Players, Please Board the Train

The man’s expression changed subtly. He gave Xu Huo a deep look. ”You should leave. Let’s pretend this never happened.”

”How can we pretend it never happened?” Xu Huo fiddled with the camera device. ”Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell people on the ship?”

The man turned back, casting a glance at him that seemed both pitying and mocking. ”You’re wearing a white wristband. From the moment you boarded, you’ve been the person with the lowest status on this ship. Who would you even tell? If I were you, I’d find a place to hide, to avoid being found by other players.”

After saying this, he left. Xu Huo didn’t chase after him again. He intended to go upstairs to find Bai Kou. At that moment, the ship was passing through a stretch of multi-colored sea. The massive vessel slowed down. Starting from the fourth floor, the ship’s hull rotated and shifted sideways, opening up like a fan. This maximally exposed each deck to the air, and from the right angle, people on the lower decks could also see those on the floors above.

The ninth deck was fitted with one-way glass. From the outside, one could only see blurry silhouettes, impossible to judge their height or build, only knowing these people were looking down through the windows.

Suddenly, one pane of glass became transparent. An elderly man in a white tuxedo stood at the window, raising his glass to the people below.

Those watching from the lower decks raised their glasses in return, and some even let out cheers. ”Captain Matt!”

The cheering lasted for a minute, with more people joining in later, only dying down when the glass turned opaque again.

Xu Huo overheard a few people close to him saying, ”I didn’t expect to be so lucky today, actually getting to see Captain Matt. I heard after he retired, he’s been traveling to other game partitions. When did he return to District 011?”

”Is this Captain Matt some kind of impressive figure?””You’re out of touch. Before retiring, Captain Matt was a B-rank player. He led fleets across the major game partitions to collect and transport supplies for District 011. Rumor has it his strength was enough to advance to A-rank long ago, but he always prioritized District 011’s affairs, which is why he never completed the upgrade.”

”So that’s how it is…”

Quite a few people were discussing this legendary captain. Xu Huo headed towards the central elevator shaft. Along the way, he heard many more things about this captain.

He was from a noble family, had a military background, owned a shipping company whose main business was transportation—essentially armed escort—and was quite famous in District 011. Though retired, he remained an important government figure with considerable influence in personnel changes.

Not only was he admired by ordinary people, but even some nobles actively sought to curry favor with him. However, he rarely made public appearances.

According to the servers, the captain had not attended this banquet for the past three years.

”Were you on the ship last year?” Xu Huo listened near a few servers for a while before actively asking the most enthusiastic one.

”I’m new this year,” the person said. The other servers nearby were also newly hired this year.

Xu Huo asked a few more people afterward and found they were all first-timers on the ship. Everything they knew about the ship came from online legends or their job training.

It was such a good job, and everyone who boarded seemed brainwashed into blind worship of the captain, so they likely wouldn’t quit. Yet, all the servers on the ship were new. This alone was quite abnormal.

”You’re not in your room?” Ran Ying sent a message at this moment.

Xu Huo glanced at it and didn’t reply. Instead, he followed a server who was sneaking some alcohol to the changing room.

The servers’ changing rooms here were double occupancy. After the other person opened the door, Xu Huo went over, knocked him out, dragged him into the changing room, took off the server’s wristband, locked the door, and then sent a message to Ran Ying.

”There are Player-Eaters on the ship.”

Half a minute later, Ran Ying replied, ”Where are you now? I’ll come find you.”

”Fifth floor, server changing room.” Xu Huo gave the specific location and asked, ”Does a red wristband represent a Player-Eater?”

It took another while before Ran Ying’s message came through. ”Where are you hiding? I don’t see you. Come up to the seventh floor first.”

Xu Huo looked up toward the upper floors. Dinner time was approaching soon. Most servers were busy outside. Since he had entered this room, no one had come into the fifth-floor changing rooms, and Ran Ying hadn’t come down to look for him as she said she would.

But the act had to go on.

”I’ve moved. A server came in just now. That noble is gone. I’m coming upstairs now.”

After sending the message, Xu Huo swapped wristbands with the server and put on a server uniform before leaving the room. Just as he stepped out, another server called to him. ”You, take this wine to room 609. It’s ordered by Mr. Palada.”

He complied, escorting the automatic serving robot to the sixth floor and knocking on the door of 609. The man who opened the door was the noble he had seen not long ago in the dining hall. He was shirtless, with ambiguous marks on his neck. After opening the door, he stepped aside, gesturing for him to enter.

Passing through the wide-open door, Xu Huo saw Palada and two other noblemen, similarly disheveled, sitting in the room. A strange smell mixed with the scent of blood wafted from the room. On the messy bed, lying with her back to the door, was a woman. The blanket covered most of her body, revealing only a bit of hair and a section of her lower leg.

The woman on the bed was already dead. Palada, leaning on the sofa and inhaling a stimulant, waved some banknotes at Xu Huo. ”Come in.”

”Come on in, we won’t eat you,” the brown-haired man at the door said, licking his lips, his gaze roaming over Xu Huo freely.

Xu Huo acted as if he didn’t see his look and followed the robot inside.

The moment the door closed, the brown-haired man flashed behind him, his arms reaching to grab his head, as if to twist his neck. However, accompanied by a ”crack,” it was the brown-haired man’s neck that was snapped—he remained standing with his arms raised, but his head now hung limply on his right shoulder in a way no living person could manage.

Xu Huo, who should have been in front of the brown-haired man, now walked out from behind him. With a slight flick of his wrist, he pushed the brown-haired man’s corpse to the floor.

The sound of the heavy body hitting the ground startled Palada and the other two, who were immersed in their mental anesthesia. The three of them stood up in shock, but at that moment, Xu Huo’s figure suddenly vanished from his spot. In the blink of an eye, he was stepping on the sofa, kicking Palada into the window with one foot. His other hand rose, and crossed piano wires hoisted the second man into mid-air. Finally, he flung out a rope to bind the third man. With a pull from his left hand wearing the diamond gloves, the soft rope instantly turned into blades, effortlessly cutting the man in half at the waist!

The falling corpse brought with it a strong smell of blood, and internal organs spilled all over the floor. This scene jolted the other two into complete sobriety from their drug-induced haze. Palada immediately activated a protective item, smashed the glass window with a punch, and jumped out. The other man, who had been suspended, used a ring to sever the piano wires. Upon landing, he crossed two fingers and made a slicing motion toward Xu Huo!