Chapter 334: Future City
When the two retreated to the other end of the carriage, the Bull Shield had already split open with a long vertical crack. The Carriage-Monster raised its head and charged straight at them, but it was blocked by the prop lines Xu Huo had pre-arranged in the carriage. Those prop lines were hooked onto the tables and chairs, densely crisscrossing the aisle. The Carriage-Monster, charging headlong like this, immediately pulled the tables and chairs on both sides toward itself!
A gun that could fire bullets was powerful, but the person holding it couldn't guarantee every shot would hit the target. The same principle applied to props. As long as the user's speed couldn't keep up with the Carriage-Monster, small-scale, targeted props couldn't unleash their full power. So Xu Huo's move wasn't meant to trap the Carriage-Monster but to slow it down!
The "Unknotting Thread" did have some effect, but the Carriage-Monster paid it no mind. It kicked the tables and chairs trailing behind it away, then turned and grabbed at Xu Huo and the big man!
"You're no match for it!" The big man shoved him aside, pulled out a flamethrower, and blasted the oncoming Carriage-Monster with raging fire.
"Boom! Boom!" Beneath the flames, two sharp sounds rang out rapidly from the left and right sides of the carriage. The next second, the Carriage-Monster had broken free of the prop lines and retreated to the front door of the sixth carriage!
Several wounded suit-wearing men had been waiting for it. They were already in the fifth carriage. When the Carriage-Monster entered the transition carriage, one of them tossed out a bell. The bell bounced off the floor and walls, its sound not loud, yet it seemed to completely capture the Carriage-Monster's attention.
At that moment, another man wearing gloves grabbed the side of the door with one hand, and a thick layer of metal skin spread across the entire surface of the transition carriage. That metal skin wrapped around the Carriage-Monster like a dumpling. A third suit-wearing man made his move—a long needle threaded with surgical thread automatically wove across the metal skin, firmly stitching the metal flaps together!
The suit-wearing men worked in perfect coordination. Even after trapping the Carriage-Monster, they didn't let their guard down. Two more men reinforced the seal from the outside with their own props, only stopping their actions after confirming it couldn't escape.
The big man had already taken a potion, and the wound on his hand had visibly improved. He turned to look at Xu Huo. "Do you know that player carrying the suitcase?"
"No," Xu Huo replied.
The big man nodded and didn't ask further. Instead, he quickly stepped forward to direct the suit-wearing men to capture the infant outside the carriage.
That infant was much easier to deal with than the Carriage-Monster. Though fierce, it behaved like a young beast unwilling to leave its mother, constantly hovering around the Carriage-Monster. Soon, the suit-wearing men trapped it in a cage, administered a dose of sedative, and it fell asleep.
The lighting tools carried by the suit-wearing men flickered back on.
"Can aberrants still have offspring?" The players who had taken refuge in the front carriages now approached.
The suit-wearing men naturally ignored them. For now, they had trapped the Carriage-Monster but couldn't move it, so they had to guard it until the train reached the station.
"Aberrants have reproductive isolation, making it very difficult for them to naturally produce offspring," replied the old man from the original sixth carriage. He said, "After evolution, degenerates more or less develop animal traits. Different species have reproductive isolation, and aberrants that possess some animal traits are the same. So unless it's man-made, the probability of aberrant reproduction is almost zero. It's said they also lack the urge."
"Then this was done by humans?" a short player asked in shock and difficulty. "Can humans even sleep with aberrants?"
This remark made everyone present, including Xu Huo, involuntarily look at him. The old man said irritably, "Of course, they use aberrants to experiment on other aberrants!"
"That's just inhuman." The female player crossed her arms, glanced at the infant in the cage, and went into the carriage to rest.
From the earlier commotion, aside from the fourth carriage, which had suffered heavy casualties, the players from the third carriage had stayed put or moved to the first or second carriages. The fifth carriage hadn't left recklessly either, instead crowding together with players from the rear carriages, all witnessing the battle between the suit-wearing men and the Carriage-Monster.
After inspecting the "cage" holding the Carriage-Monster, the big man led two suit-wearing men into the sixth carriage, closed the door, and pointed to the upright seats, signaling for them to sit.
Xu Huo complied. The big man sat across from him and began, "I'm very grateful for your help earlier."
"No need to be polite. Even if I hadn't helped, you wouldn't have been in danger." Xu Huo understood that he hadn't come to thank him sincerely, so he brought it up proactively, "You still want to ask about that player carrying the suitcase?"
"I don't know him. But after the Carriage-Monster appeared, I noticed him secretly releasing the child while we were in the same carriage," he said. "That child was clearly abnormal. After I ruined his plan, he targeted me and even thought I was part of the Purge Team."
The big man's expression remained unchanged, but the two suit-wearing men behind him looked slightly uncomfortable.
"The Purge Team is a derogatory term anti-government criminals use for our Orbital Supply Department." The big man extended his hand. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Shi Youzhi, Captain of the First Brigade under the Garden Castle Station Orbital Supply Department."
"Xu Huo." Xu Huo shook his hand.
"The Orbital Supply Department mainly handles emergencies on dimension trains. For example, the three carriages you urgently detached earlier need to be recovered by our people afterward. Before that, no trains can run on this line," Shi Youzhi explained.
Xu Huo felt slightly apologetic. "Sorry for the trouble."
Shi Youzhi smiled instead. "It's rare to meet a player willing to help strangers. You also did it to free the train from the Blood Aberrant."
Xu Huo nodded and didn't press further on the topic of the Carriage-Monster.
Shi Youzhi then asked where he was getting off. Learning he was headed to Garden Castle Station, he said, "Since you're going there too, I hope you can cooperate and give a statement to our personnel after we arrive."
"Can't it be done on the train?" Xu Huo asked.
Shi Youzhi said, "The statement isn't taken by my people. But don't worry, it won't delay your business. You can complete your instance first and then contact me."
With that, he gave him a code and a futuristic communication device. "As long as you're within the territory of Garden Castle Station, this communicator can reach me."
Xu Huo accepted the snowflake-shaped crystal communicator and, after a moment's hesitation, agreed.
After that, there was no further exchange between them.
After dawn, players gradually got off. By dusk, the train arrived at Garden Castle Station.
Unlike previous stops where the alighting points were in unseen places, this time the train had a dedicated station.
After the train stopped, Shi Youzhi and the suit-wearing men quickly worked with station personnel to transport the Carriage-Monster and the infant away. Xu Huo walked out of the bustling station and was greeted by a city full of technological wonder.
Buildings constructed from special materials stood everywhere in the city. Though the ground had spacious roads, most transportation consisted of aerial vehicles—freely flipping fast cars, low-altitude hovering skateboards, and even floating shopping stores in the sky.
Players, please board.