Chapter 2660: Hehe
There was silence on the other end, but Xu Huo did not let it go and forcefully asked, "Give me a definite answer."
"No." Wan Ping seemed to have communicated with someone, then gave him a definite answer.
Although it was expected, Xu Huo was slightly disappointed because, in such a needle-in-the-haystack situation, the closest to the "National Treasure" was Lian Qingkong. If even he was out of the picture, it would be very difficult to find it.
"Are there any other clues you can provide?" Xu Huo continued to ask.
"Besides sincerity, cooperation requires bargaining chips," Wan Ping said. "As I mentioned before, even if threatened, we will never yield."
After all, it involves so many people, and descendants of both surnames being cautious is very normal. Xu Huo understood that if it weren’t to keep him steady, this negotiation probably wouldn’t even happen. Because he was unpredictable and not well-understood, the descendants of the two surnames adopted an ambiguous negotiation attitude. However, if it were someone like Lian Qingkong who could directly threaten all the descendants of the two surnames, they would probably turn against him without hesitation.
This isn’t a big deal.
The communicator fell silent, but the rhythmic sound of "tapping" echoed, like fingers tapping on a hard object.
After a while, Wan Ping voluntarily asked, "You can make your request."
"Just wait." Xu Huo cut off the communication.
He casually put the communicator aside, adjusted his sitting posture, and as his body leaned slightly forward, a thin man dropped out through the Mental Portal, leaving no chance for the other to escape. He said, "You’ve been following me for quite a while—except for the times I left Capital City, there were at least two teams switching to follow me. You even followed me to the resort yesterday, and judging by your looks, it doesn’t seem like it’s for clues about the National Treasure."
"I’m new here and don’t know many local players, so the probability of forming enmity is low; it can only be related to what I’m investigating."
"So many players are investigating the National Treasure; I’m only looking for some common clues that many others have probably checked, yet you persistently follow me without showing hostility..."
"Let me guess, is it because my investigation data includes the descendants of Peng Guan?"
"Or perhaps there’s something in those assassination events worth your attention?"
"Turns out it’s neither."
"In that case, it can only be the God of the Night."
Xu Huo paid special attention to the player’s expression, and it wasn’t much different from when he heard the first two options. He paused slightly, "It seems you’re unaware."
This player who had been shadowing from afar didn’t know, but the journalist Xu Huo asked earlier evidently reacted to the title "God of the Night." Gao Ming said this person used to work for the government, and the journalist knew it, but now government-employed players were unaware. Either this person died long ago, or they have become a high-ranking official.
Knowing the other party wasn’t malicious, Xu Huo released him, "Alright, go home, wash up, and sleep. Stop watching me."
The thin player’s eyes were filled with astonishment and vigilance, surprised at how easily Xu Huo let him go.
Xu Huo had finished what he needed to do today and no longer paid attention to this person, turning around and heading upstairs.
He originally planned to visit Lian Qingkong at the government building early the next morning, but before dawn, he was awakened by Xiao Mei.
"The Collection of Information Terminal has exploded!" Xiao Mei projected a video in the room, where a player with their face completely covered appeared, first politely greeting and then cutting to the chase, "I believe everyone might be unfamiliar with me, so let me introduce myself."
"You can call me Star, coming from another zone."
"Honestly, I don’t particularly like Zone 039—not only is the environment harsh, but hardly anyone stands out. But since I’m here, I can’t help it; I must grit my teeth and complete the instance."
"Why is this person so irritating?" Xiao Mei said. "I want to slap him across the screen."
"I haven’t had good luck, stuck with an instance that hasn’t been cleared for twenty years. Not to mention this messy zone has pretty much destroyed the clues, and even if there were clues, they’d likely have been wiped clean by stranded players."
"There’s a saying about strong dragons not overpowering local snakes, so issues in Zone 039 should obviously be handled by locals."
"Hence, I warmly invite some player organizations and relatives of government officials to come as my guests," he said while showcasing freshly taken photos, "Here’s our group photo."
It wasn’t until the photo appeared that the projection information truly hit its theme.
The photo’s scene should be within a Prop venue, crowded with young and old, staring in horror at the camera. In front of them were three players including the masked man, all holding a sign with a mischievous meme.
"As you can see, we’re enjoying each other’s company. They’re all happy and just waiting for their relatives to pick them up."
"I don’t know who holds the National Treasure, but I hope they voluntarily hand it over. As long as we get the National Treasure, I’ll release these people."
"However, I think there are too many people in this world who don’t shed tears until they see a coffin. So before the ultimate mission, let’s conduct a compliance test."
"In the next two hours, I hope to see a corpse of a stranded player every five minutes. If I don’t see one, I’ll have to substitute it with your relatives."
A man and a woman were pulled into the projection, and amid their panicked pleas, the masked man mimed gunshots at them, and the two bodies fell, each with an irregular bloody hole between their eyebrows.
"Their parents work in the government, they’re skilled in embezzlement and bribery, not good people. Don’t thank me, hehe!"
With that, the projection information ended. Although Internet access was limited, those who could access it were enraged by the arrogant rhetoric and cruel methods. The Collection of Information Terminal was almost entirely abuzz discussing this matter. Many Outer Zone players, but compared to a zone’s player count, were inadequate. Many demanded government and player organizations intervene to kill or expel these people.
Because of the National Treasure instance, Yu Country bore the brunt. Not only the government, but player organizations also took action, eagerly tracking these people down.
However, it’s incredibly easy for players to hide, and not to mention there are two other countries that don’t frequent exchange with them. Even if players follow the clues of missing relatives in the investigation, it’s exceedingly difficult to find any valuable clues.
In fact, besides some key figures’ relatives, these people also captured some ordinary people as hostages.
If it were just ordinary people, the government would absolutely not yield—not to mention government reputation or national righteousness; Yu Country is constantly at war, and nobody considers ordinary people’s lives crucial. But the masked man captured some player relatives. These people are spread across different player organizations, and both parties already have poor relations. If they were to fall out over this, Yu Country government would surely suffer.
After weighing the situation, the government issued a wanted notice.