Chapter 1624: Chapter 1624: Enhanced Dreamscape
Though he was called brother-in-law, Young Master Mo didn’t treat Scarred Glasses cordially. However, given their relationship, the bond between them was indeed more reliable than other temporary alliances of players, though it was limited to the two of them.
After a brief rest, Chi Xian prepared to sleep.
He patted Xu Huo on the shoulder, “Brother, my safety is in your hands.”
“Don’t worry,” Xu Huo nodded in agreement.
Scarred Glasses and Tong Qi also prepared for sleep themselves.
Tong Qi trusted Xu Huo and the others without saying much, he crawled into his prop to sleep, and quickly fell asleep, only the breathing valve on his protective mask was exposed.
In the mall, some people still hadn’t woken from sleep, some had been sleeping for more than twelve hours.
Today was already the fourth day. Apart from the dead-asleep People of Zone 013, there were some changes in the players too. Unlike the past two days, when they woke up seemingly well-rested, fatigue appeared on some faces.
Normally, dreaming in sleep would mean insufficient rest. Abnormally longer sleep time indicated the worsening of such conditions, as demonstrated by that person who kept planting trees in the dream, without ceasing since entering the dream.
Players had their surveillance equipment ready, though no player disappeared during the day. Those who left and returned couldn’t stand the overly quiet atmosphere of the mall and gathered in threes and fours to play cards.
Less than three hours later, Chi Xian woke up with a darkened face.
Xu Huo tossed him a bottle of water, “Looks like it was a nightmare for you.”
Chi Xian angrily glanced at Young Master Mo, but quickly withdrew his gaze and returned to calmness.
Seeing he wasn’t inclined to elaborate, Xu Huo wasn’t going to ask either, until Scarred Glasses and Tong Qi woke up in succession, and he suggested stepping outside for some fresh air.
By now, most of the players who had gone out in the morning had returned, probably realizing there was no clue to be found within the city, so no one really ventured out afterward.
However, when Xu Huo went out, there were two players following him at a distance, not concealing their presence nor approaching to greet him either.
Xu Huo wandered around the area, and after more than ten minutes, he returned to the mall.
During this time, two more players awoke. Aside from being spiritually drained, they showed no particular symptoms, though their obviously wrong state did merit a basic physical check with the help of other players.
Since almost everyone had caught some fungal toxin upon entry, blood tests indeed showed mild poisoning.
“Probably too fatigued,” the beautiful female player commented, “With mental strain during the day and continuous dreaming at night, it equates to never really resting, so it’s normal for their condition to be bad.”
The two players weren’t naive; after a while, they approached Xu Huo to discuss matters.
Because there was only one Super Evolutionary with mental powers here, they had previously agreed on mutual assistance. But after two Rank-B players died, people feared Xu Huo’s power and methods, worried they lacked bargaining chips, thus withheld some self-deemed important clues.
At this point, everyone felt secure as long as they were alike; difference was dreadful.
The Buzz Cut player detailed his dream to Xu Huo, explaining his mindset during scene transitions within the dream, then added, “I’m no saint, but I don’t kill innocents randomly; could this instance’s requirements for players be so high?”
“Not necessarily,” Xu Huo replied, “It’s just that the instance has sorting criteria which we happen to be unaware of.”
The supposed preference for kindness was merely a hypothesis. Perhaps such underlying requirements existed in game instances, but this instance was likely influenced by Dr. Wu, casting doubt on its adherence to original rules.
Similarly, Xu Huo’s recurring train dream was much alike; he felt he had to change the fate of those individuals at the ticket counter, but with too many uncertain criteria, he failed every time.
His original intention was for Dr. Wu, and this dream seemed very much in line with Dr. Wu’s style, but the issue was he didn’t know the instance’s or Dr. Wu’s requirements either. If he couldn’t uncover a breakthrough in the dream, he risked ending up dead asleep or disappearing like Zhao Qing.
The two Buzz Cut players had worried expressions, suspiciously eyeing Xu Huo, yet ultimately left without saying much.
“Will those two cause trouble?” Tong Qi whispered, “What if they attack while we’re asleep?”
“Let’s wait a couple more days and see,” Xu Huo said; if the next ones to disappear were these two, it would reveal some information.
In the afternoon, he again entered the refuge and returned to that dream.
This time, the dream expanded a bit. The station doubled in size, with more travelers passing through, and an additional stop appeared between his current station and the main station, now taking an hour to reach the main station, two hours for a round trip.
The departure time of the ticket in his hand remained unchanged, but the train he needed to board wasn’t arriving half an hour early; the schedule indicated it would arrive in fifteen minutes while an earlier train had already departed.
Xu Huo knew this wouldn’t be an easy pass, neither had he expected the sudden increase in difficulty. His respawn point at the departure station was thirty minutes, which wasn’t enough time to reach the main station.
While the likelihood of needing his involvement in the entire train incident increased, timing was crucial too, because achieving the desired change of past outcomes required altering time.
Contemplating what result Dr. Wu might require, he stepped onto the train entering the station.
The total number of people aboard remained 126; the slight difference was the driver now was a tall, robust man with combat experience. On his first entry into the driver’s compartment, Xu Huo suffered setbacks; the driver locked the compartment door, determined to capture him alive.
Realizing this man wouldn’t give up unless he was caught, Xu Huo took two punches and was tied up, managing to alert the driver to people on the track before reaching the incident scene. This driver was reliable, stopping the train before running over anyone, but as enforcers broke in and surrounded him, a group of people squeezed and bumped into the control lever.
The train slid forward, crushing the first person from the group of five.
The process and outcome were downright ridiculous.
On the second attempt, Xu Huo claimed his relative had bid farewell to him, showing the farewell text message, and after contacting the main station ahead, the driver discovered the tied-up person sooner and summoned rescue personnel; the train proceeded as usual.
But this time, someone still committed suicide.
The third attempt had the driver choose to sacrifice an individual on the other track, but didn’t change the final result.
Three attempts made Xu Huo more certain that breaking the deadlock could only succeed by manipulating time.