Chapter 667: Better an Insider Than an Outsider
"Not yet, but I've compiled a document on the random instances that appeared near headquarters. Everyone can take a look at one of the mental-type instances."
Nie Xuan put the file up on the large screen. "Seventeenth Hospital, a D-rank random instance. This is also the first D-rank mental-type instance to appear within our country. This instance lasted about four hours in total, but it had the highest death toll among all the random instances this time. Including cannibal players and ordinary players, nearly eighty people died."
The screen switched to a photo—it was the scene when all the corpses suddenly surged out after the instance disappeared. Dozens of bodies were laid out together, each with a different manner of death, shocking to behold.
"The first to come out of the instance were a pair of siblings surnamed A. According to them, Seventeenth Hospital was an instance that combined hallucinations and viruses. It was extremely difficult, and many players went mentally unstable under the instance's interference."
"There are two points here. First, Xu Huo also entered that instance. Second, he had a mental evolution in Flower City before this."
"Are you trying to say that Xu Huo used his own advantage to kill a large number of players through the instance?" Team Leader Chang found it hard to believe. "This is a random instance! No matter how strong he is, he couldn't kill that many players in one go!"
"It might not have been him personally, but he should have been able to interfere with others."
"Could that female player have secretly helped?"
"When the instance opened, Li Chun was not near headquarters. Besides, the name of this instance is very interesting—Seventeenth Hospital." Nie Xuan said, "The hospital where Xu Huo received treatment for mental illness as a child was also called Seventeenth Hospital."
The conference room suddenly fell silent, with only Nie Xuan continuing to speak. "Whether there is a direct connection between the two cannot be determined for now. However, from its appearance and triggering characteristics, Seventeenth Hospital is very similar to the overlapping space that previously moved from Ting City to Huacheng. That overlapping space was also a mental hospital, but no one triggered an instance at the time, and this random instance that appeared has now become Seventeenth Hospital."
"Based on my speculation, the overlapping space in Flower City was an unformed instance space. It was only due to the interference of the players who entered that it formed into the current Seventeenth Hospital instance. According to Sima Xiao'er, everyone saw a different hospital name at the time. As for why it ultimately became Seventeenth Hospital, I can only boldly guess that it has something to do with Xu Huo."
Team Leader Wu couldn't help but swallow his saliva. "Are you saying that a D-rank player can possess an instance?"
It was no longer a secret that a random instance boss could be a player, but how to control an instance was still a blind spot for District 014. After all, the birth of an instance was a rare opportunity—how could they just happen to encounter one?
But the "Seventeenth Hospital" instance might have been born in Flower City, and its "efficiency" in opening in Jing City was so high that it was hard not to think along these lines.
The expressions of those present varied, but all were more worried than pleased. Possessing a random instance was like a dimensional crushing for low-level players, completely breaking the absolute advantage of player tickets.
"That's not necessarily true." Nie Xuan added, "Perhaps he only obtained an entry ticket to the instance."
Just like the instance entrance the Y country found, Xu Huo might have also obtained an instance-opening item in the overlapping space. And since he had evolved in the mental aspect, this instance suited him perfectly. Using the instance to kill players wouldn't be difficult.
Everyone's mood was like a roller coaster. Team Leader Lu said, "Even just an instance entrance is enough to inspire fear. Team Leader Nie is right—he didn't move the instance to Y country, which is indeed showing restraint."
"In any case, we need to step up our research on instances." Team Leader Chang said, "Otherwise, it'll really come to a point where the Special Defense Department can't handle a single player."
Human hearts are fickle and hard to trust; strength is everything.
This time, no one raised any objections. Minister Fan handed the interference work over to Nie Xuan, with the requirement that Xu Huo's name must not appear in connection with this attack. As for how others might speculate, that didn't matter.
After the meeting, Team Leader Lu stopped Nie Xuan alone and asked directly, "Do you think the holder of Seventeenth Hospital is Xu Huo?"
"I already stated my opinion at the meeting." Nie Xuan smiled slightly. "It's very difficult for a player to hold a random instance. I'm more inclined to believe that this instance is an autonomous instance controlled by a special prop, and the instance boss is not a living person."
Team Leader Lu stared at him for a moment. "Are you telling the truth?"
"I only say what I'm sure of." Nie Xuan said, "But sooner or later, a player will obtain instance ownership. It's better for it to be one of our own than someone from another country."
"Makes sense." Team Leader Lu rubbed his chin. "Once the headquarters matter is settled, you need to step up. We can't let the Special Defense Department fall behind."
"I'll hand over my work to other colleagues tonight and enter an instance tomorrow morning." Nie Xuan switched the file to his other hand.
"Leave the trivial matters to us. It would be a waste of your talent to spend it on these things." Team Leader Lu took over the remaining work for him.
Nie Xuan accepted gracefully and left with the file.
Back in his office, he sat at his desk, opened the folder, and pulled out the last page of handwritten notes. After looking at it for a few seconds, he lit it with a lighter.
*
"What are you looking at? Never seen a man with his ass out?" On a bus heading to the county town, a tall, burly male player who had just boarded used a thin shirt to cover his bare lower body, glaring at the passengers who had all turned to stare at him.
"I've seen a bare ass, but I've never seen a bare ass with a bird on display." In the corner of the last row, a young woman with her hair tied up in countless small braids crossed her arms and teased.
"It's you!" The tall, burly man squeezed his legs together and charged over. "You bitch! You dared to mess with me!"
The young woman touched her sleeve and said slowly, "Don't be impulsive. Impulse is the devil, and the devil might not even leave you that last scrap of cloth to cover yourself."
The tall, burly man indeed stopped in his tracks. It wasn't that he was a coward, but that woman's prop was just too damn bizarre.
"Find a seat and sit down. What are you standing for?" The driver in front shouted.
The tall, burly man looked around. The entire bus had only three empty seats left. Aside from the passengers who seemed to be NPCs, the seats near the empty ones were all occupied by players who clearly looked tough to mess with.
His nostrils flared, and he directly said to the player sitting in front of him, "Get up!"
The player with a hat covering his face didn't respond, but the smell of blood kept wafting from him, indicating he was seriously injured from the train.
It's easy to pick on the weak. The tall, burly man didn't want to provoke the other players, so he tried to force him to give up his seat.
After a few seconds with no reaction, the tall, burly man reached out to grab his shoulder. A young player nearby saw this and quickly tried to stop him, saying, "Everyone will affect... how others see us..."
But before he could finish, the tall, burly man had already stopped, as if suddenly hit by a pause button.