Bzzzz!!
The roaring whistle echoed from outside the city, like a thunderclap exploding amidst the blizzard!
By the gates of Aurora City, a guard enforcer who had been resting against the wall suddenly snapped back to attention, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
Shards of snow were swept into the sky by the raging wind, and amidst the swirling blizzard, a black dot appeared out of nowhere. Behind that dot surged an endless tide of calamity, rolling and churning!
“That’s…” The enforcer hurriedly pulled out a telescope from his coat and looked in that direction, freezing in place. “...Th-this… how is this possible?!”
He slammed the button on his communicator and shouted over the howling wind and the train whistle, “Headquarters, headquarters! This is Southwest Gate No. 4!! This is Southwest Gate No. 4!!”
“I… I see a train!!”
---
At the same time.
“A train whistle? Did I mishear?”
“It’s coming from outside the wall…”
“Impossible. Isn’t the area outside the wall already taken over by the Gray Realm? How could there be a whistle?”
“I remember there aren’t any train tracks outside the gates in this direction… So how could there be a train?”
“…”
Whispers of doubt spread through the crowd. Just then, figures clad in black coats darted like lightning toward that section of the wall. The enforcers maintaining order on the streets also seemed to receive some kind of command, swiftly moving to converge there!
The civilians exchanged glances, realizing something must have happened outside the wall, and followed the enforcers toward it. But as soon as they passed through White Dove Plaza, they were stopped by the enforcers.
Yellow caution tape was quickly strung up, blocking everyone at the edge of the square. Behind the tape stood a dense formation of enforcers, led by a three-striped enforcer.
“The area ahead has been sealed off. Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from entering,” the enforcer said sternly, his face expressionless.
“Why won’t you let us through?!”
“Yeah, this is public space. How can you just seal it off like this?”
“Something must have happened outside the wall… We have the right to know the truth!”
“…”
Two figures carrying cameras pushed through the crowd, ignored the caution tape, and ducked under it. Before they could take more than a few steps, they were stopped by several enforcers.
“I’m Wen Shilin from the Aurora Daily. According to Aurora City’s laws, I have the right to independent media action. Even enforcers have no authority to interfere with my movements… Step aside.” Wen Shilin took out his press pass and spoke firmly.
The enforcers exchanged uneasy glances but, under orders, still refused to move, blocking his path.
Seeing this, Wen Shilin’s brow furrowed. He spoke in a low voice, “Three hundred years ago, when Aurora City established the enforcer system, its purpose was to better maintain order. But to prevent enforcers from abusing their power, the law also granted civilian media the rights of oversight and free reporting—rights of equal standing to your absolute enforcement authority… Don’t think it’s just you. Even if it were Chief Enforcer Tan Xin standing here, he wouldn’t have the right to stop me!
Are you trying to defy Aurora City’s laws?”
At these words, the enforcers’ expressions changed. The three-striped enforcer strode over, took one look at Wen Shilin’s resolute face, and sighed in resignation.
“…Fine, let him through.”
As the enforcers blocking him stepped aside, Wen Shilin shot them a glare, hoisted his camera, and hurried toward the city wall.
White Dove Plaza was located directly behind Southwest Gate No. 4, connected by a straight road about five or six hundred meters long. Wen Shilin and his assistant marched straight down the road and climbed the wall. Along the way, many enforcers tried to stop them, but after catching sight of the press pass on his chest, they let them pass.
“Begin recording.” Wen Shilin pulled out a brown notebook and a golden pen from his coat.
As he spoke, the pen stood up on its own and began rapidly writing:
3:42 PM. Outside Aurora City’s southwestern wall, a sound resembling a train whistle was heard. Enforcers and guards swiftly mobilized to seal off the area near the gate. The author breached the blockade and ascended the wall to investigate the truth behind the anomaly outside the city…
Wen Shilin stepped onto the wall and looked down from its height. When his eyes landed on the distant horizon, his pupils shrank abruptly.
His voice cut off.
Amidst the raging blizzard, countless black creatures crawled out from the edge of the Gray Realm, surging forward like a monstrous black tide. And in the midst of this churning wave, a train hurtled perilously at the forefront, its whistle shrieking!
It was a train scorched pitch-black all over, its massive frame crushing countless black creatures into pulp. Fierce flames roiled around its wheels, and from afar, it looked like a steel beast charging out of the Gray Realm, wreathed in fire!
A trail of blazing tracks burned wildly across the icy plains. Atop the pitch-black locomotive, a blood-red coat fluttered violently in the wind.
Wen Shilin was stunned. For a moment, he couldn’t find the words to describe the scene. He didn’t know how the train was moving across the trackless tundra, nor why it had burst out of the Gray Realm. Its appearance on this desolate, hopeless icefield was nothing short of a miracle!
Bang!
The magnesium flash atop the camera ignited, and his assistant captured the scene forever on film. Only then did Wen Shilin snap out of his daze, turning to ask the enforcer beside him in bewilderment, “What’s the deal with that train?”
The five-striped enforcer ignored him, they had no obligation to cooperate with reporters. He turned and walked toward the other side of the wall. Just then, another enforcer rushed up to him.
“We’ve confirmed it! That’s the train the Flame Usurpers used before. It’s suspected to have fused with some kind of ritual artifact and was temporarily stranded at Winterport.”
“What about the person on board? Has he been identified?”
“Yes.” The enforcer pulled out a file, its photo showing Chen Lin’s face. “The mastermind behind the annihilation of the Soldier's Ancient Repository, the heretic who infiltrated the enforcement system—former District Three Enforcer, Chen Lin.”
“Chen Lin…” The five-striped enforcer murmured the name.
“This is unbelievable,” another enforcer muttered, staring dumbfounded at the rapidly approaching steel train. “It’s been a full twenty hours since the auroras vanished. By all logic, the area outside the city should be crawling with Calamities… How did he fight his way out of the Gray Realm?”
“He’s still heading toward Aurora City? What does he even want??”