Chapter 163 Returning Home (Part 2)
Dear passengers, please note that train D1788 has arrived. Please take your luggage and do not leave any important items behind...
Chen Xiao'er stood up as the announcement was made. Ling picked up the yogurt and chocolate first, took her hand and walked into the aisle.
This time the tickets were first-class, and there were only two of them in the entire carriage, so they didn't have to worry about being bumped into by anyone.
Huh~
Back in Changhe City, Chen Xiao'er stood at the edge of the platform, took a deep breath, and enjoyed the cool breeze.
I originally thought that he wouldn't be back until at least winter vacation, but I didn't expect him to be back so early... I wish my mother wasn't sick.
She shook her head to get rid of the slight thoughts in her mind: she couldn't escape reality, she also had to consider Xiaotong, and it would be best to think of a way to persuade those greedy relatives to leave.
rustle.
The doors of the adjacent second-class carriage finally opened, and passengers filed out in an orderly fashion. The first few were strangers I didn't recognize, but by the end, they were almost all familiar faces.
Students from Class A got off the bus one after another. They greeted her gently as they passed by, and then walked straight towards the exit.
Chen Xiao'er's eyes flashed: Oh, right, there's also the No. 12 Middle School missing case.
No. 12 Middle School is my alma mater, so I have to help no matter what. I'll visit my mother tonight, and tomorrow morning I'll go to the scene to participate in the search and rescue.
She suppressed her smile and took the chocolate gift box from Ling: "Let's go, let's get a taxi first."
"Okay." Ling shook his free left hand, deciding to use this hand to change weapons when fighting the enemy.
[No. 0: Does "hailing a taxi" mean "knocking on the train so that it will continue to carry us"?]
【Milo: No.】
[Milo: We're going to be very busy here soon, so if you encounter any uncertainties, please put them on hold.]
[No. 0: Yes.]
Zero withdrew his gaze from the train and returned to the locked attack area.
Wow——
The sound of brakes came from far away, and a square-headed antique car turned half a circle and stopped steadily in front of them.
Click.
The metal-framed door engraved with roses gently opened, and the familiar conductor, no, now the driver dressed as a butler walked out of the carriage.
I don't know if it's an illusion, but his chest is more ups and downs than before.
The butler, still wearing a half-mask, turned his body lightly and bowed slightly in front of Chen Xiao'er. "Please get in the car, Miss."
Did this gentleman or lady recently switch jobs to become a driver or a cosplayer? Chen Xiao'er asked a little sheepishly, "Um, is this an additional service for first-class tickets or..."
"It's the order of Miss Lan. Don't worry about the reward. We are the best partners."
The butler swiftly took the chocolate and yogurt box from her hand and hovered his hand to Zero's right.
Chen Xiao'er's expression relaxed immediately upon hearing Lan's name. "Thank you. By the way, I added your contact information last time. I'm not sure what to write in the note~?"
The conductor's online name was D1788. Perhaps that was a company-mandated naming convention? She had no choice but to note "conductor," which was clearly a bit inappropriate.
"I like people calling me Train." Train chuckled, and his lips slightly raised under half of the mask.
He seems to be an avid train enthusiast.
Chen Xiao'er held Ling's hand and walked into the antique car. The interior was covered with a red carpet of high quality, which reminded her of the super comfortable carpet in the hotel.
Maybe it was taken from that hotel?
The train door closed gently behind them, and they took a long step back to the driver's seat.
She grasped the golden key and turned it vigorously. The engine roared, and the antique car took off at an incredible speed, speeding along the road.
Rumble——
The train was split in two on the screen at the monitoring center.
A small aperture with a core extended from the flesh-and-blood body. This foam-like aperture quickly split after approaching Chen Xiao'er, revealing a gorgeous carriage with a metallic texture.
Buzz... The small carriage and the huge train started one after another, speeding away in opposite directions.
Is this the new ability that evolved from the abnormal train following us and devouring various fragments of "gods"?
The recorder records what he sees and enters it into the file of the abnormal train.
The rapid evolution of spatial anomalies should have alerted the church and restricted it through certain means. However, under the threat of the energy crisis, no one mentioned it tacitly.
A space anomaly that is willing to cooperate with humans to transport large numbers of troops is really great!
Beep beep beep.
Negotiations with the Devouring Snake have broken down, and the attack is underway...
A new message will appear in the lower left corner of the screen. [Estimated strategy progress 1-2%]
No one blamed the Knights who were responsible for the first attack. After all, in the offensive and defensive battles involving superpowers and artifacts, the first 10% of progress was the most difficult to achieve.
The main battlefields of several "abnormal areas" are being broadcast in the center of the big screen.
These anomalous areas are all "man-made anomalous areas" detected by the church, and are highly suspected of containing ritual sites. These anomalous areas just happen to enclose the core area, which is actually very "abnormal."
It's like drawing an x on the map, telling everyone, "The power is here! Concentrate your firepower and attack here!"
Is it really here? Is this a trap?
The church doesn't know either, but it must attack.
Sizzle, sizzle.
The surface of the abnormal area is like a translucent eggshell. This material is quite stable. It stands still as a mountain under the hail of bullets, occasionally releasing a little bit of energy.
The expert team's expressions were relatively good. Anomalous wars have always been energy wars. As long as they can successfully seize power, these losses can be ignored.
So they were most worried about only one thing: Could it be that the Devouring Snake had not held the true power ceremony, and Chunchun was fishing?
But even for fishing, they spilled too much bait.
The believers who kept emerging on the battlefield were the best bait. The Devouring Serpent Cult had obviously put all its efforts into this battle—at least the full strength predicted by the church.
"At this rate...ah!" The assistant's face flushed with excitement as he stared at the screen. "Chen Xiao'er, it's Chen Xiao'er and—"
A low-key and luxurious antique car with its headlights on pierces through the mist.
It moved as if on flat ground in the torn space, leaping over one cultist after another, and rushed straight to the core area which was under heavy blockade.
Brush.
The small golden rose statue on the square hood of the train gradually melted, solidifying into a gentle girl with indistinct features. The moment the image took shape, the mist on either side of the hood receded as if by lightning, like layers of curtains blown by the wind.
“That’s it!”
Sizzle~
The crisp sounds of boiling water splashing and bubbles bursting echoed one after another, and the antique car carrying the distinguished guests drove into the core area. A single empty star rose from the deep darkness, illuminating the pitch-black scene.
The big screen switched instantly, reflecting Chen Xiao'er and everyone else's relieved faces.
…
Finally home.
Chen Xiao'er looked at the garden and villa that were getting closer and closer, and her fingers unconsciously squeezed Ling's hand, then slowly loosened.
Click.
This time, the door didn't open automatically. Instead, the conductor stepped down and opened it. He bowed like a true butler and said respectfully, "Miss, I await your good news."
"Ha, haha, thank you."
Sister Lan must have bought a very expensive cosplay commission. Chen Xiao'er picked up the chocolate gift box a little embarrassedly.
She ran towards the gate, turned around and found the conductor still waiting there, and quickly waved: "You don't have to wait any longer, go home early~"
He wouldn't wait forever, would he? But even if it was just wishful thinking, I still had to give him a heads up.
The other party nodded slightly, bent down and went back into the car to close the door.
Buzz...
Watching the antique car disappear at the end of the street, Chen Xiao'er couldn't help but squeeze her senior's hand.
Ling lowered his head: "Do I need to make any preparations?"
Her eyes swept across the anomalies that had been transformed into yogurt boxes, wondering if Chen Xiao'er wanted to use these anomalies to create an opportunity for a surprise attack.
Pasha.
Ling's thoughts were interrupted instantly because a pair of small hands rubbed against her ears and gently straightened her clothes.
Chen Xiao'er carefully smoothed out the wrinkles, then lifted the loose hair from her temples and tucked it behind her ears.
She let go of her hand and walked up a few steps. Standing on the steps, she looked at her senior sister's delicate face, then nodded with satisfaction.
"Perfect~"
"Is that all right?"
"Well, that's good."
Chen Xiao'er stood on tiptoe and then put it down. She faced the setting sun, breathed slowly, and walked backwards to turn around in front of the door.
She pressed the doorbell with trembling fingers.
Ding Dong.
At this moment, Chen Xiao'er felt her heart tighten violently, as if a gust of wind swept over and wrapped her tightly.
Flutter——
Sound waves thousands of times stronger than the flapping of a butterfly's wings surged up, radiating violently around Chen Xiao'er.
The alarms in the monitoring center rang out one after another, and the knights and believers who were fighting fiercely were blown in all directions by the radioactive wind, without even time to hold on to the buildings.
“Look!”
The observer screamed and pointed at a knight who was blown away on the screen.
"This is……"
The experts all stood up, their pupils contracting violently: the knight's body kept turning real and virtual on the screen, and at first glance it looked like a bunch of desperately flashing pixels.
The analyst read the data from the monitoring center and quickly concluded that the closer to the center point (suspected to be the "home" mentioned by Chen Xiao'er), the more people will experience flashing lights.
And not only the church knights, but also the followers of the Devouring Serpent showed the stroboscopic phenomenon.
Judging from the observed data, people who experience stroboscopic vision also experience spatial displacement, which is very similar to the effect of activating certain supernatural powers.
Simply put, they constantly switch between "physical" and "virtual" states.
The power of the Devouring Snake is presumed to be related to "reality and illusion"
Of course, it was good news to be able to obtain information related to the power, but everyone's heart was still tense.
The real and the unreal change.
Whether the power of the Devouring Snake is to transform real things into virtual things, or to replace virtual things with reality, it is a strange ability that makes humans shudder.
“No wonder they dare to do this.”
The gray-haired expert chuckled as he drank water. "Haha, the ritual site for nurturing power is still in a [Void] state."
That's why the cult can bypass the church's surveillance, and that's why the Devouring Snake can still retain the possibility of becoming a god despite our full-scale sniping.
If it weren’t for those phone calls from Chen Xiao’e, we would still be in the dark... Wait!
The cup shook and the hot tea splashed directly onto my hands.
The expert didn't even bother to wipe it off and shouted, "There's a problem! We've been in contact with the people on the list before!"
The people on the list were the "graduate friends" that Chen Xiao'er knew. If it was simply a "reset to zero and breaking down the changes between reality and illusion", those people should have expressed words like "we are in danger" or "everything is normal" in Chen Xiao'er's contact, instead of disappearing directly.
What exactly is the power that the Devouring Snake wants to nurture?
She looked at the big screen in horror. The girl in the middle of the screen was smiling towards the open door: "I'm back, Uncle Liang~"
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