Chapter 986: Entertainment Activities on the Train
"So that's how it is." Xu Huo nodded, leaning slightly forward against the table, propping his chin on one hand as if listening intently. "All the candidates come from Zone 002? People from other zones can't participate?"
The female player smiled smugly. "Even if people from other zones joined, they'd only be humiliating themselves. No zone's beauties can compare to Zone 002's."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "That's certainly worth looking forward to."
"Can outer zone players enter the Snow Palace?"
The female player looked him up and down, then pursed her lips in a smile. "Only two kinds of people can enter the Snow Palace: one is the selected beauties, and the second is the high-level players serving Zone 002."
Xu Huo smiled too. "According to you, the most beautiful people and the strongest people should combine, and their offspring should be both beautiful and strong to achieve the goal. But the selected ones and the high-level players are separated from the start with distinct 'functions,' which means the probability is very low. So even if you and someone from the Snow Palace have children, they most likely won't be both beautiful and strong. Ordinary capability, or being beautiful enough to be chosen—which of these two outcomes would you prefer?"
The female player was clearly sharp. She rested her chin on both hands placed on the table, tilting her head. "I prefer to appreciate beauty. If I can't produce beautiful offspring, I'll just find another partner. Thinking too much leads to early aging."
Xu Huo tapped the table with an ambiguous expression. "It seems Zone 002 is a place that pursues pure beauty."
The female player smiled. "Of course."
The conversation that followed didn't offer much novelty. The female player mostly talked about matters related to the beauty pageant.
For other players, if a beauty contest for people or the most beautiful plants and animals could still spark some interest, then having everything from large buildings to small fruit plates dragged into Zone 002's beauty pageants made the word "beauty contest" feel oversaturated.
After listening to the whole thing, two impressions emerged: first, everyone in Zone 002 had a twisted obsession with beauty contests; second, everyone in Zone 002 was a pervert.
Including the female player in front of them, who was tirelessly promoting Zone 002.
And the male player behind her hadn't spoken a single word from the start, repeatedly twisting a Rubik's Cube in his hands, as if he were deaf.
"Don't you think it's too bright outside?" After a while, Liang Yi shaded her eyes and looked out the window. The scenery outside had unknowingly shifted to a salt-snow-like white sandy beach. The reflected sunlight not only put visual pressure on people but also made them restless.
"Didn't you prepare glasses?" The female player put on a pair of special sunglasses. "Using your eyes for a long time in the Daylight Zone might cause permanent vision damage."
"But you can buy protective glasses from the conductor."
Ye Kaihua went into the restroom to test it. Even with the misting function on, the brightness was still too intense for proper rest.
In the end, everyone bought the conductor's glasses at a high price, along with a vision protection potion.
Night turning into day, while eliminating the possibility of mutant attacks, was another kind of torment for the players—no one dared to rest. Even if the players in the same carriage tacitly entered the restrooms, they couldn't guarantee that players in the front carriages wouldn't make a move. In a completely transparent environment, every move was magnified in others' eyes. Once an opportunity arose, it was often their own lives that were lost.
"We still have three full days. Let's take turns resting," Ye Kaihua suggested. "Wasting energy like this isn't sustainable."
"There are eight of us. Four people per shift. How about that?"
The others agreed.
Since Xu Huo, the female player, and her brother had rested in the afternoon, they would take the first half of the night shift, along with the male player who was playing with the figurine.
The remaining action movie male player, the stubbly man, Ye Kaihua, and Liang Yi would rest first and then switch shifts.
The female player was named Dong Yu, and her brother was Dong Ting. Their restroom was near the front door. Dong Ting directly placed a giant Rubik's Cube to block the entrance, cutting off the view from front to back.
Although players in the rear carriages couldn't directly open the front carriage door, they could use props. So this layer of protection was of little use at the high-level player stage. However, the door area wasn't spacious enough to fit "Shelter No. 101," so Xu Huo let the figurine player take this opportunity.
The figurine player covered the door with a spiderweb-like protective prop, guaranteeing, "The first person to break in will definitely get caught."
As everyone knew, props could be removed, but he followed up with two more props. "Once, twice, but not three times. Even if they can remove the props, they have to do it one by one."
That was one way to handle it.
Then the daylight watch began.
The apparent daytime wasn't much better than a dark, unlit night. The carriages in front and back had considerable commotion, and it was frequent.
Although their carriage's entrance was sealed with props, people still came to harass them, especially at the front door. The giant Rubik's Cube was knocked open twice, but the Dong siblings were quick and didn't let the intruders in.
But this constant harassment kept everyone in the carriage on edge. No one could possibly rest. In the end, Ye Kaihua and the others came out of the restroom and just closed their eyes outside to rest a little.
Until the shift change, the front and back carriages still made noise every so often.
"I knew it. Might as well have let the mutants crawl onto the train," the action movie male player complained. "At least people would be wary of the mutants and hold back a bit."
For players who could evolve night vision or use props for night vision, the difference between day and night wasn't that obvious. But with one external threat removed, the "entertainment activities" inside the train were clearly more abundant. Not being able to rest for a long time was torture for everyone.
"Sorry, we need to rest now." Dong Yu smiled at the few who were nominally resting, then she and Dong Ting each returned to their own restrooms.
Xu Huo also nodded to the others and closed his restroom door. The remaining figurine player stayed with the others—his prop was still on the back door.
The incident happened at seven o'clock the next morning. A red light suddenly flew in from the rear, not only piercing through the back door and the prop set up on it but also the front carriage door. And at the front door, players were already lying in wait. Taking the opportunity, they entered the carriage and attacked Ye Kaihua, who was closest!
As Ye Kaihua was bitten on the shoulder, two players from the rear carriage also flew in, followed by a female player holding a red longsword. She chased the two, stabbing the first one straight through. Without regard for the other players in the carriage, she swept her red sword horizontally. A whip-like red light sliced through the nearest restrooms, cutting them in half. The Dong siblings inside instantly appeared outside the doors, flanking the female player from left and right!
(End of Chapter)