A light chuckle ca from the room. "Simulation gas are always fake. Even the blood that flows isn't red. What's the point?"
"Accepting comrades and eliminating heretics has been the founding tenet of the New Wheel Church since its inception. To hunt two panicked lambs within a ga, yet still borrow the na of the New Wheel... Mr. ni underestimates the New Wheel Church."
The speaker was precisely the purple-eyed woman Xu Huo had encountered earlier in the hallway. Though her tone was questioning, her voice lacked any imposing force, carrying instead a hint of languidness. This robbed her words of their intended aning, making them sound more like an offhand complaint.
Vicen ni didn't take it seriously either, clarifying with exaggerated inflection, "You jest, Madam. I was born into a wealthy family, received an excellent education from birth, and my path from childhood to career has been smooth sailing, free from any hardship. But this does not an I lack compassion. Towards players and civilians alike, I have always believed that those in the upper echelons should harbor sympathy and reverence, and should strive even harder to assist and guide them, enabling them to live happily and smoothly."
"Therefore, the mont I encountered the New Wheel Church, I knew it was the spiritual high ground I had been searching for. I am most willing to beco a preacher for the New Wheel Church, to help it flourish within District 011."
The purple-eyed woman covered her mouth with a laugh, nearly laughing to the point of tears. "The followers of the New Wheel Church are lions, are wolves, never lambs."
ni refilled her wine glass. "I would certainly never alter the doctrine. The very existence of the New Wheel Church is to combat the nightmares within the ga world, to strive for a bright future for the common people, to create a brand new world for our next generation."
The purple-eyed woman reined in her smile, propping her cheek with one hand as she leaned sideways on the sofa. After scrutinizing the man opposite her for a mont, she said, "You are a bad man. But I like bad n."
"My thanks for the complint." ni raised his glass, then added, "I have long heard of the great na of Mada Butterfly. I never expected you would co to District 011 this ti. This eting gift is a small token of my personal regard. One month from now, District 011 will host a unique and spectacular banquet. I do hope you will honor us with your presence then."
Mada Butterfly accepted with a smile.
At that mont, ni seed to receive so ssage. Apologizing to her, he rose and left the room.
Now, only Mada Butterfly remained in the room.
Xu Huo, who had been crouching on the balcony, pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window, brushed aside the curtain, and said with a smile, "What a coincidence, eting again."
Mada Butterfly picked up a small fan and began to fan herself, unsurprised. "People who hide outside a woman's window in the dead of night are never decent folk."
Xu Huo leaned against the fra of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the woman from a distance of about ten ters. "You don't like Vicen ni."
Mada Butterfly's fanning motion paused. "What makes you say that?"
"If you liked him, why would you have let
listen outside for so long?" Xu Huo smiled slightly. "Not only that, you actually despise him."
"No woman likes an oily man, especially one with an inflated sense of self-importance. Trying to curry favor with a lousy ga?" Mada Butterfly said. "Besides, it was just a side thought."
Xu Huo smiled without speaking. Mada Butterfly lifted her eyelids to look at him. "You hiding here... you wouldn't happen to be the person he's looking for, would you?"
"Not at all. Pure coincidence."
"Is that so?" Mada Butterfly took a sip of wine, not particularly concerned. "I thought you were tailing him just now."
"I was rely curious about who Vicen ni is looking for." Xu Huo spread his hands. "Just joining in on the spectacle."
Mada Butterfly pursed her lips into a smile. "Your curiosity is too strong."
"One of the interesting things about humans is their curiosity." Xu Huo paused, then continued, "How long will you be staying in District 011?"
Mada Butterfly raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just hear?"
Xu Huo nodded. "At least a month."
Mada Butterfly fell silent, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
Xu Huo, however, did not pursue the topic. He took a step back, exiting the room. "We'll et again if fate allows."
With that, he vaulted over the balcony railing and was gone.
In the room, Mada Butterfly rose from the sofa. Stepping onto the balcony in her high heels, she picked up the red rose he had left behind. Pinching the thorny stem, she gave it a gentle twist. Instantly, from stem to petal, the rose withered, turning into gray dust that drifted to the ground.
Xu Huo, having left the room, had not gone far. He lingered for a while in the covered walkway opposite the garden, just in ti to witness Mada Butterfly picking up the flower. A faint smile touched his lips before he slipped away from behind the pillar.
The hunt within the ga had not ceased. By the latter half, it seed to have devolved into a pure slaughter ga. Corpses piled up in the corridors and rooms. The Fox that Vicen ni was searching for had already been captured and offered upon the sacrificial altar. ni's earlier departure from the room was precisely to go to the main hall to conduct the sacrificial ceremony.
Now, the only remaining target was the Hyena. However, after searching the ga area once more and finding no trace of the middle-aged man, Xu Huo forcibly terminated the ga session.
That's right. Even though the ga had disabled the exit button, players could forcibly terminate the ga. Those inside the operation pods had not lost consciousness. Strictly speaking, even within the ga, one could still use their characteristics and items, though they might not function within the simulation.
The fact that Black Wolf, Fox, and Hyena had not left the ga even while being hunted suggested one of two possibilities. First, they might be unable to forcibly terminate like regular players could. Second, even if they exited the ga, they would have no ans of escape.
Therefore, these three were either grey players working for the governnt, who absolutely did not want to restart their train tickets and return to a dungeon no matter what, or they were rely trained Evolvers—possessing so combat capability but inferior to true players.
After all, players have their limitations, and their mortality rate is relatively high. For the vast District 011 to function, most operational work still employed ordinary people.
Although he hadn't obtained definitive information, Xu Huo's efforts were not entirely fruitless. After exiting, he looked up "Zheng An" and the Rongxin Group. Cross-referencing the na with related information revealed that Zheng An was a finance employee at a subsidiary of the Rongxin Group specializing in dical equipnt. Pulling up one turnip brings up the mud with it. From Zheng An's social network, Xu Huo then identified the middle-aged man's identity. This person was a distant relative of Zheng An, previously employed as a security guard at the Rongxin Group. He retired after an accident and, thanks to District 011's welfare policies, was able to settle in a building constructed by Rongxin, now working from ho.
These two were connected.
However, Xu Huo had no prior interaction with the Rongxin Group. The middle-aged man likely tailed him primarily due to the matter involving Deng Xuan.
As for Deng Xuan's network, Xu Huo spent a bit of money to trace it. Deng Xuan was just a small fry. His boss's surna was Jing, addressed as Brother Jing. Besides trafficking supplies, he also dabbled in buying and selling information on the side.
For these two groups to have intersected, it could only be due to an exchange of supplies or information.
The Rongxin Group had now dealt with Zheng An and was investigating the person he had been in contact with. Therefore, the player who ca to kill him that day was probably sent by Brother Jing's side.
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