# Chapter 699: Claim a Celebration Subsidy
(Stuck on writing, will revise later) The misty mountain range still carried the smell of burning, with charred remains scattered among corpses in varying states of decomposition. The entire city was filled with the scent of death and decay, wrapped in silence like plant roots buried underground, rotting away—unnoticed, unknown, and uncared for by anyone, not even worth a speck of dust.
Half a day had passed since the instance was cleared. The people from the county town had been taken away by tourist vehicles. The destroyed buildings were set aside for now, and the remaining Black Armored Men were repairing the blasted gates of Si Fang Palace.
"Click... click..." The sound of leather shoes striking stone approached from afar. A man wearing a top hat and overcoat appeared at the entrance of Si Fang Palace. Carrying a black leather suitcase, he walked inside. The busy Black Armored Men began trembling as if short-circuited, only returning to normal after he passed through—though they no longer diligently repaired the gate, instead standing still with heads lowered.
Silence filled Si Fang Palace. The staircase that Xu Huo had painstakingly found earlier was right before him. The Box Carrier stepped onto the second floor and soon saw the words "Guess Who I Am Was Here" written on a pillar.
The Box Carrier's half-masked face showed no expression, but at that moment, a paper airplane flew out from the room, slowly drifting to his feet.
The next second, the Box Carrier turned to face outside Si Fang Palace. With a single step, he vanished from his spot and reappeared at the palace entrance.
No more than fifty meters away, a middle-aged man in a shabby old leather coat stood on a flapping paper crane...
The two faced each other, one high and one low. The moment they met, the paper crane transformed into a steel-boned metal construct and dove down, while the black leather suitcase in the Box Carrier's hand suddenly burst open. A massive doll head expanded outward, opening its mouth full of metal teeth and biting the paper crane in half!
Then, colorful floor tiles rapidly spread outward from the suitcase as the center. Accompanied by genuine laughter and music, Si Fang Palace and the entire city were pushed outward in a circular pattern. Folded buildings rose from the ground, balloons and parrots flew out in droves, and groups of people appeared on the colorful streets, bringing colored soap bubbles and the cloying scent of cotton candy. They opened their arms, rushing forward to embrace the flying paper birds...
*
Arriving at District 011 without incident, Xu Huo walked out of the station and found the city even livelier than when he had left.
Many citizens and robots were parading through the streets. From time to time, aircraft bearing the words "Celebrate Harvest Festival" flew overhead. Large screens and projections played interview clips of government figures, all cheerfully talking about how much District 011 had harvested and who had made absolute contributions. They announced that not only would those who performed meritorious deeds be rewarded, but all district citizens could claim a gift package with their identification, along with an additional celebration subsidy—essentially free food, drink, and entertainment for everyone.
Xu Huo hailed an aircraft to head toward Rose Castle, then took out his District 011 communicator to browse online information.
Nearly a month had passed since he left that cruise ship where nobles killed for entertainment. Back then, to escape the ship, he had opened the "Seventeenth Hospital" instance for the first time. The result was naturally good—Yu Guo of the Eerie Sound Knights was killed, and Xu Huo successfully obtained his A-grade item, "Life Core."
At that time, not only were Bai Kou and the Eerie Sound Knights engaged in chaotic battle on the ship, but there was also infighting among the nobles of District 011. Combined with his instance interference, at least before he left, quite a few "prey" players were still alive on board.
That cruise ship itself was an item. Its owner, Captain Matt, was a B-grade player with A-grade player strength. The ship set sail periodically, and people still took pride in boarding it, which showed how well the secret was kept. Captain Matt wouldn't let players escape easily either.
Although that sea area wasn't within the game, due to Bai Kou's unexpected situation...
However, he had taken away...
===
(Stuck on writing, will revise later)
Half a day had passed since the instance was cleared. The people from the county town had been taken away by tourist vehicles. The destroyed buildings were set aside for now, and the remaining Black Armored Men were repairing the blasted gates of Si Fang Palace.
"Click... click..." The sound of leather shoes striking stone approached from afar. A man wearing a top hat and overcoat appeared at the entrance of Si Fang Palace. Carrying a black leather suitcase, he walked inside. The busy Black Armored Men began trembling as if short-circuited, only returning to normal after he passed through—though they no longer diligently repaired the gate, instead standing still with heads lowered.
Silence filled Si Fang Palace. The staircase that Xu Huo had painstakingly found earlier was right before him. The Box Carrier stepped onto the second floor and soon saw the words "Guess Who I Am Was Here" written on a pillar.
The Box Carrier's half-masked face showed no expression, but at that moment, a paper airplane flew out from the room, slowly drifting to his feet.
The next second, the Box Carrier turned to face outside Si Fang Palace. With a single step, he vanished from his spot and reappeared at the palace entrance.
No more than fifty meters away, a middle-aged man in a shabby old leather coat stood on a flapping paper crane...
The two faced each other, one high and one low. The moment they met, the paper crane transformed into a steel-boned metal construct and dove down, while the black leather suitcase in the Box Carrier's hand suddenly burst open. A massive doll head expanded outward, opening its mouth full of metal teeth and biting the paper crane in half!
Then, colorful floor tiles rapidly spread outward from the suitcase as the center. Accompanied by genuine laughter and music, Si Fang Palace and the entire city were pushed outward in a circular pattern. Folded buildings rose from the ground, balloons and parrots flew out in droves, and groups of people appeared on the colorful streets, bringing colored soap bubbles and the cloying scent of cotton candy. They opened their arms, rushing forward to embrace the flying paper birds...
*
Arriving at District 011 without incident, Xu Huo walked out of the station and found the city even livelier than when he had left.
Many citizens and robots were parading through the streets. From time to time, aircraft bearing the words "Celebrate Harvest Festival" flew overhead. Large screens and projections played interview clips of government figures, all cheerfully talking about how much District 011 had harvested and who had made absolute contributions. They announced that not only would those who performed meritorious deeds be rewarded, but all district citizens could claim a gift package with their identification, along with an additional celebration subsidy—essentially free food, drink, and entertainment for everyone.
Xu Huo hailed an aircraft to head toward Rose Castle, then took out his District 011 communicator to browse online information.
Nearly a month had passed since he left that cruise ship where nobles killed for entertainment. Back then, to escape the ship, he had opened the "Seventeenth Hospital" instance for the first time. The result was naturally good—Yu Guo of the Eerie Sound Knights was killed, and Xu Huo successfully obtained his A-grade item, "Life Core."