Chapter 928: A Partner Who Kills Without Hesitation
Zhu Feiyun glanced at Xu Huo several times, seemingly finding it hard to believe that such an unremarkable person could be a high-level player.
"A bonus point in a C-rank instance is triggering a branch mission. Branch missions make it easier to get a high rating," Kuang Wenjun said. "So far, I haven't triggered any branch mission."
Xu Huo, sitting upright at the dining table, took a sip of water and turned to look at Teacher Ai, who was repairing the car outside. "It's still hard to say whether there's a branch mission or not."
"If there is a branch mission, I'd say it's probably related to the living samples," Shangguan Xi said. "Look at that xenomorph—does it seem like the hope to save ordinary people from dire straits? W11 went through all that trouble to get a few samples, not keeping a single one for themselves, sending them all to W37. Who knows what shady business they're up to behind the scenes."
"The clearance mission only asks me to take the sample to W37. There's no mention of anyone coming to receive it or what happens to the sample afterward."
"I have the same thought," Zhu Feiyun said. "If someone does come to pick up the sample when we get there, we can follow and take a look. We already have the clearance guaranteed anyway."
Neither Zhu Feiyun nor Kuang Wenjun were doing a C-rank instance for the first time. Having guessed the possibility of a branch mission, they didn't plan to go it alone but directly informed their companions. Sharing the score naturally meant sharing the risk—a branch mission in a C-rank instance was definitely not simple.
"What's the situation in W37 Base City now?" Xu Huo withdrew his gaze and asked Shangguan Xi.
Shangguan Xi hadn't been idle either, constantly checking relevant information. "There's nothing special about W37 itself. The mayor of Base City led a team out to explore and is about to return. Their arrival time should be about the same as ours."
"There's one piece of news that's more important. Some people say that several players who failed their clearance missions are specifically lurking near W37, ambushing other players. Quite a few players have fallen for it, and their bracelets have been destroyed."
"A destroyed bracelet means clearance failure?" Pan Qiao was quite surprised.
"Who knows? It's not like we can test it with our own bracelets," Shangguan Xi said, not too concerned about it. "We'll ask when we run into someone next time."
Xu Huo didn't say anything. Kuang Wenjun discreetly glanced at him before speaking. "Whether the bracelet is destroyed or not probably has nothing to do with clearance."
"Why do you say that?" Zhu Feiyun asked.
"This bracelet is a common authentication method for material exchanges used by W37 Base Station. In our mission, it's nominally issued by W11. The bracelet authentication is just a handover method, while the clearance mission requires delivering a living sample to W37 Base City—they're two separate things."
Kuang Wenjun paused before continuing, "If some players have already been confirmed to have failed their clearance, it's very likely that the sample died after authentication."
"If there's no bracelet authentication, how do you determine if players are teaming up?" Shangguan Xi asked. "And if the authenticated sample dying means clearance failure, doesn't that mean once you authenticate one sample, you can't authenticate a second? That doesn't make sense."
"If it's to increase the difficulty of clearance, it makes sense." Zhu Feiyun stroked his chin. "Think about it—which is easier to deal with: a group of players trying to steal living samples, or a group of players specifically trying to ruin your clearance?"
Shangguan Xi thought about it and agreed. "This game is too damn sneaky!"
Xu Huo also felt that the clearance mission and W11's bracelet mission were two different things. This was actually due to the vagueness of the background information. When players learned that the mission was issued by W11 Base City, they would naturally assume there was no distinction, but in reality, the game itself and the requirements of W37 Base Station were two separate matters.
Of course, to be safe, even if players guessed this possibility, they would still transport the cage together for the sake of clearance.
This was also one of the reasons why, even though he had already obtained one living sample, he still authenticated a second.
"The cage is too heavy and adds difficulty to the clearance," Pan Qiao said. "If we didn't have the cage and just transported a xenomorph, it would be much simpler."
"But we can't just throw away the cage." Shangguan Xi propped his chin on his hand, staring at the car and people outside. "Otherwise, what's the point of going through all this trouble to get a car and a guide?"
Xu Huo patted him on the shoulder. "Teacher Ai needs to arrive alive at W37 Base City."
Shangguan Xi grinned. "Brother Xu, what are you saying? I was joking. I don't really want to kill him. I even carried him on my back while running for my life. That kind of bond forged through life and death isn't something you just throw away."
Xu Huo smiled and nodded. "Ding Wei and Zhao Jiahuai are already dead. They must have made marks on the car too, leading them to the underground parking lot. When I dealt with that tattoo-faced player, I happened to run into them and took them out along the way."
Shangguan Xi was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh two seconds later. "They deserved it! Betraying their companions midway is a death sentence. Besides, I've had it out for that woman Ding Wei for a long time. She almost got me killed last time!"
"Thumbs up for Brother Xu!"
Xu Huo looked at him quietly for a few seconds before looking away. "You all rest. I'll go lend a hand outside."
Shangguan Xi, who had just been warned, didn't hold a grudge at all and immediately followed. "I'll go too. The sooner it's fixed, the sooner we leave!"
Zhu Feiyun, left behind, curled his lips. "And they call themselves partners. They kill without hesitation."
"Do you think he was only warning Shangguan Xi?" Pan Qiao gave him a cold look. "I wonder who that Teacher Ai really is."
"A player ranked in the top five thousand wouldn't act without reason," Zhu Feiyun said. "From what he said, he and Shangguan Xi have been traveling together from the start. There's probably something Shangguan Xi doesn't know that he does."
After a brief exchange, the three didn't linger in the dining room.
Teacher Ai had been unable to walk for quite some time, and his stamina was lacking. Even tasks with little physical exertion, like changing lines, left him gasping for breath. Especially after changing the lines, when he had to test each one to see if they were connected to others, he clearly couldn't concentrate for long.
Xu Huo watched for a while before taking over. "You watch from the side. Tell me if something's wrong."
Teacher Ai didn't insist. He gave a few simple pointers, mentioned a few key points to watch out for, and then sat down to rest.
"Pan Qiao can drive. You can take turns after this," Xu Huo said. "Shangguan Xi also has the new map."
As he spoke, Shangguan Xi had already come over and projected the map from W19 to W37. "Teacher Ai, take a look. Is this the same as what you remember?"
Teacher Ai lifted his eyelids to glance at him, then enlarged the map for comparison. When he reached the latter part, he suddenly stopped. "There's an extra river here."
"There wasn't a river here before?" Shangguan Xi was puzzled. "A river wouldn't just appear out of nowhere. And this place is in the middle of nowhere. Who would go to all that trouble to dig a new artificial river?"
"It's W37 Base City," Teacher Ai said. "I've long heard that the female mayor of this base city is a decisive character. Before I went to W18 Base City, there were rumors that she planned to dig an artificial river to block the routes from other base cities to W37 Base City. I didn't expect she actually did it."