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After rejecting Mr. Dong’s suggestion, Xu Huo had a good sleep and started processing the relics of the players he killed in Yuquan City the next morning.

The quantity was quite large. Besides props, instruments, potions, and tickets, there were many other miscellaneous things.

There were a few Rank-A Props, but none were top-tier. He picked out a defense prop "Rainbow Light", two Rank-B props for assisting psychic power release, and a few interference-type instruments, mainly used to disrupt combat tools like robots and aircraft.

He traded most of the rest with the Special Defense Department; exchanging props for props was fine, or they could buy high-price items. Plus, along with the previously returned instruments, apart from two defensive props targeting characteristics that seemed nice, they also threw in a promissory note. Clearly, no amount of White Notes could match the value of these Rank-A props, so the Special Defense Department promised to search for advanced spiritual props for him.

If the real good stuff could be used by the Special Defense Department people, how could it possibly end up with him?

However, this was already the maximum sincerity the Special Defense Department could offer, because top-notch good props couldn’t be bought just for money.

Xu Huo didn’t say much and accepted the promissory note.

Some other potions and tickets, as well as ordinary instruments, besides giving some to Yuan Yao, Zhou Ning, and Gu Yu, were all packed up and sold.

As for the items in the luggage compartment, they mostly came from various zones of value, and some were obviously collectibles from personal hobbies. He took out the secondary stones and precious metals and sold or cleared the rest.

After dealing with these, Xu Huo’s head began to ache again. He let go of the pile of books on spirit evolution on his desk and stood up to take a walk downstairs.

The flowers in the garden changed batch after batch, many of which were planted by Dr. Deng. He casually broke off a yellow flower bud in his hand and asked the person sitting on the other side of the garden, "You seem to be doing much better."

In the other side of the garden, basking in the sun, sat Meng Cun, whose body wasn’t in good shape due to special evolution of the brain, and was obsessed with decoding chips; he usually stayed upstairs and was rarely encountered.

Because of the part of content he decoded that wasn’t completely overwritten, the Melissa instance came to be, though Xu Huo didn’t gain much about the Stellar Medical Laboratory from the Melissa instance.

Meng Cun also knew this result, hence he looked somewhat dispirited.

"It’s alright." Meng Cun responded, continuing to gaze blankly at the flowers in front of him.

"Do you want to see your old friends?" Xu Huo asked again.

Meng Cun’s eyes noticeably brightened, then he turned to look at him, "Do you know where they went?"

Since entering Zone 011, Meng Cun had stopped being a player due to Mr. Dong’s intervention; he could no longer open his personal panel, so he had completely lost touch with the original players of 017.

He understood why he had been saved, so he said, "Unfortunately, I haven’t helped you much."

"It’s hard to say." Xu Huo replied lightly, "You might help me a lot someday."

This nonsensical sentence instead made Meng Cun slowly restrain his smile, "Mr. Xu, the things I can help you with are very limited."

"It’s okay, you can continue to decode the chip." Xu Huo said, "Like searching for a needle in a haystack, maybe one day you’ll pull out something useful. If you want to contact Jin Zi or other players, I can convey it on your behalf."

Meng Cun knew he couldn’t refuse, so he proposed to record a video alone, but suddenly brought up another matter before leaving, "There’s been something I’ve always wanted to ask, you sent away those two kids to avoid disaster, right?"

"In recent times, there have noticeably been more visitors to the castle, most coming for your reputation for charity, but there was one who was different. He came three days ago, an elderly gentleman who doesn’t look like an ordinary noble. You can ask Mr. Dong for more specific details."

After Meng Cun left, Xu Huo rubbed his temples before calling Mr. Dong in to inquire about this visitor.

"He belongs to a branch of the Werna family." Mr. Dong described the man’s appearance: upright but lean, sharp-eyed yet full of wrinkles, he looked more like a chronically ill old man. "He called himself Huahan Werna, according to the Werna family’s tradition of visiting each family before the New Year."

"Is he a player?" Xu Huo asked, "Does the Werna family have this custom?"

Werna is the surname of great nobles in Zone 011, known young talent Ashis Verna is the leader of the next generation in this family. Like all players of noble birth, they possess innate elegance and sophistication, treating people impeccably with both strength and background, leaving others feeling refreshed, almost perfect. Yet it’s precisely this perfection that lets one experience their arrogance, as this singular, illusory insincerity only surfaces when people interact downwards socially.

It’s hard to imagine a family like that having such a custom.

"This tradition started twenty-three years ago." Mr. Dong had researched these details at his first experience, "They officially claim to visit each year before New Year, but not necessarily every year. However, it’s always Mr. Huahan Werna who appears, his appearance unchanged."

"Just visiting?" Countless reasons quickly surged through Xu Huo’s mind.

"The Werna family invites you to attend the last pre-New Year banquet in five days." Mr. Dong said, "The location is at one of the Werna family manors."

"I want to go too." The girl in the painting suddenly appeared, interrupting them.

"It’s not something fun." Xu Huo paused then continued, "Apparently the super player in Zone 011 is indeed surnamed Werna."

Mr. Dong remained silent; generally, no one openly discusses the super player in Zone 011.

Unless he gives up the Rose Castle, Xu Huo temporarily can’t leave Zone 011.

"Help me prepare a suitable gown." Xu Huo instructed Mr. Dong.

"Why do you want to go if it’s not fun?" The girl in the painting questioned.

"Because when you’re sick, you have to take medicine, you have to take it even if you don’t want to." Xu Huo replied.

The girl in the painting didn’t understand his implication, but understood the literal meaning, so she sat him down and went to fetch water herself.

"Mr. Huahan has met with Miss Li Chun." Mr. Dong reminded. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Everything is converging all at once." After a brief period of silence, Xu Huo looked at the person beside him and asked, "Mr. Dong, have you considered moving somewhere else?"

Mr. Dong maintained his polite manner from when he first arrived at the Rose Castle, using ventriloquism to reply, "I plan to live here forever."

He paused and added, "Of course, I also hope Miss Kou Kou doesn’t inherit the castle too soon."

Xu Huo smiled faintly, "Not so soon."