Sea Water Train

"Steady yourself!"

Lin Baici immediately let go and looked at Xia Hongyao by the window.

The girl with a high ponytail was a God Hunter and should be able to become an ally. Just as Lin Baici was about to wake her physically, Xia Hongyao opened her eyes on her own.

As expected of a God Hunter—her resistance was stronger than that of ordinary people.

"Rule Pollution?"

Xia Hongyao's willow-leaf brows furrowed, then excitement appeared on her face.

I, Xia Hongyao, had finally waited for my chance to make a name for myself in a single battle.

Just wait and see.

Within three years, I would definitely become one of the Nine Provinces Dragon Wing.

"Hey, do you know what's going on?"

Lin Baici asked Xia Hongyao. He reached up, took his backpack from the luggage rack, unzipped it, and slipped his hand inside.

"There are God Hunters on this train. It's very likely that one of the God's Taboo Objects they were carrying accidentally had its seal undone..."

Xia Hongyao suddenly stopped speaking and stared at Lin Baici warily.

This kid was a God Hunter too.

"Stop looking. It wasn't me!"

Lin Baici was speechless. "If I were the bad guy, you'd be the first one I killed."

Xia Hongyao shuddered in alarm.

That was right!

This kid had woken up several seconds earlier than she had?

That meant either his physical condition was better and his resistance to Rule Pollution was higher than hers, or he was highly experienced, had spotted the problem in advance, and prepared himself.

Either way, Xia Hongyao had been edged out by just a little.

That left her somewhat depressed.

What?

18D beside them was awake too?

Give me a break. Look at that guy standing on his seat and clinging to the luggage rack like a terrified wimp—he didn't look like a powerhouse at all. And there were five finger marks on his face. He had obviously been slapped awake.

Oh my!

Hongyao, your reasoning skills are getting better and better. As expected of someone who often reads Sherlock Holmes collections!

"What do you usually do when you encounter something like this?"

Lin Baici didn't want to expose the Black Altar Bowl, so with his backpack blocking the view, he took out the Pine Torch.

"..."

When 18D saw this, his eyes instantly went wide.

What the hell?

Why was there a torch in your backpack?

Were you a savage?

Wait, that torch was obviously longer than the backpack. How had you put it in there?

"A God's Taboo Object?"

Xia Hongyao's eyes lit up. She had been right—this kid really was a God Hunter. "Which organization are you from?"

"Guangqing City No. 2 High School!"

Lin Baici took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He thought of the Suit Man with the black suitcase whom he had encountered in the Waiting Hall.

"City No. 2 High School?"

Xia Hongyao looked baffled. Was there an organization like that in hunter circles?

She had never heard of it!

Had it only recently been established?

One look at High Ponytail's expression and Lin Baici knew she had misunderstood. He was at a loss for words.

As expected of Intelligence D.

She had probably put all her talent points into those big boobs, hadn't she?

"I just graduated from high school. I accidentally became a God Hunter this summer!"

Lin Baici explained.

He would definitely have to use God's Taboo Objects and Divine Grace next, and he wouldn't be able to hide it. It was better to say so in advance; it might even leave the other party with a good impression of his honesty and sincerity.

"..."

Xia Hongyao didn't believe it. Such a young Rogue God Hunter?

Who the hell were you trying to fool?

Without an experienced hunter leading the team in the God Ruins, your corpse would already be crawling with maggots by now.

Of course, this wasn't the time to argue about that. This Big Male Student really didn't look like the source of this Rule Pollution.

"You stay here. Don't wander around. I'm going to deal with the enemy!"

Xia Hongyao looked toward both ends of the carriage.

"Rule Pollution? God's Taboo Objects?"

18D was dumbfounded at those words.

He had seen posts about this sort of thing online before. He hadn't expected to witness it with his own eyes now.

18D instinctively turned to look at Lin Baici.

Damn it!

This kid was actually a hunter capable of hunting gods?

"You know where the enemy is?"

Lin Baici perked up. "I can help!"

"Nope!"

Xia Hongyao was brimming with confidence. "But I can deduce it!"

"..."

Lin Baici felt that this girl was a little unreliable.

There was so little information right now—how was she supposed to deduce anything?

Besides, at the rate the seawater was rising, it would fill the carriage in ten minutes at most. By then, all these passengers would be dead.

"Break the window!"

Lin Baici urged her.

"Huh?"

Xia Hongyao froze, then suddenly understood. "You want to lure the enemy over?"

Very good!

This kid had more guts than I expected!

I like that!

"Lure my ass! I'm telling you to open the window and let the water out!"

Lin Baici warily watched his surroundings, not even overlooking beneath the water.

"Oh! Oh!"

Her deduction had been wrong, and Xia Hongyao felt awkward.

By now, the seawater had already risen over the train windows, about five centimeters above their lower edge. If they smashed the window, the water should flow out.

Xia Hongyao clenched her five fair fingers into a fist and punched the window.

Bang!

Crash!

Glass shattered across the floor.

Lin Baici's eyelid twitched!

This was a high-speed rail window, yet she had smashed it with one punch?

What kind of monstrous strength was that?

But in the next instant, Lin Baici had no time to worry about that, because the seawater did not flow out through the broken window. It was as though an invisible pane of glass were blocking it.

"W-What's going on?"

18D panicked. If the seawater couldn't flow out, didn't that mean they would all drown?

Xia Hongyao, on the other hand, was unfazed. "The Rule Pollution has already enveloped the entire train. To dispel it, we have to find the God's Taboo Object as soon as possible!"

"God of Gluttony, give me some intel!"

Lin Baici called out in his heart.

The God of Gluttony did not respond, but hunger washed over him, intense hunger.

Lin Baici instinctively looked toward the front of the train. Something there seemed to be luring him with the temptation of delicious food!

"Head for the front of the train!"

Lin Baici stepped into the water.

The seawater immediately rose to his navel, making every step difficult.

Fortunately, those passengers were all unconscious. If they had been struggling wildly to escape right now, they would certainly have blocked the way.

Xia Hongyao drew a black, straight-bladed short sword over a foot long from her backpack and immediately followed, asking with keen curiosity.

"Why this way?"

"Intuition!"

Lin Baici had no intention of telling anyone that his hunger was like radar, able to point out the approximate location of valuable items.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?"

18D panicked. "Don't leave me behind!"

"Stay here and wait for good news from us!"

Xia Hongyao reassured him.

18D did not listen. He threw himself forward.

Splash!

He entered the water.

Do you take me for a fool?

Following two God Hunters was safer than staying here alone, wasn't it?

18D looked at Lin Baici's back as he held up an unlit torch, his gaze filled with both envy and admiration.

He envied him for being a mysterious, powerful God Hunter!

He admired him for not merely fleeing for his own life, but staying behind like a superhero to resolve the Rule Pollution and save the people on this train.

[Food delivered right to your door—if you don't eat it, you're really letting this Takeout down!]

God of Gluttony's voice brimmed with excitement.

Grrr...

Lin Baici's stomach growled.

He was hungry.

That hunger he had felt in the Longchan Temple Divine Ruins—the kind that made him want to boil and eat even the soles of his shoes—

had descended upon him for the second time.

"There aren't any falling meteors right now. There shouldn't be a god's corpse on the train, should there?"

Lin Baici was not moving quickly. It was not that he was not anxious, but that moving through such deep seawater was simply too difficult.

As the three of them walked, they churned the seawater into ripples that slapped against the carriage walls before curling back.

A woman's corpse was pushed in front of Lin Baici by the waves.

Her wide-open eyes had already lost their light.

Lin Baici had seen quite a few corpses in Longchan Temple, yet he still felt deeply uncomfortable at the sight.

He pushed the corpse aside and continued forward.

They had reached Carriage 06!

Snack bags, Instant Noodles cups, food scraps, and even a woman's slipper floated on the water's surface.

Lin Baici did not enter rashly. Instead, he stood at the connection between carriages and peered inside.

"What is it?"

Xia Hongyao stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"Observing."

Lin Baici was very cautious.

"There's someone!"

18D pointed ahead and cried out.

Around the sixth or seventh row in the front half of Carriage 06, a young man wearing earphones had thrown the items from the luggage rack aside and was lying on top of it.

[A human with fairly good resistance!]

When people encountered God Bone Radiation or the Rule Pollution caused by God's Taboo Objects, the speed at which they became Dead Meat Persons varied.

The slower it happened, the greater their resistance and the higher their chances of survival.

Earphone Guy was terrified and at a loss. The moment he saw Lin Baici's group, he immediately shouted.

"What happened?"

At last, he had seen living people.

Earphone Guy was excited.

"Have you heard of Rule Pollution? This is it! Get over here, we'll stick together and fight to survive!"

18D had not told Earphone Guy out of kindness. He simply thought that one more person meant one more lure when danger struck.

Earphone Guy clearly did not have that kind of scheming mind. He had also heard how terrifying Rule Pollution could be, so he was tempted. His body shifted as he prepared to climb down from the luggage rack.

Lin Baici kept moving forward, but after only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

After devouring the Meteorite Stone and God's Remains, not only had his physical abilities been strengthened, but his eyesight had improved greatly as well. From more than thirty meters away, he saw what seemed to be a dark shadow swimming in beneath the water from the carriage opposite.

"Don't move!"

Lin Baici barked, startling Earphone Guy into a violent shudder.

"What is it?"

18D braced himself as though facing a great enemy.

"There seems to be something in the water!"

Lin Baici explained.

"What?"

18D's entire back went rigid, and he immediately wanted to climb onto a seat.

"Don't move!"

Lin Baici turned back and shot 18D a fierce glare.

18D was right behind him, less than five meters away. If he drew the monster over, Lin Baici would very likely be caught up in it too.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here!"

Xia Hongyao reassured them, though she fully approved of Lin Baici's caution.

God's Taboo Objects were strange and terrifying, impossible to guard against. No amount of caution was excessive.

18D and Earphone Guy did not even dare breathe too deeply, their bodies stiff from head to toe.

More than twenty seconds passed.

The monster did not attack.

"Did you see wrong?"

18D was skeptical.

"The seawater is rising so fast!"

Earphone Guy was so anxious he nearly cried. "We need to get out of here quickly!"

Lin Baici glanced at Earphone Guy. After hesitating for a moment, he said nothing.

The education he had received, along with his moral standards, would not allow him to deceive Earphone Guy and use him as Cannon Fodder.

But if Earphone Guy went looking for death himself, then it had nothing to do with him.

"It is rising pretty fast. Hurry up and let's go!"

18D urged them as well.

"Mm."

Lin Baici nodded. He slowly took a step forward, then quickly stopped again.

He was trying his best not to make any ripples.

Earphone Guy did not have such meticulous thoughts. He stepped down from the luggage rack onto a seat, then onto the floor. As he hurried anxiously forward, he called to Lin Baici and the others, "Hurry up, go open the door!"

"Let's go!"

Xia Hongyao was about to leave when she noticed Lin Baici had not moved. Just as she reached out to give him a push, a dark shadow suddenly shot out of the seawater beside Earphone Guy and pounced onto his face.