Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 976: The Chance to Survive

Chapter 976: Chapter 976: The Chance to Survive

"The advanced players who follow Mayor Gao should be in on the secret, and perhaps some high-ranking government officials are aware too," Xu Huo looked at Gao Xiaoyan. "But those in the know are definitely in the minority; most players in the Law Enforcement Team, employees working for the government, and their families and relatives are likely oblivious."

"What if something happens inside Base W37 City due to external factors?"

"No matter how legitimate your reasons, there will always be those who can’t sacrifice others without a guilty conscience."

"This elaborate lie was concocted to prevent the survivors from resenting W37. As a player who has been through life and death for W37, you should have considered this before acting. Didn’t you conduct a survey to test these people’s limits?"

Gao Xiaoyan’s face darkened. "Not everyone can see things from an overall perspective... What are you implying?"

"It seems you really did conduct one." Xu Huo smiled. "I removed the Spatial Artifact blocking the Bird Tower right after our first conversation. Didn’t you find that strange?"

A flash of surprise crossed Gao Xiaoyan’s eyes, then realization struck. "You let someone into the Bird Tower!"

"The past half hour wasn’t wasted," Xu Huo said. "In the two minutes you isolated everyone, someone might have spread the news to other players. Luo Changren and I’s words might not turn into reality, but the fact is that you delayed, knowing the antitoxin was effective, and you blocked the view of others."

"Are you tricking me?" Gao Xiaoyan was dubious.

"You can try," Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "The choice is back in your hands again. Feel good, doesn’t it?"

"You don’t need to mock me," Gao Xiaoyan said angrily. "Why are you doing this? To save some people who have nothing to do with you? You might only come to W37 once in your lifetime. Do you expect others to praise you as a good person!"

"That’s not necessary." Xu Huo shook his head. "Like you said, I just happen to have the power to choose. Whether I act or not depends on my mood, not a need for reasons."

If he had stood on the side of "justice," Gao Xiaoyan might have found a loophole, but Xu Huo made it clear he didn’t want to delve deeper, simply using her own words to silence her.

The government has the power to choose, so they can decide to sacrifice the residents of Base City without consulting their wishes.

Similarly, Xu Huo has the antitoxins; he has the power to choose, now to decide whether to save people without consulting the government.

The longer the standoff, the more disadvantageous it was for Gao Xiaoyan. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "I agree to save them. Give me the antitoxin."

"I don’t trust you; you use a password, I’ll release the antitoxin," Xu Huo said bluntly.

Once decided, Gao Xiaoyan straightforwardly collected the prop. She first checked the first floor, then looked toward the upper floors, "The keypad is on the top floor."

Xu Huo looked at Luo Changren, waiting for his nod before agreeing to head upstairs.

"Brother Xu, have you guys finished talking?" Shangguan Xi asked. "Should we head up?"

"No need." Xu Huo signaled him to come closer, used a Muffler Artefact, and gave a couple of instructions.

"No problem!" Shangguan Xi responded eagerly.

Gao Xiaoyan’s gaze lingered on them and then said, "You first deactivate the traps in Ren Man’s Mental World, also, Lou Jia must go up with me."

"The order of those could be swapped," Xu Huo said. "You open the Bird Tower first, Lou Jia can go together, with a Rank-A Player nearby, I can’t escape instantly."

Gao Xiaoyan still hesitated, but at that moment Ren Man took the initiative. "Sister Xiao Yan, let’s save people first. I’ll stay here with the Mayor."

At his gaze, Gao Xiaoyan immediately turned away her head, glanced sorrowfully at the peacefully lying Gao Zhen. "The Mayor is in your hands."

Xu Huo, along with Luo Changren, and her along with Lou Jia, the four of them went upstairs together.

Gao Xiaoyan suspected Xu Huo was deceiving her, so he didn’t release Zhao Jie, making them meet on the second floor.

Upon meeting, Lou Jia immediately harbored murderous intentions, and Zhao Jie, seeming to have anticipated this scenario, was unfazed. He looked furiously at Gao Xiaoyan, holding a Communicator in his hand.

"Too late to kill to silence the truth, let’s go up." Xu Huo interrupted them, then to Zhao Jie he said, "But you still have a chance to make peace."

Gao Xiaoyan said nothing more, just looked at him coldly.

Once upstairs, Gao Xiaoyan pressed different spots on a bronze ring, and three seemingly outdated keypads popped out, bearing numeric and text-based passkeys. She entered different passwords on each, then the keypads retracted, and the metal floor at the center of the floor gathered inward, forming a cylindrical gap from top to bottom.

Then, the arc-shaped metal decorations beneath each floor slid toward the center and stretched vertically, connecting layer by layer to form a complete cylinder. After the cylinder was formed, there were still sounds of metal parts moving and connecting inside, but they were no longer visible from the outside.

When the noises had completely stopped, two rows of slots popped out of the metal cylinder on the top floor.

In front of the three, Xu Huo took out the blue potion, but as he was about to release it, the potion involuntarily slipped from his hand. Gao Xiaoyan and Luo Changren, who stood close by, instinctively reached out to catch it, however, the potion flew automatically into Lou Jia’s hand.

"Lou Jia!" Gao Xiaoyan turned back in anger.

"Miss Gao, this is the last resort the Mayor planned for Base City," Lou Jia held the potion, his demeanor calm yet nearly ruthless. "You are well aware of the situation at the government office. Soon, there won’t be enough food and supplies for everyone in the city. Once shortages occur, riots are inevitable, and any unrest will weaken the cohesion of Base City. Do you want to see everything the Mayor has worked so hard for destroyed because of a moment of weakness?"

"I will deal with Zhao Jie. Anything disadvantageous to Base City is just rumors; no one will believe or pursue them after."

Gao Xiaoyan certainly didn’t want the plan to fall through at the last moment, but she had to consider Zhao Jie and the Law Enforcement Team players. Killing Zhao Jie was easy, but once it started, the consequences would only be more serious—a small spark can start a prairie fire; this could become a ticking time bomb buried in W37!

"I have a question," Xu Huo spoke up at this moment. "Zhao Jie unexpectedly learned of the insider information, you want to kill him. If he has disclosed the information to his friends, do you also intend to kill his friends, and since the ordinary residents of Base City have become a burden, do you plan to eliminate half of them too? If resources in Base City become scarcer in the future, do you also intend to maintain balance by continually reducing the population?"

"That’s the only way for now," Lou Jia was unmoved. "Future matters will be handled in the future."

"People are stronger than you think," Xu Huo said. "You think by driving them out of W37 they can’t survive. In fact, ordinary people are still living today in other abandoned Base Cities that are dominated by Aliens. You clean the population to fight for a chance to survive. Why not also give them a chance to fight?"