The door opened, bringing with it a dense smell of blood. The two walked back to their original seats, one after the other, cleaned up with some cleansing potion, and then lay down as if they had just gone out for a walk.
In the darkness, Dr. Deng reached out to grab Xu Huo, "I’ll squeeze in with you."
Xu Huo kicked the person away with a foot.
A night passed, and the lights of the train came back on.
The quietly moving train seemed no different from yesterday, the only change being a few fine cracks on the window.
The players inside the carriage glanced over the cracks, then turned their gaze in Xu Huo’s direction, in small groups of two or three.
Xu Huo hadn’t slept all night, but he was still in good spirits. He ordered breakfast for Dr. Deng, "Rest during the day."
After speaking, he stood up and went to the connecting carriage, where he could see the situation in the carriage behind from the doors and windows.
Surprisingly, there were still three players sitting inside.
His gaze lingered on them for a moment before Xu Huo entered the bathroom.
The luck this time was really bad; the cannibal players in the back carriage were now the least of his worries.
The players in the first-class carriage were most likely a group. It had almost been possible for two people to clear out a whole carriage of players, showing that they were not to be underestimated.
Threatening to turn on the lights could only serve to buy time. If they were to clear the back carriages, the lights would no longer be a threat to these people.
After standing for a few seconds, Xu Huo opened his personal panel.
For this instance’s rewards, the game had granted him a "Frequent Movement" trait, a speed boost that allowed rapid and frequent position changes within a space.
The three items were "Strangers to Acquaintances," "Misplaced Capture," and "Damage Discount."
"Strangers to Acquaintances" was a compulsory forgetting potion with a short three-minute duration, applicable to one target, but it could only be used once.
To illustrate, if used on a player who was attacking him, the opponent would immediately lose their target, as if they had face blindness, lasting up to three minutes. However, this was subject to earlier recognition by the opponent.
This potion could only be used once a day, and it was best used when there were many people.
"Misplaced Capture," similar in effect, would cause the opponent to capture the wrong target if the holder did something, such as launching an attack or other actions, amid a crowd.
After all, Passerby A and Passerby B have the same face; they’re hard to distinguish if not familiar.
"Damage Discount" was self-explanatory; it could weaken incoming attacks by twenty percent.
All were supportive potions and didn’t directly increase combat power.
After some hesitation, Xu Huo took out the P1S Evolutionary Agent he had gotten from Deep Blue Laboratory and injected it into his arm.
He had been skeptical of this potion before, planning to buy some equipment to analyze its content after reaching Zone 011. However, the situation was special now, and having started the perfect evolution, he had built up some resistance to toxins, so he decided to inject the potion first.
He had seen the S-Version Drug amidst the chaos before; its color was only slightly lighter than that of the P0 version, hardly distinguishable unless one looked closely. The color of this potion was the same as the last one, coincidentally a P1, exactly what he needed.
"Bang, bang!" His heartbeat suddenly intensified, and Xu Huo experienced dizziness. Supporting himself with one hand against the wall, he saw his reflection in the mirror began to blur.
Layers of shadows sometimes overlapped and sometimes separated, each bearing a different expression. When they overlaid, he became wholly unrecognizable.
Suddenly, everything went dark in front of his eyes, as if a flickering light went on and off. In the mirror, the shadow of a child with its back turned to him materialized.
Some unknown force compelled him to reach out and grasp for her, but the child ran away without turning back, her skinny legs and oversized hospital gown creating a stark visual impact.
"Bang!" Xu Huo pounded his fists against the wall to steady himself. When he reopened his eyes, the phantom and the overlapping shadows had vanished, and his heart rate slowly decreased.
[Congratulations, Passerby A, your evolution rate has reached 30%.]
He was mildly surprised upon receiving the game notification. The S-Version Drug’s ability to promote evolution rate was apparently unrelated to the quantity used; a single dose could increase it by 10%. This was much more efficient than the Evolution Potions provided by the game, which required multiple doses, both in effect and in the time it takes to assimilate the drug.
A scientist capable of developing such a potion that surpasses the research of the colossal game establishment, and nearly perfect at that, gave birth to yet another doubt: Is this potion really so flawless?
The child’s figure he had seen was definitely not his imagination, and it likely stemmed from the drug. Either something was added to the drug, or this particular dose had some special property or item effect.
The little girl in the hospital gown matched the information he had seen from Miao Yu’s two pages of speculation, which suggested that Professor Wu likely had a daughter, a detail that coincided perfectly.
Placing the Potion in various locations and tampering with it provided both guidance and hints.
Professor Wu had his purposes for challenging the Game Government in such a manner, and the hallucination seen after the injection was likely related to these aims, possibly even directing him to the next instance’s clues.
"Are you alright?" Dr. Deng knocked from outside.
"I’ll be out in a moment." Xu Huo tucked away the syringe and opened the door. His senses had been heightened with the increased evolution rate; his auditory and visual range and acuity were notably improved.
For instance, the heartbeat of Dr. Deng standing in front of him had changed.
As the door was left open, Dr. Deng noticed the imprint of the fists on the wall, his expression changing subtly before asking, "Did you use an Evolutionary Agent? Did you get your hands on one?"
Dr. Deng was no fool; given the clarity of the discussion in the Deep Blue Laboratory, it was normal for him to be suspicious.
"It was a reward for completing the level." Xu Huo wasn’t fixated on completely dispelling his suspicions, since a bit of doubt could be beneficial to prevent him from fleeing once they reached Zone 011.
The two returned to the train compartment. The other seven players were sitting in their usual spots, drinking tea, eating, and chatting just like the day before, except for the girl named Weiwei, who looked somewhat frail.
After some thought, Xu Huo approached and asked, "Do you need help? I have some painkillers here."
Weiwei, clutching her stomach, was skeptical of his kindness, "Uncle, is your medicine effective?"
"You can try it." Xu Huo offered her a piece of candy, "It works every time; when a child is sick, this is what they need."
Unable to smile, Weiwei responded expressionlessly, "Uncle, is it fun to treat people like they’re stupid?"
"It’s fun." Xu Huo smiled, "You can try it yourself later."
As Weiwei reached for it, Xu Huo withdrew the candy, "If you don’t want it, never mind."
Weiwei puckered her lips, "I want it."
"Now I don’t want to give it." Xu Huo turned away and had Attendant Cheng bring her a large cake.
Weiwei stabbed the cake haphazardly with a knife, while a woman beside her admonished, "Weiwei, don’t make a mess on the table."