Chapter 606: Orb of Murmurs
Nie Xuan's expression also turned serious. "Do you have any evidence?"
"No, it's just my intuition," Xu Huo said calmly. "You can choose to believe it or not."
Nie Xuan believed he wasn't the type to speak without reason. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "I'll find a way to verify your suspicions."
Xu Huo smiled and nodded. It wasn't that he didn't want to provide more direct proof, but he genuinely had no evidence at the moment. However, the fact that the Artificer would enter the district before the complete integration of the districts and the game was enough to indicate some issues. At the very least, that ore resource was an extremely important asset. Even if District 014 currently didn't know the exact location or usage of the ore, the recent emergence of new energy zones precisely showed that District 014 was undergoing subtle changes. It wasn't impossible for special mineral resources to appear later than evolution.
"Even if the Special Defense Department exchanges the ore for items, they won't reveal the location of the mineral deposit," Nie Xuan said. "We have that much crisis awareness..."
He paused, then added, "When do you plan to go to Jing City?"
"It depends," Xu Huo said. "Originally, I was going to hitch a ride with Team Leader Song, but now I have to find my own way."
Nie Xuan's expression turned thoughtful. "There are quite a few players watching the hotel nearby. You're playing a big game here. Be careful you don't fall into a ditch yourself."
Xu Huo, however, appeared very confident and asked him to fulfill the terms of their deal.
Nie Xuan was straightforward enough. He didn't renege on the transaction just because Xu Huo had only said a few ambiguous words. Generously, he took out three C-grade items. "Pick one yourself."
[Center Stage Control: An item that allows the user to become the center of the stage. Anyone within a ten-meter radius will direct 120% of their attention to the user, making them the true focal point of the stage. It also increases the effect of similar items by 5%.]
[Obviously Happy: Obviously happy, so you must keep smiling. But "Obviously" doesn't refer to a specific person, but to everyone who hears the happy signal. As long as you shout the code "Obviously Happy," everyone who hears it will involuntarily break into a smile, lasting for ten seconds. According to psychological experts, smiling brings good luck.]
[Thunder Cracker: As a type of firecracker product, the Thunder Cracker has always been popular among children in various game districts. Its growing sales figures have allowed designers to see a promising career path. Therefore, they modified the design based on the original, creating this reusable Thunder Cracker. When used, simply throw it with force, and it can produce power comparable to a hand grenade. Note: Throwing it on the ground and throwing it on a person have similar effects. The difference is that the latter is more likely to get you beaten up.]
Two support-type items and one attack-type item. Xu Huo chose "Center Stage Control."
"The 5% effect increase sounds good, but it only works on similar items," Nie Xuan casually remarked. "It also can't be stacked on traits."
Xu Huo didn't choose this item for its effect, but because after obtaining it, a new item merge and upgrade prompt appeared on his personal panel:
[Based on the player's item information, your "Star-Binding Orb," "Center Stage Control" can be merged and upgraded with "Non-Target Confetti Tube" and "Gathering Light Non-Important Location" to replace them with one B-grade item. Do you wish to upgrade?]
All four were C-grade items. Merging them would only yield one B-grade item, but Xu Huo was currently lacking good items.
He selected "Yes."
The four items turned gray, and a few seconds later, the upgrade was complete.
[Congratulations, Player Passerby A, for obtaining the B-grade item, Orb of Murmurs.]
[Legend has it that at the E19 wormhole point, there is a desolate city known as the Abandoned City. No one has ever discovered its entrance, and no one has ever discovered its exit. Anyone who enters does so under extreme coincidence and accident.]
[Because its existence is so mysterious, no one can accurately say where it is. But according to a player who claimed to have come out of the Abandoned City, it is a city filled with sound. Every second, every inch of soil, every blade of grass, and even the air itself continuously emits signals that only the chosen can receive. The chosen person will devote themselves entirely to this indoctrination until they leave the Abandoned City and spread the city's greatness to the outside world.]
[Given that this player's mental assessment was A-grade high-risk, and he had been awake for nearly twelve days when he made this statement, his words were not adopted by the game. The items he carried were also collected by the Game Government.]
[Special Reminder: The Orb of Murmurs is a non-discriminatory attack item, but it is ineffective against players who have lost their hearing. The holder may consider becoming deaf after the fact.]
Xu Huo's gaze paused on the last sentence for a moment before he continued conversing with Nie Xuan as if nothing had happened.
Their words contained mutual probing, but both were restrained. Towards the end of the meal, Nie Xuan mentioned Abel, saying that during the search of the Taole Club, they found him trapped inside an item. That place held quite a bit of the club's supplies.
"He probably slipped in to grab some benefits during the chaos. In such situations, the Special Defense Department usually just expels people directly, but he said he was a good friend of yours."
Indeed, Abel had disappeared in the middle of the fight. But many players had been forced into instances at the time, so his absence wasn't surprising. It seemed the man had a bit of cunning after all.
"His return ticket should be near Ting City. Even if you send him away, he'll have to come back," Xu Huo said.
"Alright, I'll fine him and then let him go." Nie Xuan stood up to pay the bill, then added, "There are three cars outside the hotel. We'll meet at the back door later."
Xu Huo thanked him and returned to the hotel. He told Zhou Ning and Hu Wenhu to wait in Yang City for Yan Jiayu, while he and the Painting Woman would return to Ting City first.
"Based on the Special Defense Department's investigation, she should have entered a random instance."
"No problem," Zhou Ning said readily. "We'll wait near the resort. Random instances only take a few days."
In the evening, Xu Huo left the hotel, got into a Special Defense Department vehicle, and returned to Ting City.
Although Nie Xuan had arranged for two cars to take different routes to Jing City, they were still followed all the way. After entering Ting City's territory, the number of followers only increased. By the time they reached the commercial street, someone even brazenly scrolled contact information on the big screen, inviting Xu Huo to join some player organization, offering items and potions with a generous tone, as if preparing for a big operation.
"Bored out of their minds." Sima Xiao'er rolled her eyes repeatedly. "If he wanted to join a player organization, none of them are as good as the Special Defense Department."
Nie Xuan called the information department to have those "ads" removed and increased patrol vehicles near the branch office. But after hearing the report from the other side, he glanced at Xu Huo. "Leave as soon as possible. It's best not to come back for a short while."
The car stopped by the roadside. Xu Huo got out, then turned back and said, "The Special Defense Department still has that much deterrent power. Believe in yourself."