[Not only that, but players who later acquired this item also died one after another—death in the game is nothing unusual, but it was able to control the players’ time of death to within three months, exactly, a miracle among items.]
Reading this, Xu Huo glanced at Chief Wu.
Chief Wu, who was drinking tea, understood and said, "Don’t look at the conditions of use being not so great, but the effect is really good."
[However, it can shuttle between two points within any recognized country, who would care that it could only be used twice?]
A statement that turned the tide.
Xu Huo continued with the second item.
[Homologous Locator: As an item, it is highly sensitive to items of its kind, so it will diligently display the number and rank, as well as the location of items, whether above or below ground, within a 200-meter radius on the screen.]
From the description, it could determine the number and rank of items within a certain range; it wasn’t bad for searching for enemies or scouting paths.
Then came the third item: [Extreme Fatigue: Can only be used on one player at a time. When you say "Are you tired?" to the targeted player, they will immediately fall into a minute of extreme fatigue, with a 30% reduction in attack power and response speed. People with less determination may even fall asleep on the spot. However, please note that its effect can be countered by stimulants.]
This item was somewhat inferior to the first two, but if used during fierce battles, it wouldn’t be easy to stop and take a stimulant.
[Important Call: An unavoidable important call. As soon as an attack is launched, the receiver will free up a hand to answer the phone no matter how busy they are, since it could be from a wife or mother.]
[Progress Bar Disappearance: Movies and TV shows have progress bars, so why not items and attributes? Once used, it can randomly reduce the time of attributes or item effects inflicted on the holder by 10%.]
"Considering your fighting style, the Special Defense Department didn’t choose combat items but focused on reducing the opponent’s abilities," said Chief Wu. "For ordinary players, more direct combat items might be more practical, but for you and Nie Xuan, every second counts as an opportunity to turn the tide of a battle."
In other words, only those who can make creative use of items can truly bring out their potential.
In close-quarters combat, swords and other sharp weapons aren’t much different unless there is a significant disparity in rank.
"Thanks," Xu Huo said simply. "I’ll accept these five items."
Chief Wu smiled slightly, "Take a look at the potions, there might be surprises."
The military-dressed player took out the potions again; of the various potions, two were particularly eye-catching. One was the Combustion Potion, which could help fuel a fire and was not easy to extinguish when poured inside. If just poured onto an object, it would automatically catch fire as long as there was a flame within fifty meters.
The other was a rapid cooling agent, which could freeze any object in an extremely short period, including people and metal, though the specific effect depended on the amount used.
Looking at the others, besides the Evolution Potion and the Self-Healing Potion, there were several other potions to enhance strength and physique, all very well-considered.
Xu Huo thanked him again, and Chief Wu reciprocated the courtesy, the mood between them seeming more relaxed than during the day. The former did not mention the abduction of Tongtong, and the latter did not bring up the incident where so many tons of water at the reservoir had suddenly all turned into Antitoxin.
The two sides were at peace, and Xu Huo saw Chief Wu off.
When he returned to the house, Gu Yu, Brother Liang, and others rushed over, their eyes glued to the boxes with greedy looks. Guan Zuhong’s mouth watered with envy, "Never thought I’d see so many White Notes piled up together in my life."
"Forget about White Notes, I haven’t even seen this many soft sister coins," Wen Xuelin said as she rubbed her hands all over the boxes. "Through the boxes, I can already smell the fragrance of money..."
"Have some dignity!" Zheng Liang rolled his eyes. "Acting like you’ve never seen money before."
"A slum girl won’t quibble with a rich second-generation youngster," Wen Xuelin said dreamily.
Xu Huo opened one of the boxes and let Gu Yu give each person five hundred thousand, "Just a little something, please accept it."
"Brother Xu, you’re too polite," Guan Zuhong wiped his mouth. "This trip wasn’t in vain, and now taking your money feels a bit awkward."
He said this, but he was quick to take the money.
Xu Huo smiled and then said, "For friends who haven’t come back, set aside their share too, we can hand it over once they’re out of the instance, or give it to their families."
Everyone was happy; after all, five hundred thousand White Notes could buy a pretty good item. Even if they didn’t use it to buy items, obtaining an Evolution Potion could relieve their financial pressure for a long time.
They happily divided the money, and the Girl in the painting stood next to Gu Yu, looking on eagerly.
As she wasn’t a player and couldn’t carry much White Notes with her, Xu Huo said, "I’ll keep your share for you, and you can claim it from me later."
The Girl in the painting nodded with a smile, staying there to help Gu Yu.
"Buzz!" Xu Huo’s phone vibrated. He took a look—it was a message from Zhou Ning. They had found Yan Jiayu, but she had sustained serious injuries upon exiting the random instance. She fought against several Twin Snakes players who were in the instance with her, killing three and one got away.
"Buzz!" The phone vibrated again; it was a photo sent by Yan Jiayu. She was lying in a hospital bed with one leg suspended and made a playful scissor gesture with a cheery smile.
Xu Huo dialed the number and asked for details. Yan Jiayu said, "I noticed when I got in that they were targeting you. They must have run that instance before and someone knew how to clear it, but I was wearing a mask at the beginning, so they didn’t recognize me."
"Those people in the gray robes, were they tough?"
"Tough... I guess just so-so..." Yan Jiayu hesitated slightly, "One was a bit tougher and ran from the instance, but the others—I didn’t even use six-tenths of my strength against them."
Xu Huo was speechless: Then why were you injured?
Zhou Ning couldn’t help but laugh from the other end, "When she was about to clear the instance, she got angry about someone escaping and kicked things around, but ended up kicking an item inside the instance and broke her own leg."
"I also consider it a blessing in disguise!" Yan Jiayu defended herself, "Isn’t this what my master always says about misfortune being a blessing in disguise? If I hadn’t broken my leg, how could I have found a Rank-C item."
In the end, she emphasized, "This is a very powerful item."
"I believe it," Xu Huo laughed. "Anything that can break your leg is definitely not an ordinary item."
"I knew you’d understand," Yan Jiayu said, gratified. She then changed the subject, "I’ve seen what happened in Jing City online. I want to visit Country Y once my leg is healed, maybe we can go together?"
"That probably won’t work," Xu Huo said. "I’m leaving tomorrow."