Chapter 585: Internal Exchange
"Because there are too many people who talk too much." Xu Huo said coldly.
Hu Wenhu didn't understand and looked confused.
"I don't like people who talk too much, so I kill them when I see them. Naturally, I get plenty of potions." Xu Huo smiled at him.
Hu Wenhu shrank his neck, grabbed a bread roll, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Zhou Ning couldn't help but laugh and patted him on the shoulder. "You haven't rested well lately. Go get some sleep."
Hu Wenhu went to the next room. Zhou Ning turned around and took out some strange potions she had obtained, such as deodorant potion, a facial cleanser that made the face glow, a silencing potion, an insomnia potion, and so on.
"I don't have much use for these. See if any of them are useful to you?"
Xu Huo picked a few and then asked her about the instances she had done.
"My rating has been hovering between C and D. To become a D-rank player, I'll definitely need to complete a few more instances," Zhou Ning said. "But I heard that the Vanguard Forum recently started a D-rank player certification, and there are quite a few people now."
"Zone 014 is so big, there are still plenty of smart people." Sima Xiao'er glanced gloomily at Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen.
Zhou Ning knew that Xu Huo had already become a D-rank player. He and Yan Jiayu were among the earlier batch in the country, and they were different from the players in the Special Defense Department.
The Special Defense Department relied on accumulating instances. By continuously entering fixed instances to train and level up, some players could enter instances four times a month. This way, they completed many instances, and even with a lower rating, a few months were enough to accumulate.
Xu Huo was different. His completion rate for single instances was very high, and his rating was high, so he only needed to do a few instances to become a D-rank player.
"I asked Yan Jiayu before," Zhou Ning sighed. "But her method is too hard to imitate. I really can't learn that brute-force approach."
Yan Jiayu was now a somewhat famous player. The Special Defense Department had even invited her to guide new players, hoping for smooth completions and to learn some experience. But unfortunately, they couldn't learn Yan Jiayu's boldness.
Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen, sitting nearby, couldn't help but look at Xu Huo. Like Zhou Ning, they were curious about how Xu Huo managed to clear instances.
When Xu Huo came out of the Headchopper instance, his rating wasn't very high. But since he was a research subject for the Special Defense Department, that instance had become a case study. Yuan Yao hadn't revealed much, and the specific details were learned from Huang Junjie. But hearing it from others was never as detailed as hearing it from the person involved.
Before Xu Huo could speak, Sima Xiao'er, who had been in a low mood, said cruelly, "You can't learn from Yan Jiayu, so why do you think you can learn from Brother Xu? Weakness in combat can be compensated for, but intelligence is a bit more difficult."
Although Sima Xiao'er had been in the same random instance as Xu Huo, he didn't know much about the process, and that instance had collapsed, which the Special Defense Department had classified as confidential.
His words plunged everyone present, including Sima Xiao'er himself, into a serious silence.
"Is clearing instances difficult?" Xu Huo asked them.
"Of course it's difficult," Sima Xiao'er said. "I barely scrape by every time, and it's always thrilling."
"Even though it's difficult, you can still clear them. That means the instances guarantee a certain clearance rate, even for ordinary people," Xu Huo said. "Since you can clear them, it means the general direction is correct. As long as you pay attention to the details along the way, getting a high rating isn't hard."
The group fell even more silent. Zhou Ning smiled awkwardly. "I think Sister Jiayu's method isn't completely impossible to try."
It's just that not everyone can have such a powerful physique.
Xu Huo didn't say much more. Anyone who could survive an instance was definitely not stupid. Yan Jiayu might seem reckless and reliant on brute force, but she was actually very clever. Her off-the-charts combat power was just the icing on the cake.
Additionally, low-level fixed instances were definitely of normal difficulty. How many people could clear them in one go depended entirely on the team. Usually, a group of people brainstorming together could eventually figure out the key to clearing the instance. The difference lay in whether they could get a higher rating through attention to detail.
The Clown City instance this time was unexpected. The traits and items he finally obtained were more than in previous instances, likely because he triggered an additional mission. So besides a perfect clearance, there were also hidden bonus points.
But not every instance had an additional mission. The Clown City trip was just a coincidence.
"Buzz buzz!" At that moment, his phone rang. It was Yan Jiayu calling.
"Xu Huo, you're back? You didn't show up last month. I thought you weren't coming back to Zone 014." As she spoke, there was a strange whimpering sound in the background.
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow and smiled. "You brought back some local specialties?"
"Yeah," Yan Jiayu said excitedly. "I caught a strange bird in a random instance. It's probably the instance boss. As soon as I caught it, the instance disappeared, and it followed me out."
"Do you want to see it? The bird is really beautiful, and it glows at night."
The call switched to video, and Xu Huo saw the bird she had caught. It looked a bit like a peacock but with more vibrant feathers and a larger body. Its eyes had a dazzling glow, making it hard to see the actual eyeballs through the camera. The iron cage holding it was scratched with many marks, showing how fierce this mutated bird was.
But no matter how fierce, it could only pretend to be dead in the cage now. Its beak was tied up by Yan Jiayu, so it couldn't even cry out. When poked with a stone rod, it made a whimpering sound somewhat like a human.
"Sister, you're awesome!" Sima Xiao'er gave a thumbs up.
"My master likes to keep small animals. I plan to take this bird back to him." Yan Jiayu reached in, plucked a feather from the bird's rear, and held it up to the camera. "This bird is also strange. As soon as the feather is plucked, it's poisonous. I got hit twice and almost had my eyes pecked out. Luckily, I brought enough antidote. But I've run out now. Xu Huo, do you have any good antidotes? I want to buy some. The Special Defense Department people charge too much and won't negotiate."
The three Special Defense Department members present felt very awkward.
"I really admire the person who refused to lower the price," Zhou Ning laughed. "Aren't they afraid of getting their head blown off?"
"Sister Ning is here too." Yan Jiayu greeted her and then said sincerely, "Do you want this feather? You could make a small hidden weapon out of it."
"Sure, I'll buy it from you," Zhou Ning said. Then she watched as Yan Jiayu plucked another handful of feathers from the bird's rear and muttered to herself, "I can't pluck any more, or it'll go bald."
"I wonder if hair growth potion works on mutated animals." Xu Huo also laughed, then said, "I have something better than antidotes here. I'll sell it to you at a discount. With this, no poison can take you down."
Yan Jiayu said cheerfully, "That's great! The courier service won't accept this item, so I have to deliver the bird myself. I'll come find you in a couple of days. Where are you?"
(End of Chapter)