Players, Please Board the Train

Vivi stopped taking her anger out on the cake, but her expression clearly turned ugly as she glared coldly at the woman opposite her.

The woman didn’t care, raising a finger to take a sip of tea before saying, ”Behave.”

The man opposite her took the knife from Vivi’s hand. ”Children shouldn’t play with such dangerous things.”

Vivi didn’t speak. Soon, her complexion returned to a rosy glow, and she became cheerful again, giggling as she wandered around the carriage. Before long, she went to the carriage behind them.

Through two doors, it was impossible to hear any conversation, but Xu Huo sensed she went up to three players separately. She seemed to just stand there briefly before quickly leaving, then proceeded to the next carriage.

This time, however, the players in that carriage were clearly not so easygoing. Soon, she was chased out and escorted back by two players from the second carriage.

The little girl’s skirt was stained with blood. The players from the second carriage said to her parents, ”It’s better not to let the child wander around. There are several Player-Eaters in the third carriage. It’s not safe for someone so young to go there.”

”Right, some Player-Eaters specifically target young girls,” another chimed in.

”Thank you so much,” the woman stood up to express her gratitude and politely invited them to eat, but the two men declined. Instead, they gave Vivi some food and small toys.

Anyone with sound mental faculties could see this wasn’t right.Last night, this couple had nearly slaughtered all the players in the second carriage. Today, both sides could converse so amiably, and even showed genuine kindness—judging by their demeanor, it seemed sincere—toward a little girl who was clearly a player.

The two sides were clearly strangers. Even without last night’s bloodshed, this scene shouldn’t be happening.

After those two players left, Vivi happily fiddled with the things they gave her and even showed off to Xu Huo. ”Uncle, look, isn’t this fun? It turns out adults are different from other adults too.”

Adults are different from each other, and children aren’t necessarily the same either.

Xu Huo ignored her, putting on his eye mask to catch up on sleep.

By the afternoon, more players had boarded the train. The second carriage alone gained ten, and these people were carrying a coffin-like metal box. Two of them had their hands fused with the coffin by some unknown method, while the other eight stood or sat surrounding the coffin.

”These people don’t look simple,” Dr. Deng observed, paying attention to their clothes.

These ten people wore similar uniforms. The last time such a group appeared, it was the Track Supply Department of the Game Government.

”Who are they?” Vivi asked curiously.

Xu Huo’s expression shifted slightly as he answered, ”Probably some player organization.”

”They’re so weird, bringing a coffin.”

Ordinary items can be stored in the luggage compartment. If something can’t be put inside, it’s either a corpse or a living creature.

”I’ll go ask!” Vivi said, about to go out, but at that moment, one of the players stood up and walked to the front door, sealing the carriage door—the metal panels on both sides of the window automatically grew toward the center, blocking the view, and then the door frame melted and reformed, completely sealing the door shut.

Vivi stood in the connecting carriage, wide-eyed, but had no choice but to retreat.

Her father spoke up from inside the carriage. ”Don’t run around everywhere. What if they hurt you?”

”Then you kill them,” Vivi sat down, propping her chin with her hands. ”I want to know what’s really inside that thing.”

The two adults’ expressions showed some disapproval, while the other four players were also admiring the scenery outside the window, seemingly paying no attention to the second carriage at all.

They’re putting on quite the act.

When those ten people boarded, this group had a brief moment of intense focus, their gazes involuntarily fixed on the coffin.

Simple curiosity leading to a few extra glances wouldn’t be a problem, but deliberately avoiding it just seems like trying too hard to hide something.

Dr. Deng suddenly gave him a meaningful look.

Xu Huo understood, taking his cigarettes and heading to the train attendants’ dedicated passageway.

Dr. Deng followed him out. ”Use that soundproofing item of yours again.”

”Go ahead,” Xu Huo said, glancing at Vivi who was peeking by the door.

Dr. Deng cautiously used the act of smoking to cover his mouth and nose, saying, ”That group... they might be armed escorts from Stellar Pharmaceuticals.”

Xu Huo took a drag of his cigarette. ”The company that developed the game?”

”Exactly,” Dr. Deng took a deep breath. ”Stellar Pharmaceuticals is ostensibly a legitimate pharmaceutical company, but in reality, many of their projects use live humans.”

This didn’t surprise Xu Huo. The numerous Mutants themselves were excellent research samples. If there were mutated samples, normal human samples would inevitably be needed too.

”Armed escorts usually transport very important experimental samples. There’s a good chance it’s a live person,” Dr. Deng appeared somewhat anxious. ”These strange players in first class are most likely after the experimental sample. There might even be other players boarding later.”

”Talk about the worst luck in eight lifetimes. Why did I have to run into this?”

”Can’t we just not get involved?” Xu Huo asked.

Dr. Deng’s expression was strained. ”The train might derail.”

”You know what kinds of places are outside the tracks. An empty, uninhabited area is the best-case scenario. If there’s a Mutant swarm...”

”Then we’re in big trouble,” Xu Huo’s expression darkened. Near the tracks, train tickets might not be useful. Forget encountering a Mutant swarm; even if they encountered nothing, they could face oxygen deprivation, radiation poisoning, or food shortages. And if the tickets couldn’t be used, they might not even be able to teleport to the Random Dungeons three months later.

”Maybe the situation isn’t that bad,” Xu Huo said. ”Even if someone wants to seize the sample, they at least need to ensure they can leave.”

”I’ve worked at Stellar Pharmaceuticals. The probability of the train being destroyed and everyone dying isn’t low,” Dr. Deng said with a look of regret.

Xu Huo knew what he was thinking—nothing more than regretting boarding this train.

”People can’t predict the future. Taking a different train might not be any better than this one.”

He paused, then called over a train attendant to ask if there were any empty carriages.

”The tail carriage and the sixth carriage are already empty.”

Xu Huo gave him money. ”Could I ask you for a small favor?”

He stated his request, but the attendant said he needed to ask the head chef first.

A few minutes later, the attendant returned and, under the pretext of inviting passengers to sample new dishes, gathered the remaining few players from the seventh and eighth carriages into the sixth carriage. The meal costs were covered by Xu Huo.

This was already an unexpected boon for Xu Huo, so he went to the rear carriages and made some simple arrangements.

Dr. Deng waited for him up front, only asking anxiously after he returned, ”Do you really have a plan?”

Xu Huo glanced at him. ”If you don’t, can you jump off the train?”

Dr. Deng was left speechless.

The two walked back, unexpectedly running into Vivi’s father, who was also heading toward the rear carriages.

Xu Huo looked at him but said nothing and didn’t turn back to see which carriage he actually entered.

Dr. Deng couldn’t help but look back, only to see that player staring right at them, which scared him into hurrying forward.

”He didn’t enter the carriage,” Dr. Deng whispered to Xu Huo.

Xu Huo had expected him not to enter. That player should have learned from the attendant that the rear carriages had been cleared out. Since Xu Huo had paid money, he definitely wouldn’t do nothing. At this point, to be safe, that player wouldn’t rashly step inside either.