Chapter 909: Migrants Within the Archway
When Xu Huo stepped through the archway, he encountered spiritual interference. However, he was familiar with this process, so adapting was not difficult. But the woman who had followed him in was already standing in front of him, raising her hand as if to slap him.
Meeting his gaze, the woman quickly withdrew her hand and stammered in panic, "I... I wasn't trying to harm you..."
"Have some water first." Xu Huo handed her half a bottle of water.
The woman took it with a mix of longing and care, measured out a capful to drink, then screwed the cap back on. "Follow me."
The "Archway" was indeed a Location Item, but it wasn't as powerful as the painter Jiang Jiang's Octagonal Gallery. The illusion was not hard to break. Once dispelled, the interior revealed a small service-area-style space, containing a small shop, a restaurant, and a restroom.
The woman led Xu Huo into the restroom.
A young man, seemingly under twenty, lay on the ground, barely breathing. A boy of about twelve or thirteen was tending to him, while two slightly younger girls sat nearby. When they saw someone enter, all three instinctively used their bodies to shield the young man on the floor.
"The one who's poisoned is my brother... Can you save him...?" the woman said hoarsely. "We didn't mean to block the way here. When we escaped from Base 17, we ran into some players. My brother got hurt, and after barely making it here, he was bitten again... The herbs we brought couldn't neutralize the poison... He was afraid we'd run into trouble, so he set up a trap..."
"Where are you headed?" Xu Huo crouched down to examine the young man's injuries. His right arm and left leg were both broken—they wouldn't be usable for a while even with treatment. The poison was actually the least of his problems. "How long have you been here?"
Base 17 and Base 18 weren't far apart.
"We're going to Base 37," the boy said, gathering his courage to meet Xu Huo's eyes. "The broadcast said they'd take in infected people there. Uncle said if we go there, we'll have a better life!"
Under the tense and fearful gazes of the group, Xu Huo fed the young man some antidote. "It's not a very potent poison, but he has injuries and is somewhat dehydrated, which makes it look worse. He'll wake up in a little while."
"Thank you... thank you..." A few tears trickled from the woman's dry eyes.
Xu Huo didn't plan to leave immediately, so he said to the woman, "There's a kitchen nearby. See if there are any cooking utensils and make some food."
He handed her some rice and vegetables. "Do you recognize this food? Boil it with water until it's soft, then you can eat it."
The woman obediently left. Xu Huo watched the time, and after five minutes, he said to the person on the ground, "You can talk now, given your current state."
Only then did the young man on the floor slowly open his eyes.
The children gathered around him, excited yet restrained. The young player sat up and looked at Xu Huo. "I don't have many items left. If you want, I can give you this door."
"That's not urgent," Xu Huo said. "I heard you're heading to W37 Base. Coincidentally, I'm going there too. But I don't know much about this station's situation, so I'd like to hear what you have to say."
The young man wanted to travel with Xu Huo to W37 Base, so he answered all his questions without holding back.
What Xu Huo wanted to know first was the relationship between the remaining base cities.
The instance task was to deliver a living sample to W37 Base City. According to the map data, compared to W11, W37 was indeed closer to W19. However, the complexity of the two routes was incomparable. In his opinion, going directly to W11 would be more reasonable. Additionally, the background introduction mentioned that W11 had discovered a human xenomorph carrying antibodies. Such a good opportunity shouldn't be handed over to W37. This wasn't just about the difficulty of transporting the sample; it involved resource exchanges between base cities.
Yet the task's commissioner was W11, which seemed a bit odd.
The young man had only recently become a D-level player and hadn't personally visited different base cities. What he knew came from information broadcast earlier or from data trades on the bounty platform.
It was common for base cities to fight each other, but they didn't completely cut off contact. A typical scenario was that two base cities would announce a severance of relations today, only to announce a resumption of ties tomorrow night, depending on whether each had resources the other wanted.
Part of a base city's resources came from players, and their strength changed frequently, so this kind of self-contradictory behavior happened every few days.
Equally common were broadcasts about players "jumping ship." The term "jumping ship" was used instead of "betrayal" because it was too normal for players here to move from one base city to another, sometimes even taking a group of "friends" with them. But this process was mutual—base cities poached from each other, so it was hard to use harsh words.
"The broadcast also reported a trading accident once," the young man continued. "Bases 25 and 29 were going to trade a batch of resources, but Base 29 didn't know that a player who used to belong to Base 25 had gone to another base city. So when they met, Base 29 proactively handed over the resources. By the time the real recipient from Base 25 arrived, the trade was already over."
He added, "That's why trades now require individually unlocked password bracelets."
This kind of circular player-hopping was utterly absurd, but at W37 Station, it was nothing new. Some base cities even used sex to bribe players, and events like matchmaking turning into concubine-selection ceremonies were not uncommon.
Whether it was the relationships between base cities or the cities themselves, they could all be described with one word: shameless.
At least, that was the overall impression.
But Xu Huo took it with a grain of salt.
"Didn't you say no base city was willing to accept infected residents?" Xu Huo asked again.
"W37 Base City is different." The young man's eyes lit up slightly. "I met a player from Base 37 in an instance. He said they've actually been taking in infected people all along, but communication between cities is poor, so others don't know."
"Wouldn't the disease spread?" Xu Huo added.
"As long as protection is good, there's no problem!" he said immediately. "The reason so many cities were affected before was entirely due to lack of experience. And not every infected person dies. My sister and her children are all alive. Besides having spots, they're perfectly healthy!"
"I've been in close contact with them too, and I'm fine!"
"No need to get so worked up," Xu Huo said. "You're just one case, and you're a player, not an ordinary person. That doesn't prove anything."
The other's eyes darkened. He stopped trying to explain and simply said, "I'm telling the truth."
Xu Huo believed he was telling the truth. In fact, according to the data in the library, some players had been infected during the initial outbreak, but their infection rate was much lower than ordinary people's. Another advantage players had was that they could buy special potions, giving them a chance to save themselves even if infected.
This naturally led to a new question: Hadn't any players brought back potions or vaccines from other game zones?