Chapter 2561: The Scent of a Medal
"Let’s just have these dishes." Xu Huo interrupted the Girl in the painting’s questions, saying, "The staff on the train won’t secretly hide away the good food to eat themselves."
The Girl in the painting looked a bit disappointed, but the expensive food she bought was delicious. Some ingredients had a strong aroma that could whet one’s appetite even without much seasoning.
"These ingredients smell so good because they’ve been specially cultivated." A player in the restaurant who knew a bit about it spoke to his companion, "I have a relative who works on a farm. Many animals and plants are evolving toward stronger directions, so there’s not much to eat, but with drug injections, they can be made delicious. With time, even their evolution process gets interrupted, changing from their original evolutionary path to meat evolution more suitable for the dining table."
"Is that even possible?" The companion seemed surprised, "If animals can have their evolution process interfered with, doesn’t that mean humans could too?"
"You think not?" The player who shared the information noticed he had attracted more attention and said mysteriously, "Otherwise, how do you think those Rank-B and Rank-A Wormhole Points have so many powerful players? Some people’s ancestors have been doing genetic modification for generations. It’s said that some Rank-A Wormhole Points are very advanced in this technology, with minimal side effects. Players’ physical abilities improve, the Evolution Potion is more easily absorbed, and it’s even easier for Secondary Evolution."
This stirred up some discontent among players about Rank-A Wormhole Points. Most of the Rank-A Wormhole Points are still part of the dungeon venues, and tickets can access them, but as the first Wormhole Points integrated into the game, unless they suffer a cataclysmic strike, evolution in the areas is very advanced, and technology is developed. Players entering them face more suppression than in other zones and less freedom. For many people, if the dungeon didn’t require it, they would prefer never to go to a Rank-A Wormhole Point in their lifetime.
"Who knows if the evolution through drug use makes them lose some human instincts? Some people look like mannequins, completely emotionless, like dogs. Whatever their master says goes...no, they’re more obedient than dogs." A player snorted.
This made the player who initially revealed the information change his expression, but he quickly hid it and got up, saying, "I’ve finished my meal, I’ll go first."
The same went for two other players who stood up and left the restaurant without another word.
This left the remaining people with a certain disdain. Was it just talking about Rank-A Wormhole Point players that scared him like that?
The man who insulted the Rank-A Wormhole Point players as dogs was even more dissatisfied, "A bunch of cowards! Even worse than those dogs!"
"Ding!" A soft sound of tapping a glass cup echoed in the restaurant, and someone at a three-person table in the corner turned around, smiling, "If you’re not a coward, why don’t you trouble Rank-A Player face to face instead of talking behind their backs?"
This angered the man who spoke earlier. He glanced at the three people wearing clothes printed with clock patterns, snorted, "What, are you from a Rank-A Wormhole Point? Does the dog even know you as its lackey?"
The one tapping the glass, a female player facing the man among the three, clapped her hands slowly. Each clap compressed the man’s body a bit. With no defensive prop to buffer it, the man immediately tried to escape, but as soon as he stood up, his legs went limp, collapsing directly to the ground. With two more claps, he was turned into a mess of meat paste on the carpet.
Two staff members quietly came forward, replaced the carpet using a prop, and quickly removed the smell from the air, restoring the fragrant atmosphere of food as if nothing had happened.
"Why are you looking at me?" The female player’s gaze abruptly turned to the Girl in the painting.
The Girl in the painting had already turned around from the moment she started tapping the glass cup, lying on the chairback staring directly at her, not blinking. Hearing the female player’s words, she tapped a few times on her communicator, "I want to wear your clothes too."
The phrase was unclear, even provocative, but the female player just laughed and tossed her a piece, "This is apprentice clothes, not everyone can wear it. If you like clocks, you can wear this one too."
Compared to the "apprentice clothes," the piece the female player gave out was very exquisite—a simple pullover, but with a clock pattern pieced together with fine gemstones on both the front and back. The quality was worlds apart from just printed fabric.
The Girl in the painting did an impromptu clothes change, happily touching the gemstones on the shirt, then pulled out a relatively pretty prop from her bag — something she picked out from Xu Huo’s winnings, the specific effect unknown. It had been in her bag since the beginning at the Super Dungeon venue, now gifted in return to the female player.
The female player looked surprised as she received it, raising her eyebrows, "Exchanging an A-level prop for a piece of clothing, even the Rank-A Wormhole Point people aren’t this generous."
The Girl in the painting didn’t mind at all, waving her hand with a smile, expressing that it was truly a gift for her.
The female player glanced at Xu Huo, seeing that he seemed uninterested, smiled, and then stood up, walked up to the Girl in the painting, leaned slightly, and softly brushed a finger across her cheek, quietly laughing, "You’re really beautiful."
After saying this, the woman was the first to leave the restaurant, the other two men also followed, winking at the Girl in the painting before they left.
The Girl in the painting touched the spot where the woman had just touched, turned to ask Xu Huo, "Was she flirting with me?"
"Maybe." Xu Huo replied, "Do you want to hit her?"
The Girl in the painting shook her head, "She smells nice, and I want to touch her too."
"Then next time, ask if she’s willing." Xu Huo stood up, "It’s almost lights out, let’s head back to the compartment."
The two walked through the compartments, only to find a fight breaking out in the 4th compartment behind them. The three from the apprentice clothes group happened to be there, and seeing Xu Huo and the Girl in the painting pause in the connecting compartment, one of the male players stood up and clapped his hands, "Stop it, someone wants to pass. Don’t block others’ way."
The players, originally at a standoff, exchanged looks, and surprisingly all put away their props.
A dozen pairs of eyes openly and covertly watched them, as if probing something. Xu Huo nodded slightly at the three-person group as he passed, and they all responded to varying degrees. On the other hand, the Girl in the painting joyfully waved at the female player, who also raised her hand.
Seeing his side companion was about to veer off, Xu Huo was one step ahead and pressed her shoulder, "If you want to chat, wait until tomorrow."
The Girl in the painting had no choice but to follow and leave.
Returning to the 3rd compartment, Xu Huo finally asked the Girl in the painting, "Why do you like her so much?"
The Girl in the painting imitated others’ actions, looking around, then leaned close to his ear... and raised the communicator, "She smells like medals."