Chapter 133: Train Arrives at the Station
The burly man slowly crushed the man's head.
The man's screams echoed through the platform until his skull was shattered, finally granting him release.
The burly man methodically stomped the man's corpse into pulp, his eyes fixed dead on Lin Ye while slowly turning his head, making teeth-grinding sounds.
Lin Ye used his prison uniform to wrap around his upper arm and stop the bleeding. His right arm was already useless, leaving him no choice but to watch the brutal display.
"Come back first. I'll get you weapons to finish off this scum."
The captain's furious voice came through the earpiece.
Lin Ye didn't respond. Forget going back—any movement right now risked getting chopped down by the burly man.
Harrison's body was completely outmatched in both strength and speed against the brute. The monster could teleport, and Lin Ye had lost his dominant hand.
Even for Lin Ye, there was no room for resistance in this situation—only finding ways to survive.
As long as he could stall until the train arrived, Lin Ye would have a sliver of hope. As for this monster, next time he simulated, Lin Ye would show it what true brutality really looked like.
"Hang on, the next batch of D-Class personnel is arriving soon. I'll send them to deliver weapons to you."
"...Screw it, to hell with regulations! I'm coming down myself. Just hold on!"
The captain suddenly shouted.
"Not necessary. I can handle this."
Lin Ye spoke without losing focus. The burly man vanished abruptly, and his massive shadow wielding the axe instantly appeared before Lin Ye.
"Really? You... can..."
Lin Ye rolled sideways to avoid the axe blade just as continuous static crackled through his earpiece, the captain's voice breaking up.
After a few seconds, the communication cut out completely.
The burly man followed leisurely behind Lin Ye, not vanishing again. His heavy footsteps trampled over Lin Ye's shadow stretched long by the platform lights.
Lin Ye gasped for air, exchanging lungfuls rapidly. The platform was limited, with the stairs to the upper level behind the burly man. If he didn't do something soon, he'd be cornered in a dead end.
Even in this situation, Lin Ye refused to stop thinking.
'Its teleportation might have a cooldown. One minute between two teleports—is the cooldown one minute? No, possibly shorter.'
'What now? Direct confrontation is hopeless, and the train's arrival time is uncertain...'
'Running out of stamina... at most thirty seconds before I get injured again...'
Just as Lin Ye was thinking, a faint vibration came through the ground beneath him.
The train was about to arrive.
Not only that, Lin Ye suddenly noticed the spiritual energy concentration around him had increased slightly.
'So the communication cut out because they changed locations up there?'
'Too bad the spiritual energy still isn't concentrated enough.'
The burly man also noticed the approaching train. No longer toying with its prey, it charged at Lin Ye with large strides.
Lin Ye ran along the platform edge toward one side. As long as the brute didn't teleport, he could board the train at the platform's end.
The burly man noticed this too—it wouldn't allow its prey to escape.
Lin Ye focused, calculating timing, calculating the speeds of both the train and himself.
The moment the burly man vanished, Lin Ye abruptly stopped and turned right, flipping off behind him with a middle finger.
The burly man appeared diagonally behind Lin Ye just as the speeding train arrived, mercilessly slamming into its body.
The brute was sent flying, then landed on the tracks where the train ran over it from head to toe.
Listening to the burly man's wretched screams, Lin Ye curled his lips into a smile and waved goodbye.
Truthfully, Lin Ye hadn't been certain this would work.
Because he didn't understand the principles behind the brute's teleportation. If it simply moved to a fixed position, he would have been waiting for death and restarting.
Fortunately, the burly man used targets as coordinates for displacement.
Then there was direction—it could appear either in front or behind Lin Ye. If Lin Ye had turned the wrong way, the brute would have appeared behind him while he faced the speeding train.
A fifty-fifty chance, and Lin Ye bet correctly.
The previous two teleports had placed the burly man behind and in front of Lin Ye respectively, but the difference was, Lin Ye had been injured when it appeared behind him.
So Lin Ye gambled it would move behind him.
"Ultimately just a coward who doesn't dare show its face. Even with great power, it's still pathetic. When decisions need to be made, instinct determines everything."
If Lin Ye had to choose, without the train factor, he would definitely teleport in front of the opponent because attacks from the front are harder to dodge.
The train stopped before the platform. Lin Ye wasn't in a hurry to board, instead searching the staff break room first.
Since the burly man had been crushed by the train, he could easily wait for the next train to arrive.
The break room walls were covered with various human body parts, including one thigh that was still dripping blood.
Lin Ye found a rusty firewood chopper and a pitch-black train ticket in the break room.
The ticket read:
Madhouse ——— Stomach
"Damn, what kind of messed-up stations are these... almost making me hungry."
Leaving the break room, the train had already departed. Lin Ye checked the bodies of the burly man and the other man, finding another pitch-black ticket on the brute.
Madhouse ——— Silent Land
"This one doesn't feel very safe either."
Pocketing the tickets, Lin Ye explored the restroom next, finding a roll of brown bandages inside.
After briefly treating his elbow with the bandages, Lin Ye sat on a bench waiting for the next train.
The spiritual energy concentration on the platform gradually increased. Lin Ye glanced at the stairs—if he left now through the subway entrance, he might reach another world.
"Never mind, if this place switches to another station while I'm leaving, it could be troublesome. Besides, outside might not be safe either."
Lin Ye wanted to first search the train for methods to resolve the anomaly, then try other stations if that failed.
But Lin Ye already had some ideas.
'Continuously switching stations, trains, tickets, burly man, other man...'
'Maybe I need to ride the train to find the station belonging to the simulation world and resolve the anomaly there...'
'After that, if the station returns to the simulation world, leaving through the exit should resolve this anomaly event.'
'But what if the station doesn't return?'
'They can't expect me to resolve all anomalies, right?'
'How many stations are there total here?'
'If I need to restore all stations here to their proper places, that would be troublesome.'
'But the anomaly at this station has already been resolved by me, yet nothing seems to have changed.'
'Is it because I didn't enter through this station's entrance?'
'Or did I guess completely wrong?'
Lin Ye felt a headache coming on. Just reading the station names made him not want to disembark at any of them.
A faint vibration came through the ground—another train was approaching.
But this time, it was from the opposite direction.
Lin Ye stood up, holding the firewood chopper as he waited outside the yellow line for the train to arrive. As the train passed before him, he saw that one compartment was completely covered in dark red flesh walls and tendrils.