novelraw Chapter 286
Chapter 286
Five minutes later, the five people who had grown rich from their hard-earned missions once again found themselves in the team sleeper compartment.
Earlier, Yu Zhenzhen had adamantly refused, insisting that since there were only five of them, using a 12-person standard sleeper compartment was too extravagant. But this time, as soon as Yu Xi suggested getting a team sleeper, she immediately nodded enthusiastically.
It was a bit of a bittersweet reality—the glass treehouse was beautiful, but it was undeniably small. After spending the last eight days cramped inside, all five of them had found it rather stifling.
Especially the sleeping arrangements—there were only three beds, and they were the “delicate” (miniature) type. The double bed could barely fit two people, and with two single beds, someone inevitably had to sleep on the floor each night.
To make matters worse, a small elevator was wedged in the middle of the treehouse, taking up precious space. Whoever got up at night to use the restroom had to step over the person sleeping on the floor, and if they weren’t careful, they might even end up kicking them directly…
Meanwhile, the team sleeper compartment was at least twice the size of the treehouse.
Once inside the compartment, they gathered around the booth seating area to discuss their next destination.
There were three A-rank locations and one S-rank location.
Instinctively, they all ruled out the S-rank option first. Given the choice, they preferred not to start at an S-rank station—who knew if they’d get hit with a stroke of bad luck and have the difficulty skyrocket the moment they entered?
That left three options: Jing Shan Hospital, Devourer’s Domain, and Light Academy. “A hospital? That doesn’t sound like a good station at all. It’s either a paranormal horror scenario or a serial killer scenario, or maybe even both,” Yu Zhenzhen analyzed, drawing from her years of reading novels. “Jing Shan Hospital—just the name alone makes it sound like a psychiatric hospital.”
“Do we have any items to deal with a paranormal scenario?” Ya Tong looked around at the others.
“I do,” Lin Wu spoke up. “I’ve been to a Phantom Manor before—it had ghost-type creatures, and I got two or three holy water grenades as exorcism tools.”
Two or three… Not even enough for everyone to have one. The group immediately and unanimously scratched Jing Shan Hospital off their list.
“That leaves Devourer’s Domain and Light Academy. Which one should we pick?” Yu Xi pointed at the two remaining names in the notebook.
Both were A-rank stations. Light Academy sounded like a school setting, though given their experience with Fairy Tale Amusement Park, it could be much larger than expected.
Devourer’s Domain, on the other hand, sounded outright ominous—like a place where they’d be running for their lives every day.
The two stations seemed equally daunting, so in the end, the group decided to flip a coin: heads for Devourer’s Domain, tails for Light Academy.
Yu Xi tossed the coin. When it landed, the side facing up was tails.
So their next destination was—Light Academy!
Next Stop: Light Academy
Team Sleeper Upgrade Voucher Detected.
Arrival in 21 Hours.
With their next destination set, Yu Xi took out a few all-in-one washing machines and called on her teammates to gather their dirty laundry for a group wash.
Meanwhile, Yu Zhenzhen started pulling out all sorts of snacks and drinks: a large box of washed blueberries, extra-sweet kumquats, sliced watermelon, cumin-fried chicken bites, sea salt ice cream, soy milk cake, crispy squid tentacles, brown sugar bubble milk, matcha iced latte, and pineapple slush…
Even Yu Xi couldn’t help but intervene, saying it was too much to finish.
“It’s dinner time anyway. In 21 hours, we’ll be at the next station, so we should make good use of this safe period to eat well and mentally prepare,” Yu Zhenzhen reasoned.
She had a point, so Yu Xi didn’t argue further. In fact, she even added a Sichuan cuisine set, a barbecue set, and a gourmet set to the mix. Not only was the booth table completely covered with food, but they even pulled out a camping table to accommodate the feast.
By now, they had been surviving and living together for a long time, forming an unspoken understanding. Even without constant conversation, they could coexist comfortably in the same space.
Yu Xi took out a Bluetooth speaker and connected it to a phone she had purchased at a previous station, playing some music. Then, she retrieved her sketchbook and pens, beginning to illustrate the map of the recently departed Fran City and the details of its infection outbreak.
Yu Zhenzhen pulled out a game of Ludo and roped Lin Wu into playing.
Ya Tong was studying a newly acquired skill, occasionally glancing over at Yu Xi’s phone to browse the playlist. She picked out familiar songs to play and occasionally glanced at Yu Xi’s sketches, offering some additional details.
Xi Yuan sat beside Yu Xi, leaning against the table. While eating, he occasionally fed her—popping a blueberry into her mouth, offering a piece of fried chicken, scooping up a spoonful of ice cream and feeding it to her… Then, stealthily taking a bite from the same spoon himself. When she didn’t notice, he rested his head on his hand, watching her with a quiet smile.
Yu Zhenzhen happened to look up and saw this scene, making a face of exaggerated disbelief. “How exactly did you and my mom meet?”
At her question, Lin Wu and Ya Tong both turned to watch with curiosity.
“You finally asked.” Xi Yuan pointed at Yu Xi, looking completely serious. “She’s actually my master. My entire being—body and heart—belong to her—Ow!”
Yu Xi retracted her hand after smacking Xi Yuan on the head, her face indifferent. “Speak properly.”
Half an hour later, everyone had learned about Xi Yuan’s status as a Subordinate and understood why he could hold two identities in the Endless Train world without having to complete missions.
As Yu Xi had predicted, Lin Wu and the others didn’t dwell too much on his identity. After all, they themselves had only entered the System Tower World after death, and they still hadn’t figured out their own existence—so they naturally weren’t too concerned about how Xi Yuan had come to be.
“Actually, your situation is pretty similar to mine.” Yu Zhenzhen propped her chin on her hand. “I’m not a mission participant either. Next time we go back, I’ll ask Aunt Mianmian if she can bring you into the Inner Tower world. It’s very quiet there. If you ever get tired of staying in different apocalypse worlds, you can spend some time there instead.”
Xi Yuan looked at her and smiled gently. “Thank you.”
This time in Fran City, because the infection outbreak happened too fast, they only managed to stockpile some supplies in the early stages, mostly protective gear and fuel. The items they obtained from missions were all in digital form on their phones, so there was no need to sort through them.
Aside from Yu Xi, the person who gained the most was Yu Zhenzhen. While Yu Xi had hoarded an enormous amount of fuel, Yu Zhenzhen had acquired a two-story speedboat.
Additionally, after several missions, everyone’s spatial storage had expanded.
Yu Xi’s storage now held 400 cubic meters, Yu Zhenzhen’s was 250 cubic meters, while Lin Wu and Ya Tong had smaller capacities—45 cubic meters and 25 cubic meters, respectively.
But even Ya Tong’s 25 cubic meters was far better than Xi Yuan, who had gone through the entire station without any missions to complete or items to earn, meaning he still had no personal storage space at all.
By the time half of their rest period had passed, everyone had finished sorting their belongings, locked the compartment door, and set alarms to rest for six to seven hours.
Outside the train windows, there was always an impenetrable darkness. Once they turned off the compartment lights, the entire space immediately plunged into a cold, inky black.
Yu Zhenzhen, disliking how pitch-black it was, took out a camping lantern and placed it against the wall. The warm glow illuminated one corner of the compartment, instantly making the atmosphere feel cozier.
Everyone settled in for sleep, with Yu Xi choosing a bed by the window this time.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she suddenly felt a light shining on her face. Her mind was still caught in a dream, dazed for a moment. But the next second, she abruptly opened her eyes and sat up, looking outside the train window.
It wasn’t an illusion! It wasn’t a dream!
There was really light outside!
Immediately, she smacked the bedframe forcefully, waking the others.
The moment they woke up, they instinctively sat up on alert, thinking they had overslept and the train had already arrived at the station. But soon, they all became captivated by the sight outside the window.
Compared to the sun or bright artificial lights, the light outside wasn’t particularly dazzling. However, after spending so long on this train, where the view outside was always an endless abyss of black, this was the first time they had seen something different.
It was—another train.
The train was traveling about two cars away from theirs. Its exterior was gold, and the light they saw was coming from inside its windows.
The golden train moved significantly faster than theirs. Even though both were in motion, they could clearly see it overtaking them at a steady pace.
Through its clear windows, they glimpsed lavishly decorated dining cars, wide and comfortable seating areas, various entertainment zones, and even a beautiful garden area with round booth seats and lush greenery.
Every car was filled with people—travelers, just like them.
But compared to their own train, the passengers on the golden train looked completely out of place. They were dressed in elegant attire, their faces showing no signs of confusion or fear. Instead, they smiled leisurely, clinking glasses in the dining cars, chatting over exquisite tea in the garden area…
Compared to their train, the golden train seemed to belong to an entirely different class—several levels higher.
Before long, due to its superior speed, the golden train disappeared from their sight.
The group pressed up against the glass, watching its tail lights until it was completely swallowed by the boundless darkness.
The surrounding world fell into pitch-black silence once again. Yu Xi glanced at her watch—they had only slept for about five hours, but at this point, none of them could go back to sleep.
After some discussion, they all reached the same conclusion: the golden train was most likely headed to the final destination they had been searching for.
So now the question was—how could they obtain a ticket for the golden train and find the station where it stopped?
Ten minutes before arrival, everyone’s phones lit up with a notification.
Yu Xi’s phone: ○☆□+☆□△=○△○□
(☆-□,○) Please choose the correct door to exit.
Yu Zhenzhen’s phone: ○☆□+☆□△=○△○□
(□+○,□) Please choose the correct door to exit.
Ya Tong’s phone: ○☆□+☆□△=○△○□
(☆-□,□+○) Please choose the correct door to exit.
Lin Wu’s phone: ○☆□+☆□△=○△○□
(☆,○) Please choose the correct door to exit.
Xi Yuan’s phone: ○☆□+☆□△=○△○□
(☆,□+○) Please choose the correct door to exit.
The five of them displayed their phone screens at the same time and noticed that the first line of symbols was identical, indicating that it was a puzzle clue. Like last time, the puzzle was entirely composed of symbols—there wasn’t a single number.
However, they all knew that since the final answer required them to determine the correct train car and door number, this was ultimately a numerical problem.
Compared to before, Ya Tong felt this puzzle seemed a bit easier. “Since there are addition, subtraction, and equal signs, this must be an arithmetic question. Let me see… A single-digit □ plus △ still equals □, so that means △ must be 0! And then—”
And then she got stuck.
She looked up and saw that both Lin Wu and Yu Xi had already taken out paper and pens to work through the calculations. Deciding to spare herself the effort, she resigned once again to doing nothing.
Forget it. They were all in the same team, and they always disembarked together anyway. If the day ever came when she was unlucky enough to be separated from them, then she would put in the effort…
A few moments later, Yu Xi spoke. “□ is 3, △ is 0, ☆ is 8, ○ is 1—” She looked up at Lin Wu. “Right?”
“Yeah, same.” Lin Wu showed her his paper, where he had written the same answer.
Yu Zhenzhen was a little slower but had also solved it. “Yeah, ☆ could only be 8 or 9, but if it were 9, the equation wouldn’t work, so it has to be 8! This was a pure logic-based number puzzle. It really wasn’t that difficult—just took a few extra steps to solve. Is this type of problem appearing because this station is Light Academy?”
With their solution in hand, calculating their designated train door numbers was straightforward.
Yu Xi: (5,1)
Yu Zhenzhen: (4,3)
Ya Tong: (5,4)
Lin Wu: (8,1)
Xi Yuan: (8,4)
This wasn’t the first time they had been separated while disembarking, so everyone was already used to it.
“Stay safe, see you all soon!”
Location: Light Academy (A-Rank)
Stay Duration: 22 Days
Identity Status: Enabled
Unlimited Currency: Disabled
Ticket: Valid (2 stations remaining)
Objective: Within 22 days, locate the hidden departure station, confirm it (one attempt), and board the train.
Remaining Time: 21 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes, 49 seconds
Item Slots (Max 10): Fully Occupied (10)
Skill Slot (Max 1): Spatial Storage (400 cubic meters, Active)
Teammates: Lin Xiang, Yu Qi, Yu Meixi, Xi Yuan
Team Status: Active
Teammate Permissions (Enabled): Damage Immunity, Messaging, Arrival Status (Optional), Hints (Optional)
Friends: Lu Yong (Not at this station)
Easter Egg (Activated): Fragment Collection Rate (60%), Station Fragments: 1
Yu Zhenzhen was the fastest to send a message: This place is actually pretty nice. I’m sitting on the steps in front of the library fountain square. How about we meet up here?
Yu Xi put away her phone and looked up again.
There was nothing around her. As far as she could see, there was only endless darkness.
It felt just like being on the train, looking out through the window into the void.