Dai Wenqian’s skill in maintaining his composure was remarkable, not only was he not angry, but he instead said, "We don’t have any serious grudges, and this time I’ve come to you not to dredge up the past, but to discuss a transaction with you."
"Does the Special Defense Department not regulate players like you?" Xu Huo put down his water glass.
"The Special Defense Department isn’t very fast, and even if they did come up with something, it wouldn’t be applied to us first," Dai Wenqian said. "You should still have spares on hand, sell them to me, you can name your terms."
Upon hearing this, Xu Huo laughed, "Quite confident, aren’t you? I wonder if you can offer better terms than the Special Defense Department."
After a two-second silence, Dai Wenqian continued, "Xu Huo, there’s actually no need for us to be at loggerheads . Given the current situation, wouldn’t it be better for the strong to join forces?"
"Player associations recognized by the government, player organizations established autonomously by players, both in terms of numbers and scale, are substantial. Although the Special Defense Department has absorbed many players, they wouldn’t trust civilian players. To my knowledge, the Special Defense Department has always been selecting suitable individuals from the military to become players, and this has been quite effective."
"Once the military players rise to power, there will be no role for us. It’s never wrong to plan ahead if you want to survive, especially since I have so many players depending on me."
"You’re the same, you might be able to enter the game, but you can’t just abandon your family, can you?"
"The time hasn’t come yet, but if something does happen, do you think the people from the Special Defense Department will be easy to talk to?"
After listening to him, Xu Huo responded, "I’m not worried about the Special Defense Department using my family to threaten me into doing something, but what you said has reminded me. When I got back, I received messages from my family saying someone has been monitoring them nearby, did you do it?"
His tone was steady, but Dai Wenqian perceived the threat in his words through the phone.
"Your family is under the protection of the Special Defense Department, how dare I do such a thing," he replied, his voice growing heavier, "Xu Huo, cooperating with me is to your benefit. Players are increasing in number and their methods are ever more difficult to guard against; you wouldn’t want to be mobbed by hoards of players when you visit home someday..."
Xu Huo hung up the call and turned to send a message to Chief Wu.
"I will have Chief Song control his people," Chief Wu responded promptly.
Before long, Sima Xiao’er returned and skillfully finished preparing the meal.
After Xu Huo had eaten, seeing Sima Xiao’er loafing around, he asked, "Don’t you need to participate in training?"
Liu Jia had also joined the Special Defense Department, and for some players who lacked basic training, the Special Defense Department would provide coaching.
"I’ve completed the physical training, but anything else is beyond me," Sima Xiao’er scratched his head, "The station hired special teachers to come and give lectures on analyzing instances. I just can’t learn it."
"Don’t laugh at me, Brother Xu, but I’ve bribed other players to get through instances in the past. My brain just doesn’t work that way; I can’t analyze instances, but finding the most powerful player can’t be wrong."
"What if you encounter a single-player instance?" Xu Huo asked.
Level E instances are all multi-player instances without clear grouping or hostility; in most cases, all players have the same goal and tend to cooperate, but that might not hold true going forward as player levels increase, and instances get harder.
For example, the Rose Castle instance boss’s disguise, as well as non-instance players who infiltrated, or the catch ghost game in Deep Blue Laboratory which pretends to be a clearance requirement, even when the venue and the number of people are limited.
"I’m aware that instances will definitely get harder," Sima Xiao’er distressingly said, "but I just can’t come up with what others can. What can I do?"
"Does the Special Defense Department arrange for players to lead other players?" Xu Huo went on to ask.
"They do, but there are very few," replied Sima Xiao’er, "Everyone is busy leveling up now, hands-on training isn’t realistic."
"Player identities can be put on hold," Xu Huo revealed, "Once you reach Level D, you can apply with the Game Government or the local government to suspend your player identity. You won’t have to complete instances each month."
Sima Xiao’er exclaimed, "Is there such a good thing?"
Xu Huo glanced at him, "It’s not that easy to apply. The minimum requirement is to work for one of these two governments."
Sima Xiao’er beamed, "Rather than working for others, better to work for one’s own country. I’ll apply after Zone 014 develops further."
Xu Huo admired his optimism and then asked, "Any special events in Zone 014 recently?"
"I know a little about this," Sima Xiao’er replied, "Some remote mountainous areas have seen peculiar magnetic fields emerge. While nothing else was found in those explorations, some experts suggest this is a manifestation of Zone 014 merging with the game. Sooner or later, Zone 014 will become part of the game, with instances appearing right in Zone 014, blurring the line between the instance world and the real one."
Xu Huo nodded. It was an inevitable development, but it wasn’t clear what standards a new zone needed to meet to completely merge with the game.
However, at the moment, complete integration wasn’t a good thing. If high-level players were free to roam Zone 014, a proportionate number of high-level players would be essential to stabilize order.
"That’s about it," Sima Xiao’er pondered before adding, "But I’ve heard from other departments that recently some strange people have emerged in large cities acquiring real estate."
"The government is strict with household registration now, every property transaction is detailed, and they’ve discovered some people who have popped up out of nowhere."
"Implausible identities?" Xu Huo showed interest.
"Legal, actually, they are eerily legal," Sima Xiao’er said, "These people use the identities of missing persons."
"There were many disappearances recently, with many on record. Regardless of where these people came from, their identity cards and the appearances on the system all match. But indeed, some have mentioned that those are probably not the actual persons."
"Moreover, no matter what these missing persons did before or whether they had money, upon returning, they spend big on real estate or shops in prosperous areas, but usually, they open repair shops or toy stores."
This sounded familiar; generally, players wouldn’t care about matters like housing and registration and wouldn’t need to, but the Girl in the painting had gained the ability to use paper extensively within a vast area by obtaining land-use rights from the government, indicating that the local government’s rights over registration and property are recognized by the game and this can indeed have an impact on items.
"Are these people players?" Xu Huo paused before inquiring again.
"It seems like they are, yet not quite. They don’t appear to need to enter instances," Sima Xiao’er explained. "The Special Defense Department has investigated too. If anything’s peculiar, it’s that their items are exceedingly expensive, and they accept both Paper Money and White Notes."
"Are there shops in Ting City?"
"Not in Ting City," Sima Xiao’er looked at him, "Brother Xu, do you know what these shops are for? Are you up to something?"