Players, Please Board the Train

Jiang Feng, hovering in midair, took out a pocket scanner. A red beam swept from head to toe, and the kite string tied to his leg automatically detached.

But he did not return to the vessel. Instead, he rode a skateboard-style flyer to chase after Xu Huo.

Xu Huo had climbed nearly fifty meters using the piano wire. Waiting for the right moment when Jiang Feng closed in, he used an interference device to knock out his flyer.

Jiang Feng had plenty of backup flyers, but because of the interference he could not take flight even if he deployed one. As he fell, he grabbed Xu Huo’s arm, trying to drag him into the sea!

This played right into Xu Huo’s hands. He reeled in the piano wire, and simply let himself fall with Jiang Feng. At the same time he lifted his right hand and the vanished refuge reappeared, its massive gravity suddenly crushing down onto both of them!

From dozens of meters up, hitting water is no better than hitting solid ground. Even Evolvers would break a few bones at least from a fall like that, and on top of it there was a hulking man pressing down on them.

Jiang Feng assumed Xu Huo wanted to die together with him. He kicked Xu Huo away and tried to exit from under the refuge, but Xu Huo took advantage of his momentary distraction and used piano wire to bind one of Jiang Feng’s hands to the refuge.

Perhaps due to environmental restrictions, Jiang Feng didn’t use any characteristics this time. He pulled out a dagger and slashed at Xu Huo’s throat!

The refuge and its occupants plummeted, the gale blowing so fiercely that it was hard to keep eyes open. Below, the ocean grass seemed to sense the commotion above and elongated, flailing upward.

Xu Huo grabbed the dagger with his diamond gloves and twisted his hand. The item warped and deformed.Jiang Feng did not hesitate either. He tossed the dagger aside and produced a gadget gun in his hand.

They were too close for Xu Huo to grapple him, so he slammed the refuge’s door shut and climbed into the room.

The door struck Jiang Feng square in the face, and the gun in his hand was knocked away. He froze for a moment, then used a tool to free the piano wire and moved toward the edge of the refuge.

Although delayed, he would reach the sea surface before the refuge and could climb out—except at that moment, for some unknown reason the vessel’s seventh deck suddenly rotated.

Earlier when the colorful ocean appeared each deck had opened before, then closed when the voyage resumed. Since the massacre began the ship had lost power in most areas, the hull grew decrepit, and the ship’s shape shouldn’t have changed: first, power couldn’t support it, second, many sections were rusted and jammed, so even rotating around the central axis shouldn’t have been that quick.

But in an instant the seventh deck swung like a released latch and formed a cross with the hull. By coincidence, the turned-out deck perfectly caught the refuge!

Jiang Feng fled at top speed but couldn’t get completely clear—his right foot was crushed under the refuge, flesh and bone pulverized!

Inside the refuge, Xu Huo, sitting on the Chair That Lands Upright, knew something had gone wrong. After the collision he immediately retracted it, and before Jiang Feng recovered he flung the Real Wooden Man at him!

Jiang Feng stiffened. The Crimson Sword swung at his neck but slammed into an invisible barrier with a thud.

Thud! Thud! Two consecutive strikes failed to wound him. Xu Huo rapidly put distance between them and brought the refuge back out again!

Bang! This time Jiang Feng’s defensive barrier was broken. He was completely trapped under the refuge, and collecting his life became far easier. The Hurt Others, Not Yourself rope threaded through a gap under the refuge and wrapped precisely around his neck.

Even if Jiang Feng could still move, he lacked the strength to push the refuge open. He could only take out a tool to undo the rope at his throat, but before he could act the rope suddenly transformed into a blade!

Jiang Feng reacted fast, forcing his fingers into the wire. Because he wore an item on his hand, his throat was not severed instantly. At that moment the entire seventh deck began to crumble—like a ruin burned to ash, wind blew and it disintegrated into great clouds of dust!

The seventh deck collapsed and Jiang Feng fell off the ship. Xu Huo had to quickly retract the refuge. Hurt Others, Not Yourself did not retract, but now that Jiang Feng was free he moved his fingers and the ringed storm began again, manipulating falling objects from the ship.

At that point Xu Huo realized that prolonged struggle would make it hard to kill Jiang Feng, so he planned to stop. For some reason the collapsed seventh deck flipped like a roller coaster and a slantwise-thrown metal bar sliced off Jiang Feng’s left shoulder!

The downpour ceased. Jiang Feng’s shoulder and upper arm were severed, leaving only a hand stuck in the Hurt Others, Not Yourself. Pain made him scream, and Xu Huo seized the moment, loosening and tightening the rope to shift it upward to his throat, then pulled hard!

Jiang Feng’s head flew off.

“Big brother!” Jiang Feng’s sister, the Little Girl, appeared on the sixth deck. She uttered a long, stunned wail, then looked at Xu Huo with blazing hatred and screamed, commanding the ship’s and sea’s grass to attack Xu Huo frantically.

Having collected Jiang Feng’s items, Xu Huo used a barrier to block part of the sea grass, swept away obstacles with the Crimson Sword, and followed the fall to retrieve Jiang Feng’s corpse. He still wore several items that needed to be reclaimed.

The Little Girl’s shriek escalated. Instantly not only the ship’s grass, but also the ocean grass knotted together into meter-thick dragon-like tendrils and lashed at him!

Xu Huo stepped on a flyer to dodge the grass dragons and returned to the deck. The seventh deck was pulverized, but the decks above had not collapsed; the central giant shaft supported them upright, though the gap where the seventh had been made the upper floors seem very open and spacious.

Spaciousness had a benefit: the gap allowed a clear view into the sixth deck.

Because the seventh deck vanished, most of its fixtures collapsed with it. Only decorations and players who had landed on the sixth deck remained, but they were not the most eye-catching. What drew attention were two people standing at the center.

One was Bai Kou, and opposite her stood a man Xu Huo had seen on the government wanted list at his base. He was a member of the Phantom Sound Knights—Hugo!

The two stared at each other. Bai Kou’s face was expressionless, while Hugo grinned and, picking up his beach shorts, wiped his brow with the corner of the Floral Shirt. He said, “This little woman’s got spirit. Why don’t you come roll with your brother? I guarantee you’ll have a blast. Beats you sticking around here dealing with District 011’s swine.”

Bai Kou tore off a corroded, peeling glove from her right hand and casually tossed it aside. “If you can kill your comrades and then cut off your own limbs, I might consider it.”