Chapter 5: Food

Li Fei and the others seemed to realize something as well; after whispering a few words, they returned to their seats.

“Gurgle…”

“Gurgle…”

Stomach growls sounded one after another. The longer they stayed in the carriage, the more intense the hunger became. The rich, intoxicating scent radiating from human bodies surged in from all directions, making people dizzy!

“Bang!” A loud crash from the third-class carriage jolted those immersed in the scent. A blood-soaked person rushed out of the third-class carriage, but before their hand could even slap against the glass, they were dragged back by someone pursuing them. Immediately after, there were dull sounds of tearing and swallowing.

The heavily made-up woman rushed over to brace the door, and others quickly stepped forward to help. Through the window, Xu Huo only saw blood covering the floor and some scattered fragments. Soon, the door to the opposite carriage closed, and shadows flickered rapidly against the blurred glass. Clearly, the matter was not over.

A few minutes later, the third-class carriage fell silent.

“Did… did someone die?” the female student asked, trembling.

Professor Han said with a grave expression, “It seems we need to take turns guarding the door.”

“Evolvers who have eaten humans are stronger than ordinary Evolvers,” the heavily made-up woman said with a grim look. “The carriage rules state not to enter other carriages at will, but it doesn’t say you *can’t* enter. I’m worried that the people in the third-class carriage won’t be able to resist attacking us sooner or later.”

“How could it be like this?” the oval-faced woman asked in surprise. “Isn’t it said that our performance on the train affects our classification rating? Aren’t they afraid of the dangers after being eliminated?”

Xu Huo knocked on the bloody handprint on the glass window. “They’ve already started attacking people.”

What reason could people driven mad by hunger possibly have? Moreover, as fellow Evolvers, the allure of flesh and blood was even greater. Once the state of peaceful coexistence was broken, it was inevitable that someone would soon violate the carriage rules.

For the players, this train was truly a lawless land.

The other players realized that they, too, were part of this cruel game of slaughter, and their expressions were far from pleasant. Surviving for three days until they got off the train was already the game’s most difficult task.

The female student choked back a sob, then suddenly tugged on Professor Han’s sleeve. “Professor, I’m hungry…”

The people gathered at the rear carriage door quickly scattered, eyeing the others with caution.

“Ding-dong!”

“Welcome, prospective players, to the Preliminary Trial Train 301. This train departs from the 3D point, passes through a dimensional rift, and will arrive at the terminal, the 5D Station, in three days at 8:00 train time. There will be turbulence during the journey; please remain calm.”

“Meal service will be available daily around 11:00 train time. Players are free to order. The conductor has the right to banish players; please observe the train rules when ordering.”

“If there’s food, there’s no need to attack others,” Xu Huo muttered to himself, leaning against the door as he returned to his seat to wait for the meal service.

The remaining people looked at one another and returned to their original seats one by one.

The conductor soon arrived from the front carriage, holding only one menu. Li Fei, the first to order, was horrified. “Why is it so expensive?!”

“A cup of water is one hundred white bills, a bowl of noodles is three hundred white bills!”

He only had seven hundred white bills on him; he couldn’t even afford one meal a day for three days!

The conductor replied expressionlessly, “You don’t have to eat.”

Li Fei eventually gritted his teeth and ordered a bowl of noodles.

The broadcast specifically mentioned ordering meals, which was likely key to the rating. And spending was a carriage rule—it was mandatory, even if it was just for a cup of water.

Everyone in the carriage ordered noodles with a heavy heart. When it was Xu Huo’s turn, he only had two hundred white bills, not even enough for the noodles, so he ordered a cup of water and tucked the remaining white bill into the menu before handing it back to the conductor.

A hint of a smile appeared on the conductor’s face, and he left the carriage quickly after the others finished ordering.

Five minutes later, the food cart arrived. The aroma of the food was invigorating—the food on the train could alleviate the urge to binge!

Those who received their food began to wolf it down.

Xu Huo drank the water in one go, and his hunger vanished instantly. He nodded at the conductor in greeting.

Cheap price, perfect effect.

The middle-aged woman suddenly pointed at Xu Huo and spoke up: “I just saw him quietly take the coaster paper; there was writing on it!”

Li Fei and the others’ faces darkened. They hurriedly stopped the middle-aged woman and apologized to the conductor repeatedly.

The conductor’s plain face dropped. He looked at them coldly and said, “The conductor only provides meal ordering and delivery services. Passengers, please do not disrupt the order of the carriage; otherwise, the conductor has the right to expel you.”

The middle-aged woman shrank back but retorted stubbornly, “The train is moving, can you still kick me off?”

The conductor gave a sinister smile and said nothing.

The middle-aged woman didn’t dare to offend him after all and lowered her head in resentment.

Li Fei walked up to the conductor with a smile, trying to stuff white bills into his hand, but the man swatted his hand away. “Conductors cannot accept tips. Passenger, please return to your seat.”

Li Fei glared at the middle-aged woman in annoyance, but not daring to pester the conductor, he could only watch him head toward the third-class carriage. Turning back, he walked to Xu Huo’s table. “I’ll buy that information from you.”

“Smart move.” Xu Huo nodded with a smile. “Fifty white bills per person.”

“Brother, isn’t that a bit ruthless?” the square-faced man said. “At that price, I might as well buy it from the conductor!”

“If you can manage to buy it, that is.” Xu Huo gestured for him to go ahead.

Knowing it was impossible to get more information from the conductor, Li Fei quickly weighed the pros and cons; at least it was much cheaper than buying directly from the conductor.

“Charging by the head is too expensive,” Li Fei said.

“Even if I tell the information to one of you, can you be sure that what you hear from someone else’s mouth is true?” Xu Huo countered.

“I’ll buy it.” Professor Han gave him a white bill and pointed to himself and the ponytail-wearing female student. “We’ll look at it.”

Xu Huo led the two of them to the back of the carriage and, with his back to the wall, took out the slip of paper.

Both were surprised after reading it, but they didn’t say anything.

“Brother Li, take me with you to see it,” the oval-faced woman said, crowding in front of Li Fei.

Compared to her, Li Fei trusted Chen Yi and the square-faced man even less, so he took out one hundred.

Following that, Chen Yi and the square-faced man also bought the information.

After reading it, these few were somewhat indignant. Who would have thought it would be such an “insider tip”? It wasn’t worth one hundred white bills at all!

But since they had already bought it, and they were all in the same carriage, if there was a pit, they would all jump into it together.

As for He Yang, Professor Han informed her via mobile phone, while Yan Jiayu gave one hundred and suggested looking at it together with the old man in the back seat.

“Do you know each other?” Xu Huo asked.

Yan Jiayu shook her head, her smile radiant. “This benefactor is a good person.”

Her words earned her a few cold stares. Xu Huo didn’t comment and showed them the slip of paper.

Afterward, the old man gave Yan Jiayu the only fifty white bills in his pocket. Yan Jiayu was also poor; she took a few small, sealed bags of compressed biscuits from the patched pocket of her monk’s robe, poured in the water she had bought, and shared a bag with the old man.

The only ones left were the middle-aged woman and the heavily made-up woman. The two disliked each other, and neither would pay for the other. The middle-aged woman set her sights on Yan Jiayu.

“Little girl, you’re a good person. Tell me what’s written on the slip, won’t you?”

Yan Jiayu was eating her mush. “Why should I tell you?”

“Monastics are supposed to be compassionate. Are you going to stand by and watch me die?”

“My master said that one must be a good person. Good people should be nicer to other good people, and meaner to bad people…”

Yan Jiayu looked her straight in the eye. “Auntie, being a bad person will bring retribution.”

The middle-aged woman was choked half to death and instinctively wanted to unleash her shrewish nature, but at that moment, the rear carriage door opened, and the conductor who had gone to the third-class carriage to take orders returned, beaming with joy.