Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 582: Opening the Door to Bring Warmth

Chapter 582: Chapter 582: Opening the Door to Bring Warmth

The Wormhole Flower was the very one he had brought back from the Xiaohua Honghong Building, with its purple and red hues. When he brought it back, he didn’t know what kind of flower it was, simply planting it out of curiosity. It was only on Deep Blue Island that Dr. Deng mentioned the name and use of the flower.

The amount of red on the Wormhole Flower’s plant could display the evolutionary level of a game zone, akin to how players evolved due to environmental changes initially. As the environmental conditions of the zone change, the Wormhole Flower undergoes changes too. The higher the evolutionary level of the zone, the more red the Wormhole Flower shows.

Xu Huo was temporarily unclear about the source and direction of this evolution, but he was certain that the higher the level of evolution, the more integrated it would become with the game. Aside from humans and animals, everything in Zone 014, including above and below ground resources, would likely be affected.

Could the ores used to make artifacts, or the Nüwa Stones, as well as other necessary raw materials, have come into existence only after the evolution of the zone?

Did the arrival of the Artifact Maker signify that Zone 014 was about to fully merge into the game?

The Girl in the Painting sent over a video call, her face squished up against Yu Qingqing’s as they appeared on screen. After two seconds, using her superior strength, the Girl in the Painting pushed Yu Qingqing out of the frame and happily gestured in sign language, "You’re back, was it fun outside?"

"Not bad," Xu Huo smiled, "Are you staying at my place?"

"We’re living together!" Yu Qingqing added from behind, "Brother Xu, that’s really not cool of you. You didn’t even tell me you were back. Are you coming to Jing City to hang out with us? Or should I come to see you? I’ve finished my dungeon run for the month anyway."

"How’s the plant?" Xu Huo asked.

The video shifted to focus on the flower on the windowsill. The Girl in the Painting read from the phone, "I’ve taken good care of it, watering it every few days."

"Don’t believe her, Brother Xu, she never waters it and even sneakily pours milk into it," Yu Qingqing playfully accused her, and they began to bicker once again.

Xu Huo saw the flower, and indeed, the red on the plant had increased a bit from when he first brought it back.

"I’m currently in Yang City, so come to visit me when you have time." He instructed briefly before hanging up the phone and joining Sima Xiao’er for dinner.

The more prosperous the place, the better the public order was. It wasn’t even dark yet, and many restaurants were open. Sima Xiao’er chose an old establishment, ordering all the signature dishes and even a case of alcohol, determined to have a drink with Xu Huo to their hearts’ content.

"Brother Xu, I truly envy smart people like you and Captain Nie," Sima Xiao’er said, "You aren’t afraid of anything no matter where you go. Many of us from the Special Defense Department don’t dare to roam around aimlessly, afraid of accidentally entering a random dungeon."

"Are random dungeons becoming more frequent?" Xu Huo asked offhandedly.

"Indeed, and the trigger points are all bizarre. They’re only discovered after many people have died," Sima Xiao’er replied, "Who knows what will happen in the future."

"If Zone 014 generates a Super Player in the future, there might not be any random dungeons anymore," said Xu Huo, as it happened in Zone 011.

"Is that so?" Sima Xiao’er expressed surprise, followed by a shake of his head, "Super Players, how long would that take? I doubt I’ll live to see that day."

"Times have changed, you never know, we might have to keep living like this forever. Let’s hope that what we’re doing now will allow our families and descendants to have a better life," Xu Huo mused.

He had drunk a bit too much, and, after his grand declaration, he ended up crying on the table, "I really fear death, and I don’t want to live in constant fear anymore..."

Xu Huo listened to his words without much reaction. After a while, he asked the owner for some sobering soup, then got up and stepped outside the restaurant to light a cigarette. In the rising smoke, he counted the heads of people in the distance and nearby.

There were eight people in total, all watching him from different places.

After stubbing out his cigarette, he walked across the street towards the hospital. Before he could enter the main doors, a man who had been lingering near the emergency clinic noticeably changed his expression and darted into the hospital.

Xu Huo didn’t spend much effort blocking off the man not far from the back door, breaking one of his legs and dragging him into the storeroom.

"What do you want to do... I warn you, don’t mess around..." The man kneeling on the ground showed a look of fear.

"Talk, who sent you here? If you talk nicely, there’s a reward," Xu Huo stood in front of him.

"A reward?" The man seemed not to understand what he was saying.

"I’ll let you go," Xu Huo said without even flinching his eyelids as he lifted his foot and broke the man’s right arm. "Don’t get any smart ideas, unless you can escape into a copy."

The man screamed in pain, but the sound didn’t carry outside. Xu Huo picked up the toy that had fallen from his hand and toyed with it before saying, "Special Defense Department? First Association? Or the Twin Snakes Organization?"

"It seems to be the First Association then. Are you trying to avenge Bao Jiali?"

The man was sweating profusely, stammering when suddenly the door of the storeroom blew apart and smashed towards Xu Huo!

Xu Huo dodged to the side. Then, as if something stuck to the soles of his shoes, making it impossible for him to move, before he could free himself, a figure rushed in from outside, grabbed the man on the ground, and ran.

However, they were choked by the neck and dragged back just a few steps away from the door. The newcomer dropped the injured man and turned swiftly to charge at Xu Huo, a not-so-short fluorescent sword appearing in his hand.

But before he could even get close to Xu Huo, a large door suddenly appeared. The man couldn’t stop in time and ran headfirst into it, his fluorescent sword instantly breaking into several pieces!

After forcibly snapping off the guitar strings, this player leaped at the door again, snatched up something like a sledgehammer, and slammed down, only to hit thin air—Xu Huo, who should have been behind the door, had vanished!

"Be careful!" the injured man outside shouted; before his words stopped, the large door disappeared again, and the player was bound tightly by wires before he even landed.

Xu Huo stood in a corner of the room, ignoring his struggle, "Are you both from the First Association?"

"If you’re going to kill, just kill me. I’d like to see if you can leave unscathed after killing people from the First Association!" the young player said angrily.

"How many of you came?" Xu Huo asked again.

The young player seemed to have a lot of backbone, twisting his neck and refusing to submit even unto death.

The man outside was different, in a hurry to say, "Three of us, there are three of us in total, but we mean no harm to you, nor do we have any other intentions..."

The young player stared in disbelief, "Why would you betray the First Association!"

Xu Huo kicked this idiot further away and then turned to the other man, "Did you notice anyone else when you were watching me?"

"Saw two more, they are also players, but not people from the First Association. They are members of a small organization in Yang City, with unclear intentions..."

"Then there are three more." Xu Huo collected the kite line and said to the two, "I don’t have any grudges with the First Association for now, but if Tan Yang sends people to tail me again, that’s another matter. You guys can go back."

After finishing speaking, he left the hospital, used the cover of an adjacent building to circle back to the place where he had been eating, entered a residential building on the seventh floor, walked straight to one of the apartments, and rang the doorbell, "Open the door, the neighborhood committee is sending warmth."