Chapter 2478: Chapter 2478: Soulless Tremor
The old lady lost interest in talking with him, waved her hand, "Move aside, don’t block my view of the flowers."
Unable to find out the location, the two players from the Wan Family didn’t seem easy to talk to either. Feeling defeated, Bubble Bean glared fiercely at the Girl in the painting who was snickering nearby.
The Girl in the painting fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a Seal Fruit. This one was obviously new, and it didn’t read "I was here," but "I am the ugliest in the world."
Bubble Bean knew reasoning with her was futile, so he looked at Xu Huo. Xu Huo didn’t look at him but spoke as if he had eyes on the back of his head: "If you have nothing to do, just look at the flowers, cultivate some peace of mind, or otherwise, sleep and catch up on rest. Anything is better than wasting your breath."
Bubble Bean became even angrier upon hearing this, so he simply changed his seat, moving eight zhang away from them.
The vehicle took quite some time to reach the next stop. Most people on the train chose to sleep or closed their eyes to rest. Whether they wanted to sleep or not, as time went on, they all seemed to fall into a comfortable slumber involuntarily.
Another ten minutes passed before a player walked over from the front carriage. He covered the front car door, changed into a Protective Suit that concealed his face, then picked up a Dagger and looked at the players in the carriage—what he should have seen were sleeping players, but when he looked up, he found four pairs of eyes staring at him.
Xu Huo, the Girl in the painting, Bubble Bean, and a player from the Wan Family were all awake, just watching him set up the scene and change clothes and shoes.
There was a moment of silence, then the person wrapped up tightly in the front bowed forcefully and said, "Sorry for disturbing you," before exiting the carriage respectfully.
"There’s petty theft everywhere." The Wan Family player woke his companion and Old Lady Gui, reminding them to get up and move around.
Just then, the dining car arrived, and the old lady bought a loaf of bread for each of the players, looking at them with affection, "Eat up, eat up, my grandson says this bread is the best."
It was evident that the Wan Family pair knew the old lady, so they asked if her grandson was still working out of town.
"Yes," the old lady’s smile deepened, "He’s been busy for a while, won’t be back anytime soon."
The two players chatted with her for a bit, and once they finished eating, the next stop arrived.
The old lady had a customer here, so she needed to make a short stop. Since the train’s stopping time was insufficient, they had to stay for at least half a day to catch the next ride.
Not sharing the address with anyone, the old lady led the way. This was a large city with complex transport; they followed the old lady through several vehicles before reaching the destination.
It was a bookstore, greeted by a young clerk. The clerk, knowing the old lady’s purpose, said awkwardly, "The boss left for Xiao’an City a few days ago and hasn’t returned. I don’t really know where he’s staying, but before he left, he said not to contact him unless it’s important. He might be on vacation."
With just an approximate location, the old lady decided without hesitation to go to Xiao’an City to find the bookstore owner.
"Can’t you deliver it next time?" Bubble Bean asked, eyeing the old lady. "Xiao’an City is big, where are you going to find such a person?"
But the old lady was stubborn, "I’m old, my vision and hand strength aren’t what they used to be. Afraid I can’t do nuclear carving well anymore, this last delivery must satisfy the customer."
The Wan Family pair naturally supported this, and Xu Huo also had no objections, so the group embarked on the journey again. Unexpectedly, on the next train, they ran into Ling Ling, who was traveling with three other players. When Xu Huo and the others saw them, the four of them didn’t look good, and one was seriously injured.
Before either side could speak, several Flying Knives shot in from outside the window, crisscrossing through the carriage before returning to the group with Ling Ling.
Obviously, Ling Ling and her team were not experiencing this kind of attack for the first time. While defending against the stealthily thrown Hidden Weapons, they also remained alert towards players hiding far away.
"Cowards! If you’ve got the guts, come aboard!" A Buzz Cut guy glared at a few flickering shadows in the distance. The train was running, and the adversary used short-distance Teleportation Props to chase them. Aside from the initial surprise attack, they haven’t boarded the train any subsequent times, maintaining a not-far-not-close distance that kept unsettling them!
There were also other ordinary passengers in the carriage. With players engaged in combat, the train’s protective robots were instantly activated, transforming into spherical objects encasing the passengers. However, due to being on a train, both sides held back in their confrontation, likely fearing attracting government attention with too many casualties, hence not using Props with a large area of destruction.
"Boom boom!" After Ling Ling and her companions repelled the Flying Knives, a strong suction emerged in the middle of the carriage, attracting all active Props within to converge, which then flew out of the train.
"Damn!" The Buzz Cut guy turned his head, catching a needle brushing past his ear. That thing, once in his hand, couldn’t be held, puncturing easily through his close-range Defensive Barrier and Protective Suit and piercing into his flesh!
The sharp Dagger sliced open the skin, and as the blood flowed out, the needle traveling along the blood vessel collided with the knife blade, then changed direction and flew towards Ling Ling!
"Soulless Tremor!" Ling Ling didn’t dodge. As her words fell, everything in the carriage, be it items, tables, chairs, or Props, including that needle, started to tremble. Due to this tremor, the needle stopped mid-air and was subsequently packed into a syringe-like device.
With the needle gone, calmness returned to the carriage. Everyone quickly moved to covered positions, waiting quietly for the next wave of attack.
But as it happened, things outside quieted down, and those few shadows disappeared as well.
Ling Ling, though relieved, was also very annoyed, "We’ve only been on this train for half a day, and this is the fifth attack. What exactly are they trying to do?"
"Seems like your will to be delivered is quite important." Bubble Bean chimed in, "Did the employer specifically ask you to travel by train?"
"What other reason do we have for choosing such a troublesome method?" Ling Ling appeared and frustratedly admitted. The payment offered by the employer was secondary; to clear the instance, they first had to fulfill the employer’s request, and only upon reaching the next stop would they receive further instructions to know where exactly they were heading.
"Where are you guys headed?" Ling Ling asked Xu Huo.
"Helping the Wan Family deliver a token of appreciation to a customer," Xu Huo replied. "If you think it’s dangerous, feel free to join us instead."
Ling Ling shook her head, refusing the offer, "The higher the risk, the greater the reward. We’ve come this far, it’d be a shame to give up halfway."
Xu Huo noticed that after her words, another female player with a flower tattoo on her brow subtly relaxed, so he continued, "Anyway, you’re just a temporary team; you can disband anytime. It’s only an instance, no need to take such a risk."
