Chapter 455: Potion Clue
Although the S-version potion doesn’t require multiple doses in a single stage like other versions, once the evolution rate increases, an upgraded version of the potion is still needed.
Dr. Wu definitely didn’t place the potion there for the Game Government. One of his goals might be to create true evolvers without the defects of the evolution agent. If so, leaving clues is highly likely.
In the laboratory, almost none of his personal belongings remained, except for these paintings he gave away everywhere—a large number of repetitive and identical-style paintings, things that even the Bolen family hadn’t taken seriously.
But he had looked at the paintings for a long time without finding any pattern, because none of the paintings contained locations, times, or other symbolic markers.
Putting the paintings away, he looked up to meet Miao Yu’s gaze. “Is something the matter?”
Miao Yu paused. “Want some water?”
“I have some,” Xu Huo said.
Miao Yu nodded and turned back to talk to Dr. Deng.
Just then, a dry thunderclap sounded outside. Xu Huo turned to look outward and saw dark clouds gathering and churning over the island, suggesting a heavy rain was coming soon.
Dr. Deng adjusted his wristwatch. “This rain might last until evening… Will the ghost shadow appear?”
“The instance is over. That doesn’t make sense,” Chu Yuan immediately sat up from the bed, looking nervous.
Xu Huo looked at Dr. Deng. “You were there when Zhu Rumin died, right? Did the ghost shadow appear?”
“It’s hard to say if the ghost shadow you saw is the same. It looked more like a prop that could cover a face and cause suffocation,” Dr. Deng said. “The ghost shadow you saw—was it like a sheet of paper?”
Among those present, only Xu Huo had fought the ghost shadow. Although Chu Yuan and Gan Qing had seen it, they weren’t sure what object the ghost shadow was or how it attacked.
“If none of you used such a prop, then the players who died on the Kong siblings’ side were likely all killed by the ghost shadow,” Dr. Deng said. “The instance is over, but that doesn’t mean the ghost shadow won’t continue moving around in the lab.”
Xu Huo had caught the ghost shadow, but that ghost turned to powder inside the raincoat. At the time, he thought it was the ghost shadow’s escape method, but after receiving the game notification, he changed his mind—it might just have been a diversion.
He and Chu Yuan had each seen ghost shadows of different genders, which intuitively suggested either there was more than one ghost shadow, or the ghost shadow could split in two, with the two replacing each other. When the ghost shadow turned to powder, it might have been pretending the capture failed and simply scattering the powder.
He hadn’t done that, so the ghost shadow was still in his luggage compartment.
There shouldn’t be a second special prop here.
“Since it’s tied to the game, the ghost shadow might not necessarily come from below, but it’s better to be cautious. We’ll take turns keeping watch at night,” Xu Huo said. “If anything’s wrong, everyone should leave separately.”
Dr. Deng instinctively moved closer to him. “I’ll keep watch with you.”
Chu Yuan, who couldn’t stand him, deliberately said to Xu Huo, “Be careful. This old guy has bad intentions. When he came with the Kong siblings, he was already scheming against them. You took him hostage, but instead of resenting you, he’s been sucking up to you. He’s probably plotting something—poison, knockout drugs, something like that.”
Dr. Deng was quite annoyed. “My stance is firm. I was coerced by the Bolen Clan and didn’t want to work for them. Mr. Xu is a good man willing to protect me, and I’m very grateful. Don’t think everyone is so malicious!”
Chu Yuan shrugged and ignored him, leaving Dr. Deng fuming.
“It’s fine,” Xu Huo said, pressing Dr. Deng’s shoulder. “I’m a player. I can handle even an ordinary person.”
Dr. Deng immediately expressed that he needed protection and wouldn’t cause any trouble.
“I wonder if Qiu Xiangdong and Tong Jian will bring people,” Miao Yu added.
These two weren’t in the lab but hadn’t left the island either. Before entering, Xu Huo had noticed them hiding not far from the lab, unclear if they were recovering from injuries or waiting for something.
As he said before, everyone should stay alert.
All of them took self-healing agents and rested. By evening, they decided Miao Yu and Gan Qing would keep watch during the first half of the night, while Xu Huo and Chu Yuan would take the second half.
In the afternoon, rain began to fall on the island, growing heavier until nothing could be seen through the rain curtain.
By dusk, the two people outside the lab had left, perhaps moving elsewhere to shelter from the rain.
Miao Yu and Gan Qing kept watch for the first half of the night. Xu Huo and Chu Yuan switched shifts. Dr. Deng, who hadn’t dared to sleep, hurriedly followed. Seeing him volunteer, Chu Yuan gave up his spot and went to sleep.
“I’ll go outside to clear my head,” Xu Huo said before stepping out. Once outside, he first lit a cigarette and then offered one to Dr. Deng.
“I don’t usually smoke much,” Dr. Deng said, taking it and lighting it, taking a deep drag. “It’s a bit cold on the island when it rains.”
“Is it?” Xu Huo replied casually, his gaze fixed on the distant lightning. Then he added, “What do you think about flying a kite in a thunderstorm?”
Dr. Deng looked at him. “That depends on what kind of kite you’re flying. This island has dense lightning, so the chance of being struck is high. The kite flyer would be electrocuted. Besides, with such heavy rain, a kite wouldn’t fly.”
“True,” Xu Huo said, glancing back into the lab. He walked a bit further along the outer corridor before asking Dr. Deng, who had followed, “How much do you know about Professor Wu?”
Dr. Deng instinctively looked inside, but Xu Huo shook the silent figure. “They can’t hear us.”
“Not much, actually. Professor Wu is an admired senior to any pharmacologist, and also a mountain they want to climb.”
Dr. Deng took a drag of his cigarette. “He often changes his appearance and name to go to different game districts. If the Game Government hadn’t found out, his colleagues wouldn’t have discovered his identity. Also, it’s said he’s still alive. According to our pharmacology internal association’s statistics, he’s lived at least two hundred years.”
“So many people think Professor Wu isn’t a single person, but a title passed down through generations.”
“Since he developed the S-version potion, his evolution process might differ from others. Living to two hundred isn’t impossible,” Xu Huo said.
“No one knows that,” Dr. Deng shook his head. “But the S-version potion only appeared in the last few decades.”
If Professor Wu was an evolver, he must have originally used the evolution agent provided by the game, making perfect evolution impossible.
“About his background, besides possibly having a child, is there anything else?”
“That’s the mystery. No one knows his true appearance. The biological features he left in each place are different. To put it exaggeratedly, the Game Government might not even know if he’s male or female.”
(Chapter End)