Chapter 254: Train 444-17

Chapter 254: Train 444-17

In the gray mist, the old iron train screeched its brakes, its wheels rolling over the tracks, gradually slowing down.

Through the windows, one could see the tense faces of the players in each carriage.

Twenty-four hours had passed.

The train was finally about to stop.

However, despite spending the entire day in the Weird Tales Hotel, the players had found no information related to this station.

The backpacks left behind by the unknown passengers on the train had long been thoroughly searched by the players.

The attendants had also been cornered and questioned repeatedly.

To no avail.

To prevent any possible accidents, everyone returned to their seats before the train stopped.

In Carriage 1, Qin Fei leaned back against the uncomfortable seat. His sharp senses told him that many eyes, overt or covert, were fixed on him.

The fact that Qin Fei had entered the driver's cabin was known to more than one person.

He was the only one who had stepped into that space, leading many players to believe that Qin Fei likely possessed exclusive information surpassing everyone else.

These invisible gazes were intense and anxious, as if trying to bore holes through Qin Fei.

However, these looks did not affect his mood at all.

The young man's gaze was calmly directed out the window, with the pink-gray fleece blanket from last night still draped over his knees, exuding a calm and peaceful aura.

On another seat nearby, Lu Cheng wriggled like a worm, his eyes filled with worry: "Should we really get off...?"

Outside the adjacent window, the world remained shrouded in mist.

The dense, dark-gray fog resembled cotton balls, obscuring the view outside. Staring at the gray mist for too long made one's temples throb uncontrollably as the fog swirled into vortices, as if something was about to crawl out from the depths.

Lu Cheng's breath hitched, and he raised his hand to rub his eyes.

The scene outside the window returned to calm, as if what he had seen was just an illusion.

Creak—

Creak...

The frequency of the wheels embedding into the tracks slowed down.

A few minutes later, the train finally came to a complete stop.

"Ding-dong... Ding-ding-dong..."

The familiar background music of the train announcement played as scheduled, and the doors on both sides of each carriage slowly opened.

The hearts of the players inside rose to their throats.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

Train 444 has arrived at the first official station of this journey. Please disembark in an orderly manner.

The train will have a short stop. Passengers not getting off should remain in their carriages. Do not use the restrooms during the stop. Thank you for your cooperation and wish you a pleasant journey!"

Each word of the station announcement further tightened the frowns on the players' faces.

When the announcement ended, the large carriage fell into a deathly silence.

Only the sound of everyone's breathing could be heard.

Lu Cheng extended a vine, cautiously probing towards the door.

Nearly half a minute had passed since the door opened, and nothing happened.

Qin Fei turned around and looked back; players in other carriages were also standing up and moving towards the doors.

"Huh?"

Lu Cheng's puzzled voice stood out in the silent carriage.

Xie Jingtian's eyelids twitched: "What is it?!"

Before Lu Cheng could answer, the scene before them gave Xie Jingtian his answer.

—The thick fog outside the window had dissipated.

...

More and more players crowded around the doors.

Within a few seconds, the fog had completely cleared, revealing the scene outside to the players.

The scene outside was familiar to everyone—it was the very platform where the players had boarded Train 444!

At the edge of the door in Carriage 1, Wen Tao, the bespectacled man, breathed rapidly, glanced sideways at Qin Fei, then shifted his gaze to Gala.

Unfortunately, the two people he tried to read showed no change in expression.

"Are we back at the scene of the Weird Tales Hotel?" a player muttered.

Whispers began to rise from various corners, gradually merging into a dull hum.

Many people exchanged glances.

Some were utterly confused, while others seized the opportunity to ponder the content of the rule cards.

More than half of the players had already grasped the rules related to the three stations.

Since the rule prompt stated, "There is only one safe station," many had anticipated that the players would return to the starting station where they boarded the train.

However, they did not expect the starting station to arrive so quickly.

Logically, shouldn't the train pass through the other two stations first before circling back?

Wen Tao clung tightly to the door frame, his knuckles turning white, feeling bitter inside.

As early as yesterday afternoon, he had discussed strategies with the temporary team:

The competition to enter the core weird tale was fierce, with various guilds eyeing it closely, and the difficulty of the weird tale itself was not insignificant. It was incredibly challenging for ordinary players to get a piece of the pie.

In this situation, ensuring their own safety was paramount. Wen Tao had decided to do what they could and leave the rest to fate. If they couldn't find any clues about the core weird tale, they would stay on the train until the end and return to the Weird Tales Hotel.

But now...

The world outside the door felt reassuringly familiar, yet Wen Tao couldn't help but feel a sense of reluctance.

The three-day weird tale had only just passed one-third, and giving up now seemed premature.

Wen Tao was still hesitating, but there were already many who had made up their minds to get off the train.

The second and third carriages began to stir.

Qin Fei lowered his eyes slightly, speaking in a tone as if having a casual conversation, in a volume audible only to the source of contamination: "If this continues, it's not looking good."

Qin Fei hadn't forgotten the rule the source of contamination found in carriage 12.

"True or false? Even the eyes can deceive."

When many read this rule, the first thing that came to mind was likely the fake vendor who could turn people into shattered porcelain.

The fake vendor wore the same clothes as the real vendor and sold the same boxed meals as in the dining car, but every aspect of him was lethal.

However, there was one point that the players overlooked.

When the fake vendor first appeared, he revealed a flaw.

He wore a red uniform jacket and, to disguise himself as a train attendant, left it at the rear of carriage 1.

This meant that the rule corresponding to the fake attendant was likely not the one mentioned above but another rule that specifically mentioned "color": Blue is the true color; everything inside the train is blue.

There was no need for two rules to describe the same trap.

Qin Fei extended his hand, and two black-and-gold rule cards appeared out of thin air.

One was found by the source of contamination.

The other was "Outside the Window."

"Outside the Window" was discovered by Lu Cheng from carriage 3 shortly after the train started yesterday.

This rule was more cryptic than the others and was gradually ignored by the players.

Lu Cheng and Xie Jingtian gathered around. Without looking up, Qin Fei arranged the two rule cards vertically and said calmly:

"Since the rules in the train weird tale can be interconnected, who can say these two cards might not be part of the same rule?"

Throughout the journey of Train No. 444, the view outside the windows was always obscured by gray or black fog.

This stop was the first time players could clearly see outside the train windows.

Lu Cheng stared at the rule cards on the table, stunned: "So...the outside isn't necessarily the starting station?"

That was quite a dilemma.

"Then which station is this?" Mi Yang's lips tightened.

After all the detours, the problem returned to its original point.

Qin Fei put away the rule cards, his movements as smooth as a magician putting away a deck of cards, and commented indifferently:

"Unless something unexpected happens, no one can tell. There's a one-in-three chance, and only by trying can we know the answer."

Give it a try.

The most direct and effective method.

By leaving the train, they would naturally discover the situation outside.

This thought wasn't unique to Qin Fei alone.

Although few within the train possessed both rule cards, and none except Qin Fei had fully connected the dots between them.

However.

The vigilance of seasoned players was deeply ingrained in everyone.

Many were considering getting off the train, but the players wouldn't let their guard down just because the outside looked familiar. There were too many ways to deceive in the instance world.

As Qin Fei said, only by trying could they know the answer.

But players couldn't risk their lives.

Fortunately, there were plenty of people in the train.

Car 8.

"Get down! Get out of here!"

A player with chocolate-colored skin and nearly two meters tall suddenly stood up.

In his hand, he held a man who was constantly struggling.

The man being held was an NPC, a thin middle-aged man.

He was barely over 1.7 meters tall, wearing glasses, and carrying a brown leather briefcase under his arm.

He looked less like someone fighting for survival in a strange tale and more like someone rushing to catch a bus to work.

This NPC was the target that the player had set his sights on.

The player was a member of a small guild; he was the only one from his guild lucky enough to enter the train's strange tale. Therefore, after getting on the train, he could only team up with others.

After a day, all five of the other people in his team had died.

This sent a harsh warning bell ringing in the player's mind.

The player was a combat specialist and had been managing well so far on the train. However, if even the transition strange tale was this difficult, what would happen if he actually made it into the core strange tale?

Without trustworthy teammates, death would be just a matter of time.

Compared to charging into battle, he preferred to preserve his life.

Now, the opportunity to save himself was right in front of him. How could he let it slip away?

He had long noticed this NPC he had caught. In strange tales, NPCs were excellent stepping stones.

Native NPCs of the copy world were worlds apart from players in terms of physical prowess.

Under the pressure of the tall and strong player, the NPC had no means of resistance and was lifted like a chick to the door.

"No! I won't get down!" The NPC struggled, but it was all in vain.

In the two cars flanking Car 8, everyone could see this scene clearly, but no one stepped forward.

It was just an NPC.

Who would know if they died in a strange tale?

NPCs didn't have companions watching live broadcasts. If someone did them wrong, they could only accept their misfortune.

Players not only felt no pity but also harbored a faint sense of anticipation. Everyone wanted to know whether this station was safe or not.

...

Everything that happened in Car 8 was seen clearly by Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng sat opposite Qin Fei, while Black Feather and Dark Fire members had gathered around, huddled together to listen to Lu Cheng's live commentary.

"Holy crap! He pushed that guy down... vicious, tsk tsk, really vicious."

"Nothing happened.

That NPC fell onto the tracks, glared at the person who pushed him, then dusted himself off and walked away."

"That person jumped down too, ah... he's fine too!"

Lu Cheng stroked his chin.

What was going on?

Lu Cheng had heard Qin Fei's analysis and originally thought that anyone who got off the train would surely die. But now, it seemed that outside was indeed just the starting station they had visited?

The train's broadcast had warned players that the stop was limited.

Seeing that both people who got off were unharmed, a few others began to consider jumping off as well.

In the end, before the train restarted, six people left the car.

These six were mostly scattered players who had lost their teams, feeling they had no competitive edge. Even if they clung to others, they would only be minor players, so they might as well exit early to protect themselves.

Unfortunately, their wishes were ultimately not fulfilled.

The train doors slowly closed, and the warning whistle sounded.

Before the train started moving again, the thick fog outside the window gathered once more.

And the scene outside the train underwent a dramatic transformation.