Shu couldn't remember the last time he'd stood at a train station, let alone what he'd been feeling. Fear, maybe? But it was more likely indignation or relief.
At the very least, he had never felt so utterly broke at a train station.
He genuinely couldn't scrounge up the Contribution Points right now...
Making an excuse to leave the station, finding a secluded spot, and just flying to Sapphire City was an option. In fact, it was the option Shu was leaning towards the most.
Flying was definitely faster than the train. Having lived on a train for nearly two months, Shu knew their speed all too well.
This world, after all, hadn't developed the insane, passenger-pureeing dark technology of supersonic trains.
According to a certain unnamed data life form from Future City, the cost of installing pressure-stabilizing buffer pods in every seat was exorbitant. Each activation of the pods cost as much as a private jet flight.
If you had that kind of money, why not just take a private jet?
Switching to more affordable anti-G suits wasn't out of the question, as long as you excluded the old, weak, sick, and disabled, and limited the service to elite soldiers who were used to high-intensity training...
If you were going to go to that much trouble, why not just arrange for a plane? The transport capacity of a large cargo plane wasn't that much less than some ridiculous supersonic train.
Besides, the sky was three-dimensional, with plenty of space for supersonic planes to decelerate. But a train was stuck on a single track. It was either slam on the brakes or start decelerating before you'd even finished accelerating.
What's that? Build a global track suitable for supersonic trains, expanding the space to a global scale to allow for reasonable acceleration and deceleration?
If you had that kind of money, why not just build planes?
So, flying was truly more cost-effective than taking the train.
But Shu had Susannah with him. He was stuck, and for a very good reason.
This train was one of only two ways to get to Sapphire City. If you didn't take it, you'd have to drive. Currently, only a handful of exploration teams in all of Fire Moth could pull that off.
And just now, after learning he was from the Kaslana family, Susannah had excitedly recited the information of every member of the top ten exploration teams. By now, she had recited the members of a full 79 teams.
The first person she'd recited was Shu himself, but his current identity was obviously not among them.
What did she mean by "a warrior born for the Honkai"? And "the last hope, cultivated by the old Fire Moth with all its resources to defeat the Honkai"?
Shu had gritted his teeth and endured all that, but why did he also have a rather convoluted "past"?
What was this about a child accidentally born in a cultivation tank who still steadfastly chose to defend the future of civilization during dark training?
Although Susannah had specifically emphasized that this was unofficial history, he knew it was definitely some bull-pucky spread by that savage Otto.
"I don't think that's how it really was..." Shu tried to set the record straight. Susannah just stared at him blankly for a moment, then tilted her head.
"Really? Then... what was it really like?"
Looking at Susannah's sincere and earnest expression, the words "He might have just been an ordinary person who would have been lost in the crowd," got stuck in Shu's throat.
Sometimes, the truth isn't what people want to hear.
The "truth" lingered on the tip of Shu's tongue several times, but in the end, he didn't say it to Susannah, opting for a more ambiguous response instead.
"I don't know either... It's just that what you said is a bit too outrageous, like a plot from a novel... How could there be so many coincidences in the world?"
Susannah was stunned for a second, then a look of realization dawned on her face. "Oh, you're right!"
Then she was silent for another second before suddenly turning to look at Shu.
"But I think what Lord Shu has shown is already more amazing than the protagonists in those novels..."
Shu: "..."
He unnaturally raised a hand to his nose and pinched it, literally holding his nose as he gave a perfunctory reply.
"Perhaps..."
And then Susannah was off, unstoppable, telling Shu about the members of all the top-ranking exploration teams, including but not limited to their life stories, achievements, origins, privileges, and so on...
Including who could drive to Sapphire City.
Shu didn't know whether to call her a walking encyclopedia or a stalker.
She wasn't exactly a walking encyclopedia, because the subject matter was a bit off. Who's encyclopedia focused on people's life stories and achievements?
But calling her a stalker wasn't quite right either... all this information was public. Susannah had just gathered it online, through proper channels and legitimate means.
What was the difference between this and rabid sports fans or a hardcore fan of a single character desperately digging for information and scraps of content?
She hadn't crossed any lines!
But the problem right now wasn't whether Susannah had crossed any lines, but how he was going to get on the train in a reasonable manner.
He couldn't just walk away now. The only option was to get on the train. But where was he going to get the ten Contribution Points for a ticket?
Maybe he should just say he's not going and head back?
The thought of just giving up suddenly crossed Shu's mind, but the next moment, Otto's warning echoed in his head again. Shu's expression darkened. After a moment of silence, he silently took out his phone and opened a private chat on [Spark].
[TheDawnIPromised: u there?]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat: ?]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat: starting with "u there?" what a loser. shu did ur account get hacked? is there even scamming on spark? ur done for, u hacked shu's account! im going to his room right now to confront him!]
The run-on sentence that appeared in zero-point-zero seconds made Shu's expression freeze.
[TheDawnIPromised: ?]
[TheDawnIPromised: kiana, it's really me, shu.]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat: really?]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat: then what do u want? i dont see u in ur room, ur not home.]
[TheDawnIPromised: ?]
That fast? Did Kiana just jump out her window and into his room?
Good thing he didn't lock his window... otherwise Kiana might have run headfirst into... no, she probably would have just shattered the window...
Shu didn't know whether to sigh in relief or resignation. He finally managed to type out his request with great difficulty.
[TheDawnIPromised: lend me some money.]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat: ?]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat: ur so done. and u say ur not a scammer. u wretched hacker thief, im going to overseer otto right now and having him find out who u are!]
[TheDawnIPromised: ... lend me 10 contribution points, it's urgent.]
[SeaofQuantaMoonFishCat has transferred 10 Contribution Points to you.]
Shu: ...