CHAPTER 1578: CHAPTER 1578: A MESSAGE FROM BENEATH THE DIMENSION

The main character arrived, so naturally Xu Huo had nothing left to do here. He retrieved the Spatial Blade, turned around, and disappeared from the conference room, heading to the control room to pick up the Girl in the painting.

The Girl in the painting wasn’t too willing to leave since she hadn’t collected many paper frogs and paper rabbits yet, and asked him what should be done with the Special Defense Department Headquarters.

The main purpose of Xu Huo’s trip was to restrict the government’s decision-making level, cutting off their communication with the outside world in the shortest time, neither giving them a chance to quickly respond to Nie Xuan and others’ actions nor leaving important departments leaderless, making them easier to take over.

This matter was tricky for the Special Defense Department to handle. Firstly, they didn’t have a player who could swiftly control the base, and secondly, if they were to appear and hold the people in the conference room hostage, the nature of the situation would be different. Even if the military uniform elder’s side won in the end, the person who stood out for this matter would certainly face some form of punishment to quell the incident.

If an outsider handled it, it would be a matter of just talking, even if they shamelessly didn’t acknowledge any cooperation with Xu Huo.

As for the arrangements at the Special Defense Department Headquarters, the main focus was on protecting some neutral players and those unwilling to get involved. Once Nie Xuan’s side was done, they could let go.

"Bring home the spoils of war," Xu Huo referred to the frogs and rabbits she had forcibly folded from players and staff.

The Girl in the painting wanted ten thousand but, unfortunately, not many knew how to fold paper. The ones learning on the spot didn’t do a good job, so she managed to collect just under a thousand that looked barely passable.

"They’re really dumb." The Girl in the painting typed these words sincerely.

Xu Huo hurried home to join a late-night supper; Father Xu, having woken up hungry in the middle of the night, was cooking tangyuan and made a bowl for him as well.

While the environment was much better than a few months ago, ordinary people still avoided going out at night as much as possible, especially after midnight when most of the neighborhood was asleep.

The father and son sat on the balcony, eating and talking.

Father Xu asked if Xu Huo’s important matters were resolved and when he planned to leave.

The Special Defense Department might need a few more days to handle things. Xu Huo was currently waiting for some news: one for the Special Defense Department to fulfill their promise, and second for players to return after searching for suitable places to cultivate the King Fungus.

"I need to stay a few more days and rest well," said Xu Huo.

Father Xu showed a barely noticeable joy, "It’s good to stay a few more days at home."

After dinner, Xu Huo tidied up the dishes and prepared to wash up and sleep. As he was drying his hair and coming out, he saw the Girl in the painting leaning against his room’s door, fidgeting and holding up a communicator, "Where do I sleep?"

Xu Huo’s room was currently occupied by Meng Cun, so he planned to squeeze in with Tongtong. As for the Girl in the painting, since she had turned into a person, she shouldn’t hang back on the wall for now.

With her hopeful gaze, he said, "You sleep on the sofa."

The Girl in the painting’s face fell, "The sofa’s not at all soft."

"Make do," Xu Huo went to his room, brought out two blankets, and threw one onto the sofa, "In a few days we’ll switch to a big house, and you’ll have your room when we come back."

The Girl in the painting was happy again, "I want it to be like my original room."

She meant the bedroom Mr. Dong had set up for her at the Rose Castle.

"Can’t do that here." Xu Huo declined, signaling her to sleep early.

The Girl in the painting reluctantly moved to the sofa, only to hear a voice from the room as she was about to sit: "Turn off the light."

She snorted, annoyed, and went to turn off the light.

Xu Huo slept through until midday the next day, finally alleviating the fatigue from continuously expending spiritual power with ample sleep.

Tongtong had been up for a while, now calling him for lunch, excitedly saying, "Sister Li Chun’s frogs and rabbits are alive. Just like in fairy tale books, they can run and jump, even bite people!"

Xu Huo wiped his face and walked out of the room, immediately noticing the paper frogs bouncing all over the hallway floor, along with the Girl in the painting pressing paper rabbits against the wall.

"You want it to dig a hole?" Xu Huo asked.

The Girl in the painting nodded hard and led him around the hallway to show off her work.

The wall beside the kitchen door had at least twenty rabbits stuck onto it by her. Some of these paper rabbits had their heads buried in the wall, others had half their bodies in, and some only had their tails sticking out, depending on the depth.

She proudly picked up a rabbit and squeezed it.

Xu Huo nodded in approval, "Keep it up."

With the praise, the Girl in the painting eagerly picked up the remaining paper that she hadn’t torn apart and continued her research, losing interest in the food.

By the afternoon, looking at the increasing number of holes on the wall, Ms. Yu was twitching her eyelids, "She won’t tear this building down, will she?"

Upon hearing this, the Girl in the painting looked up, at her, and then at the others.

Ms. Yu felt a bit awkward, precisely when Xu Huo came out of the room after checking on Meng Cun, she immediately said, "The Special Defense Department called earlier, saying they’ll visit in an hour."

Xu Huo nodded, then said to the Girl in the painting, "That’s enough, otherwise later repairs will be impossible."

The Girl in the painting lazily grabbed the remaining paper and moved back to the sofa, flopping down next to Ms. Yu.

The Girl in the painting had once stayed at the Xu Family for a while. During that time, nothing seemed off, but knowing she was a player, and occasionally hearing her say strange things out of the blue... Ms. Yu moved a bit away, somewhat afraid.

Not realizing she should keep a distance, the Girl in the painting shuffled closer along with her.

"I’ll go buy groceries!" Ms. Yu fled in panic.

The Girl in the painting somewhat smugly occupied half the sofa.

Xu Huo walked to the balcony and looked at the Special Defense Department players changing shifts not far away — they acted quite swiftly; the personnel had already been completely swapped, with a few familiar faces he had seen before. Presumably, the situation at the Special Defense Department had completely stabilized.

He didn’t reply to the probing messages sent by Gu Yu and others and returned to the room to fetch some mycelium to cultivate using the Nüwa Stone.

The Nüwa Stone could keep the mycelium alive and growing for some time, but it couldn’t reach mass production levels.

In the past twenty-four hours, few people responded to the reward he posted beneath the dimension concerning special antidote fungus species and growth conditions. Most mentioned toxic fungi, with little knowledge of certain fungus types that could be used to produce antidotes. As a result, no suitable places were identified after screening.

Xu Huo’s account allowed him to see information under Level E Wormhole Point C-level and below in the dimension, which was already a large range. Since there were no results, the possibility of finding a suitable place for large-scale King Fungus cultivation was almost zero. Either such a place didn’t exist, or it had already been controlled.

Just as he was about to close his personal panel, a message popped up:

"We met on train C709, I wonder if you still have the antitoxins you sold last time. I can exchange them for twenty types of toxic substances."

Signed: Cong Yu.