Chapter 608: Item Trial Effect

“This way, we can also avoid encountering random dungeons on the road.” Wang Xiaohui smiled gently, completely unlike her flustered self on the Preliminary Trial Train.

Xu Huo glanced at the man standing beside her. “He’s the player who sent you to the second-class seat, right?”

Wang Xiaohui was slightly surprised. “You recognized him?”

Xu Huo knew from Nie Xuan that after the Preliminary Trial Train ended, one surviving player from the third-class seats had escaped, though with severe injuries. He secretly fled after two days in the hospital, riddled with Mutant toxin. Unexpectedly, he was still alive now.

“Wei Mang was the first good person I met after entering the game.” Wang Xiaohui placed her hands gently on her knees. “That’s why I found him and tried to slow down the Mutant toxin in his body. Maybe because of my disability, I obtained quite a few potions after completing dungeons. These potions can’t completely eliminate the poison, but they can effectively delay it, letting him live like a normal person.”

“When I was a few years old, my mother died in a car accident, my father became paralyzed, and the family business has always been controlled by my uncle. I don’t have any assets under my name, so I was in the third-class seat when I entered the game.”

Yuan Yao beside her was already full of pity, but Xu Huo’s expression remained unchanged, just like before, and his eyes didn’t waver.

Wang Xiaohui paused, then added, “But good and bad depend on each other. If I’d entered the first-class seat, I might not have survived.”

“Congratulations,” Xu Huo said, examining the woman across from him. It was clear she had now regained control of her family business, exuding the sharp, decisive aura of a powerful businesswoman.

“What do you want from me?” he asked. “We can skip the talk about life-saving debts.”

Wang Xiaohui smiled. “Alright, I won’t beat around the bush either.”

She reached out and rolled up Wei Mang’s sleeve, revealing an arm covered in scars. But the scars weren’t the focus—his skin was crawling with a network of black and purple veins, covering a large area.

“I know you have a way to treat Mutant toxin, so I want to ask you to save Wei Mang.” She said seriously. “Additionally, I’ve established two research institutes under my name. One of them specializes in Mutant toxin research. If you can give me a strain of antidote fungus, I’ll give you fifty percent of the profits from future research results.”

“If you need evolution agents or other potions, I can provide those too.”

“You can go to the Special Defense Department about this,” Xu Huo said. “The SED should have new antidotes coming out soon.”

Wang Xiaohui’s smile froze slightly. “I’m worried Wei Mang won’t last until then.”

But Xu Huo smiled. “Although he’s poisoned, his internal organs are normal, and it hasn’t affected his daily life. It’s probably a new mutation that occurred during evolution or treatment. There’s no immediate life-threatening danger, right?”

Apart from the scars on his body, Wei Mang’s physical fitness was probably even stronger than an ordinary player.

“Even so, I still hope to remove the Mutant toxin from his body first.” Wang Xiaohui’s eyes reddened as she looked at him. “You can name your terms. Whether it’s items, potions, or anything else, I can find a way.”

Xu Huo didn’t speak. After a moment, Yuan Yao couldn’t hold back anymore and whispered, “Brother Xu, she… she really can buy quite a few high-level items. This deal isn’t a loss for us.”

Xu Huo just looked at Wang Xiaohui. “Is your characteristic related to influencing others’ emotions?”

Wang Xiaohui showed surprise, then quickly composed herself and said honestly, “Showing weakness has almost become my instinct.”

She seemed to realize she couldn’t find a breakthrough with Xu Huo, paused, and said, “I know this is asking too much, and I’m not too surprised by this outcome. But I can still take you to Capital City. After all, travel is inconvenient right now.”

Xu Huo also didn’t pick up on that topic. Wang Xiaohui couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She left her contact information and had Wei Mang take her away.

“Miss Wang is leaving already?” Yuan Yao stood up to see her off, looking somewhat reluctant. “Come visit again when you have time.”

Wang Xiaohui said, “It’s not convenient for me to go out. You can come find me too.”

Yuan Yao nodded happily. “Sure, sure! Maybe we’ll even end up in the same dungeon next time.”

Wang Xiaohui didn’t say more and left with Wei Mang.

After the helicopter had gone, Yuan Yao turned back to ask Xu Huo, “Brother Xu, why didn’t you cooperate with Wang Xiaohui? Sure, we can get items in the game, but truly good items are hard to come by. Even buying them costs a lot of money. She has money and connections—wouldn’t that be more convenient?”

“I thought you’d been swept off your feet.” Xu Huo took out the “Murmuring Sphere” again.

Yuan Yao scratched his head. “I did think it was a bit strange at first, but I gradually stopped feeling that way. She did look really pitiful, right? When you just said it, I only then realized… I didn’t expect there to be such a characteristic.”

“Although characteristics are tied to the class a player chooses, they come more from the player’s own personality and experiences. It’s perfectly normal given her physical condition.”

The defensive shield characteristic she used on the Preliminary Trial Train was far more special.

The Painting Woman had already tidied up the room. Xu Huo stood up and added, “Sima Xiao Er might come later. He’s arranged by the Special Defense Department to help me. He might stay here for a few days.”

Yuan Yao said no problem.

After entering the room, Xu Huo closed the window, sealed the door gap, then activated the “Murmuring Sphere.”

In the silent room, a voice suddenly emerged, like someone whispering directly into his ear. The tone was quite eerie, carrying a seductive quality that made one involuntarily lean in to hear what the voice was saying.

Xu Huo listened for a minute. Aside from finding it a bit annoying, he didn’t feel anything else. He looked up at the Painting Woman, who was leaning against the wall playing on her phone. “Did you hear that?”

The Painting Woman typed quickly and flipped her phone screen toward him. “Something’s calling. Doesn’t sound good.”

After Xu Huo carefully asked what kind of sound it was, he discovered that what the Painting Woman heard was completely different from what he heard.

“Go call Yuan Yao in here.”

Just then, Sima Xiao Er also came up. When he heard from the Painting Woman that Xu Huo needed help, he immediately volunteered and came in together with Yuan Yao.

Once the two were in the room, Xu Huo again sealed the doors and windows, then placed the “Murmuring Sphere” in front of them.

At first, Sima Xiao Er curiously leaned in to ask, “What kind of item is this? It can make sounds.”

But half a minute later, both he and Yuan Yao’s eyes began to change. They stared ahead in terror, then furiously rubbed their eyes and pinched themselves. After struggling for a while, as if they had given up, they lost control, screaming and running wildly around the room, even making attack moves toward empty spaces.

After a few minutes, the “Murmuring Sphere” itself began to change. A layer of black smoke formed around the surface of the sphere.

“Can you see that?” he asked the Painting Woman.

The Painting Woman shook her head.

Xu Huo paused, then attempted to release his mental power.