Chapter 604: Is His Mental State Still Stable Now?
As the number of D-level players grew, certain information about tickets and players was actually not that hard to obtain. If one went to a district with more comprehensive gamification, they might even find it through online channels.
But knowing how to obtain a Non-Player Ticket was essentially useless for most people. Players were not allowed to ride Non-Player trains. To board one, they would have to suspend their player status. Suspending player status wasn't like joining the Game Government to become a Gray Player while retaining traits and items; instead, it meant closing the Personal Panel, with the only difference from ordinary people being a stronger physique.
So ordinary people had no use for it. Moreover, obtaining a Non-Player Train ticket required passing a game review. For an ordinary person to board a train took more than just courage.
The content of his reply quickly caught the attention of players, but not long after, the original post was deleted.
So he started his own thread and added some noteworthy content, such as not easily leaving the train, even if the train was wrecked by players. It was best to wait for the Orbital Supply Department to clean up the mess. The space where the tracks contacted might make tickets unusable, or it might simply be unstable space. In short, if the train stalled, surviving depended entirely on luck.
But if someone was skilled and bold enough, they could ignore his advice.
There were already detailed player-made guides about station tickets and entering instances. The information Xu Huo posted was only known to a few players; most people had never encountered it, especially regarding Gray Players.
So after the post was published, many people asked how to become a Gray Player.
Xu Huo scrolled down a few replies without responding, but soon others answered, though vaguely. They said it required special contributions to the Game Government, because the rules for granting Gray Player status weren't fixed either—it all depended on whether the Game Government was willing.
He started the trend, and then many players shared information they knew, including mentioning Wormhole Flowers and posting photos.
Good. It was exactly the same as the potted plant Xu Huo had brought back from the Little Flower Red Red Building.
Zhou Ning and the others were also browsing the forum. When they saw Tang Guangbo's paper, they couldn't help but sigh. "That Professor Tang seems to be an ordinary person, right? Amazing, he can predict the situation so accurately!"
Of course, those who had seen the script beforehand were different.
Xu Huo wasn't interested in Tang Guangbo for now. He took out the 101 Shelter and planned to cultivate a few more live King Fungi.
"Xu Huo, are you really going to the Special Defense Department Headquarters?" Zhou Ning asked him. "I see the internet is in an uproar. Many players say they're going to Jing City to squat for a front-row seat."
"Are these people bored out of their minds? Do they think Brother Xu is going to fight the Special Defense Department?" Sima Xiao'er curled his lip, but seeing Xu Huo's unchanged expression, he asked nervously, "Brother Xu, you're not really going to attack the Special Defense Department, are you?"
Meanwhile, in the underground conference room of the Special Defense Department Headquarters far away in Jing City, Minister Fan and the other team leaders responsible for different regional branches also shared this doubt.
"...In the next ten days, I will visit the Special Defense Department Headquarters."
Xu Huo's video clip had been looped no less than ten times in the conference room. Although the face wasn't the original one, the eyes and tone hadn't changed. It was impossible to tell if he was joking or if he really intended to come for the Special Defense Department.
"What does he mean?" Team Leader Chang couldn't help asking. "Is he picking a fight with the Special Defense Department?"
"I don't think so," Team Leader Wu said. "The root of the matter lies with Twin Serpents. If Twin Serpents is dealt with, this issue can be turned over."
"Twin Serpents definitely needs to be dealt with. To let such a large Cannibal Player organization grow right under the Special Defense Department's nose, I think some people are trying to take advantage while we're busy with the border and the antidote," Team Leader Lu said. "Besides, we have to give the public an explanation. There are already rumors online that the Special Defense Department secretly cultivates Cannibal Players to control others. The Twin Serpents matter needs to be handled quickly, and internal personnel must be investigated as well."
"But I think these are two separate issues," she continued. "If Xu Huo really plans to attack the Special Defense Department, Twin Serpents can't be the cause. He was just coincidentally caught up in it."
"I agree with Team Leader Lu's view," Jiang Qiao said. "Xu Huo's statement also has a premise: that he incited Twin Serpents members to come and seek revenge on him."
"Now, forget Twin Serpents members. I bet many Cannibal Players have their eyes on him," Team Leader Chang sighed.
"Maybe that's his real goal," Minister Fan said. "If Cannibal Players gather near the headquarters, the Special Defense Department becomes his insurance policy."
"Not only that. Other players will definitely gather too. Who knows if they'll cause trouble in Jing City?"
"Should we restrict entry?" Team Leader Chang suggested.
"No," Minister Fan refused. "The Special Defense Department doesn't have the ability to fully screen Cannibal Players. If we take a blanket approach, it won't benefit us."
The huge mess Twin Serpents had caused made the Special Defense Department realize that if they didn't find a way to deal with Cannibal Players hiding their identities internally, it would be disastrous. True collapse always starts from within. If it weren't for that reckless fool Young Master Qiu being too arrogant, pulling up the radish and revealing the mud, this Twin Serpents incident would have been hard to trace back to its source.
At this point, there was no need to consider lying low or waiting for prey. Catch and kill. Only with thunderous methods could Cannibal Players be reined in. So handling the Twin Serpents incident wasn't difficult. In fact, when Team Leader Song acted yesterday, the Special Defense Department had already started making arrests.
From another perspective, Xu Huo blowing things up was also beneficial to the Special Defense Department. There were almost no high-level players. District 014 still relied on hot weapons. Dealing with more Cannibal Players as early as possible would both reduce future trouble and serve as a warning to other evolved humans who hadn't become players yet. It was a win-win.
"Then the only issue is Xu Huo's attitude," Team Leader Wu said. "The fear is that he really is coming for the Special Defense Department."
The conference room fell silent. After a while, Jiang Qiao spoke. "The samples from the Tao Le Club were sent back overnight. The result is that what he used against Team Leader Song and the others was just an ordinary fungus. As he said, the antidote is effective. But what he used on the Twin Serpents members is a contaminant, at least B-rank or above. Currently, we cannot effectively contain it."
That's right. Not eliminate, but contain. That stuff spread from person to person, from object to object. There was no good way to deal with it except complete isolation.
In other words, if Xu Huo wanted to, he could turn a city into a contaminated dead zone in a very short time, without even expending much effort.
"It won't come to that, it won't come to that," Team Leader Wu shook his head repeatedly. "Xu Huo isn't that kind of person. Otherwise, he wouldn't have handed over the Detox Fungus to the Special Defense Department."
"I have a question," Minister Fan said, crossing his hands on the table with a solemn expression. "Is his mental state still stable now?"
(End of Chapter)