Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 125: The Eye of the Storm

The military-uniformed elderly man clenched his fist. "It seems they're convinced the Super Item is in the hands of the vanguard squad."
"But the truth is we don't know the Super Item's whereabouts either," the white-haired elderly man turned toward the computer. "Still unable to establish communication with them?"
"I've sent dialogue invitations through every available channel, but no one has responded so far," the Special Affairs Department director said. "However, we've discovered something else - the killed players were targeted according to the previously compiled personnel list."
"Wasn't that list already destroyed?" The white-haired elderly man's gaze instantly turned sharp.
"It was indeed destroyed, with no backup copies remaining. But the game's technological capabilities far exceed our current achievements. They might have obtained the list through other means." The Special Affairs Department director wouldn't suspect his own people. That bizarre killing method made obtaining the list from an insider unnecessary.
"Two more casualties just occurred," the Special Affairs Department director paused before continuing. "If this continues, the promising players we managed to recruit will likely be nearly wiped out. Even if we survive this crisis, no players will probably join the Special Affairs Department in the future."
"The only remaining method is to create a Super Item and select a suitable person to attract the attention of external players."
"But this mission carries extremely high risks. We don't have any B-grade or higher items in our possession, making it difficult to convince other players."
Actually, the best approach would be to acknowledge that Zone 014 possesses a Super Item, but the holder of this Super Item cannot be a player from Zone 014.
In other words, redirect the trouble elsewhere. As long as they couldn't produce the Super Item, external players would never give up peacefully. This was only the initial stage - more players would gradually come to compete later. But if someone stepped forward now and entered the game with a Super Item, external players' attention would be diverted, allowing Zone 014 to exit the storm's center.
The only problem was, how to deceive the players?
"Has there been any news from that player who obtained the Super Item?" The elderly man sitting at the head of the table spoke with imposing authority.
Everyone at the table turned their attention toward him. The military-uniformed elderly man said, "The vanguard forum announced protective measures for him. No players have contacted our people. We've investigated all players who viewed the post that could be checked, but the timing doesn't match up."
"Players cannot trust the nation - this is our failure in duty," the authoritative elderly man said gravely. "What happened in the past hour has proven our inadequacy. Even if the other party is from our country, with our current capabilities, we cannot protect him."
"A player who can obtain a Super Item within one month is someone the entire world should protect. I approve the contingency plan. No matter what price we must pay, we must create breathing space for this player!"
Everyone in the meeting room tensed up simultaneously. Just as the Special Affairs Department director was about to accept the order, his expression suddenly changed drastically. At the same time, a phone call connected to the conference room. The elderly man at the head listened before signaling someone to turn on the television, adding, "Approve nationwide broadcast."
The news on the television screen immediately switched to a black screen, where flickering cursor rapidly produced lines of text:
"Greetings to our friends in Zone 014."
"We're delighted to greet you in this manner. We are the Peace-loving Phantom Sound Knights, and I am one of its members, Lili."
"We came to Zone 014 with only one purpose - to obtain the Super Item."
"Since Zone 014 has billions of people, we hope all new friends can help us search together."
"Over the next three days, I will detonate thermal weapon sources within Zone 014 at irregular, random intervals, followed by oil and gas storage areas and chemical industrial bases."
"Therefore, within three days, we want the Super Item or its holder to appear within Harbor City's jurisdiction."
The screen then displayed a countdown with several blinking white dots. When the numbers reached zero, the white dots transformed into mushroom cloud shapes with a bang!
Everyone in the meeting room abruptly stood up, watching the screen with ashen faces, but the screen had already switched back to its original broadcast.
Just two minutes later, firsthand information reached the conference room.
Two secret bases located far from populated areas had exploded, completely swallowing the entire bases along with non-evacuated research personnel!
"Bang!" The authoritative elderly man slammed his fist on the table, roaring, "Find them!"
Similar events were unfolding in other countries around the world. People worldwide, who hadn't yet recovered from the riots and crimes, immediately plunged into new, massive panic!
Naturally, this targeted ordinary people. For experienced players, especially those from other zones, it was merely something to remark about.
In a luxury hotel in Capital City, three burly middle-aged men stood before floor-to-ceiling windows sipping wine. One of them said, "The Phantom Sound Knights truly live up to their reputation as famous madmen. Wherever they go, devastation follows. Isn't a peaceful ordinary world nice? Isn't enjoying wine and tea delightful?"
"They originally came from thug backgrounds and have been trafficking dangerous goods across zones, so they're accustomed to these methods," another man laughed.
"Will this really force out the Super Item? Ridiculous," the first man added.
"Based on my understanding of this country over the past couple days, they have a strong complex of sacrificing the individual for the greater good. If that golden egg belongs to someone from this country, they might genuinely step forward voluntarily."
"We need to accelerate our pace," the third man returned indoors, picking up a pen to cross out a name from the list placed on the table. The name struck through with black ink blended into an ink blot like the fifty-plus names above it.
Simultaneously, near a reservoir in Country Y, a child who appeared only eleven or twelve years old bounced around while pouring several bottles of differently colored potions into the water, complaining angrily: "The Knights went to Country X, so the Super Item must be there. Jin Feixue is so cunning! I'm going to Harbor City too, to pluck out his golden feathers!"
Several meters behind him, a gentlemanly man closed his book and looked up, his melancholic face carrying a slight smile. "You can't defeat him."
"Mr. Laurence definitely can catch him," the boy turned back to say.
The man called Mr. Laurence touched his legs. "I'm just a useless cripple with disabled legs."
The boy gathered his bottles and containers, immediately running back to his side and leaning on the wheelchair armrest. "I'll definitely cure your legs in the future!"
Then he moved behind to push the wheelchair, laughing to himself: "I really want to quickly become an S-grade player as powerful as Mr. Laurence."
The two then vanished from the spot.
Similarly, advanced players scattered across various parts of the world rushed toward Country X at the first moment due to the Phantom Sound Knights' actions.
Some believed they had the capability to compete and didn't want the Phantom Sound Knights to acquire the Super Item. Others came to opportunistically snatch advantages or simply watch the excitement. Regardless of their reasons, three days provided sufficient time for them to act.
Harbor City.
The moment the square screen suddenly switched to text, Xu Huo's focus instantly sharpened. When he saw the Phantom Sound Knights designate Harbor City as the location, he immediately felt that sense of inevitability.
Capital City was too special - even if he wanted to hide, he wouldn't choose to hide there. For external players, besides using special methods to find him, the best approach was taking hostages to force dialogue with the nation, compelling the government to screen all players. Given the nation's absolute control currently, this approach would work.
With this move, even if a country wanted to protect the Super Item holder, they would have to bear enormous risks.
He was just preparing to leave when he suddenly heard someone in the square shout: "Huh? Why is the ground turning black?"