Violation

Yan Jiayu muttered softly, "Evil begets evil."

The heavily made-up woman checked the mouths of the two people on the floor. "Their teeth are all intact."

She made as if to inspect everyone else's teeth too.

"That's enough. We were just talking, it's not like it's real." He Yang curled her lip at the middle-aged woman, who had already stood up and was preparing to show her teeth, then glared at Li Fei. "Satisfied?"

Li Fei gave a cold snort and began searching the corpses. Finding nothing useful, he cursed under his breath and sat down in a corner.

That was normal. Most Players had been transported onto the train without warning, carrying very few belongings, if any.

"The dead are gone. Let's make the most of our time and rest," Professor Han said.

There was no point arguing over whether the dead Players had been Cannibal Players. They could no longer kill Xu Huo or Li Fei. First, there was the question of whether they could have succeeded; second, no one could guarantee that there were no Cannibal Players among those remaining. The fewer people there were, the greater the risk.

Xu Huo took Li Fei's seat beside the light switch. The heavily made-up woman sat opposite him. "I believe you. What else do you know? Tell me, and we can work together."

Xu Huo looked at her. "Information for information."

The heavily made-up woman shielded her phone screen with her hand as she typed out a line, then placed it in front of him.

"Cannibal Players strengthen their physical abilities by eating Evolvers. The more they eat, the bigger their appetite becomes."

It matched Xu Huo's guess. Cannibal Players retained the instinct to eat people. After thinking for a moment, he turned on his phone. To save power, he had shut it off before lights-out yesterday.

"Cannibal Player Abilities have limited growth."

That had been his guess as well.

During his fight with Chen Yi, he had noticed that his speed had improved tremendously, far beyond what it had been before boarding. It was most likely related to his Ability, "Tireless Legs." Cannibal Players could rapidly gain physical strength, so they had to be lacking in other areas. Otherwise, the Dimension Rift should have been called the Cannibal Game.

Professor Han had made a good point: a game meant for people had to, at its core, conform to human ethics and values.

As for whether their Abilities were limited, he wasn't sure.

The heavily made-up woman's expression darkened slightly after reading it, but she quickly asked whom he suspected of being Cannibal Players.

Li Fei and the middle-aged woman were highly suspicious. The Old Man was too.

Among the remaining people, although last night had been chaotic, Xu Huo had not noticed Yan Jiayu at all. He had paid attention just now and found that both her breathing and footsteps were very light.

It might have been an Ability, or it might have been Evolution. It could not be ruled out that she was a Cannibal Player.

The strange one was the ponytail student who had spoken up for him.

Chen Yi had actually been standing beside him the entire time yesterday, while she had been standing on the other side of the door. Yet she had helped speak for him without hesitation.

Moreover, she had shouted just before Chen Yi made his move, and afterward, she was completely unharmed. It all seemed rather abrupt.

On the other side, the female student trembled as she showed her phone to Professor Han and He Yang. Both wore grave expressions after reading it.

There had been little substantive progress in his exchange with the heavily made-up woman. Xu Huo confirmed that she knew little about the train's inner workings and lost interest in talking.

Lunchtime soon arrived.

The Conductor, who turned a blind eye to the corpses and bloodstains in the carriage, handed the menu to the people seated in the first row.

The situation was much the same as yesterday. The Players had to spend at least enough for a cup of water. Professor Han bought the Old Man a cup of water, and the Old Man once again called Yan Jiayu over. The two ate crackers soaked in water.

As the richest person in the Second-Class Carriage, Xu Huo ordered a meat dish and a bowl of rice, spending eight hundred White Cash. Then he took out another twelve hundred, separated it into one thousand and two hundred, and handed them to the Conductor. "The Head Chef's cooking is excellent. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please make a trip for me, brother."

The Conductor's expression, which had been drawn straight down, immediately lifted. He swiftly pocketed the two hundred White Cash. "Your regards will certainly be conveyed, sir."

The Conductor who had refused Li Fei and the others yesterday was now willing to accept a favor on the Head Chef's behalf. So it really worked. No one knew what benefits Xu Huo would receive next, and it made them envious.

For a moment, Li Fei even considered restraining the Conductor and forcing answers out of him.

But he quickly abandoned the thought when a commotion erupted from the Third-Class Seat section. A Player was thrown directly from the train and hurled down the cliff. Before his wail had faded, the train announcement sounded:

"Third-Class Seat Player 'I'm Number One in the World' has been expelled for attacking the Conductor."

The announcement repeated three times. The uninjured Conductor returned to the Second-Class Carriage, his expression far from friendly.

Li Fei did not even dare look at him. The middle-aged woman also looked frightened. Fortunately, after the Conductor left, he did not return.

"So they really can throw you off the train..." Yan Jiayu murmured.

The others stared silently out the windows at the bottomless landscape.

After becoming Evolvers, the extraordinary strength brought by their improved physical abilities inevitably made people swell with confidence. Yesterday, most of them had probably treated the game as something to play around with. Even when they slaughtered one another at night, they had been mentally prepared; after all, Evolvers attacking each other was not something that had only begun after boarding the train.

But the Conductor's intervention told them one fact: even after becoming stronger, they still had no ability to fight back against the game's characters.

That meant the game rules could not be violated, and it also represented the game's danger.

"Someone's money went down the drain," Li Fei said, for whatever reason, taking a jab at someone.

Xu Huo looked toward the Front Door and pretended not to hear.

Professor Han joined He Yang and the others, intending to carry the corpses into a corner.

"Set them apart," Xu Huo said. "Two by the Back Door, one by the Front Door."

Professor Han understood immediately. With a sigh, he did as Xu Huo said.

After lunch, everyone was exhausted and sat in their seats with their eyes closed to rest.

Knock, knock. Someone knocked on the door. It was a Player from the carriage ahead.

Li Fei and the others faced the situation as if confronting a great enemy. Xu Huo calmly opened the door. "What is it?"

Nie Xuan, who looked exhausted, tipped his chin at him. "Come out and talk?"

Xu Huo stepped out voluntarily, closed the door behind him, and offered him a Cigarette.

Nie Xuan did not take it.

"Six died in First-Class Seat," he said directly. "The ratio of Cannibal Players to Normal Players should be one to one."

Xu Huo nodded slightly, unsurprised. "Three died on my side, two of them Cannibal Players. Also, Cannibal Players' appetites gradually grow larger."

He put the Cigarette in his own mouth, lit it, took a drag, and continued, "Cannibal Players' physical abilities improve quickly, and their regenerative abilities are strong. Their Abilities may be restricted."

Nie Xuan shook his head. "I had bad luck. Four Normal Players died."

After a pause, he took out a Gold Business Card. "If you're interested, contact me after getting off the train."

"Is your salary high?" Xu Huo suddenly asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

Nie Xuan made a gesture. "Ten thousand."

"No wonder you use gold business cards." Xu Huo casually slipped it into his pocket, then said, "How about you come to Second-Class Seat instead?"

Nie Xuan raised his eyelids and sized him up. "Every Player only has one chance to board the Preliminary Train, but not every Player who gets off can obtain a Ticket for the next stop."

A Ticket.

Xu Huo's gaze changed.

Nie Xuan left it at that and returned to his own carriage.

Xu Huo leaned against the door until he had finished his Cigarette, then went back inside.

The moment he stepped into the carriage, the doorbell at the Back Door rang.

A Sinister Man with fierce eyes stood outside the Back Door.

"As long as we don't open the door, he can't get in." The middle-aged woman nearby was startled.

Professor Han walked over to take a look and said in surprise, "There's a Disabled Player."

"Open the door and ask," Xu Huo said, walking over as well.

"No!" Li Fei rushed forward and grabbed the handle. "Third-Class Seat was a complete bloodbath yesterday. How could a disabled person have survived? Maybe she's even stronger than us. What if we open the door and they fight their way in?"

"There are nine of us." Xu Huo gave him a cool glance. "I want to see whether entering another carriage carries a penalty."

Li Fei stared at him in astonishment. "Are you insane?"

At a time like this, survival was what mattered. Who cared about the consequences of violating the train rules? As long as they were safe, wasn't that enough?

"Let's vote," Xu Huo said. "I vote to open it."

"I vote yes too." Yan Jiayu was the first to respond. "Maybe they really need help. We should be kind-hearted. Even if they're Cannibal Players, there are so many of us that we have nothing to fear."