Upon hearing Yu Hanjiang's words, the teammates immediately turned around to pack their things. They only brought one set of clothes, along with their phones and ID cards, traveling light with just a backpack each. They quickly gathered downstairs.
Since the car couldn't seat eight people, Lao Mo simply drove the tour bus he had bought out of the garage. The teammates got on and sat down one by one, and Lao Mo started the car and sped towards the Moon City train station.
On the way, seeing Yu Hanjiang's serious expression, Shao Qingge asked in confusion, "What's so urgent that you need to rush to Sun City tonight?"
"I don't know the specifics either," Yu Hanjiang explained. "It was Mr. Tang from the Intelligence Bureau who gave us the information. He said that Hunter will be making a big move in Sun City in the next few days and asked us to go and meet him."
" Intelligence Bureau?" Upon hearing this, Liu Qiao clenched her fists tightly. She had asked the Intelligence Bureau to help her find her sister, but they had said "no such person." Her sister had never been to the main city, and it was highly likely she had been eliminated in the first four rounds. She had held onto a sliver of hope, wanting the Intelligence Bureau to double-check the accuracy of the information—perhaps they had simply missed something?
"Xiao Liu, Mr. Tang, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, was also Ninth Brother's former teammate. We will meet up with him after we arrive in Sun City." Xiao Lou saw through Liu Qiao's thoughts at a glance, looked at Liu Qiao, and said gently, "As for your sister, you can ask Mr. Tang yourself. Even if there is no news, don't be discouraged. As long as we can go back, your sister can be saved."
"Yes, I know." Liu Qiao nodded, loosened her hands, and looked much more relaxed.
"By the way, how long will it take us to get to Sun City by high-speed train?" Ye Qi suddenly asked.
"72 hours." Shao Qingge had just checked the train tickets on his phone, so he knew the arrival time of the bullet train. Hearing Ye Qi's question, he replied, then looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, "It will take three days on the road. Is that enough time? Or should we take a plane instead?"
"When is the next flight?" Yu Hanjiang asked.
"Let me check." Shao Qingge opened his laptop, connected to his phone's hotspot, and searched for flights from Moon City to Sun City. To his surprise, the earliest flight was two days from now at noon, arriving in Sun City around the same time as taking the high-speed train now. Flights for today and tomorrow were both listed as "sold out," with a small note: "General tickets are not valid."
"Sold out means all seats are sold out. Airplanes can't sell standing tickets, they can't expect us to stand in the cabin," Shao Qingge said, rubbing his temples in exasperation. "For the bullet train, even if we use [general tickets] to cut in line, we probably won't get seats after boarding. All eight of us will be standing tickets. Are we supposed to stand for 72 hours?"
"Don't worry about seats. I remember there are a few stops along the way where some people will get off, buy tickets, and then rest," Xiao Lou said.
"Then let's take the high-speed train." Shao Qingge shrugged helplessly, shut down his computer, and said, "Currently, this is the only way to get to Sun City."
Yu Hanjiang nodded decisively: "Okay, let's go to the train station and take the 1:30 a.m. bullet train."
Every seat on the plane is assigned to a ticket, and they're all sold out; even with general tickets, they can't board. On the high-speed train, they can stand in the aisle or between carriages, enduring the hardship overnight, and perhaps they can get tickets tomorrow after someone gets off.
Liu Qiao and Ye Qi had no problem with the "standing tickets." They were students and had bought standing tickets before when they couldn't get train tickets home for holidays. It was just tough on Shao Qingge, the big boss; when had he ever suffered like this?
Ye Qi happened to be sitting in the same row as Shao Qingge, and whispered in his ear, "If you can't stand it, you can borrow Lao Mo's beanbag chair to sleep on. I remember that card doesn't restrict the use of secret rooms, so it should be usable in the main city world as well."
Shao Qingge was both amused and exasperated: "Old Mo's card came at just the right time. It's only been drawn so soon and it's already come in handy. Looks like we'll all have to take turns resting on the [beanbag chair] tonight."
They had just returned from the Tenth Stage and were exhausted, especially since the final part of the Tenth Stage involved a mass escape from an underground chamber. They hadn't even had time to rest after returning to the main city before they had to set off to catch the high-speed train, with eight standing tickets in total...
Standing in the aisle all night is unbearable, so Lao Mo's [beanbag chair] is a real lifesaver.
***
Old Mo drove the bus along the airport expressway and arrived at Moon City train station in half an hour. He parked the bus in the underground parking lot, prepaid a week's parking fee, and the eight people quickly walked to the security checkpoint with their luggage.
Yu Hanjiang took the lead in showing the [General Ticket] card. When going through security, the card automatically changed to a ticket for the KP-0714 bullet train departing from Moon City to Sun City at 01:30 AM.
The eight people went through security and entered the waiting hall one by one.
As soon as I entered the hall, I heard the gentle voice of a female announcer: "Dear passengers, the KP-0714 train from Moon City to Sun City is now boarding. Please take your belongings with you and proceed through the ticket gates A10 and B10 to enter the station."
The entrance to the waiting hall is the A1 ticket gate. It's quite a distance to walk to A10. Yu Hanjiang glanced at his watch and strode forward, with his teammates quickly following behind.
When I arrived at the A10 ticket gate, there was already a long, densely packed queue.
Shao Qingge asked in confusion, "There are so many people on a train at this hour. Is the passenger flow between the two main cities usually this high?"
Ye Qi scratched his head:
I don't know, we've never been to Sun City. Does Uncle Mo know?
Everyone turned their attention to Lao Mo, who was more familiar with the main city. He explained, "These two cities are the central cities of Card World. You can think of them as Beijing and Shanghai in our reality. The bullet trains between the two cities are basically full. There are many locals and outsiders coming and going every day, whether they are doing business or traveling."
Xiao Lou glanced around and noticed that everyone was busy queuing and no one was paying attention to them, so he asked softly, " What are the Challengers doing traveling back and forth between the two main cities?" Since arriving in Moon City, they had been busy challenging escape rooms and had never thought of traveling to the other main city. Were the other Challengers so free?
Old Mo shook his head with a wry smile: "Not all Challengers are as determined to go back as we are." He lowered his voice, gesturing for his teammates to gather around, before continuing: "Remember? I mentioned to you all that some Challengers decided to live in Card World. As long as they have powerful cards, they're not afraid of the Weekly Secret Chamber and can live quite comfortably in this world. Moon City and Sun City are rich in resources, and they can travel between the two cities to do some buying and selling business. For example, they can transport seafood from Sun City to sell here and then send local delicacies to sell at a higher price there."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
Those Challengers who didn't want to return to the real world actually started doing business seriously in Card World.
Sun City is a coastal city, so seafood is naturally cheap, with fish, shrimp, and crabs being inexpensive. Moon City, nestled in the mountains, boasts abundant exotic plants and produce delicious beef and lamb. Buying and selling these goods to profit from the price difference is indeed a lucrative business.
Some Challengers have no family to care about in real life and are living unhappy lives. Staying here is their personal choice. Yu Hanjiang doesn't comment on these people's choices. He only knows that he and his teammates will go back, and that's enough for him.
Seeing that it was almost their turn, Yu Hanjiang gave his teammates a wink, stopped their discussion, and lined up one by one to have their tickets checked and enter the station.
Their tickets showed carriage number 3.
After entering the station, the group went to carriage number 3 and boarded the train. They found that the carriage was indeed full of people. Since the tickets were sold out, the eight of them could only use [general tickets] to board the train and could only get standing tickets, so they stood pitifully in the aisle.
Yu Hanjiang's gaze swept across the carriage. Perhaps because they boarded at 1:30 a.m., the passengers all looked very tired. After putting away their luggage, the carriage quickly quieted down, and most of the passengers fell asleep in their seats.
Yu Hanjiang led everyone to the connection point between carriages 3 and 4.
The space here was relatively spacious, so everyone put their backpacks on the ground. Looking at the fatigue on his teammates' faces, Yu Hanjiang felt quite guilty. If he hadn't been in such a hurry to find Ninth Brother, he wouldn't have had to travel overnight right after leaving Tenth Stage.
He looked at Old Mo and asked in a low voice, "Can we take out the beanbag chair and use it?"
Old Mo nodded and activated the S card he had just drawn. Everyone saw a dark brown beanbag chair suddenly appear on the open ground at the connection between the carriages. The material looked very soft and comfortable.
Old Mo said, "The sofa cools down every 3 hours. Lying on it can eliminate fatigue and restore your energy to full strength. Who wants to go first?"
Yu Hanjiang looked at Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue and said, "Ladies first, the two girls can try it first."
Despite her severe blood disease, Liu Qiao dragged herself along the tenth stage, running frantically in the rainy night to find a safe area. Although she never complained of being tired, Yu Hanjiang could see the obvious dark circles under her eyes. Teacher Qu, needless to say, was pregnant and still running around with everyone, and it had been two days since she had a proper rest.
The two girls exchanged a glance, and Qu Wanyue smiled and said, "Xiaoqiao, you go first."
Liu Qiao didn't refuse and turned around to sit down without hesitation.
The moment she sat down, it felt like her body was enveloped in a layer of soft feathers; the warmth and comfort were infinitely better than her bed at home. After only a few seconds, she felt energized, as refreshed as if she had just woken from a good night's sleep. Liu Qiao looked at Uncle Mo in surprise: " Uncle Mo, this sofa is amazing!"
Mo Xuemin asked cheerfully, "Can it really relieve fatigue?"
Liu Qiao nodded vigorously: "I'm full of energy now, I could run 10,000 meters without any problem." She stood up and pulled Qu Wanyue, saying: "Sister Yue, why don't you sit down?"
After sitting down, Qu Wanyue exclaimed, "It's really amazing. I wish there were such beanbag chairs in real life. I would buy them no matter how expensive they are... They are a hundred times more comfortable than massage chairs."
Upon hearing this, Ye Qi couldn't help but say, "Clear fatigue? I remember my suona can also clear negative status effects, so it should be able to temporarily clear fatigue as well."
Xiao Lou looked at him and said, "Are you sure you want to play the suona on a high-speed train late at night?"
Everyone: "......"
If Ye Qi actually started playing the suona, the passengers in the entire carriage would probably rush over and beat him up.
Ye Qi chuckled dryly and scratched his head: "I was just saying. Cough cough, everyone can sit on the sofa, quick, let's take turns sitting."
Everyone took turns sitting on the beanbag chair, and their fatigue vanished completely, replaced by a surge of energy. However, the chair's cooling-off period was three hours, meaning their energy would only last for three hours as well.
But it's still better than working all night.
Old Mo put away the card and said, "This card seems pretty useful? If we encounter a situation where we're being chased and get tired, we can sit down and rest for a while before continuing on our way?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "It lives up to the strength of an S-rank card. Is there a limit to the number of times it can be used?"
Old Mo said, "The feeling of being refreshed after using the sofa will last for 3 hours, but the beanbag chair can only be used once every 24 hours. So after 3 hours, you may feel tired again."
Ye Qi asked, " Where is Professor Xiao's Tea Saint? Can it be summoned for tea?"
Xiao Lou said helplessly, " Tea Saint is an ancient figure, and cannot be summoned in the main city environment."
Ye Qi; "..."
It's 1:30 now, and everyone can stay energetic until 4:30. He can't possibly be playing the suona in the train carriage at 4:30 in the morning, can he? Fortunately, after 4:30, we can only endure a few more hours until dawn.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Everyone, please take a rest."
Xiao Lou glanced back at the dimly lit carriage. This familiar scene suddenly brought back some fragments of memories. Once, he and Yu Hanjiang, as train attendants, had encountered a tour group, two couples, and a group of girlfriends on a high-speed train.
When I woke up in the morning, I found an old man named Li Zhemin dead in his sleep in the sleeper car. The next morning, a young man named Zhou Quan was found dead in a gruesome manner on the toilet in the bathroom, with his genitals cut off.
Xiao Lou took a deep breath, looked at Yu Hanjiang, and asked softly, "Do you still remember the Express Train?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, two murder cases. There was a picture on the victim's phone that said 'The Train to Hell'."
Xiao Lou looked out the window and said, "The train we took back then was KP-0713, going from Sun City to Moon City; today's train is KP-0714, going from Moon City to Sun City. A train going in the opposite direction... I have a bad feeling about this."
Yu Hanjiang walked to his side and they looked out the window together.
It was pitch black outside, but their shadows were clearly reflected in the window. Xiao Lou's head was right at the tip of Yu Hanjiang's nose, a perfect height difference. Xiao Lou's heart skipped a beat, and he changed the subject, saying, "Could there be another train murder?"
Yu Hanjiang gently put his arm around his shoulder, his deep voice revealing a hint of tenderness: "Don't overthink it. This isn't Secret Room World. We just suddenly decided to take this train to Sun City. There shouldn't be any murders."
Xiao Lou nodded and said, "Yes, I hope we can reach the finish line smoothly this time and meet up with Mr. Tang."
******