Chapter 826: The Spider's Funeral
Compared to Dr. Deng's urgency, Xu Huo was much more composed. He didn't dwell on this "wasted trip" or press the issue, nor did he rush to judgment just because he wanted an expert who understood the Perfect Potion.
"For the time being, Black Epaulets will definitely be keeping an eye on the castle. You can't leave for now," he said after a moment. "In a couple of days, I'll get a Non-Player Ticket, and you can go to another game district."
Seeing that he was about to leave after saying this, Dr. Deng quickly called out, "Don't you really want the Perfect Potion? Your evolution rate is still very low. If you can get the S-grade potion early, maybe you can completely solve this problem before the evolution aftereffects appear!"
"No one could have predicted what happened this time. I'm sorry that Black Epaulets has their suspicions about you, but I'm sincere. I can definitely help you improve the potion. Besides, I know a lot of details about Dr. Wu. Even if you get the Perfect Potion later, you'll at least need someone you can trust to verify whether it's genuine or fake."
Xu Huo turned back at this and suddenly asked, "Do you know what the normal lifespan of an Evolver is?"
"If they don't abuse Evolution Agents, they have at least one hundred and five years before the evolution aftereffects appear. That's the effect of ordinary people taking Evolution Agents. The lifespan of a normally evolving player can be extended by fifteen to fifty years. However, most players experience premature aftereffects due to excessive use of agents." Dr. Deng was well-versed in this common knowledge.
"In other words, as long as I take Evolution Agents step by step, I still have at least a hundred years of life," Xu Huo said. "By then, do you think the evolution aftereffects will still matter as much as the end of my lifespan?"
Just like everyone knows that irregular diet and sleep can lead to illness and shorten lifespan, but the end of life is still far away, making it hard to have a real sense of it. Therefore, over the long years, people don't pay much attention to these details.
The same goes for evolution aftereffects for players.
Do players not know the consequences of abusing Evolution Agents? Of course they do. But to survive in the game, they have to increase their evolution rate this way. In fact, most players in the game are young or middle-aged.
If Xu Huo really evolved through the Evolution Agents provided by the game, rather than relying on Dr. Deng's private research, it would be better to hope that by the time he gets old, the Game Government will have researched and released the Perfect Evolution Potion.
And since Xu Huo happened to use the S-grade Evolution Agent, Dr. Deng's proposal was even less necessary.
"Do you think a player's lifespan is only a mere hundred and fifty years?" Dr. Deng said, as if making a major decision, his expression serious. "That's for players who haven't achieved Perfect Evolution!"
"Dr. Wu's timeline of activity is so long—isn't that because of the benefits of Perfect Evolution?"
They had discussed this issue before. Given the time span over which "Dr. Wu" had distributed the Perfect Potion, Xu Huo felt it was very possible that this person's identity had been passed down. After all, "Dr. Wu" would have gone through a long period of study before developing the Perfect Potion. Even if he had created it in his twenties or thirties, his age by now would be considerable.
However, after learning about "Curved Time," he had another idea.
"He might be relying on Curved Time to travel through different time and space."
Dr. Deng laughed after hearing this. "Do you think jumping through space via Curved Time can make you young again? As far as I know, that's impossible!"
"I don't understand the theory, but if this method were feasible, the Game Government would never have changed generations, Super Players wouldn't die, and the world would have been in chaos long ago."
"So your conclusion is that Perfect Evolution can extend a player's lifespan," Xu Huo said thoughtfully. "But my basic evolution is already complete. Taking the Perfect Potion now would have no effect."
"As long as there's a Perfect Potion, maybe one day it will work!" Dr. Deng's eyes blazed like fire, exceptionally bright. "You're not going to die tomorrow. In a few decades, there will definitely be progress!"
The words weren't pleasant, but the logic was sound.
"I'll think about it. Stay here for now." Xu Huo had Mr. Dong lock him back up, then walked out of the annex first.
He looked up at the sky. A cloud—well, let's call it a cloud—had two or three numbers poking out of it. Probably sensing his gaze, these numbers kept fluctuating, hovering between six, seven, and eight.
Sure enough, professional matters require professional people. Even Xu Huo hadn't expected Black Epaulets to disguise themselves and hide in the clouds.
"Sir." Mr. Dong came out carrying a glass cabinet containing a spider. "This spider is dying of old age. I'd like to hold a simple funeral for it."
Xu Huo nodded. "Where do you plan to bury it?"
"The Garden Maze," Mr. Dong said. "There's a path specifically designated as their burial ground."
Xu Huo respected his hobbies and habits. "Do I need to attend the funeral?"
Mr. Dong's eyes shifted slightly in his direction. "It would be better if you could come, sir."
Xu Huo said he would definitely attend. On his way back to the front castle, he added, "Now that Rose Castle is no longer an instance, you can go to other game districts to compete. But I can't travel with you like He Pu did."
"I don't plan to leave here for now," Mr. Dong said.
Xu Huo nodded and said nothing more. However, when they returned, Painting Woman and Xiao Yuan were standing at the entrance, relaying Bai Kou's message: She didn't want to see spiders in the castle.
Meaning Mr. Dong's spider couldn't be brought inside.
"Sister Bai seems to really hate spiders," Xiao Yuan whispered to Xu Huo. "She told me and Sister Xiao Chun to clean all the spider webs out of the house."
"A lot of girls hate spiders." Yan Jiayu poked her head over from behind to take a look and said to Mr. Dong, "Your spider is dying. Do you want me to chant some sutras to help it pass on? That's what we do back home."
The glass cabinet was placed on a small table in the garden outside. Yan Jiayu changed into some gear, sat cross-legged beside the table, and began murmuring incantations.
Xu Huo led Painting Woman and Xiao Yuan to stand nearby as witnesses, while Mr. Dong fed the spider for the last time. But the venomous spider with flower patterns couldn't even crawl anymore and couldn't eat. Finally, it crawled onto his finger and stopped moving.
Mr. Dong silently stroked the spider's head. After a quiet farewell, he used a small knife to extract the venom from the spider's body, then covered it with a small piece of white cloth. Following Yan Jiayu's lead, he solemnly walked to the Garden Maze.
After the final farewell, Mr. Dong buried the spider in a small wooden box beneath the flower roots.
"Don't you need to set up a tombstone?" Yan Jiayu asked.
The adults didn't react unusually, but Xiao Yuan looked up at her in shock and surprise, then glanced at Xu Huo and Painting Woman beside her. With a confused and bewildered expression, she lowered her head.
(Chapter End)