Chapter 991: Heading Toward a New Life
The player who had been pushed forward stood still, and Brother Rong cursed "trash" as he went to pull someone else, only to find them standing rigidly in place, eyes glazed over, as if they couldn't hear him at all.
"You made a move..." Brother Rong immediately looked ahead, but Xu Huo, who had been standing there, was already gone. The next moment, a hand reached out from behind and landed on his shoulder.
"Fixed-point teleportation!" Brother Rong didn't even bother to shake off the hand behind him; he pulled out a snowball-like prop and tried to flee. But though he activated the prop, he remained rooted to the spot.
A hand reached out from behind and took the snowball from his grasp.
"Prop?" He heard the man who had been standing in front speak from behind him. "I didn't realize you were a Gray Player. I heard your brothers are players too—what are their names?"
Brother Rong wanted to run, but his feet had gone numb. Blustering, he said, "My older brother and younger brother are top players in District 002. If you dare touch me, they'll never let you off!"
Xu Huo let out a laugh. "Then do you know who I am?"
Brother Rong choked, his voice trembling involuntarily. "Don't get cocky. As long as you've been to District 002, you'll leave traces..."
"Makes sense," Xu Huo said, taking his communicator and flipping through it. "So you're reminding me to destroy the evidence, and maybe even take your two brothers out with you?"
Brother Rong's face flushed red with anger, and he tried to say something more, but before he could open his mouth, his head flew off.
Xu Huo slightly bent to avoid a red sword light swinging from behind, then turned to look at the person walking out of the casino. "Stealing the kill?"
With that, she took out the few players standing nearby as well.
The female player gave him a bright smile, leaped onto a nearby storage truck, and said, "Come on, ride with me! I'll split the props with you later!"
Xu Huo got on the truck without hesitation. Before he could even sit down, the female player spun the wheel and sent the vehicle screeching out of the casino grounds. The twenty-meter-long truck was towing a string of cargo boxes filled with batteries and supplies.
The truck sped straight toward the city exit. Some players from the casino chased after them but kept their distance. The female player drove with bold, sweeping movements and said, "If they follow us out of the city, we'll deal with them first and then disappear."
"I need to pick someone up." Xu Huo pushed open the door, swiftly took out the nearest pursuing player, and then brought the little girl on board.
The girl had already put on a raincoat, covering her face completely. Once seated, she first greeted the female player.
The female player glanced back at her and asked Xu Huo, "Your relative?"
"A new friend I met," Xu Huo said. "Just giving her a ride."
The female player gave him a knowing look and then asked, "Where's your instance location?"
"Snow City. I'm heading to Xiaoyang City first to catch a direct train." Xu Huo glanced at the rearview mirror. Besides the three players from before, three more had joined the pursuit.
"Government Hall people are here." The female player laughed heartily and sped up. "These useless freeloaders—they do nothing when thugs and ruffians cause trouble, but they come after us for doing the right thing!"
"I'm here to steal the truck," Xu Huo said flatly.
"So am I," the female player said cheerfully. "Robbery and murder go hand in hand."
"My instance location is in Snow City too." She adjusted the headlights as she spoke. "This damn place is way too dark. I hope we don't have to do the instance in the pitch black."
"Big cities are very bright," the girl explained. "Although the government has set eight hours of daylight, high-income cities keep their lights on during other times too. Especially Snow City—it's lit up all day. There's no concept of nighttime there. Every household doesn't need to prepare storage batteries."
The female player nodded. "I see District 002 isn't exactly poor, but they still oppress their own people to death."
"District 002 generates electricity using a self-produced mineral. The output isn't small, but it hasn't reached the point of unlimited supply," Xu Huo said. "Resource allocation is normal."
District 002 was perpetually shrouded in darkness. Though it had corresponding crop cultivation and animal farming, its output was far less abundant than other districts. Each city's contribution to the district was limited, and relatively remote cities that needed financial support from the district government naturally faced restrictions.
Even if players could endlessly bring back enough resources from outside districts, there was no need for fair distribution.
"The gap between rich and poor—it's unavoidable wherever there are people." The female player sighed dramatically and then asked Xu Huo's name.
Xu Huo once again used the name Xu Zhi. The female player readily gave hers. "I'm Chi Minghong. My profession is a police officer. What's yours?"
"Psychotherapist." Xu Huo casually pulled out his forged ID.
Chi Minghong snorted with laughter, not caring whether he was telling the truth. "That ID—did you just get it made?"
"Doesn't it look real?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"It looks real enough... Are you planning to stay in District 002 long-term?" Chi Minghong said. "The psychological counseling industry here is pretty developed. Spending long periods in darkness without seeing the sun—I get it. People are bound to have some psychological issues. No wonder the crime rate is so high."
"But the competition in this field is fierce too. Most of those willing to pay high prices for a psychologist are players. Every year, medical dispute crimes in District 002 are three times higher than other crimes, and most of them end with the doctor getting killed."
"Then that works out perfectly," Xu Huo said with a smile. "At least psychotherapists are in high demand here."
"Good point," Chi Minghong said. "I'll get one made too. Maybe I can trick a couple of players into playing with me..."
She paused mid-sentence and gestured with her eyes toward the rear. "Looks like we won't get a peaceful ride unless we deal with this trouble. You drive."
She wasn't asking for Xu Huo's opinion. The moment she finished speaking, she was gone. In the rearview mirror, all he could see was the red arc of light trailing from her sword prop.
Xu Huo slid into the driver's seat and slowed down to wait for her.
The pursuing players weren't weak, but they weren't particularly strong either. They fought behind the truck, and during the scuffle, two cargo boxes were detached.
"You want to take back the people you kidnapped and sell them again?" Chi Minghong chased after a sliding cargo box and reattached it to the truck's tail with her prop. "Is that what you Government Hall people do? How about letting me take them toward a new life instead?"
"Don't talk nonsense! You killed so many people in Huayu City and think you can just walk away?!" a player with white spots on his face shouted.
"What's the big deal? I only killed bad people. Those guys—murder, robbery, kidnapping, rape—what crime haven't they committed? You should be thanking me. Even if District 002 has no daylight, your hearts can't be that dark."
Another white-haired player stopped his companion. "Enough talk. Stop the truck!"