After getting into the car, Xu Huo soon learned that the short-haired woman was named Ran Ying, the captain of Enforcement Department Team Seven, and that her team was responsible for the night shift today. Cheng Bing—the two robots shared one name—detected energy fluctuations from the use of a spatial artifact near the central urban area; out of boredom, they had gone to investigate and had stumbled upon the incident at Rose Castle.
"How did you discover his identity?" Ran Ying asked excitedly, "It’s not easy to see through the disguise of a fugitive who can stay in an instance for a long time, especially after he altered his appearance. It must have been hard to recognize him."
Xu Huo glanced at the female robot in the rearview mirror and elaborated on his experience in the instance.
"You could guess he was a wanted criminal from that?" Ran Ying’s face showed shock, "I’ve heard of Rose Castle before, He Pu, the famous philanthropist, who hasn’t been active in recent years. So it turns out he was killed by a fugitive. Cheng Bing, could you notify the Ancient City District branch to see how to handle this?"
The female robot was silent for two seconds before quickly responding, "Rose Castle has been sealed off, triggered by the police’s discovery of stolen goods from a series of murders. They are now searching for He Pu. I have already sent this information over."
Ran Ying nodded, then with a smile inquired about Xu Huo’s age and background. After hearing he was a Level D Player, she sincerely praised him, "You’re not bad at all; you’re a Level D and have already busted an instance. If the fake He Pu is caught, the instance at Rose Castle might not continue."
Xu Huo paused, "After the real He Pu’s death, how will Rose Castle be handled?"
"It depends if he has heirs or a will. If neither exists, the castle will likely be recovered by the governmental departments and then auctioned off," Ran Ying said with casual indifference, "But the place will take a lot of money to maintain, and many places like Rose Castle go unsold because they stand empty."
When Xu Huo left, Rose Castle had indeed aged and deteriorated, which was surely Mr. Dong’s handiwork. Those items on the third floor definitely didn’t belong to the fake He Pu, particularly the items he couldn’t take and use, which were now still left in the castle.
If the instance at Rose Castle ceased to exist, those items would probably be auctioned off along with the castle by Mr. Dong.
He wasn’t covetous of those items, the research notes of He Pu were of greater value and worth a closer look. Later on, he might keep an eye on the auction information for the castle.
The high-tech sports car floated over the city roads and soon arrived in the bustling area of the central city. Ran Ying landed the car on a "U" shaped parking strip, and as they got out, the parking strip sent the sports car away, quickly filling the now vacant spot with another car.
"I’ll take you to check in," Ran Ying said as they walked, "This hotel requires identification, but I can issue you a temporary certificate."
"You’re not high-level, so it’s easy for players to target you. Hotels that need identity validation have strong security, so staying here, you don’t have to worry about safety issues," she added.
Xu Huo only saw the "Eternal Star" sign on the direction board after they left the parking lot.
He had stayed at Eternal Star’s venue at Brick Tale Town Station before; it was expensive but couldn’t guarantee safety.
The female robot resolved his confusion, "Eternal Star hotels established at the Game Government’s base usually provide personal protection for players, which is included in the bill. Plus, if players damage anything in the hotel, the bill will be submitted directly to the game by Eternal Star Hotel, and then settled on the player’s individual account."
"This means if you break an antique, the money will be deducted directly from your account. If you don’t have enough funds, it’ll become a debt. In this case, every banknote that enters your account will first go toward repaying the debt."
In other words, until the debt is repaid, not a penny can be hidden in a player’s individual account.
Of course, you could convert to White Notes and not put them into your personal panel, but paper banknotes are inconvenient to carry and not easy to preserve. Players who try to dodge debts this way usually don’t live for much longer.
The trio arrived at the lobby where the staff member on duty came over to serve them. After Ran Ying showed her work ID, the staff member very promptly arranged a room for Xu Huo.
"Can I check in without a membership card?" Xu Huo asked.
"Of course," the staff member replied enthusiastically, "Eternal Star Hotel has a cooperation agreement with Zone 011 Government, with a fixed quota of rooms each month; all you need to do is pay the full room charge to check in." She led them upstairs with bubbly enthusiasm.
Xu Huo glanced at the electronic screen the staff member was holding; the price for one night in this room was 30,000 White Notes.
Ran Ying was considerate. After viewing the room, she asked the female robot to pay, and putting an arm around Xu Huo’s shoulder said, "You’re new here, so consider tonight’s stay my treat. I’ll come to pick you up for breakfast tomorrow, what would you like to eat?"
The staff member gave Xu Huo a subtly nuanced look, which Xu Huo returned when looking at Ran Ying, who seemed oblivious as she stared at him intently.
Eventually, the female robot pulled her away, not worried in the least about Xu Huo slipping away on his own.
Ran Ying had "profitable" written all over her face; no ordinary person would willingly walk away from such an opportunity.
"Does Ran Ying often bring people here?" Xu Huo casually asked the staff member after they had left, handing over his membership card.
Seeing the membership card, the staff member’s smile became genuine, "There are always two or three different people each month, Captain Ran often falls deeply in love."
Xu Huo didn’t say anything else and dismissed her.
After sitting down, he first checked his game panel.
[Congratulations to player Passerby A for successfully completing the instance. Based on your performance in this instance, you’ve received the one-in-a-million S-rank evaluation, entitling you to one major trait, one special item, one Level D common item, twenty potions, and 20,000 White Notes.]
[Major Trait: Power of Writing]
[Note 1: As a resilient Passerby A, who cares if he can’t speak? He can still make his observations known to all through writing. When Passerby A picks up a pen, he becomes the most noticeable Passerby A, and everyone will drop what they’re doing and watch him involuntarily. Duration: 5 seconds.]
[Note 2: A trait that contradicts Passerby A’s own nature, sometimes negating the effect of blurred memory.]
[Note 3: The effect works even better when writing interesting and sought-after gossip.]
This trait seems to be a pause button that doesn’t discriminate between friends and foes. According to note three, the condition for use probably includes "visibility," which would limit the scope of the trait’s effect.
If there’s no limit on the number of people, this could be an effective group control trait.
Xu Huo continued to look at the items.
[The Hungry Gluttonous Snake: A thieving item that serves as decoration. Even though the game doesn’t advocate theft, somehow, it came into existence. It’s an item everyone who uses it calls amazing because as long as you press its vital point, the targeted person will undoubtedly lose an extremely valuable item and somehow won’t notice it immediately.]