Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1339 - 1340: How Many Dr. Duors

Chapter 1339: Chapter 1340: How Many Dr. Duors

Xu Huo didn’t chime in. He felt that Dai Song’s attitude was contradictory, something was amiss, but now wasn’t the time to delve into it.

They were lucky; the vines covering this area seemed to originate from the same parent plant. After some cleaning, the vines in other parts showed signs of retreat. It didn’t take long for a path to open up in the middle. However, as the car moved forward, the group noticed signs of battle. A large area of the grove’s flowers, grass, and trees had been ravaged, with scorch marks resembling lightning strikes everywhere, and a large number of charred vines scattered on the ground.

"There’s no sign of blood. The people who passed through here shouldn’t be injured," Qiu Ming observed.

"Who would be here at this time?" Cao Qinglin frowned slightly.

Indeed, Dr. Duor was with them, so there shouldn’t be any other players entering Heaven’s Ladder, at least not this deep. Without Dr. Duor, what could they use to clear the level and why take the risk to come this way?

If someone had come to ambush, it would have been near the entrance.

"It should be the lab’s doppelganger prepared for me," Dr. Duor spoke up, but he didn’t seem to know the details, just mentioning that he was aware of this.

"Chasing after them might lead to a confrontation," Qiu Ming looked at the map again, "No, they’re not on the same route as us, otherwise there’d be traces. This indicates that there are other paths nearby."

"There are indeed some small paths, but they were previously excluded from the safe passage; those routes would only be more dangerous than where we are now, otherwise, those players ahead wouldn’t have changed routes," Dai Song said.

"Why didn’t you mention this earlier?" Qiu Ming was somewhat annoyed, "You just said yourself that mutant plants grow quickly. They may have been occupied by dangerous plants before, but that might not be the case now. Regardless of the danger, at least it would give us more options and not force us to stick to a single path like this!"

"Are you messing with us?"

Dai Song’s attitude was no better, "The map I provided is the safest route. Once giant mutant plants grow, they don’t easily change places. It’s precisely because those paths are remote that they get occupied. What’s the use of telling you? To send you to your death?"

"We’re all in the same boat. We’re opening the way ahead, and you’re keeping secrets. Whether there’s danger or if we should change routes isn’t for you alone to decide," Cao Qinglin said in a low voice. "Is this how you cooperate?"

Dai Song didn’t argue with them and looked directly at Xu Huo, "What do you say?"

"I think my companions make a very valid point," Xu Huo said calmly. "Our goal is the same, there’s no point in hiding things. Getting the doctor to the Secondary City is the primary mission. Besides, the danger you’ve identified isn’t necessarily a dead end. In areas where mutant plants are particularly dense, there tend to be fewer Mutant Beasts, which is also an opportunity for us."

"You estimated five days, but I think five days isn’t enough. Even if it is, spending nearly a week navigating between mutant plants and mutant beasts is more than we can handle alone with just our energy."

"Also, the middle section of Heaven’s Ladder is a danger zone."

He almost hinted that he didn’t trust Dai Song’s judgment, then asked the mechanical being to stop the car, "Let’s discuss this further before moving on."

As the car stopped, even Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin tensed up. The ground vines were alive, and as soon as the car halted, they began to slowly climb up the car.

Dr. Duor also looked at Dai Song, seeming unsure why he was so insistent on this point.

"Fine!" Dai Song gritted his teeth and said, "I can draw out the paths not marked on the map. Are you satisfied now?"

"There’s another question: Is the doctor we’re escorting really who he says he is?" Xu Huo asked again.

Qiu and Cao were stunned, while Dai Song paused, squinting at him, "What do you mean?"

"Your disguise isn’t convincing," Xu Huo said, "Based on your attitude in the basement, you actually didn’t want to accept Chunsun Laboratory’s commission, but later on, you volunteered to escort, which can be considered a goodwill gesture. However, you seem to care more about Dr. Duor’s life and death than you let on."

"So thinking back on this, you and your companions should have accepted a protection mission, and collaborating with dungeon players is the lowest-cost method. You only need one or two people to ensure the doctor’s safety, of course, the protection is also aimed at dungeon players."

"You also can’t be certain that the three of us are genuine dungeon players, yet you dared to venture with us alone. There could be two reasons for this."

"First, the Dr. Duor we received is genuine. You dared to come alone because you had prepared an escape route."

"Second, Dr. Duor is fake, and you’re just trying to deal with us as you would with other players from outside regions. It’s just that the difficulty is a bit higher. You personally accompany us to build trust, making us believe the doctor is genuine, and since you’re not a dungeon player, you can withdraw at any time."

Xu Huo’s determined expression made Dai Song uneasy. "Whether the doctor is genuine, you’ll find out once you deliver him to the Secondary City, won’t you?"

"Not necessarily," Xu Huo glanced at the deep-green vine crawling in through the car window, then continued, "If the doctor is fake, there’s no value in escorting them."

In other words, if the person is fake, he intends to abandon the mission.

"You’re mistaken," Dr. Duor, seeing Dai Song remain silent, quickly said from the front, "I really am Dr. Duor, I even have documentation!"

As he reached into his pocket for his work pass, he said, "You can also check, I definitely haven’t had any cosmetic surgery."

Xu Huo wasn’t interested in his documentation, "Information in Twin Cities is closed off, and the photos of Dr. Duor in newspapers and books are not necessarily authentic."

Dr. Duor was momentarily stunned, then helplessly explained, "I published medical articles many years ago. You must have done your homework before coming. That couldn’t be fake, could it?"

Qiu Ming and Cao Qinglin, having never seen the real Dr. Duor, looked towards Xu Huo.

"It’s not unusual for the real person to remain hidden for the protection of important figures," Xu Huo ignored the vine winding around his arm, "However, you claim to be genuine, so I have another question. Clearly, we’re not the only team entering Heaven’s Ladder. Even the map has been tampered with. Other players should also have encountered a Dr. Duor who isn’t using prop disguise and hasn’t had cosmetic surgery. So, how many ’Dr. Duors’ does Chunsun Laboratory have?"

Dr. Duor looked startled, instinctively glancing at Dai Song, whose subtle emotional change betrayed him.

Of course, Xu Huo didn’t make these conjectures based solely on the information he had in the instance. Han Yi’s case gave him other perspectives; it wasn’t necessarily correct, but he didn’t expect to get results from a simple bluff.