Mu Shicheng staggered back two steps, his eyes empty. Slowly, stiffly, he turned his head and stared down at his hands lying on the floor.
[System Notification: Player Liu Huai has used [Nightblade] to attack player Mu Shicheng. Player Mu Shicheng’s Mental Value is being rapidly eroded by darkness!]
[System Notification: Player Mu Shicheng’s mental domain is fluctuating violently. Mental Value is dropping sharply!]
[System Warning: Player Mu Shicheng’s Mental Value has fallen below 40... 30... 20... 10. Player Mu Shicheng’s current Mental Value °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° is only 8! Entering Berserk State!]
[Player Mu Shicheng’s Personal Panel (Berserk State)]
[Mental Value: 60 → 8]
[Stamina: 339 → 797]
[Agility: 1040 → 2010]
[Attack: 1311 → 2300]
[Resistance: 1310 → 2600]
[Overall defense and attack power have increased. Total attribute value exceeds 6000. Rated as an A++ rank player. Player Mu Shicheng’s rank has risen from A to A++.]
[Player Mu Shicheng is currently in the state of 《Monster Book: The Thief’s Trained Capuchin Monkey》. Alienation level deepening—]
Black tendrils of flesh rapidly sprouted from Mu Shicheng’s severed shoulders. They writhed and gathered, twisting together until they formed two long black monkey claws that hung past his hips.
Mu Shicheng tilted his head, loosening his bones. He exhaled a mouthful of white mist, shook out his newly grown arms, and rose to his feet.
His pupils had vanished, leaving his eyes completely white. Fangs protruded from his mouth, and his ears had transformed into those of a monkey. His tail slowly lowered to the floor, flicking from side to side. The monkey headphones on his back were shrieking with static, the monkey’s eyes flashing a piercing red as it screamed in a strange, sharp simian voice:
[Crazy!! Crazy!!]
The rampaging Thief Didi charged into the final carriage wreathed in flames, raising one massive fist to smash down on the group.
Mu Shicheng’s pure-white eyes shifted faintly.
He bared his teeth in something like a sneer, his laugh carrying a chilling, bestial edge. Then he moved.
His speed was lightning-fast, impossible for the naked eye to follow. He swung one arm up to hook a grab handle, used the momentum to whip his body around, and kicked out with full force.
The flame-covered Thief Didi was sent flying out of the carriage.
Thief Didi crashed heavily into the next carriage. Its two enormous palms clawed at the windows in an attempt to stop itself, shattering every pane of glass in its path. A long charred trail was dragged across the floor beneath it.
Flames flickered in Thief Didi’s empty eye sockets. The monster seemed to possess some instinct for seeking advantage and avoiding harm. It let out an enraged, startled roar, as though unable to understand how the little human it had been chasing across the entire train had suddenly become capable of kicking it away.
Mu Shicheng exhaled another cloud of white mist born from the scorching heat. The corners of his mouth pulled back into an impossibly wide, eerie grin, rows of sharp teeth neatly embedded in his maw.
He sprang forward without hesitation. Stepping off the carriage wall to gain momentum, he lunged straight at Thief Didi, baring his sharp monkey claws and aiming for the massive mirror fragment embedded in the monster’s chest.
Thief Didi roared.
Flames exploded outward.
It twisted around and swung at Mu Shicheng, who had leapt onto its back. In an instant, a sea of fire swallowed the two monsters locked in combat.
Mu Shicheng was a monster now too.
Anyone looking at him would no longer think he was human.
But clearly, the one who was even less “human” was Bai Liu.
Du Sanying was completely stunned.
He stared blankly at Bai Liu, clearly having never expected that Mu Shicheng would be betrayed so cleanly and decisively by Bai Liu, the chief strategist who had planned everything.
And what Du Sanying expected even less was that after selling out Mu Shicheng, Bai Liu turned around and sold him out too without the slightest hesitation.
Bai Liu turned to Zhang Kui and said calmly, “Master, the mirror fragments are on Du Sanying. While Mu Shicheng and Thief Didi are fighting, we should take advantage of the situation, kill Du Sanying, and take what he has.”
Bai Liu’s “Master” sounded even more proper than Liu Huai’s, despite Liu Huai having been Zhang Kui’s puppet for quite some time.
Du Sanying was furious, anxious, and heartbroken. Tears filled his eyes as he cursed, “Holy shit, Bai Liu, you’re really not human! Didn’t we agree to turn the tables on Zhang Kui together?! You actually fucking turned on us!”
“Sorry,” Bai Liu said, without the slightest sincerity in his apology. “That large monster boarding the train disrupted my plan. It’s too strong. I realized that cooperating with you might make it impossible to clear the game, so I decided to truly submit to Master and abandon the plan we discussed.”
Liu Huai was dumbfounded by Bai Liu’s two heartfelt calls of “Master.”
Back when Liu Huai had betrayed Mu Shicheng, he had gone through a long period of guilt and self-loathing before finally becoming Zhang Kui’s dog.
This was the first time he had ever seen someone burn a bridge after crossing it this quickly and ruthlessly.
And good lord, Bai Liu didn’t even seem burdened by it. He had just finished dealing with one teammate and immediately moved on to the next without so much as a pause. He was faster than an actual turncoat like Liu Huai.
Liu Huai almost began to suspect that Bai Liu had been one of Zhang Kui’s people from the very beginning.
Bai Liu spoke quickly, analyzing the situation with cold precision.
“Du Sanying is trapped in this carriage. Ahead of him is Thief Didi. If he gets off through the doors, he’ll have to face a swarm of Exploding Passengers. He has nowhere to run. Even with his Luck attribute, we’ll catch him sooner or later. There’s no better time to strike than now.”
“Damn it!!” Du Sanying ran wildly through the carriage, tears flying from his eyes. “Bai Liu, damn you! You’re not human! Do you even have a heart?!”
Just as Bai Liu had said, even with 100% Luck, Du Sanying had nowhere to go. He was truly a turtle trapped in a jar, unable to fly away even if he grew wings. His position was overwhelmingly disadvantageous.
Even if Du Sanying could rely on luck to hold out for a while, Zhang Kui would eventually catch him.
Zhang Kui did not hesitate. He extended his puppet threads, weaving them into a net to capture Du Sanying. Liu Huai joined the pursuit as well. The other two puppets handled the ordinary [Passengers] surging in from the doors.
As Du Sanying wailed, he began throwing items like a bullied kindergartener flinging toys — tossing out whatever random objects he had just to stop Zhang Kui and Liu Huai from catching him.
While running, Du Sanying tearfully cursed Bai Liu for not being human.
And Bai Liu did, indeed, look utterly inhuman.
Yet he was actually the safest player on the field.
After saying those few sentences, he stood quietly in the corner without making any unnecessary movements. He looked obedient, docile, and perfectly aware of his place. Zhang Kui even went out of his way to protect him, using puppet threads to flick away any [Passengers] that tried to approach.
But the moment Zhang Kui deflected another [Passenger] attempting to attack Bai Liu, he glanced at the silent Bai Liu, and his heart suddenly skipped.
The intuition he had sharpened over countless games told him—
Something was wrong.
Bai Liu had somehow replaced him as the safest controller behind the scenes, directing the entire situation from the shadows.
When had that happened?
Zhang Kui’s heart sank as his gaze swept across the carriage.
Mu Shicheng, whom Bai Liu had tricked into fighting the boss monster.
Du Sanying, who was sobbing loudly while Liu Huai chased him down, already on the verge of collapse.
Liu Huai, who was pursuing Du Sanying.
The two puppets protecting Bai Liu.
And Zhang Kui himself, who had unknowingly begun exposing his back to Bai Liu—
For some reason, everything had begun revolving around Bai Liu’s actions.
Zhang Kui’s expression darkened.
He was beginning to realize that he had lost control of the situation.
It seemed that from the moment Bai Liu pushed Mu Shicheng into Liu Huai, had his arms severed, and forced him into battle with the monster, Bai Liu had quietly taken command of the field.
Amid the violent shifts and sudden changes, Zhang Kui had subconsciously trusted the “controlled” Bai Liu and followed his pace.
For one intelligent person, nothing was more fatal than believing another intelligent person had truly submitted.
A chill ran down Zhang Kui’s spine.
He abruptly snapped awake.
“No!!!” Zhang Kui shouted sharply, yanking his puppet threads. “Liu Huai, come back! Watch Bai Liu and Mu Shicheng!”
“We’re being led by the nose! Du Sanying has ten fragments at most, and his Luck is 100%. We’ll never get those fragments from him easily! We’ve wasted too much time on him!”
“The fragments Mu Shicheng is taking from the monster are the real prize!”
“Tsk. You noticed?” Bai Liu sighed with faint regret.
He turned his head to glance at the countdown on the carriage’s LED screen and muttered to himself, “But the timing is about right. The train is about to start.”
“The train is about to depart. Passengers, please sit tight and hold on—”
[System Notification: Friendly reminder to player Zhang Kui: The train is about to depart. Please fulfill your agreement with player Bai Liu in time and retrieve the [Siren’s Amulet] from player Mu Shicheng. Otherwise, as punishment, your soul will be imprisoned inside the soul currency in player Bai Liu’s [Old Wallet], and player Bai Liu will hold the debt rights to your soul.]
Zhang Kui’s expression turned ugly.
Even if he did not fully understand some of the terminology, that did not stop him from realizing one thing.
He had been tricked by Bai Liu.
“That wallet...” Zhang Kui snapped his head up to stare at Bai Liu, reacting instantly. “Your personal skill is trading?! What kind of ridiculous personal skill is that? Soul debt rights? Why is there a personal skill so close to system authority? The system shouldn’t allow you to have it!”
[System Notification: “Soul debt rights” is a filtered term. Soundproofing has been applied to player Zhang Kui’s multi-view video.]
Bai Liu rubbed his nose, shameless as ever.
“But I have it anyway. Sorry about that.”
Zhang Kui’s jaw tightened.
His gaze swept toward the departure countdown on the LED screen.
Only one minute remained.
Zhang Kui gritted his teeth. There was no time left to waste arguing with this bastard.
He rapidly manipulated the puppet threads in his hands.
“Liu Huai! Forget Du Sanying! He was just bait Bai Liu used to waste our time!”
Zhang Kui’s eyes turned cold as he issued the order, dragging all four of his puppets toward the carriage where Mu Shicheng was fighting.
“Go kill Mu Shicheng! Take his things for me! He should be reaching his limit! Kill him and grab the items directly!”
Liu Huai also realized how urgent the situation had become.
He turned and rushed toward Mu Shicheng, but after only a few steps, a violent burst of flames erupted from the carriage ahead, forcing him to stop.
Standing before the blazing carriage, unable to move forward, Liu Huai gave a bitter smile.
“Master, the fight on Mu Shicheng’s side is too intense. I can’t get in at all. Other than berserk Mu Shicheng, who can withstand those flames, none of us can endure this fire. If we rush in recklessly, we’ll be burned to death.”
Zhang Kui’s chest heaved sharply.
He looked at Bai Liu, who was leaning leisurely against the door in the corner, and suddenly yanked the puppet threads, dragging him all the way over.
Bai Liu was pulled over roughly. The thread around his neck tightened, making him choke twice as he instinctively tried to pull it away.
Zhang Kui strangled Bai Liu with the thread and lifted him up, glaring at him viciously face-to-face.
“You fucking did this on purpose! You forced Mu Shicheng into a berserk state so he could fight that monster! You knew that once they started fighting, we wouldn’t be able to get in and take the item from him, didn’t you?!”
“This was your plan with Mu Shicheng, wasn’t it? You pushed him into a situation that dangerous, and he actually agreed to work with you!”
“We reached an agreement,” Bai Liu said.
The puppet thread had tightened around his neck so severely that he could barely breathe. His face flushed red, and physiological tears streamed from his eyes.
Yet he was still smiling.
“We agreed that if you want to hide something, the most dangerous place is the safest place.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” Zhang Kui’s jaw trembled with rage.
He had never suffered such a crushing loss before.
The thread around Bai Liu’s neck tightened further, almost lifting him off the ground.
Bai Liu’s eyes bulged, bloodshot from suffocation. He coughed and retched a few times, but his tone remained calm.
“My personal skill remains active even after I die. Killing me is useless, Master.”
“If you kill me, all you’ll do is lose a clever puppet, cough, cough... and waste time venting your useless anger.”
Bai Liu smiled through the coughing, his face turning purplish-red from lack of air.
“Will you kill me, Master?”
And he was indeed still smiling.
