6:00 PM sharp.
The Train arrived at the station, and the doors opened automatically.
A transparent Light Screen appeared at the doorway.
Ye Yuan reached out and passed through it without any resistance.
Mu Bai followed closely behind her out of the carriage.
Looking back at the full view of The Train, its exterior resembled a high-speed rail.
The body was solid white, exuding a sense of modern technology.
However, aside from the inaccessible locomotive, there was only the single carriage belonging to her and Ye Yuan.
Does this even count as a train…
She wondered if more carriages could be added later.
If the two of them had to live squeezed into one carriage forever, it would be quite inconvenient.
“Stay close to me.”
Ye Yuan scanned the surroundings.
She didn’t sense any immediate danger, but for safety’s sake, she made Mu Bai stay right behind her.
If anything happened, she would be able to react in time.
“Okay.”
Mu Bai naturally had no objections and took a few extra steps to close the gap between her and Ye Yuan.
Observing the environment of the Beginner Station, they found themselves on a floor of a derelict building.
It was in an unfinished, raw concrete state.
At a glance, there were no useful resources to be seen.
The Mist outside the windows was unnaturally thick, obscuring everything.
The air felt damp and clammy to the touch, and a stale, ancient scent drifted through the floor.
This was likely the top floor.
Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, forming numerous puddles of various sizes on the ground.
Quite a bit of time passed as they circled the entire floor, yet they found nothing.
There was no danger, but there was also no food.
They couldn’t even find the scrap metal common in abandoned buildings.
Since The Train had warned them that this was a Wasteland World, neither Mu Bai nor Ye Yuan had any intention of collecting the water.
If the water contained Nuclear Radiation or some Unknown Virus, wouldn’t they be finished?
After circling around, the two of them passed the stairwell near The Train for a second time.
The stairwell was blocked by an iron grate resembling a prison gate, held shut by a large, rusted lock.
“There should still be some time left before the thirty minutes are up. I want to check the other floors,” Ye Yuan reminded her.
“If there is any danger later, hide far away.”
Mu Bai was puzzled, not quite understanding what the other woman intended to do.
Ye Yuan didn’t explain.
Instead, she shouted toward the iron grate, “Is anyone there?”
Her crisp voice echoed through the empty building, but there was no response.
Seeing this, Ye Yuan felt more confident.
She picked up a stone about the size of a skull from the side, gripped the jagged edge with both hands, and slammed it down onto the lock at a specific angle!
Clang!
The heavily corroded iron lock was deformed by the blow.
Once more…
Clatter!
To Mu Bai’s shock, the iron lock snapped and fell.
“Do you want to go back to the carriage and wait for me?”
Ye Yuan asked.
The space in the stairwell was narrow and easily blocked at both ends, making it significantly more dangerous.
“I… want to go see with you.”
Mu Bai hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.
If she couldn’t even face a Level 0 Difficulty, how was she supposed to survive later?
Was she just going to rely on Ye Yuan to provide for her?
Therefore, she wanted to learn more about the stations.
The two entered the stairwell.
They initially wanted to check the rooftop, but the path upward was blocked by a tightly sealed steel door.
Ye Yuan could break a padlock, but she had no way to deal with a security door.
Thus, they gave up on the rooftop and explored downward.
Peering through the gaps in the stairs, she estimated the building was about twenty stories high.
She had thought there might be signs of human activity on some floors, but looking through the iron grates of each level, they were identical to the floor where The Train was parked.
That was until they reached the landing between the ninth and tenth floors from the top.
A steel Security Box appeared there.
Ye Yuan stepped forward to inspect it.
She didn’t touch the combination lock but simply tried to pull it. Unexpectedly, the door popped straight open.
Inside lay an Iron Axe, a modern Compound Crossbow equipped with a scope, and a bulging Leather Quiver.
Upon opening the quiver, they found it filled with ten Carbon Fiber Bolts.
The moment Ye Yuan’s palm touched the crossbow, the experience of using a Compound Crossbow immediately “resurfaced” in her mind.
“Let’s go back to the carriage first.”
Ye Yuan picked up the Compound Crossbow, slung the quiver over her body, and turned to speak to Mu Bai.
Time was almost up.
They didn’t have a timepiece, so it was best not to cut it too close.
Mu Bai nodded and picked up the Iron Axe.
It was a bit heavy…
Although the Security Box was made of iron and could be used as a train upgrade material, it was too heavy.
They couldn’t even move it an inch, so it was clearly impossible to carry back.
Still, at least they weren’t returning empty-handed.
***
A few minutes later.
Another survival team reached the landing where the Security Box was located from below.
“Dammit, someone got here ahead of us,” the pink-haired girl hissed through gritted teeth.
Not long ago, they had vaguely heard a shout, but because it was too faint, they couldn’t be sure where it came from.
It must have been from that team of survivors.
While they didn’t know what had been inside the Security Box, it was likely the reward for this Beginner Station.
With the reward taken by someone else, this trip was essentially a waste.
“Fufu, there’s only three minutes left. We’re out of time, let’s get back quickly,” the girl with moss-green hair urged softly.
“Curse them! If only that lock hadn’t taken so long to open…”
“Fine, fine. If we don’t leave now, we won’t make it back. If you want to stay at this station, don’t drag me down with you.”
“Hmph, it’s just nine floors. Two minutes is enough to get downstairs.”
“You should consider my physical state too!”
***
Back on The Train, Mu Bai collapsed directly onto the bed.
After climbing up and down nine flights of stairs, she was exhausted.
The stamina of this body was truly pathetic.
Beside her, Ye Yuan was studying the newly acquired Compound Crossbow.
The theoretical range of a military Compound Crossbow could reach six hundred meters.
Judging by its construction, this one was very professional and wouldn’t fall far short of that.
Even if actual combat were affected by various factors and the effective range was generally only about a hundred meters, having such a powerful long-range weapon was a massive help for survival.
Under the influence of the [Weapon Master] effect, Ye Yuan was a professional.
Of course, even a professional needed to familiarize themselves with a new weapon; that was exactly what she was doing.
Mu Bai already knew Ye Yuan could use the crossbow, and she fully agreed with letting Ye Yuan keep it.
She didn’t know how to use a crossbow anyway, so it would be useless in her hands.
She summoned the system interface and clicked on the chatroom.
Mu Bai wanted to see what other teams had gathered from their stations.
— Chatroom c0721 (9801) —
[I Eat Lemon: I thought they said the Beginner Station was Level 0 Difficulty, so how did I run into a Zombie the moment I stepped out? Luckily I ran fast; the moment I got back into the carriage, the Zombie was blocked by the light screen.]
[Holy crap, there are Zombies in the stations? Person above is seriously unlucky.]
[Everyone, look at me. I’m announcing something—everyone check out my train level (laughs)]
[Brother Ber, how the hell did you gather all the upgrade materials in the very first station? Are you even human?]
[Just a fluke. The station was a Construction Site with loads of building materials stacked up. There were also plenty of discarded tires nearby. I gathered all the upgrade materials in one go and even have extra… Anyone interested in trading weapons for materials, private message me.]
[Dog luck!!]
[Has anyone noticed the number of people in the chatroom is decreasing…]
[You’re right. Did they die outside?]
[Weren’t Beginner Stations all Level 0 Difficulty? For nearly two hundred people to die at once is terrifying.]
[It’s also possible they didn’t get back to their carriages in time. Don’t forget, The Train leaves on its own when the timer hits zero. A lot of people were probably left at the stations forever.]
[To the guy who found the Construction Site: since there’s a Construction Site, it must be a modern society, right? Have you thought about just staying there? It’s better than living meal-to-meal on a train…]
[I tried going out. Beyond the Construction Site is a wall of Mist, like a poison zone. The moment I got close, my heart started racing. I feel like the Survival Game won’t give us a chance to exploit a bug like that.]
[What’s inside the Mist?]
[I don’t know, but I’m afraid to die. Next time you get lucky and find one, you can give it a shot and see if you die.]
[Ah, well then.]