The crew cut female player hid her disgust toward the people of District 019 and visited several small shops, asking where the players who had been in town earlier had gone.
But the shopkeepers had no real memory of the players who came and went. They hadn't even noticed that fewer players were walking around. Instead, they were busier than ever because a new tour group had arrived, bringing even more people. As for who was in the tour group, they knew even less.
Dingding Flower Town received plenty of tourists every day, so it was only natural that the shopkeepers couldn't remember them. The crew cut female player didn't think they were lying. When she returned, she said, "I'm guessing none of them know. If they did, the players from District 019 wouldn't need to be so secretive. So many people are gone, yet there isn't a trace of them in town."
As she spoke, she began to feel uneasy. "Did those people leave?"
"I don't know," Xu Huo said. Although he hadn't sensed that kind of impact nearby, he figured the other side had used some sort of item or device during the fight. If it wasn't meant to cover their tracks, then it must have been a way to forcibly take the players away.
Xu Huo opened his player panel and searched Dimension Below for more information about the instance. Aside from some far-fetched walkthroughs, he read a few accounts and notes about players' experiences. No one had mentioned District 019 rounding up outsiders—that was what made sense.
If District 019 had always done this, it couldn't have left no trace at all. Had it only started recently? Or was this some kind of sudden crisis?
A technologically advanced sub-district that produced gemstones naturally had strong players.