"Guest... please find your seat and sit down... I wish you a pleasant journey."
Accompanied by the shrill mechanical welcome of the horn, he was already in a brand new world, a world without a sun.
Chen Qi swiftly surveyed the surroundings.
The walls of the carriage were covered with thick copper plates and rust, embedded with delicate gears and springs.
Light filtered through the steam lamps above, casting mottled shadows across the dim carriage, as if countless eyes were peering from the dark.
Beneath his feet, the trembling iron plates enabled him to feel the carriage vibrating as it sped across the land.
In front of him, a gaunt old man with a black hat sat on the plain seat, ceaselessly flipping through an old newspaper.
Yet, the most terrifying scene was outside the window.
That was the landscape of the Era of Darkness, hill after black hill, with the dark sky constantly writhing.
The Shadow Phase and Lamp Phase cracks, still as scary as ever... Chen Qi thought to himself.
According to the information from An.
In the carriage, the key points he needed to inspect were the horn's sound, the scene outside the window, the old man's appearance, and the drink on the floor.
Also the shadow underneath the seat and the spiritual power field throughout the carriage.
If all of these things were the same as in the first carriage, then it meant that this carriage was normal, and he should continue forward.
Conversely, if there was an anomaly, he must retreat immediately and re-enter the next carriage.
If he made a mistake in action, he would encounter a siege by Shadow Phase creatures.
Theoretically, it was a crack one could pass through unharmed as long as one remained calm.
Why had so many Hunters failed?
Chen Qi remained vigilant, confirming each key point in front of him according to the strategy.
The sound of the horn was normal, the scene outside the window was normal, the newspaper-reading old man was normal, and the shadow under the seat was normal.
"Everything is normal, heading to the next carriage."
Chen Qi said in his mind, stepping crisply as he walked toward the second carriage.
His footsteps reached the second carriage.
"Guest... please find your seat and sit down... I wish you a pleasant journey."
The sound of the horn sounded once more.
But the instant he entered the second carriage, Chen Qi's intuition sensed an abnormality!
The scene outside the window was normal.
However, the newspaper-reading old man in front of him had grown a vivid red eye and a black mouth on the back of his head.
The black mouth curved slightly, as if smiling along with the entire train:
"Guest, would you like some fun?"
"That's quite terrifying..."
Chen Qi barely held back from cursing out loud.
Without any hesitation, his index finger lightly traced the blade.
A huge blue Ghost Fire ignited from the blade.
After all, he was someone who had fought alongside the overlord of the nearby sea.
But the atmosphere in this train was too oppressive, his courage was not great, and he must use firepower to dispel the fear!
"??"
What's going on?
The 'newspaper-reading old man' seemed startled, instinctively backing away.
In the instant he retreated, his true appearance was revealed, with many twisted black pustules swelling from his body:
"Human..."
There was no need to give it time to speak!
Draw the sword. Ghost Fire Slash!
Chen Qi activated his Qi Power, stepping forward, his blade sweeping upward from his waist, tracing a bright ghostly fire through the air.
Dark blood from the creature splattered!
The blue flames, in an instant, tore apart the confined space of the carriage.
"Aaargh!!"
The newspaper-reading old man hadn't even had the chance to reveal its true form before it was torn apart by the Ghost Fire and the dark Qi, turning into chunks of char.
[You have killed a Humanoid Shadow creature, received 120 Spiritual Points.]
"Phew..."
Chen Qi looked at the prompt before him, taking a long breath.
Ghost Fire Oil was a Transcendent flame that could be ignited with Spiritual Power Points and could cause massive damage to shadow creatures.
Good thing I responded quickly, and the firepower was fierce!
Indeed, only the blade in hand could alleviate the fear brought by the darkness.
Chen Qi crouched down to check under the seat again.
The spiritual power fluctuations here were also abnormal.
"Waah waah waah!"
The shadows under the seat, as if they saw monsters, kept crawling towards the corner.
They were scared.
"There are no powerful creatures, this carriage isn't normal, need to go back."
Chen Qi placed the black blade on his shoulder.
Then, he returned to the previous carriage and moved forward again.
Normal, move forward...
Abnormal, slay them all, reap 200 Spiritual Points, retreat...
Normal, move forward...
...
"Guest... please find your seat and sit down... I wish you a pleasant journey."
Chen Qi maintained his focus, moving forward repetitively, until finally, he reached the twentieth carriage.
At this point, there were at most five carriages between him and the leading driver's carriage.
Unexpectedly easy, this crack wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.
Chen Qi squatted down.
The scene before him was beyond his expectation.
The body of the old man reading the newspaper lay on the ground, leaking a large amount of dark brown blood.
Many of the seats were as if they had been smashed by a heavy hammer, seriously damaged.
Yet another frightening scene… Chen Qi took out the adorable Deep Sea Water Elf No. 1 from his backpack card and touched it.
"Waku waku (Master, hug me!)"
The Water Elf snuggled up close.
Fortunately, in this horrifying carriage journey, he had the company of the adorable Water Elf.
"Not normal…"
Chen Qi instinctively stepped back, ready to turn around.
However, he suddenly asked himself:
"Is it really not normal?"
Chen Qi dismissed this option.
Although the scene before him greatly differed from that of the first carriage.
But his inspiration was telling him, the spiritual power field of this carriage was completely normal.
The fluctuation of spiritual power was the key to determining whether a carriage was normal or not.
The fallen body of the newspaper-reading old man and the destroyed seats before him, all seemed like a scene purposely sabotaged.
Chen Qi squatted down again, enhancing his observational power.
The entire carriage was completely devoid of any trace of shadowy monsters.
Something was misleading him.
He was nearly misled by this clumsy arrangement.
"Finally, it's getting a little interesting…"
The corners of Chen Qi's mouth rose slightly, his cheeks blushed faintly, and he revealed a hint of excitement in his smile.
Having walked for so long, he finally encountered something strange.
This was more like a crack with high anomaly and high mortality rate!
The Black Blade in Chen Qi's hand was already eager for action.
The Black Blade slowly scraped the ground, drawing searing flames across the rusty floor.
The Black Blade passed over the twenty-first carriage.
The moment he stepped in, mechanical horns emitted a horrifying sound unlike any before.
"Guests… since you've come, don't leave… let's cross the gutter together… and reach the sea of flowers beyond…"
Chen Qi scanned the surroundings, as the spiritual power filled with negative emotions permeated the entire cramped carriage.
And at this moment, the old newspaper-reader had turned into black fragments!
In his place was a young man with white hair lying on the floor.
He was dressed in the latest Hunter uniform, with a new model collector's rifle hanging at his waist.
At the same time, his legs were severely damaged, continuously oozing large amounts of dark brown blood.
Seeing Chen Qi enter, the white-haired youth shed tears and cried out:
"Finally, finally someone came; I thought no other Hunters were coming!
Please help me, my leg is ruined, give me a hand.
I will reward you, my family is very wealthy, I can give you five million Shell Coins, and also precious Skill Cards!"
"Do you need help?"
Chen Qi walked to his side, carefully sensing the spiritual power of the monster.
As expected, it had already become a monster… He placed the Deep Sea Water Elf on one of the seats.
The monster youth before him was undoubtedly the body entrusted to him by the Navy Admiral to bring back.
But now, that body was enveloped in the frenzy of the Lamp Phase Qi.
Target on the commission found!
However, judging by the Demonic Qi emanating from it, he had to play exorcist for a while first.
Chen Qi excitedly spoke:
"Little guy, a reminder for you, this crack is a solitary one, there won't be two humans existing at the same time."
"…"
As the words fell, Chen Qi raised his head, smiled faintly, his hands gripping the Black Blade, then fiercely plunged it into the monster's head!
Thwack!
Blue Fire and black Qi were tearing incessantly!
With a loud bang, the white youth's skin instantly turned to charcoal.
In the final moment, its form twisted, turned into a shadow, and swiftly pulled back to create some distance.
Boom, boom!
A torrent of raging Lamp Phase Qi surged within the carriage.
The whole carriage kept trembling!
"Humans!"
At this moment, carrying negative emotions within the carriage, the monster's murmuring voice came again:
"You have chosen the path… to death…"
A flash of vivid inspiration sprang forth.
Experience more on mvl
[You've angered the forbidden presence on Train 8—the Lost of the Crack!
Anomaly Index of the crack increased by 5%!
Please be mindful of your safety!]