Chapter 91
District 11 is the territory of the Gal Guild, which includes a total of 9 towns, of which Guangyuan, Wushan and Jinxiang are sandwiched in the middle and connected in a line from north to south.
According to Paopao, the new train station is located in Jinxiang Town, adjacent to the first-level district. The rerouted tracks run through the three town squares, with temporary boarding points set up. Therefore, the trains travel at a slow speed before leaving Lengbing City.
The two came to Guangyuan Town Square and were lost in the crowded crowd. From other people's gossip, they learned the reason why the train did not leave Guangyuan Town directly.
It's simple. The northern outskirts of Guangyuan Town are hilly, making it easy for ghouls to hide and unsafe. The neighboring town is also mountainous, but mostly has gentle slopes, making it much clearer from a bird's eye view and much safer.
An Rou secretly curled her lips: It's just superficial.
The Gal Guild had chosen the Uninhabited Land to perpetrate their mischief. Now that it was their turn to operate the trains themselves, what was the point of simply emphasizing safety within the city? If they truly wanted to cause an accident, they could simply cut the tracks outside the city. What difficulty would that bring?
As they were complaining, the crowd suddenly became agitated.
"Look! The Gar Guild's guard convoy!"
Guard convoy?
An Rou looked up and saw a neat line of figures appearing on the overpass north of Guangyuan Town. Judging by their speed, they were undoubtedly players. The one leading them wore silver armor, their silver hair dazzling in the pale sunlight.
Behind the guard convoy, the melodious sound of a train whistle rang out, followed by the faint clanging sound of the train.
"Yali, that's Yali!"
"The guard team is actually led by Ali? What a great player!"
An Rou had used Paopao's light screen to look at the Destiny Rankings. She had a vague impression of the name, but couldn't remember it specifically. However, since he was a great god, his ranking wouldn't be too high.
What surprised her was the existence of a "guard team." The Gal Guild had actually set up a guard team to run ahead of the trains? Were they specifically there to check for damage to the tracks?
It’s really interesting that they were the first to cut the railway tracks.
Paopao muttered, "I'm afraid that Ouli will use his own methods against me."
An Rou thought about it with the limited information she had and added, "Not only that. The Gal Guild used this method to grab the operating rights of the train station in advance, and they are probably afraid that others will follow suit."
The first is the small, oppressed guilds, eager to overthrow the three major powers of Lengbing City, the more chaos the better. The second is the high-ranking players, who are so selfless that they can feed the whole family and have no moral compass. If they create an accident, they can trigger a wave of ghouls, making huge profits without any investment.
Even if there hadn't been a ghoul wave, with the train crash causing massive casualties, one could still make a killing by picking up valuable goods during the chaos.
To be honest, An Rou really had this plan: let the train have another major accident to attract players other than passengers to join the game. The more chaotic the situation is, the higher the success rate of grabbing the power equipment.
However, upon seeing the guard convoy, she had no choice but to abandon this plan. She and Paopao alone were no match for Yali.
An Rou nudged Paopao with her elbow: "We're almost there, let's go."
The two men moved through the crowd for a while and squeezed into the center of the square.
In the center of the square stood a pavilion equipped with a teleportation array. Even it was now enclosed by iron fences, keeping the crowds out. The railings enclosed a square open space, the temporary boarding point for Guangyuan Town.
Above the open space was the elevated train platform, and beneath it, a long line had formed. Surrounding the line were numerous members of the Gal Guild, who were there to maintain order.
An Rou narrowed her eyes and saw someone in the queue holding a green piece of paper, only half the size of a palm. It must be a train ticket.
The train stops at the temporary boarding point for a very short time, and passengers are only allowed to get on but not get off. Whether it is stealing or robbing, if you want to get close to the old equipment on the train, you have to get on the train first.
So the first step An Rou had to take was to get a train ticket.
She gave Paopao a look, and Paopao stood still, as if they were just strangers.
An Rou walked along the iron fence towards the pavilion, but was stopped in front of the gate.
Two players, both with the Gal Guild's insignia and Silver rank, stood guard at the gate. Presumably to distinguish between staff and pedestrians, they were uniformly dressed in the dark blue uniforms of security guards.
"Where to?" asked a Gal member.
An Rou tilted her head and glanced at the pavilion: "Teleportation array."
The member looked her up and down and waved to the pavilion.
The pavilion was open on all four sides, with two Garr members guarding each side. One of them saw this and walked over.
The member guarding the fence gate withdrew his arm and motioned An Rou to go in.
Gar was being incredibly cautious, even sending someone to escort him to the teleportation array. If that was the case, wouldn't it be better to simply fence off the teleportation array?
As An Rou followed, she glanced at the dense crowd of players outside the fence and suddenly realized.
If the teleportation array was placed outside, it would definitely be occupied by players who wanted to watch the fun. People who wanted to use the teleportation array could not leave, and people who teleported in from other places to catch the train could not get in.
The member who led An Rou to the teleportation array was called "Desai". After arriving at the place, he watched An Rou walk into the pavilion and then looked away.
It was An Rou’s first time observing the teleportation array up close.
The so-called teleportation array was actually a circle of intricate patterns carved into the pavilion floor. Inside the circle was ordinary flat ground, seemingly made of concrete, nothing special at all.
According to Paopao, the teleportation fee is based on the number of stations crossed, with a minimum of 200 gold. If An Rou wants to go to the neighboring Wushan Town, this price should be the same. If she wants to go to the more distant Jinxiang Town, the teleportation fee will be an additional 200 gold. Based on this calculation, the cost of teleporting back to Zhongsu Town should be 2,400 gold.
Of course, the teleportation array has a limited range and cannot reach places outside of Lengbing City. Otherwise, the train tickets to Ghost Island wouldn't be so popular.
There are free teleportation site maps in the player's light screen map. After calculating the price, put the corresponding gold coins on the open space in the array, and the light screen will pop up the farthest station.
It feels both smart and backward.
An Rou observed for a while and felt someone looking at her from behind. She took out a handful of gold coins and put them on the ground. She crossed her arms over her chest, gently tapped her chin with one hand, and looked into the air in front of her.
Hesitant as to where to go.
Farther away, Paopao glanced at the pavilion from time to time, feeling a little anxious.
The guard train had already stopped on the elevated overpass overhead, and the train was slowing down, making a rather piercing sound as brakes squeaked. If the players who were supposed to board the train at this impromptu boarding point had already arrived, the boss's wait would be in vain.
The Garr members guarding the pavilion must have thought the same thing. Desai looked An Rou over and quickly looked away, no longer paying attention to the player who was struggling with where to go.
However, the moment he turned around, the teleportation array lit up with a circle of colorful ripples.
All the lines were colored at the same time, and seemed to come alive, wriggling and rising into the air to the top of the pavilion.
Like a cylindrical light curtain.
Two heads emerged from the concrete floor, one of which just happened to hit An Rou's boot.
An Rou hurriedly stepped back, but did not retreat beyond the light curtain.
"Hurry up, hurry up, it's almost too late!" the man said angrily.
His ID is "Red Braised" and his partner's is "Steamed". Judging from their names, they are old partners.
As soon as An Rou heard Hong Shao's words, she knew they had tickets. Otherwise, why would they be in such a hurry just to watch the fun?
She gave a look of surprise and joy: "Two Destiny Brothers, do you have any tickets? Can you sell them to me?"
Only then did the two of them notice An Rou in front of them and were stunned at the same time.
Hong Shao whispered, "Player? Female?"
Qingzheng: "Judging from her attire, it should be."
So An Rou decisively raised their favorability.
The two were stunned again.
Hong Shao: "You're not a player? There are NPCs dressed like this? Weird, I've never seen one before."
"That's not right." Qingzheng said, "Look under the collar of her windbreaker, it's armor. Where did the NPC get the item? I guess she made a pact with the player."
Hong Shao glanced at An Rou again and said, "She is so beautiful, it would be a shame if I could form a bond with her."
"What a pity! Wasn't it you who urged me the whole way? The train has already arrived, why don't you hurry up?"
Seeing that they ignored her, An Rou stepped forward and grabbed Hong Shao's sleeve: "Brother, can you sell me the ticket? I'll pay any price. If I can't buy the ticket, the owner will definitely scold me to death."
Hongshao impatiently pulled back his sleeve, only to see Anrou suddenly look terrified.
"If I hadn't run into a ghoul, I would have already gone to Jinxiang Town to buy a ticket. Fortunately, the armor my master gave me saved my life...
"Brother, aren't you guys from the Destiny specializing in killing ghouls? I'll tell you where the ghouls are. Will you sell me the ticket?"
Hong Shao was shocked: "Ghoul? Where is it?"
Qingzheng was obviously calmer and asked suspiciously, "If there really is a ghoul, why don't you go back and tell your master?"
An Rou said aggrievedly, "My master is also killing ghouls elsewhere, so he sent me to buy a ticket. My master is going to visit a friend on Onigashima Island, and he told me to buy a ticket no matter what... My master should be here soon, but I don't have a single ticket..."
Outside the pavilion, Desai vaguely heard voices from inside and turned to look. He saw that the light curtain had dissipated, but the female player who said she wanted to leave via the teleportation array was still inside.
There were also two more male players who were smiling happily around him.
The female player reached out and took the train tickets from the two male players. The male player noticed Desai's gaze and immediately stopped smiling, and they left together.
Judging from his eyes, he was a little wary.
An Rou turned around, still looking calm and composed, walked to Desai and waved to Paopao in the distance.
Paopao smiled and ran to the fence gate and said a few words to the Gal member guarding it. The member turned his head and looked at Anrou with a strange look on his face.
Was the ticket in her hand bought from the two people who just left?
The member gestured to Desai. Desai extended his hand to An Rou and said, "Check it out."
The way to check is very simple. Take out a gold coin and place it on the train ticket. If the screen does not pop up the "Reshape" option, it means it is real.
Train tickets are one of the few items that are not considered daily props.
Desai nodded to the member, and the member ran in.
Desai handed the ticket back to An Rou and couldn't help asking, "Why did they sell the ticket to you?"
An Rou smiled faintly: "Money makes the world go round."
Desai was skeptical, but Paopao believed it firmly.
From the very beginning, Paopao thought Anrou was going to spend money to buy the ticket.
After all, for other passengers, missing the train today wouldn't be a big loss; they could just buy tickets for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. But they had to get on the train today, otherwise they would have to wait until the end of next month when the power plant would have to replace its equipment again.
Such a large farm can hide in the valley for a few days, but not necessarily for a month. Once it is exposed, the consequences will be unimaginable.
"Boss, how much did it cost, tens of thousands of gold?" Paopao followed An Rou to the team and asked in a low voice.
"Original price." An Rou smiled and said, "20% off."
It’s incredible enough to buy the tickets at the original price, and there’s a discount?
"1600 gold?" Paopao quickly figured it out. "The boss exchanged it for quest clues?"
An Rou nodded.
She can afford to spend money to buy tickets, not to mention ten thousand gold, one hundred thousand gold, or even one million gold.
But there are hidden dangers: if an NPC shows off his wealth, it is like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, and he will definitely be robbed; if he pretends to be a player, he does not have the level to intimidate the other party, and he will also be robbed.
The cleanest way is to use task clues to move them far away, which saves time and effort.
Besides, the ticket price is only worth 1,000 gold, why should I pay ten or a hundred times the price?
"But when did you create this clue, boss? You didn't expose the farm, did you?" Paopao was still pondering. "I see. Boss, did you send your employees out of the farm? Lao Zhang?"
"You're smart."
Originally, An Rou wanted to find passengers among the players in the square to buy tickets, but after walking around for a long time, she didn't meet any players with tickets, so she set her sights on the teleportation array.
After making up her mind, she remotely connected to Zhang Da's consciousness.
Zhang Da couldn't reach Guangyuan Town in a short time, so An Rou told him to run as far as he could. She thought the clue would be somewhere out in the suburbs, but Zhang Da's speed was amazing, and he actually reached the edge of the town.
An Rou asked it to pretend to be a customer and stay in a random store.
She told Hong Shao and Qing Zheng the shop's name, and the clues naturally emerged. The location was accurate, and the correlation rate soared to 70%. As for bargaining for 20% off, it was just a matter of a few words.
With the clues to the mission in hand, the two were more anxious than driving a car. If An Rou wasn't afraid of revealing her flaws, she would have bargained hard.
The train finally stabilized. An Rou and Paopao were at the end of the line. Looking up, they could see the door to the middle carriage open. The player dressed as a security guard peeked down and yelled, "Everyone, move back!"
Before he finished speaking, a large square iron block descended from the edge of the elevated structure. He pressed a switch, and the iron block clanged and unfolded into a suspended ladder, extending all the way to the ground.
Bang, the ladder fell on the blue brick floor and looked very stable.
Many passengers were riding a train for the first time and seeing this kind of equipment for the first time. They found it very strange and exclaimed in amazement.
At the same time, An Rou raised her head and her pupils dilated for a moment.
Paopao noticed it and asked, "What is the boss doing again?"
It seemed that he had some complaints about An Rou not discussing it with him in advance.
An Rou smiled and said, "Let Zhang Da retreat."
Paopao turned his head to look at the dense crowd outside the fence, and silently lit candles for the two players who had lost both money and goods.
In Guangyuan Town, Zhang Da threw down a mouthful of untouched white noodles and walked out of Cha Ji Noodle House.
He stopped for a moment on the street, lit a cigarette, and turned to look at the street leading south.
At the corner, two figures came running.
"We're here, this is Cha Kee Noodle House!"
Hongshao put away his Gale Step and was so excited that he didn't notice that his left foot just stepped on a burning cigarette butt.
Qingzheng glanced at the screen and suddenly frowned: "No, the clue is invalid!"
“…How is this possible?!” Hong Shao hurriedly turned on the light screen.
In the system notification, the font of the newly released task clue has indeed turned gray.
He opened his mouth several times and cursed.
"Grass!"
-
“Woo—”
Black smoke billowed from the chimney at the front of the train, and the train blew a long whistle.
Outside the carriage, a member of the Gal Guild in a dark blue uniform stepped over the edge of the elevated platform and peeked out, "Hurry up, hurry up, it's time! Why are you so slow?"
There were only two people left on the steel ladder: An Rou in front and Pao Pao behind.
Hearing the shouting above her head, An Rou looked up coldly.
It wasn't that she didn't want to be fast, but her Goose Feather Boots simply couldn't match the player's mobility. They could only run, not jump. In a level-to-level speed contest, she might surpass a Bronze player, but vertical leaps were beyond her capabilities.
The players ahead of her were climbing three or four steps at a time, looking at first like the Wudang Cloud Ladder. She could only climb one step at a time, and by the time she was halfway up the 20-meter ladder, her hands and feet were already sore.
Fortunately, there were only two or three meters left to the finish line.
An Rou let out a breath silently and was about to continue lifting her legs, but unexpectedly a figure flashed above her head, and Paopao behind her jumped straight over her onto the high platform and reached out his hand.
The meaning is very clear, pull her up.
An Rou frowned and glanced at him, then climbed up slowly and leisurely.
She came here disguised as a player, and if she was too anxious she would be exposed.
When the train whistled for the second time, An Rou finally climbed onto the elevated platform and clapped her hands. Before the Gal members could complain, she glanced at them expressionlessly.
"I spent 1,000 gold, and I can't even experience the ladder?"
The Gal member looked unhappy, but in the end he didn't say anything more, only saying, "Hurry up and get in the car."
He bent down and pressed the black button on the ladder. With a continuous clanging sound, the ladder retracted from the bottom to the top and turned into a black square box.
Some magical black technology.
An Rou looked at him silently for a few seconds, then got on the train with Paopao, and her eyelashes fluttered immediately.
Running makes me even more tense.
Yali leaned lazily in the car, his eyes as sharp as a knife falling on An Rou.
As a top player ranked 37th on the Destiny List, he is not only the captain of the guard team, but also the leader of all the Gal members on this T23 train.
An Rou had already remembered that after the T21 crash, she saw someone on the forum say that Ali from the Gal Guild was at the crash site.
At that time, An Rou connected with the consciousness of the Blood-Winged Ghoul and could not see the opponent clearly through the other party's inhuman vision.
Now that Ali was right before her, she recognized him. If she remembered correctly, his weapon, the Silver Wind Mace, looked a lot like a long sword, but with four edges.
Because of his weapon and short silver hair, Ali has a nickname - Little Ink Remover.
But An Rou felt that he and Chu Mo were nothing alike. Chu Mo's gaze was lifeless and indifferent, while Yali's was more like a knife, sharp and exposed.
Judging from the look in Ali's eyes, he must be doubting himself.
He raised the corner of his mouth: "Really a player?"
An Rou smiled wryly: "Sexism?"
Ali snorted and turned away.
In his question, "player" was a sensitive word. Since An Rou understood it, she ruled out the possibility of ghouls and NPCs.
Paopao felt relieved and whispered, "I was so scared, boss! I was sweating profusely."
"What are you afraid of?" An Rou smiled at him and said, "Am I not Princess Ban Yue?"
"That's right." Paopao scratched his head and laughed.
There was no real-name system for the tickets; only the carriage number and seat number were written. Judging from the seat numbers, the two people were sitting next to each other.
I am currently in carriage No. 9, and it takes quite a while to get to carriage No. 16.
There were indeed a lot of passengers; all the seats were full, and quite a few players were standing in the narrow aisles. Even so, it didn't feel crowded, as everyone had their own inventory and no messy luggage.
An Rou was dressed in female clothes, which made her stand out among the male players. She attracted many glances along the way.
Fortunately, there were Gal members at both ends of each carriage to maintain order, so no one dared to do anything beyond the limit.
I successfully entered carriage No. 16 and walked to the end of the carriage.
An Rou glanced around and chuckled, "Good luck."
Not only is it the last passenger carriage, but the seats are also in the last row.
The train has a total of 18 carriages, and the last two are used to store cargo and are very close to the target.
The iron door connecting carriages 16 and 17 was closed and locked, and two Gal members were guarding the door.
The members of the Gal Guild were probably the easiest to identify in the game, all of them white-skinned and tall and sturdy. Among them, the thinner Yali looked like an outlier.
Anrou sat down by the window, while Paopao sat by the aisle.
The view from the last row is not very good, and the windows are only half the size of other places, so most of the players without seats squeeze into the front of the car, which makes it easier for two people to communicate.
"It's all silver." An Rou said in a low voice.
It is not possible for gold players to act as guards, and this result is expected.
Paopao blinked and said, "It depends on whether the device is 17 or 18."
"It should be 18." An Rou said, "You forgot, the man in the teahouse said the carriage was uncoupled."
When replacing equipment, an entire carriage is uncoupled and sent to the power plant. Of course, the last carriage is the most convenient.
Paopao suddenly realized and gave Anrou a thumbs up.
An Rou rolled her eyes at him and said, "It doesn't matter which section it is. What matters is that we get through the door at the back first."
"Yeah, what plans does the boss have?" Paopao is very confident in the boss.
An Rou really has no plan.
The looting of old equipment, the Gal guard convoy, Yali, and at least four Gal guards in each carriage were all unexpected variables before departure.
The most convenient and fastest way is, of course, to kill and rob. However, the obstacles are not only the four Gar guards, but also dozens of player passengers.
No one wants a train accident when they are on the elevated road.
"Let's take a look at the situation first." An Rou said.
While she was thinking of a solution, she looked at the scenery outside the left front window.
Although the view here is a little poor, you can still see the tofu-like buildings below, the gray-blue sky in the distance, and the green or barren land under the sky.
An Rou suddenly felt that taking this train without any purpose, crossing two thousand kilometers of uninhabited land, and heading to a ghost island that she had never been to - seemed like a pretty good journey.
She remembered a magazine she found on her father's desk when she was a child. In the magazine was an article introducing a railway, with both pictures and text.
It is said that the line has a history of three or four hundred years. Taking the train for dozens of hours, you can enjoy the scenery of the four seasons.
The article is written in a very romantic way, but the theme is two words: farewell.
That year, for national defense and security reasons, the countries through which the line passed unanimously decided to stop the line's operation.
Maybe - An Rou suddenly thought - the reason why the Gal Guild wanted T23 so urgently was not just for profit?
After all, the route in the magazine passes through their country the most.
My thoughts were blurred, and the majestic city wall at the border of the Second Security Zone appeared in my vision unknowingly.
The train was about to leave Lengbing City and enter the land of no life.
An Rou forced herself to concentrate and began to think about how to enter the last two cargo boxes.
Before I could figure out what was going on, a slightly deep voice sounded above my head.
"My God, there really are women!"
An Rou felt unhappy and looked up, her eyes fixed on him.
The other person's voice sounded so much like a man's that she had no idea that it was a woman who was standing in the aisle.
To be precise, she is a very androgynous woman.
She had short red hair, her head almost touching the roof of the carriage, and she was taller than the Gar guards behind her. Her features were three-dimensional, with sharp lines, but overall she still had a softness that was unique to women.
An Rou narrowed her eyes and saw the light screen above her head: [Qina, Lv50 (Gold)].
Although it is only the low-level gold, as long as it is gold, it is a high-level player.
A female high-level player.
An Rou's eyes moved down and swept across her dark blue uniform.
Also a member of the Gal.
An Rou was looking at the other person, and the other person was also looking at her without any concealment.
Paopao thought the boss was angry, so he said with a stiff upper lip: "You are so rude..."
Before he could finish his words, his collar felt tight and he was lifted up by Qina and pulled out of his seat.
"You are rude. Shouldn't a gentleman give up his seat to a lady?"
Qina turned her head, extended her hand to Anrou, and smiled warmly, "Hello, my name is Qina."
An Rou knew very well what her eyes meant.
But...a woman?
Never mind, the opportunity seems to have come.
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