Hunger

Executive Man took out his ID of his own accord. "My name is Li Fei. I'm the general manager of Feiyue Group."

"I saw people in both the cars ahead and behind us. Those of us in the same car should stick together first, so we won't be caught too late to react if something happens."

Evolution had appeared a month ago, and many people had encountered others like themselves. Executive Man's words made some sense. They were all ants tied to the same string. Compared with the passengers in their own car, they needed to be more wary of the Evolvers in the cars ahead and behind.

Everyone returned to their seats. Pajama Man and Strap-top Woman each gave their names.

"My name is Chen Yi, but I didn't bring my ID."

"He Yang."

"Xu Huo." After briefly giving his name, Xu Huo lit a cigarette.

"My name is Yan Jiayu. I only recently left the convent." The little girl beside him scratched at her choppy short hair and said shyly, "Could you smoke outside? Secondhand smoke is harmful."

Xu Huo paused and could not help looking at her again before nodding.

"Pfft!" The heavily made-up woman across from them sneered. "Even nuns are leaving the convent these days."

Yan Jiayu flushed and lowered her head, tugging at the small pouch on her patchwork robe. "Amit... Master said my worldly ties had not yet been severed."

But the heavily made-up woman did not pursue the matter. Her expression turned cold instead. "Play your little everybody-gets-along game if you want. Just don't drag me into it."

Li Fei tried to persuade her. "It's for everyone's good. If we know each other's names and identities, no one will dare do anything reckless."

"The country is investigating Evolvers who eat people now. Everyone knows that, right?"

"To put it bluntly, if someone ate a person, once anyone got off the train three days later, nobody would get away with it."

His righteous speech did not cow the heavily made-up woman. Her towering, broad frame rose like a drill bit as she strode over and grabbed Li Fei.

"Who are you pretending to be a good person for? Did you see the plaque at the front of the car?"

"Second-Class Seat, Premium-Class Seat, First-Class Seat, Second-Class Seat, Third-Class Seat. The more assets you have, the farther forward your car is. Compared with those little thugs in Third-Class Seat who are drowning in debt, everyone in our car is dirt poor!"

"You're an executive, and Feiyue Group is no small name. You must make hundreds of thousands, if not millions, a year. Otherwise, tell us—how did you end up here?"

"So that's what the game meant by assigning seats based on assets." Professor Han said instinctively, "The conversion ratio is roughly one hundred to one compared to cash."

Li Fei's face turned pale, then green. "I lost some money trading stocks. That isn't illegal, is it? I just want everyone to get through these three days peacefully. I don't mean any harm."

The heavily made-up woman clearly did not believe him. She shoved him aside, swept her gaze over the others in the car, and stressed, "I advise you not to trust people so easily. Getting a fake ID isn't hard these days. Don't stupidly spill everything about yourselves. Even if you make it off this train alive, can you guarantee you'll survive until you report it to the police?"

Exchanging identities seemed like an extra layer of insurance, but if there was an Evolver who ate people in this car, it clearly made things far riskier.

No one was stupid. Amid their mutual wariness, they all became a little more guarded against Li Fei.

"You know about the Preliminary Train?" Xu Huo paused while flicking ash from his cigarette.

"I don't know much. Once you get on this train, there's only one goal: get off alive." The heavily made-up woman snorted coldly. "I know someone here has definitely eaten people. I'm warning you: you'd better not set your sights on me, or else..."

She slammed her fist onto the table, leaving a deep fist mark in the metal surface. The intimidation was unmistakable.

Ordinary Evolvers were not strong enough to punch steel with their bare hands. Xu Huo lifted his heel slightly but did not feel any change.

It seemed that after professions were assigned, each person's Abilities differed as well.

"Big sister, is there anything else?" Ponytail Little Girl asked cautiously. "How exactly are we supposed to play this game?"

"Didn't I say it already? Stay alive until you get off the train! Why so much nonsense?" The heavily made-up woman sat down impatiently and glared at the people across from her again.

Cooperatively, Xu Huo held his cigarette and headed toward the Front Door.

The moment he grasped the handle, Li Fei stopped him. "The announcement said we can't casually go to other cars. If you open the door and trigger something dangerous, wouldn't you drag all of us down with you?"

Xu Huo pointed at the Restroom outside. "It says we can't go to other cars, not that we can't go outside."

After being embarrassed several times in a row, Li Fei glared at him with an unhappy expression.

Xu Huo pulled open the car door and walked out.

The Transition Car outside was half the length of the Second-Class Car. The Restroom was on the left, with some emergency supplies beside it, while the boarding doors were on the right.

He tried them, but they would not open. The entire train was also speeding along in a straight line, with the scenery on either side unchanged.

The cars were not very soundproof. Seeing people in the car ahead get up and move around, Xu Huo lit another cigarette and went to pull the door to the next car. Two seconds later, he changed his mind and pressed the bell instead.

A moment later, the door opened. However, it was opened by a burly man with a tattooed arm from First-Class Seat, who growled fiercely, "What?"

Xu Huo spotted a familiar face inside. Calmly, he held out a cigarette. "Mind lending me a light?"

Though the burly man with a tattooed arm looked impatient, he still tossed over a solid copper Lighter. After saying, "Don't wander around if you've got nothing to do," he quickly shut the door.

Through the door, Xu Huo saw Nie Xuan, whom he had met once before, nod at him before turning toward the Restroom.

By the time he returned to the Second-Class Car, Li Fei and the others were already studying the train rules.

"I understand having to spend money, but why do we have to turn off the lights?" The man and woman who had been sitting with the middle-aged woman had moved beside Li Fei. The refined melon-seed face woman said unhappily, "There aren't even any beds in this dump. We can't even take a nap."

"You still want to sleep?" Square-Faced Man snapped at her. "Don't end up dying without even knowing why."

"There's a switch over there. We can turn them on." Li Fei said, "Why argue over something so minor? Don't let this affect the atmosphere within our group. Don't forget there are cars ahead and behind us."

"Brother Li is right." The melon-seed face woman chimed in.

"Vixen!" The middle-aged woman muttered resentfully.

"Professor Han, I'm a little scared." In the seat beside Xu Huo, the ponytail student clutched Professor Han's arm tightly.

"Don't be afraid. Teacher will protect you." Sweat beaded on Professor Han's forehead, and his pale face sounded far less confident than his words.

"What's there to be afraid of?" He Yang's fingers flew over her phone as she said, "If someone comes after you, hit them back. We're all Evolvers. The younger you are, the faster you evolve. Right now, I can casually take on two or three grown men."

Xu Huo noticed that small groups had already formed among the twelve people.

Executive Man Li Fei, Pajama Man Chen Yi, the melon-seed face woman, and Square-Faced Man had formed a group, moving to the same table. Strap-top Woman He Yang and the female student had matching Summer Camp keychains on their bags. Including Professor Han, they could tentatively be counted as another group.

The middle-aged woman, the heavily made-up woman, Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu beside him, as well as the Old Man sitting alone in the last row, had not joined any camp yet.

"They've teamed up, so we should too." The middle-aged woman circled around to the heavily made-up woman's side. "There are four over there and three over here. Being alone is too much of a disadvantage."

Then she looked at Xu Huo. "Young man, you're the most dependable-looking among those left. You need to show some responsibility."

Xu Huo smiled. "Auntie, have you eaten anyone?"

The middle-aged woman's expression stiffened. "What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly eat people?"

Xu Huo's stomach growled. He ignored her.

The middle-aged woman snorted and swayed her hips as she returned to her original seat.

Had she not eaten anyone?

Ever since boarding the train, Xu Huo had felt his Gluttony Urge double. Even he, who had been able to restrain himself when facing the "Courier Woman," now had to suppress the urge to look at the Players around him. Close conversation, pacing back and forth, arguments—they would only magnify the Gluttony Urge. Yet Li Fei and the others looked composed, making it clear they had not boarded the train hungry.

The middle-aged woman even had the energy to curse at the melon-seed face woman. She was nowhere near the tense breaking point of being driven mad by the Gluttony Urge.

This Gluttony Urge could not be relieved by ordinary food. The chance that Li Fei and the others had never tasted human blood was not high.