dejectedly: "High-risk instances are basically sending people to their deaths, aren't they?"
"Even if you can avoid xenomorphs, mutant animals, and even viruses, there's absolutely no way to avoid radiation. Even if you come out of the instance, you probably won't live long."
Cai Xiangxiang patted her shoulder. "You're thinking wrong. So far, as long as you don't die directly in the radiation zone, there's a way to be saved after coming out. Stellar Pharmaceuticals Research Group has developed quite a few related potions, and players aren't as fragile as you think. Of course, it's better if you can prepare before entering the instance."
Problems always outnumber solutions. Any difficult problem only gets tackled by humans after it appears. So even in the game, there's absolutely no one hundred percent solution.
Therefore, entering a high-risk instance means the chance of survival is very small.
The expression on Wan Tingfang's face faded, and she shrank her neck, saying: "I wish I could become a gray player."
"Keep striving." Cai Xiangxiang said: "But our base has good benefits. Uncle Sanyang will get us some safe tickets."
"Is Uncle Sanyang's name really Sanyang? Did his parents give him that name? It's so strange." Wan Tingfang quickly shifted the topic.
"His old player nickname was Yang Yang Yang. It was inconvenient to call, so people just called him Sanyang. His real name is unknown. The team leader might know; you can ask him."
"I'm not asking. I'd just get scolded." Wan Tingfang quickly shook her head.
"The team leader looks fierce, but he's actually a good person. If he were a bit more handsome and had a bit more hair, I would definitely marry him." Cai Xiangxiang said with a giggle.
The group chatted and laughed, while Xu Huo, during his tidying up, deliberately paid attention to some track dispatch records.
These dispatch records were far fewer in number compared to other records like weather or track maintenance, but at least one-third of these dispatch records involved attack incidents. That is to say, the base had predicted the attacks before sending personnel to handle them.
"How were those two blood xenomorphs from last time dealt with?" he asked.
"Sent to the laboratory." Ai Jia answered while destroying the square boxes. "Xenomorphs like blood xenomorphs carry toxins, making them good experimental samples."
"You want to look at these records?" He looked up.
"I want to understand what kind of worlds might have high-risk instances." Xu Huo said frankly.
Wan Tingfang also cast a curious glance.
Cai Xiangxiang and the other members were quite calm. Sun Chuan said: "We've looked at them before too. Couldn't make much sense of them. Some distorted spaces are hard to record with instruments. Even if recorded, most of them aren't complete worlds—it's like a mirror has been shattered."
"Sun Chuan is right. Some records are even harmful to the human eye, but these have all been processed. You can look at them." Ai Jia checked the time. "But it's best to finish within two hours. New files will be arriving soon."
Xu Huo said no problem. He first helped them clean out the old record disks before picking some to watch.
"I'll watch with you." When he was about to go to the screening room, Wan Tingfang followed him, having picked a few disks herself.
Xu Huo had previously seen Sanyang control these square boxes at will, and he had thought it might be his trait or a prop. Only after entering the screening room did he realize that the entire screening room was a large docking device. Bringing the record disks in was equivalent to connecting them. To play a specific one, you just selected it.
This screening room could only play one disk at a time. After discussing, the two decided to watch them one by one. They first played the records Xu Huo had selected regarding track repair reports, particularly special cases of damage caused by spatial movement.
The records themselves had been processed. When projected, they looked pitch black, but as the train moved forward, the three-panel space around the tracks shattered like a mirror. The broken edges suddenly burst with intense light. Even processed, the light was still dazzling. Xu Huo instinctively covered his eyes, but soon the light turned into colors, softening.
In just over ten seconds, the light disappeared, and the scenery around the train changed into five types.
The scenery near the tracks was commonly divided into left and right sides and the sky. But after this intense light, the sky was split into three different weather patterns—a single line separating clear skies, thunderstorm, and overcast clouds.
(Chapter End)