"Did he ever discuss the contents with you before?"
"No," Mr. Dong replied succinctly.
Xu Huo asked a few more questions and realized Mr. Dong truly did not know. It could be a prop, potion, or something else—there was no specific indication.
"Mr. He Pu died of an illness, what disease did he have?"
"Organ failure," Mr. Dong said, "incurable."
Xu Huo immediately realized something, "Is it because of the evolution? Didn’t he continue to take the Evolution Potion?"
"The Evolution Potion was useless," Mr. Dong said. "After Mr. He Pu fell ill, the potion no longer worked."
He didn’t want to continue the topic. "What would you like for lunch, sir?"
"Whatever." Xu Huo frowned, shrouded in gloom. Was the potion’s failure due to failed evolution?
Back in Fenbei Town, he knew some people showed signs of alienation or weakening even after consuming the Evolution Potions. The information he had encountered then covered common Evolvers and didn’t mention players. Now he thought about it, everyone was using a flawed Evolution Potion, and players were no exception to this phenomenon. However, players had a higher mortality rate, and some died in the copies without ever manifesting these symptoms.
Mr. He Pu managed to set fires twenty-eight times, which suggested a high player level... so even higher-level players might not be immune to the side effects of the Evolution Potions.
No wonder there were so many medicinal research notes in the study; Mr. He Pu must have been trying to tackle the potion’s flaws himself.
Having traveled to so many game zones, did he know about the Perfect Evolution Potion?
Xu Huo’s heartbeat accelerated for a few seconds before returning to normal. He had searched all the notes in the study without finding a single word about the Perfect Evolution Potion. Mr. Dong didn’t know either, and Xu Huo wondered if there was anything else hidden in this place.
He looked around the study and his gaze landed on the Diamond Key. Moments later, it shifted to the projection map.
He stayed in the study until the afternoon before going out. Madame Butterfly was enjoying her afternoon tea in the garden, cheerfully waving him over, "Look, these are the butterflies Duke Tal sent over."
Several palm-sized golden butterflies struggled inside a glass cabinet, wrapped and tied with a ribbon as a gift placed on the table.
"They’re about to die," Xu Huo said as he sat down.
"They can only live for twenty minutes at most." Madame Butterfly’s smile remained unchanged as she admired the butterflies’ frantic wing beats. "The more beautiful things are, the shorter they live."
"Was Mr. He Pu’s death due to the aftereffects of evolution?" Xu Huo suddenly asked.
Madame Butterfly looked at him curiously, "He was of such an old age, it’s not strange for him to die naturally."
Xu Huo paused, "According to the records in the album, he would not be over sixty years old."
"But that album is all about arson cases, isn’t it? He didn’t appear in it himself."
In fact, even if he had appeared, it would be hard to determine a person’s age. Even without using a prop, there are potions that can keep one forever young.
"His psychological changes," Xu Huo said. "He showed significant growth during the process of setting fires. Initially, he still had sympathy for ordinary people, but later arson cases almost showed none. However, he didn’t set fires with a gamer’s mindset; he was retaliating against the Game Government."
"Based on his mindset, I estimate he wasn’t over sixty years old. To say nothing of a player, even ordinary people who haven’t taken the Evolution Potion wouldn’t be at the age of sixty, not to mention he had been ill for more than five years."
"He never told me his real age," Madame Butterfly sipped her tea, "I’m not his mother; how would I know that clearly."
"You want to know what he left for you, don’t you." She smiled, "Stop beating around the bush. I won’t reveal more until you complete what I’ve asked you to do, otherwise, use your clever little brain to guess."
Xu Huo wasn’t in a hurry, pouring himself a cup of tea and leaning back in his chair, "It’s hard to cook without rice. Without any clues, it’s not guessing, but wild imagining."
Madame Butterfly pushed the pastries toward him, "Mr. Dong’s chefs are quite skilled."
"How long have you known He Pu?" Xu Huo asked seemingly casually.
"Many years, I suppose," Madame Butterfly pondered, supporting her cheek, "I can’t remember exactly, but he was doing well back then. I even went with him to set fires a couple of times; it was quite fun."
"Do you know how to set fires?" she asked.
This woman clearly knew He Pu’s former identity.
Xu Huo nodded, "I have an item that belonged to him."
"V Fan Xiao’s arson tool?" Madame Butterfly craned her neck, asking with anticipation. Upon receiving a positive answer, she suddenly laughed, saying very cheerfully, "Really? That’s so interesting."
After laughing, she said, "That being said, you guys are quite fated. It’s uncertain whether it’s coincidence or destiny."
Xu Huo didn’t speak, his gaze shifting to the blooming rose bushes nearby.
Being able to name the item accurately and knowing He Pu’s past, their history ran deep.
However, their relationship wasn’t like what he had speculated before. Madame Butterfly also wasn’t as mature as she appeared, being a genuine young woman; they seemed more like father and daughter.
But Madame Butterfly’s words did not hold the gravity towards He Pu that one would expect between real father and daughter.
"Are you He Pu’s adopted daughter?" Xu Huo turned back, interrupting the person playing with the flowers.
"You’re really annoying," Madame Butterfly said as she released her hand, blackness spreading from beneath her feet. As the flowers fell to the ground, along with the entire garden, they merged into the darkness, causing the table, chairs, and teacups to all vanish.
The two maintained their seated positions as they faced each other. Xu Huo chuckled, "Don’t be so angry. You know I’ve undergone a second evolution. Your psychic attacks might not work on me."
"It’s not necessarily so," Madame Butterfly lifted her hand in the air and squeezed it as if pulling a zipper, creating an opening in the blackness between them. The zipper that appeared over Xu Huo’s head made it seem like he had turned into a flat photograph.
Madame Butterfly appeared at the entrance to the staircase, still surrounded by darkness. She glanced behind her before sprouting butterfly wings and flying down the steps into the depths.
She sped up several times, yet the dimly lit spiral staircase seemed endless, as though after traveling so much, every part of it still looked like the entrance, with no light ahead or behind.
Madame Butterfly stopped; another zipper appeared in front of her, sliding from top to bottom, opening an oval entrance and moving backward to swallow her.
But unfortunately, beyond the portal was still the staircase.
"Won’t you let me in?" she spoke, "Next time I might not be so polite."
"You don’t have much patience, do you? It took me several days at first," Xu Huo’s voice came from the staircase in front of her. As he appeared, the staircase started shifting from black to white. The snow-white color instantly covered the entire spiral staircase, with countless bookshelves and portals emerging from the darkness, whirling and piecing together around the staircase to form a complete cylindrical floor, extending deep below their feet, beyond sight.