Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 122: The Special Thing About Characteristics

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: The Special Thing About Characteristics

"Are these potions really for us?" Hu Wenhao swallowed nervously, "We don’t have any money to give you..."

Zhou Ning slapped him on the back of his head, "Even if you had the money, you might not be able to buy the potions."

Speaking of which, she looked at Xu Huo, "You helped a lot the last time you saved my brother, and I still don’t know how to thank you. Now you’re giving us these potions, may I ask why?"

"Consider it an early investment," Xu Huo said.

He wasn’t brushing Zhou Ning off; he was genuinely interested in her ability "Ancient Medusa."

"Can you talk about your profession?"

"My profession is Medusa," Zhou Ning said. "At the beginning, the game gave me three options: painter, teacher, and Medusa."

"Career options are connected with a player’s original occupation or hobbies or even personality," Xu Huo said.

"That’s right. Painting is my hobby, and I do take commissions from time to time. Just before the evolution, a client requested a large Medusa oil painting, which I worked on for about a year, so I chose Medusa."

Zhou Ning spoke with a hint of distress, "But the first ability I got was ’Ancient Medusa,’ which is practically useless in combat."

The little snakes and the illusion of the large snake that sprang from her hair only looked scary; players who had evolved their vision wouldn’t be easily fooled.

"I should have chosen a more specific profession."

She looked somewhat regretful.

Indeed, looking at the players Xu Huo had encountered, regardless of their profession, their evolution mostly related to physical and skills development, which, in essence, was also a matter of physical evolution.

Hu Wenhao and Shen Xin’s abilities seemed animal-related, but actually entailed physical enhancement.

Wu Qiuyi and Lin Pei, one adept at mimicking voices and the other at tracking, could be seen as skill development, or the evolution of a particular organ’s ability.

Even he wasn’t an exception; his "Tireless Legs" and "Insider’s Perspective," along with his eye ability, were all included in this.

It was only when he evolved his third ability—"A Sad Affair"—that there was a leap in the nature of his abilities.

This was linked to his profession, but it was also a special evolution, refined and sublimated from the professional characteristics.

Wang Xiaohui, who produced barriers around herself when attacked on the review train; Zhou Ning, who could create illusions; and Wang Chaoqing, who could create shadow clones, were all Special Evolvers.

This sort of special evolution differed from the previous Member of the Holy Sword Society, Cao Yan, whose body was poisonous. Their abilities appeared to skip the medium, accomplishing direct material conversion.

Of course, this might not be the most precise description, but Xu Huo didn’t have a better explanation at the moment because extensions like his "Friends’ Rating" were generated from the attention he received from others, a kind of superdimensional evolution of the brain that had only been seen in science fiction movies and was beyond his capability to explain with reality.

"You can consider it a special evolution," he said to Zhou Ning. "Among the people I’ve met, not many are Special Evolvers. Even though they don’t seem as powerful as other players at first, from another perspective, these unique players have great potential."

"Really?" His words gave Zhou Ning a great deal of confidence. She relaxed a bit and said, "I know too little about the game. I really wish someone would publish some guides to prevent some new players from blindly stumbling about."

"Is there an Evolver in the room?" Xu Huo nodded toward the room Zhou Xiao had just exited.

Everyone suddenly became tense; Zhou Xiao was taken aback and quickly said, "Who said that? No one!"

"Mr. Xu is not an outsider; it’s okay to talk about it." Compared to Zhou Xiao, Zhou Ning was somewhat more trusting of Xu Huo. She said helplessly, "He’s a student I used to teach in a part-time class, only fifteen years old. He has no family or relatives nearby, and the atmosphere at his school is not good. He didn’t dare to approach anyone else and had to come to me."

"Has he eaten human flesh? Has he taken an Evolution Potion?" Xu Huo asked bluntly.

"No, none of that," Zhou Ning said seriously. "If he had eaten someone, I wouldn’t have accepted him. As for the Evolution Potion, though we do have a bottle, he hasn’t gone through the initial inspection train, so we haven’t dared let him drink it for fear of problems."

Not everyone has the courage to explore and try in the face of the unknown; prudence and preservation are the norm.

"I’ll ask him myself," Xu Huo said.

Zhou Ning led him to the room, where the teenage boy was tethered by iron chains on his hands and feet, cowering in the corner and trembling. As soon as someone entered, a strong longing flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly suppressed, and he lowered his head, grinding his teeth together.

Not daring to get too close, Zhou Ning asked him to stand up and answer Xu Huo’s questions.

Xu Huo repeated the questions he had asked before and saw no sign of lying. He then inquired, "I want to draw a bit of blood from you. As compensation, I can give you a hundred thousand yuan. If exchanged into White Notes without any issues, that should be enough for three days’ worth of meals."

Zhou Ning next to him frantically nodded at the young man.

The youth, who clearly understood some things about the train from their conversations, said, "My bank card is in my backpack."

Hu Wenhao went to buy blood-drawing tools, and Xu Huo sent a message to Yu Qingqing asking her to transfer a hundred thousand yuan. The other side moved quickly, transferring a hundred and ten thousand.

Watching the transaction information show the number, 110000, he subtly let out a smile.

After making a profit and completing the blood draw, Xu Huo planned to leave. He signaled to Zhou Ning that there was no need to see him out, pulled open the door, stood at the entrance for a few seconds, then stepped back into the room, saying, "Have you noticed the resident opposite your place?"

"It seems to be a middle-aged man who is unemployed," Zhou Ning responded quickly. "Is there a problem with him?"

"Both times, someone was behind the door when it opened; he must have been spying on you all the time. It’s best if you change locations immediately," Xu Huo kindly advised.

Zhou Ning also realized that there had been too many people coming and going at their house lately, and with the current unusual situation, they had to be cautious.

"We’ll leave tonight."

After leaving Anxin Courtyard, Xu Huo originally planned to go straight back, but halfway there, he received a photo. In it, Yu Qingqing was tied up at the foot of a bed like a pretzel, with tape over her mouth, accompanied by the text:

"Not only am I not leaving, but I also want to eat hot pot!"

Xu Huo was in a great mood and detoured to the supermarket to buy ingredients.

By the time he returned, the Girl in the painting had been waiting by the door for a long time. Seeing the ingredients in his hands, the anxiety on her face vanished, and she joyfully took them from him.

In the past few days, she had already learned some life skills, and cooking hot pot was no challenge for her.

"Mmm! Mmm!" Yu Qingqing was trying her best to make her presence known in the room.

"She came at me with a knife, so I had to tie her up," the Girl in the painting typed hastily. "I didn’t hit her, I even helped her get her phone."

"It’s okay, keep cooking the hot pot." Xu Huo waited until Yu Qingqing stopped making noise before entering the room, crouching down to tear off the tape from her mouth, "Is this fun?"

Yu Qingqing opened her mouth to bite, but he held her forehead with one hand, ignoring her fierce gaze, and said calmly, "Today I’ll teach you another lesson. A crazy person who can be tied up is just an ordinary person. Do you think people would be scared just because you have a knife?"

"Wait until you can intimidate people without a knife, then it’s not too late to act crazy. Until then, be a decent human being."

"Come out and eat." After loosening the knots, Xu Huo was about to stand up when Yu Qingqing, whose hands were now free, suddenly grabbed a kitchen knife from the ground and swung it at him!

Without even fluttering an eyelid, Xu Huo grabbed her wrist, pressed his thumb hard, and the kitchen knife fell back to the ground.

"Still want to play?" he looked at the person in front of him, "Next time I’ll fight back."