Chapter 974: Presenting a Choice
The first time at the jewelry store, he had omitted the part about the evolution agent and fabricated a false lead to trick him into going to the R1 Laboratory. The second time at the Government Hall, he concealed the fact that the evolution agent had defects. Of course, both times, the parts about the vaccine were lies—and the SE virus incident could still have an impact today, with a third of the credit going to the lack of information. Luo Changren deserves the most credit for that.
Up to now, all the information possibly involved in the instance "Encrypted Information" was complete. The next step was to resolve the virus spread in Base City.
Without Gao Xiaoyan's password, he couldn't open this transmission tower.
"Can you operate this transmission tower?" Xu Huo asked Luo Changren.
Luo Changren hesitated and nodded. "Do you have an antidote?"
"For such a large transmission tower, how many doses of antidote would be enough?" Xu Huo glanced upward.
"To cover the entire city and delay the virus outbreak, at least ten doses..." Luo Changren said. "Although I wasn't involved in the SE virus development, this virus killed quite a few players in the beginning. It's at least an A-level virus. Even with a targeted antidote, there wouldn't be enough for that many people. Besides... would you be willing to take out such an antidote?"
Xu Huo didn't answer the question, but Shangguan Xi chimed in from the side, "You're talking nonsense. Since Brother Xu is asking, he definitely won't begrudge a few doses of medicine!"
He then turned to Xu Huo. "Brother Xu, are a few doses enough? With such a large tower and so many people to save, wouldn't it have to be measured in barrels?"
"Besides, can this old man be trusted? He just tried to trick us into loading the SE virus into the Bird Tower."
"Even if we believed that virus was an antidote, without the password, we couldn't put it into the Bird Tower." Xu Huo glanced at Luo Changren. "Just impotent rage."
Having failed to shake him off several times, with his life in Xu Huo's hands, and the carefully preserved antidote from years ago nearly turning into SE virus—it was no wonder Luo Changren couldn't hold back.
"That's true..." Shangguan Xi looked Luo Changren up and down, rolled his eyes, and said, "No wonder he's got you completely under his thumb."
Seeing Gao Xiaoyan already approaching from the other side, Xu Huo asked Luo Changren, "Is there anything else you have to say about Dr. Zhang?"
Luo Changren wrote down another address and handed it to him. "This is Dr. Zhang's actual location. He does have a secret room with quite a bit of material about Dr. Wu, but I don't think those things will be useful. Dr. Wu is just a legend—it's hard to say if such a person even exists."
Xu Huo took the address but didn't comment on his "well-intentioned" persuasion. Instead, he said, "After you leave W37 Base Station, you'd better not go looking for Dr. Zhang."
Luo Changren looked at him as he continued, "What kind of person do you think Dr. Zhang is? Do you think he's a rare kind soul who not only helped you complete a flawed evolution agent but also kindly told you about the side effects and even gave you a treatment potion?"
Xu Huo smiled at him, but his gaze was cold. "Players can buy countless excellent evolution agents through the game platform. There's no need to specifically develop one for a particular race, let alone one with major defects. That makes no sense."
"If you're going to say this evolution agent was meant to circumvent the common side effects of game evolution agents, then look at yourself now... Is the treatment potion still working?"
Back when he had given up all hope and provoked Xu Huo to kill him, Luo Changren had already seen through life and death. The pent-up frustration from those years in W18 had dissipated. He was no longer as agitated as before but calmly accepted this fact.
"Can we come in?" Gao Xiaoyan had already reached the Bird Tower entrance. "To avoid misunderstandings, we've put away all our equipped items."
Xu Huo looked at Shangguan Xi, who went to open the door and blocked Lou Jia outside. "Behave yourself and wait outside."
Gao Xiaoyan nodded, and Lou Jia obediently stood on the steps at the entrance.
Once inside, Gao Xiaoyan first confirmed that Gao Zhen's body was unharmed before saying, "You're using your spiritual power to control this area, aren't you? You destroyed the jamming device."
Xu Huo nodded, glancing at the tray she was holding, covered with a velvet cloth.
Gao Xiaoyan lifted the cloth, revealing a white chessboard-like object about fifty centimeters square. On it were scattered three small human figures and three building models, all resting on equal-sized small squares.
"This item is called the City Sand Table. Depending on the user's ability, it can move corresponding people or buildings within a city, with a limit of three."
"Is it an A-level item?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow slightly.
Gao Xiaoyan understood his meaning. "It is indeed an A-level item, but only players who have undergone Mental Super Evolution can use it. The models on it can't be moved by hand alone. It's considered a support item. It was originally prepared for Ren Man... Your mental evolution strength far exceeds that of same-level evolvers. You'll be able to use this item sooner or later, so it's not a loss."
"Additionally, you helped Ren Man successfully evolve. The two B-level items I promised you can still be delivered, but the condition is that you remove the trap you planted in the spiritual realm."
"As for the Mayor, you've already met him. If you have any other requests, you can bring them up together."
Xu Huo didn't rush to take the item. Instead, he picked up the blue potion. "This is the antidote Luo Changren brought back from the outer zone. It can't cure the original SE virus, but it can slow down the virus's progression. At least until you obtain a large batch of antidote, not too many people will die."
Luo Changren, Shangguan Xi, and the others all glanced at him involuntarily but didn't show it too obviously.
As for Gao Xiaoyan, Ren Man, and even Lou Jia outside, their eyes all fell on the potion. Ren Man, in particular, had been wearing a "death before surrender" expression when Gao Xiaoyan mentioned the trap in the spiritual realm and the item exchange, but now he couldn't help saying, "Sister Xiaoyan..."
Gao Xiaoyan was moved but restrained, as contradictory as when she had killed the living sample during the day and then let the sample's corpse go.
"Sister Xiaoyan?" Ren Man looked at her in surprise, seemingly not understanding why she was silent.
"Mayor Gao is quite a figure. She wanted to dispose of too many people before her death, and then use her own death to leave a sympathy card for the Government Hall. She took all the blame on herself, leaving behind a Base City in desperate need of a savior, and then you step in to save it. That way, you can smoothly succeed and secure the mayor's position." Xu Huo swirled the potion in his hand, then stopped, his gaze fixed on Gao Xiaoyan. "How about it? If you take this antidote out now, you'll be the savior of W37 Base City."
Gao Xiaoyan instinctively glanced at the distant large screen before saying, "One dose of medicine can't save that many people."
"This potion is different." Xu Huo shook his head. "It comes from the person who developed the gene-optimized evolution agent. Not only can it delay the virus, but it can also weaken any possible hereditary effects of the virus."
"The SE virus doesn't damage genes at all, nor does it pass those genes on to the next generation!" Gao Xiaoyan glared at him fiercely. "What exactly are you trying to do!"
Happy holidays, everyone.
(Chapter End)