Players, Please Board the Train

The Duchess was in a chatty mood, fanning herself as she spoke. "Let alone the Lower Five Districts, even if you count all the partitions in the entire E27 Wormhole Point, District 011 counts as peaceful and stable. Some partitions are still overrun by Mutants, their people suffering, with the few surviving humans huddled in small safe areas, struggling just to find water and food."

"Has Your Grace visited those places?" Serin asked.

"District 011 must establish diplomatic ties with other partitions, so exchanges are unavoidable," the Duchess said lightly.

What value could a partition mostly occupied by Mutants have for District 011's diplomacy? She didn't elaborate.

"I've been to many places, but I always feel District 011 is the best." The Duchess took a sip of wine. "If all game partitions could become like District 011, the world would truly be at peace."

Xu Huo and Serin both smiled but said nothing.

All become like District 011?

District 011 wasn't as peaceful as it seemed. There were conflicts between foreign players and local forces, fierce power struggles between different government factions. To divert attention from these problems, District 011 was turning its focus toward other game partitions.

Put simply, it was external warfare. District 011 could rely on advanced weaponry and formidable player strength to plunder resources-otherwise, there would be no reason for several game partitions to merge into today's District 011.

"By the way, since you've just inherited the ancient castle, by tradition, you should hold a banquet. If you want to do charity, this is the first step," the Duchess said.

Xu Huo nodded. "It's already in preparation. I hope Your Grace will honor us with your presence."

The Duchess covered her lips with a smile. "I'll bring plenty of friends along."

After a few more exchanges, the Duchess departed, and Xu Huo headed straight to the game base.

Passing through the security cordon outside the base, he walked over to pick up two boxes, rescuing Wan Tingfang, who was nearly buried beneath them.

"You're back!" Wan Tingfang's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Hurry up and lend a hand, these things are so heavy!"

Xu Huo also felt the weight. "What's in here, rocks? Why not use a cart?"

"The indoor carts have all been requisitioned," Wan Tingfang said. "The Director won't let us use items for these things, so we have to do it by hand."

"This stuff is heavier than rocks. Captain Shi said it's a rare ore, brought back for sampling."

Xu Huo helped carry two boxes. "Is this from the previous mission?"

"You bet," Wan Tingfang said. "This is my first time hearing about ore smuggling. Dimensional trains, of all things! And someone smuggles ore on them. It's unbelievable."

"The train attendants all work without pay. It's not surprising that someone would smuggle a few items to make some extra money," Xu Huo said.

But something like this ore could be stored in the luggage compartment.

"You've hit the nail on the head. It was the attendants," Wan Tingfang blurted out the whole story. "We were notified to repair the tracks, but when we got there, we found out the dimensional train was overloaded!"

"Overloaded! Can you believe it? Even a dimensional train can be overloaded!"

"Even Captain Shi found it strange. We checked several nearby stations before intercepting that car. Holy crap, the whole car was loaded with ore. We had to seal off an entire station to catch them."

"But the Director said it might be because some radioactive ore got mixed in, which could interfere with the tracks. We brought back a batch for final inspection."

"Radioactive ore? Won't it harm people?" Xu Huo asked.

"They checked, said the impact is minimal," Wan Tingfang said carelessly. "Besides, we go in and out of games every day, visiting plenty of places with mutated minerals. Nothing's happened yet."

The two chatted as they went upstairs, running into She Ping, Cai Xiangxiang, and the others. They were all busy sorting the ore. Several offices were overrun with the stuff, and every member of the Track Supply Department was covered in dust.

Shi Youzhi was using a detection device to classify each piece of ore. When he saw Xu Huo, he just nodded and handed him a device, motioning for him to help.

Xu Huo took the device and, with Wan Tingfang's help, began sorting the ore in the boxes. As the device scanned each piece, the screen immediately displayed the ore's number and classification.

After scanning for a while, he noticed that none of the ores had actual names; they were all replaced by alphanumeric codes.

"Does that mean if the device can't scan it, it's a new type of ore?" Wan Tingfang asked Shi Youzhi. "Would we get a reward for discovering a new ore?"

Cai Xiangxiang laughed from the side. "How come you're always dreaming about good stuff like that? If it can't be scanned, it's probably because it contains too many elements. A basic device can't classify it; you'd need a more precise instrument."

"For something like this, where our device can classify it, it's usually because one element accounts for more than thirty percent. The classification isn't that accurate, but it's good enough for an initial screening."

Wan Tingfang sighed. "I knew it."

"But ore that can affect the tracks is pretty impressive, right? Hasn't it been discovered before?" She thought for a moment, then added, "If this stuff is everywhere and the tracks can't run, wouldn't that mean we don't have to do dungeons?"

"Did you forget the Preliminary Trial Train?" Xu Huo chimed in.

The first time they boarded a train, they didn't go through a station.

Wan Tingfang realized her mistake and shook her head helplessly. "Good point."

"Since trains can smuggle things, could someone use them to transport weapons?" Xu Huo asked.

"That's different," Shi Youzhi replied. "The train has mandatory rules preventing players from bringing certain weapons on board. Even if you try, they'll be stripped off when you enter the station."

"The game's detection standards for weapons and ore are different. Even if someone manages to sneak weapons onto the train through special means, they won't get far on the tracks."

"If the quantity is large and the weapons are highly lethal, the Game Government will send people immediately. They might not even make it from one station to the next before getting caught. It's not worth the risk."

"If the quantity is small, bringing them on board won't do much good anyway, not as useful as an ordinary item."

Shi Youzhi was right. The higher a player's level, the more items and characteristics they obtained. Ordinary hot weapons became useless. Forget dodging bullets from three hundred and sixty degrees-catching them barehanded was no problem.

And since the luggage compartment couldn't hold weapons, a player could only carry a very limited number on their person.

"I'd rather carry an item than a gun," Wan Tingfang said. "Walking onto a train with two guns strapped to your waist is so tacky. Better to bring an item, small and convenient."

"When I become a high-level player, I'm going to buy two high-level items. They'll look good and be practical, not like now, where I have to hang every item I own on me and walk around looking like a Christmas tree."

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