A few minutes later, Ye Yuan returned to the Train holding several pieces of clothing and two shoeboxes.
“These are yours. Put them on first,”
Ye Yuan said.
Her face was flushed red from the cold, and her voice trembled with shivers.
A down vest, a cloak coat, and a pair of snow boots.
This was the equipment Ye Yuan had found for Mu Bai.
Before today, if Ye Yuan had encountered such harsh conditions outside, she might have chosen to leave Mu Bai inside the Train and explore alone.
But now, knowing that meeting other players inside the Train could also be dangerous, she had no choice but to take Mu Bai with her.
Before Mu Bai could even move, Ye Yuan quickly bundled her up tightly, leaving only a few strands of white hair hanging from her hood.
Then, Ye Yuan put on her own clothes as well.
After a moment of thought, she took the Special Dagger strapped to her thigh and stuffed it directly into the outer pocket of her coat.
Since the clothes were found on the fly, the styles didn’t match well, but they were sufficient to provide warmth in the short term.
Once they were dressed, the two left the Train.
Stepping out of the Train, they still felt the cold air seeping in through every gap, but with their bodies wrapped in several layers of extremely warm clothing, their temperatures didn’t drop constantly.
At the very least, they could move normally.
Ye Yuan pointed upward, and Mu Bai followed her gaze.
Light was coming from two directions on the top floor.
One source was hidden behind a blind spot, while the other appeared in a passage, very faint and flickering occasionally.
“The entire Shopping Mall only has lights in those two spots. If it’s not the light from someone else’s Train, it’s like a hint specifically given by the Station. There might be some special reward,”
Ye Yuan analyzed.
She thought this because back at the Beginner Station, a safe had been placed abruptly on a stair landing, clearly a “reward” from the Station.
Or rather, the so-called Treasure mentioned in the Novice Navigation.
If it really was light from another Train, they had to go up and observe since they couldn’t track the other party’s movements.
“Yeah, let’s go up and take a look,”
Mu Bai agreed.
Her head was wrapped in a hood, so the other person couldn’t see her nod.
After making a simple plan, Ye Yuan took the lead with Mu Bai following closely behind, slowly advancing.
Although Mu Bai guessed this Station didn’t belong to a Zombie Apocalypse, they still had to be cautious.
After all, it was pitch black outside, and visibility was a major issue.
For safety, they didn’t take the escalator.
The two found the emergency exit and took the stairs directly to the top floor.
The stairwell wasn’t pitch black as they had imagined; instead, every floor had green signs emitting a faint light, making it much easier to navigate than expected.
***
Fifth Floor.
The emergency exit door opened, and Ye Yuan and Mu Bai stepped out one after the other.
From this floor, they could already see where the two light sources were.
But both of their expressions were grim…
Because one of the directions that should have been lit had now gone dark.
Only the Electronic Subtitles above the Train door were still working, looking quite piercing in the darkness.
Obviously, a team had discovered their Train on the first floor and didn’t want to be too conspicuous, so they turned off their lights to hide their tracks.
It would be fine if the other party just didn’t want to clash with them head-on, but if they had ill intentions, they would have to face an enemy lurking in the shadows…
Fortunately, in a passage directly across from the stranger’s Train—which was a fork in the corridor on their side—another light source was still functioning normally.
Considering the size of the passage, it probably wasn’t a third Train.
“Where should we go?”
Mu Bai asked softly.
If they encountered another team, a fight might break out.
When it came to combat, Ye Yuan was the authority.
“Let’s go this way first.”
Ye Yuan didn’t hesitate, pulling Mu Bai toward the light source.
Ye Yuan couldn’t tell if the other party was hostile, but she didn’t want to gamble on whether they had the means to threaten them.
The enemy was in the dark; if they had any ranged weapons, the duo would certainly be at a disadvantage.
Most people still had a basic sense of morality, at least enough not to kill and rob easily…
It wouldn’t be good if the other party hadn’t intended to act, but their approach made them nervous.
However… it couldn’t be ruled out that the other team had reached the light source faster than them.
To prevent a sudden encounter around a corner where they couldn’t react in time, Ye Yuan loaded an arrow into the Compound Crossbow in advance and held it in front of her.
She only needed to pull the trigger to fire instantly.
This passage connected to an office area, likely where the mall’s affairs were handled.
At the end was the Monitoring Room.
The light was shining through the window on the door of the Monitoring Room.
The Monitoring Room… was quite a special location.
It was no wonder the entire Shopping Mall had lost power, yet this place could still function.
They checked the surrounding rooms one by one and didn’t see anyone hiding.
Only then did they arrive in front of the door to the last room, the Monitoring Room.
“Bang!”
Ye Yuan kicked open the ajar door.
The room was silent and empty.
After entering, the two scanned their surroundings and immediately found a cyan Bronze Treasure Box under a desk.
“You open it,”
Ye Yuan said in a low voice.
Given the current situation, she couldn’t afford to lower her guard; she had to keep the Compound Crossbow raised at all times.
“Okay.”
Mu Bai obediently stepped forward and leaned over to inspect the treasure box.
There was no lock on the box, so it didn’t need a key.
Instead, there were latches on both sides.
She flipped the latches and opened the box.
Mu Bai’s eyes lit up.
Sure enough, this was the “reward” for this Station.
Inside the Bronze Treasure Box lay five Talismans about the size of half a palm.
They were drawn with indecipherable incantations in a special colored ink, and there was a strange power inexplicably attached to them.
In addition to the Talismans, there was also a silvery circular coin.
“Is this… a Train Coin?”
Mu Bai muttered.
She was guessing.
The System didn’t give players the ability to appraise items, so they had to take these things back to the Train and use the Appraisal Function in the Trading Area.
She stuffed the Talismans and the silver coin into her inner pocket.
Having obtained the Treasure, the biggest gain from this Station was already in hand.
There were still many useful goods in the Shopping Mall that could significantly improve their standard of living.
Furthermore, the mall definitely wouldn’t lack food!
Mu Bai and Ye Yuan were now certain they wouldn’t starve.
Next, they could scavenge some food supplies in the mall to better maintain their stamina and health.
The fifth floor of the mall consisted of milk tea shops and a cinema; aside from the Treasure, there were no useful resources.
Their speed picked up as they left the fifth floor.
Ye Yuan kept guard in front, while Mu Bai followed closely behind on her short legs.
The two decided to begin exploring the Shopping Mall from the clothing stores on the fourth floor.
After all, the clothes they were wearing couldn’t be used for daily life and survival.
Both of them needed a change of clothes and more fitting attire suitable for extreme environments.
***
Meanwhile, a dark figure appeared stealthily on the first floor.
After trying to enter the Train and being blocked, the figure spat on the ground.
And vanished into the shadows.
Would you like me to continue the story as they begin their search on the fourth floor?