Chapter 9: Violation
Yan Jiayu muttered under her breath, "What goes around comes around."
The heavily made-up woman checked the mouths and teeth of the two people on the ground. "Teeth are all intact."
She made as if to check the teeth of the others.
"Alright, that's enough. It was just talk, not for real." He Yang curled his lip at the middle-aged woman who had already stood up, ready to show off her teeth, then glared at Li Fei. "Satisfied?"
Li Fei gave a cold snort, then turned to search the dead bodies. Finding nothing useful, he cursed and sat down in the corner.
This was normal. Most players were transported onto the train without knowing what was happening, carrying very few or even no personal belongings.
"The dead are gone. Let's hurry up and rest," Professor Han said.
Arguing over whether the dead players were Cannibal Players was pointless, because they couldn't kill Xu Huo or Li Fei. For one thing, success was uncertain; for another, no one could guarantee that there weren't Cannibal Players among the rest. The fewer people there were, the higher the risk.
Xu Huo took Li Fei's spot and sat down next to the light switch. The heavily made-up woman sat across from him. "I believe what you said. What else do you know? Tell me, and we can cooperate."
Xu Huo looked at her. "Information for information."
The heavily made-up woman shielded her phone screen with her hand, typed a line of text, and then placed it in front of him.
"Cannibal Players enhance their physical abilities by eating Evolvers. The more they eat, the bigger their appetite."
This matched Xu Huo's speculation. Cannibal Players would retain their instinct to eat people. He thought for a moment, then opened his own phone. To save power, he had turned it off before the lights went out last night.
"Cannibal Player trait growth is limited."
This was also his guess.
During the fight with Chen Yi, he had noticed a significant increase in his speed, far exceeding what it was before boarding the train. This was most likely related to his trait, "Legs That Never Tire." Cannibal Players could quickly gain physical strength, but there must be shortcomings in other areas; otherwise, "Dimensional Rift" should have been renamed "Cannibal Game."
Professor Han had keen insight. For a game meant for people to play, the mainstream had to conform to human ethics and values.
As for whether the traits were actually limited, he wasn't sure.
After reading it, the heavily made-up woman's expression turned slightly sour, but she quickly asked him who he suspected was a Cannibal Player.
Li Fei and the middle-aged woman were highly suspicious. The old man was also a suspect.
Among the remaining people, although last night had been chaotic, Xu Huo hadn't noticed Yan Jiayu's whereabouts. He had paid attention just now, and her breathing and footsteps were very light.
Maybe it was a trait, maybe it was evolution. It couldn't be ruled out that she was a Cannibal Player.
The strange one was the ponytailed female student who had testified for him.
Yesterday, Chen Yi had actually been standing right next to him the whole time, while she was on the other side of the door. Yet she had unhesitatingly spoken up for him.
Also, she had shouted before Chen Yi made his move, and came out of it unscathed, which seemed a bit out of place.
On the other side, the female student tremblingly showed her phone to Professor Han and He Yang. After reading it, both of them looked grim.
The exchange with the heavily made-up woman hadn't yielded much substantial progress. Xu Huo determined that she didn't know much about the train's inner workings, so he lost interest in talking.
Soon it was lunchtime.
The conductor, who acted as if the corpses and bloodstains in the carriage didn't exist, handed the menu to the person sitting in the first row.
The situation was similar to yesterday. The players had to spend at least the price of a glass of water. Professor Han bought the old man a glass of water. The old man called Yan Jiayu over again, and the two of them used the water to soak their biscuits.
As the richest person in the second-class carriage, Xu Huo ordered a meat dish and a bowl of rice, costing eight hundred White Notes. He then took out another twelve hundred, dividing it into one thousand and two hundred, and handed it to the conductor. "The head chef's culinary skills are exquisite. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Could you please deliver it for me, young man?"
The conductor's previously downturned expression immediately lifted. He deftly pocketed the two hundred White Notes. "Your regards will definitely be passed on, sir."
The conductor who had refused Li Fei and the others yesterday was now helping the head chef accept bribes. It actually worked. It made people envious, wondering what benefits might come next.
For a split second, Li Fei even had the urge to grab the conductor and force information out of him.
But he quickly dismissed the idea, because a commotion came from the third-class seats. A player was directly thrown out of the train, plummeting down a cliff. Before his screams had even faded, the train announcement sounded:
"Third-class player 'I Am Number One Under Heaven' has been expelled for assaulting a conductor."
The announcement played three times. The conductor walked back into the second-class carriage unscathed, his expression unfriendly.
Li Fei didn't even dare to look at him. The middle-aged woman also showed fear. Fortunately, the conductor left and didn't return.
"You really can get kicked off the train..." Yan Jiayu murmured.
The others stared silently at the scenery outside the window, which had no visible bottom.
After becoming an Evolver, the increase in physical abilities and the resulting superhuman strength inevitably inflated people's egos. Yesterday, most people might have still been treating the game lightly. Even with the mutual slaughter at night, everyone had some psychological preparation, because Evolvers attacking each other wasn't something that only started after boarding the train.
But the conductor's intervention told them a fact: even after they had become stronger, they were still powerless against the game's characters.
This meant that the game's rules could not be violated, and it also represented the danger of the game.
"Someone's money went down the drain," Li Fei jabbed, for some reason.
Xu Huo stared at the front door as if he hadn't heard.
Professor Han, He Yang, and a few others worked together to move the corpses to the corner.
"Place them separately," Xu Huo said. "Two by the back door, one by the front door."
Professor Han immediately understood. He sighed but still did as Xu Huo said.
After eating, everyone was very tired and sat in their seats, resting with their eyes closed.
"Knock, knock." Someone knocked on the door. It was a player from the carriage ahead.
Li Fei and the others tensed up as if facing a great enemy. Xu Huo calmly opened the door. "Something wrong?"
Nie Xuan, looking tired, jerked his chin at him. "Come out and talk?"
Xu Huo took the initiative to step out, closed the door behind him, and offered him a cigarette.
Nie Xuan didn't take it.
"Six dead in first class," he said directly. "The ratio of Cannibal Players to ordinary players is probably one to one."
Xu Huo nodded slightly, not surprised. "Three dead on my side, two Cannibal Players. Also, Cannibal Players' appetites will gradually increase."
He put the cigarette in his own mouth, lit it, and took a drag before continuing. "Cannibal Players have fast physical growth and strong self-healing, but their traits might be limited."
Nie Xuan shook his head. "I was unlucky. Four ordinary players died."
He paused, then pulled out a gold business card. "If you're interested, contact me after getting off the train."
"Is your salary high?" Xu Huo suddenly asked an irrelevant question.
Nie Xuan made a gesture. "Ten thousand."
"No wonder you use a gold business card." Xu Huo casually stuffed it into his pocket and said offhandedly, "How about coming to second class?"
Nie Xuan looked him up and down. "Every player only has one chance to board the preliminary trial train. But not every player who gets off will receive a ticket for the next station."
A ticket.
Xu Huo's expression changed.
Nie Xuan didn't elaborate further and instead returned to his own carriage.
Xu Huo leaned against the door until he finished his cigarette before going back inside.
The moment he stepped into the carriage, the doorbell at the back door rang.
Standing at the back door was a gloomy-looking man with fierce eyes.
"As long as we don't open the door, he can't get in," said the middle-aged woman, who was closest and had been startled.
Professor Han walked over to take a look and said with surprise, "There's a disabled player."
"Open the door and ask," Xu Huo said, also moving in that direction.
"No!" Li Fei grabbed the door handle first. "Yesterday, the third-class carriage was a mess. How did a disabled person survive? They might be even more dangerous than us. If we open the door and they force their way in, what then?"
"There are nine of us." Xu Huo gave him a cold look. "I want to see if there are any penalties for entering other carriages."
Li Fei stared at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy?"
In a situation like this, survival was the priority. Who cared about the consequences of breaking the riding rules? As long as they were safe, wasn't that enough?
"Let's vote," Xu Huo said. "I vote to open the door."
"I vote yes too," Yan Jiayu was the first to respond. "Maybe they really need help. You have to have a kind heart. Even if they are Cannibal Players, with so many of us, we're not afraid."