Players, Please Board the Train

Lin Pei immediately distanced himself from him, ”You’re a Player-Eater?!”

Not only were the people on the bus shocked, even Wang Chaoqing and Nian Hong’an who came in together were terrified. Both jumped up and hid behind Lin Pei, while Ke Liang and Wu Qiuyi also stood up.

Xu Huo observed everyone’s reactions, pulled down his collar to reveal a corner of the black numbers on his back, and said with a faint smile, ”Just a last resort. When there’s really nothing to eat, it’s better than starving to death.”

”We’re human beings. Even if we starve to death, we wouldn’t eat people,” Lin Pei said gravely. ”If that’s your intention, please get off the bus.”

Xu Huo sat down nearby and looked at him. ”You said there were eight people when you got on the bus. One starved to death, four died from other reasons, and now only three of you remain. How can you prove you didn’t eat people?”

”A normal person can survive for seven days with only water. Evolvers can last longer, but who knows for sure? Eight days? Or ten days?”

”Although Evolvers have stronger physical abilities than ordinary people, maintaining normal bodily functions requires consuming more energy. Player-Eaters need even more.”

”Are you really sure you didn’t eat people? Where are the bodies of the dead?”

As he spoke, his smile gradually widened. ”You claim you arrived five days ago and two days ago, but who knows if that’s true? Maybe you’re just deceiving newcomers to make us let our guard down.”

”You’re talking nonsense!” Gu Yu stood up gripping the seat. ”If I had eaten people, would I be starving like this?””That’s hard to say,” Xu Huo’s smile faded. ”It’s not only Player-Eaters who eat people.”

Wang Chaoqing and Nian Hong’an no longer hid behind Lin Pei either, slowly moving to another unoccupied area and distancing themselves from everyone.

The dilapidated bus continued moving slowly. Shen Xin walked over to Shen Yi who was driving, keeping distance from Lin Pei’s group of three. Gu Yu sat alone in the back seat on one side, her hand fumbling for something beneath.

”You’re really something,” Wu Qiuyi’s voice was hoarse, as if she hadn’t spoken for a long time. ”With just a few sentences, you’ve destroyed the trust we built.”

Lin Pei’s group had been on the bus first and had already figured out Decibel Town’s taboos. The later arrivals Gu Yu’s group had also avoided death traps with their help. Through cooperation, both sides had established a certain foundation of trust. If there was any distrust, it should have been directed toward the later arrivals Xu Huo’s group. No one expected Xu Huo would make them suspect each other first.

”Don’t you want to know where the bodies of the dead went?” Wu Qiuyi pulled open the bus door and jumped down, signaling for Xu Huo to follow.

Without another word, Xu Huo followed her down.

”The bus isn’t moving fast, we can catch up later,” Wu Qiuyi stopped Lin Pei who was about to follow. ”Public areas don’t allow three people to move together.”

Lin Pei gave her a worried look. ”Be careful then.”

The bus slowly drove away while Xu Huo and Wu Qiuyi entered a clock shop across the street.

She held the bell on the door, signaling him to enter first.

Xu Huo went inside and watched as she gripped the door handle and slowly closed the door. When the door latched shut, neither the lock nor the bell made the slightest sound.

Not only that, but this clock shop’s display cases and walls were completely covered with clocks. All the clocks were moving, but there was no sound of mechanical movement.

Xu Huo avoided the small dolls on the floor and walked to a separately displayed exhibition case.

The front glass of this exhibition case had been broken. Dark bloodstains marked the fragments on the ground. Two steps forward, the bloodstains suddenly became extensive, with drag marks on the floor that continued all the way to the back restroom. Through the door crack, a section of male remains and some organ fragments could be seen.

Xu Huo pushed the door open a bit wider. Besides these, there were several palm prints and footprints in the blood that didn’t seem to belong to normal humans.

He walked over, carefully examined the footprints and palm prints on the ground, and asked Wu Qiuyi in a low voice, ”Have you seen Mutants before?”

”I have. They’re the same as the Mutants on the Preliminary Trial Train - human appearance, but each one is a cannibalistic maniac.” Wu Qiuyi’s eyes turned red from the dried blood on the ground. She said through gritted teeth, ”You see? This was left by Mutants. If we had eaten people to fill our stomachs, this... hand wouldn’t be left here!”

Xu Huo ignored the anger in her tone and instead hovered his own palm over the palm print on the ground. ”Do you see?”

”This isn’t an ordinary palm print. The Mutants on the Preliminary Trial Train looked quite deformed, but their body size was similar to humans. Their limbs, fingers, and toes appeared longer than normal people’s because they were too thin. The footprints and palm prints here are larger than an adult male’s, at least...”

”At least what?” Wu Qiuyi instinctively pressed.

Xu Huo patted his clothes and stood up. ”At least it means the Mutants in Decibel Town are more ferocious than those on the Preliminary Trial Train. Under any circumstances, players shouldn’t be attacked and killed without any ability to fight back.”

”That Mutant was extremely fast,” Wu Qiuyi said. ”I was at the door at the time and only had time to see its shadow when I turned around. When I chased after it, this restroom was empty. It was after I left that it dragged the body back here to eat...”

Even now she couldn’t understand why.

”Did your companion break the exhibition case and attract the Mutant?” Xu Huo asked.

”I’m not sure. The glass suddenly shattered,” Wu Qiuyi’s voice sounded somewhat dejected. ”Those Mutants are like ghosts. They can appear anywhere, anytime. As long as there’s sound, they immediately show up.”

”This isn’t hard to explain,” Xu Huo bent down, carefully examining through the gap of the overturned photo frame in the exhibition case while saying, ”Town Mayor Nise has great talent in mechanics. There must be precise sound sensors or vibration sensors beneath this town. Otherwise, it couldn’t determine whether three people are present simultaneously in public areas.”

”Since the town employs security to maintain order, there must be special devices that notify security when situations occur. Maybe Mutants are already deployed in areas where people are active. Once the sound becomes too loud, they immediately take action.”

Confirming there were no other devices under the photo frame, he reached to pick it up.

”Don’t move...!” Wu Qiuyi instinctively tried to stop him, but Xu Huo had already picked it up. She said with mild anger, ”This town is full of traps everywhere. You’d better not move things randomly!”

Xu Huo pulled off the note on the front of the photo frame. There was a riddle on it:

”How many clocks did the Master Watchmaker make in his lifetime?”

Wu Qiuyi had already seen this note. ”The whole town is full of these nonsensical questions.”

”This is a riddle,” Xu Huo said as he tore off the note and put it in his pocket.

”This counts as a riddle?” Wu Qiuyi’s expression turned mocking.

Putting the photo back in the exhibition case, Xu Huo walked out.

Wu Qiuyi rushed ahead of him and grabbed the door handle, giving him a warning look before gently opening the door. Just as both were about to exit, a hanging clock by the door suddenly announced the time: ”Twelve o’clock, twelve o’clock! Happy lunchtime has arrived. Let’s enjoy lunch while solving riddles!”