After speaking these words, Chen Lin moved to the next person. The woman holding the child sat there in a daze, a glimmer of hope rekindled in her hollow eyes. Her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Yes... As long as they could enter Aurora City, her child would definitely live!
Chen Lin's words were like a shot of adrenaline injected into the woman's veins. Gradually, light returned to her eyes—or rather, her longing for Aurora City.
"Your husband died in the flames, but you're still alive," Chen Lin said as he stopped before the next person.
This was a woman in her late twenties, half of her face burned by fire. She curled into herself, motionless as a stone statue.
"Did he know you were pregnant?"
At these words, she jerked her head up, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at Chen Lin.
"Me? No... that's not right, I don’t..."
"My eyes don’t lie," Chen Lin replied calmly. "You carry his flesh and blood within you. He is dead, but you still hold the hope that belonged to both of you..."
Chen Lin continued walking through the crowd. His voice was calm, yet with just a few words, he could rouse a despairing survivor from their stupor. They were like drowning people who had exhausted all strength and given up on everything, only to glimpse hope once more... They began struggling in the quagmire of despair!
This struggle was a hundred times fiercer than when they had first boarded the train. Only those who had truly sunk into the abyss of despair could understand the preciousness of this fleeting hope... The oppressive atmosphere of hopelessness in the carriage gradually dissipated, replaced by an unprecedented craving for survival!
Clad in his blood-red coat, Chen Lin stood amidst the crowd and asked once more, "Tell me... do you want to live?"
"Yes!"
"DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?!" Chen Lin roared.
"WE WANT TO LIVE!! WE WANT TO LIVE!!!"
Chen Lin's furious shout ignited the emotions of everyone in the carriage. The despair they had once suppressed now became fuel, setting their desire to live ablaze. Their eyes burned like torches!
The corners of Chen Lin’s lips curled faintly as he tossed the loudspeaker into the crowd.
Then he turned and walked back toward the control room.
"Let Aurora City.. hear your cries."
---
Aurora City, the city walls.
"Sir, the train still hasn’t slowed down," an enforcer said, lowering his binoculars and turning to the five-striped enforcer beside him.
The five-striped enforcer’s frown deepened. He raised the loudspeaker and spoke again, "This is your final warning... Stop the train, or face destruction."
Clang! Clang! Clang!!
The train raced across the frozen wilderness without the slightest hint of slowing down. Its pitch-black locomotive resembled a steel arrow, aimed straight at Aurora City!
The five-striped enforcer narrowed his eyes. He turned to look behind him, where two more five-striped enforcers had arrived. Three black coats emblazoned with five stripes fluttered atop the city walls, like dark deities guarding the gates.
The three exchanged glances and nodded slightly, preparing to take action—when an abrupt voice cut through the howling wind and snow.
"Please... don’t kill us..."
The moment this woman’s voice rang out, everyone froze.
The enforcers looked at each other in bewilderment, confusion written across their faces.
"Wait... Chen Lin is a man. That’s not him... Who else is speaking?"
"There are other people on that train?!"
As the crowd murmured in confusion, the voice continued, "Why... why must you abandon us?" The woman’s voice trembled. "We barely escaped the hell of District Three... My father was eaten by Calamities, my husband was executed by your enforcers... My child is all I have left..."
"If you won’t let me in, fine... but I beg you, let my child enter! He’s still young, he doesn’t understand anything... I just want him to live!"
After the voice spoke, there was a rustling sound, as if the loudspeaker had been passed to someone else. A hoarse voice then said, "Aurora City, you’re listening, aren’t you?
I’m a carpenter from District Three. My father, my grandfather—generations of my family have been carpenters. We poured our sweat and blood into crafting woodwork, sending it all to Aurora City. We devoted our entire lives to this city... Now, I just want to trade all of that for one chance... I want to enter Aurora City."
"Please... I’m begging you! I’m carrying my husband’s child—I don’t want them to die in the jaws of Calamities with me! I’ll do anything... please, just let me in!"
"There’s a child here covered in burns. For the sake of everything we’ve given to Aurora City, open the gates... I don’t know what grudge you hold against the seven districts, but the children are innocent!"
"It hurts... it hurts so much... Just kill me! Kill me now!!"
"Dad... are we going to die?"
"..."
One after another, different voices spilled from the speeding train—some elderly, some children. Some spoke in anger, some in despair, some pleaded, some reasoned... Their voices intertwined, growing clearer and louder, like the final, desperate symphony of lives burning to their end.
Everyone was stunned. No one had expected so many people to still be inside that train... No one had imagined that even after the world beyond Aurora City had become a wasteland swallowed by the Gray Realm, this many survivors could still make it to the city’s gates.
What had they endured?
What kind of despair had they witnessed?
No one in Aurora City knew. No one dared to imagine... They had always remained behind those towering walls, never experiencing the deadly blizzard beyond.
As the endless cries from the train echoed, the enforcers and judges on the city walls fell silent. They stared at each other blankly, unsure of what to do...
Then, they heard the clamor of the crowd rise from within Aurora City itself. Angry shouts began to spread, growing louder and more chaotic—unrest was rapidly brewing inside the city!
---
At the same time...
White Dove Plaza, on an unnoticed wooden bench.
Gu Yuan, his hair frosted white, frowned as he glanced toward the city walls. Then, as if sensing something, he turned to look beside him...
There, a man in a black coat trembled slightly, like a furious beast struggling against the weight of a mountain, stubbornly and slowly lifting his head... His eyes were bloodshot.
"Gu Yuan!!" Han Meng’s voice roared like a wild animal. "I swear to you... if Aurora City dares to lay a finger on them, I will tear this city apart!!"