Chapter 1618: Chapter 1618: Black Bounty Notice
The waiting process is boring, especially in this kind of white fog weather.
The special environment inherently made them feel drowsy, and with nothing to do, the more people gathered together, this drowsiness spread like a virus.
Chi Xian yawned beside them, “This won’t do. At this rate, most people will be asleep before dinner time.”
“It’s okay,” Xu Huo said, “Anyone who wants to sleep can do so, and anyone who doesn’t want to clear the level can create as much trouble as they like.”
These words were meant for the others. Liao Xiaorong and the others sensibly stopped crowding around them, while other players, fearing Xu Huo even more, stayed in groups of three to five. Now only Tong Qi and Chi Xian were sitting with Xu Huo.
Having not slept for a day and a night, Tong Qi was more energetic than most. He enthusiastically installed surveillance cameras or recorders in various corners of the mall. He didn’t have many tools, as he borrowed them from other players.
The beautiful, fair-skinned female player and the dark-faced player, who first showed goodwill toward Xu Huo, helped along with a few others. They also placed some props with similar effects.
They openly installed their props, and other players weren’t idle either, all secretly making small moves inside and outside the building.
Xu Huo pretended not to see and called over the few awake people from Zone 013 to ask about the legend of “Midsummer Night’s River of Stars.”
These individuals, whether physically or mentally, were not in as good condition as the six from the previous day. They were very fearful of Xu Huo while harboring a hint of hostility, so their description was stammering and not completely truthful. They also didn’t share any possibly related information.
Xu Huo gave them food and water and let them go.
The two dead Rank-B players had a lot of stored food on them. His luggage compartment was already full, so he took only the necessary, leaving the rest in the mall.
The luggage compartments of Rank-B players were much larger than his, making it inconvenient to carry many items. Aside from food and water, ores, gems, precious metals, and various miscellaneous potions were dealt with.
Additionally, the props worn by Yi Jun, who was trapped under the stone, were picked up by Tong Qi, but he didn’t keep them for himself and handed them all to Xu Huo.
Xu Huo gave him a Rank-C Item and several seemingly valuable ores.
A lot of miscellaneous items were left. After inventorying the items and potions of the two players, Xu Huo dealt with these items one by one.
The two had collected quite a few books and notes, mostly about how to engage in super evolution and enhance the effectiveness of evolution potions. Some included training and upgrade experiences for super evolution — these, like the Perfect Evolution Potion, were items that players found useful even if they couldn’t use them, just to touch and feel.
Xu Huo had already put away secondary stones, instruments, and three specially sealed boxes. Not all the books and notes were useful, so he quickly browsed through them and kept a few, including one related to Time-Directed Super Evolution, setting the others aside.
“This box is big, huh? What’s inside?” Seeing Xu Huo clear away the piled items, Tong Qi came over and patted a large rectangular box underneath.
“The materials are pretty good, at least Rank-B level metal or above.”
“But it looks like a coffin. What are those patterns on it?”
This box belonged to Yi Jun and was too big for Xu Huo to fit into his luggage compartment.
Tong Qi opened his personal panel and recorded the box’s patterns for research. Two seconds later, he exclaimed, “Brother Xu, this is…”
The words he was about to say were swallowed back by Tong Qi, and he hurried over to Xu Huo’s side, using a Muffler Artefact to say, “This is stolen property. There’s a bounty on the game platform.”
At Tong Qi’s exclamation, Xu Huo covered the box with his psychic power. To be cautious, he didn’t access the information directly with his personal panel but searched the bounty paper as Tong Qi suggested.
The one that appeared on the bounty platform was a black bounty note. A black bounty note implies the bounty issuer is anonymous, hiding all personal information, and only offers a reward for the specific item. The stereoscopic projection configured under the bounty note clearly shows a box of the same elongated shape, covered with certain bizarre mutated thorny plant patterns. The bud full of thorns looked like a series of closed eyes.
Additionally, each end of the metal box had a full-moon-shaped bud. For some reason, unlike the thorny buds, these turned into round spots resembling toad bumps, appearing unsettling.
“Look, isn’t it?” Tong Qi whispered excitedly.
“Not quite the same,” Xu Huo said, “The metal box on the bounty note has silver edgings on its pattern, which this box doesn’t.”
Tong Qi carefully compared and then waved, “Not a big difference. Maybe someone deliberately painted over the silver edgings to disguise it?”
“The reward is fifty million; aren’t you even a bit tempted?”
He said this as he reached out to touch the full-moon buds on the box head, but Xu Huo nudged his arm, “Be careful.”
Tong Qi, coming to his senses, quickly said, “I’m not someone blinded by money, just curious.”
“Since you think it’s the item on the bounty note, didn’t you see it says the contents inside shouldn’t be opened casually?” Xu Huo reminded.
Tong Qi didn’t take it seriously, “Perhaps it’s something good and they said that intentionally to prevent someone from claiming it as their own.”
Xu Huo regarded him steadily for a second, “Don’t you feel pressured when looking at the box?”
“No, not at all,” Tong Qi replied instinctively.
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow slightly, saying nothing more but contacted Yan Jiayu through Beneath the Dimension.
Since it couldn’t be placed in the props bar, it wasn’t a prop or an instrument. The bounty emphasizes not opening it, which might not be purely for the item’s protection.
If it’s a radioactive substance or a highly infectious bacteria, opening the box without protective measures could result in irreversible serious consequences.
Unsure if Yi Jun ever opened it.
After hiding the box under a cover to shield it from other players’ inquisitive eyes, Xu Huo continued inspecting other items.
Not being able to see what’s inside disappointed Tong Qi, but he quickly shifted his attention to other items, sifting through them until he found a photo album. One glance was enough to make him gasp. He spread it open in front of Xu Huo, “Didn’t expect a pervert among us.”
The album contained photos, three laid out in sequence, each depicting elaborately dressed and heavily made-up individuals strung up with slender metal needles into cruciform shapes. Beneath the photos were three thumbtacks with nails, their vibrant colors indicating they belonged to different people.