Happy New Year

Lunar New Year's Eve.

The platform welcomed the last train of the Year of the Jiachen).

There were only a few passengers left on the bus; everyone had returned early to the Tender Paradise of the surface world to prepare for a leisurely and peaceful Spring Festival holiday. Like various trade transit stations, many people who had settled down and started families in the underground world still retained the custom of returning home.

Located in the East Asian cultural sphere, the Kyukai Nine Realms Station has its platforms and twin towers adorned with large red lanterns, creating a festive atmosphere under the bright, artificial starry sky and moonlight.

A huge projection screen stretched down from the top floor of the Council of Five Kings. The doors of the reception hall opened, and twelve engineering vehicles rushed out from these normally closed doors to project the paintings, which were meticulously painted by the station's artists, onto the Council of Five Kings's screen.

At this very moment, an important guest disembarks from the last bus.

--It was Wen Bucai who thanked the manager, took the weapon bag from the luggage check-in, and before the manager could make a sound, he immediately covered the manager's mouth, telling the manager not to panic or get agitated, and not to announce it loudly.

Wen Bucai felt conflicted; the last time he returned to Nine Realms Station was sixteen years ago.

Everything familiar has changed beyond recognition.

The station attendant looked much older, the manager had changed, and the train conductor was no longer the same one; the stoker had taken over the conductor's position.

He slowly stepped across the basalt bricks of the platform, gazing at the black caverns of the endless abyss from beside the railing, and then at the towering shadows of the Council of Five Kings's buildings, as massive as mountains.

The handwriting of the old people can be seen on the projection screen.

It is a huge painting, 150 meters by 100 meters, created with brushstrokes, featuring the graceful yet unrestrained lines of dragons and snakes vying for dominance.

It depicts the scene of the Azure Dragon of the Jiachen year and the Red Serpent of the Yi Si year tearing at each other and fighting.

Wen Bucai recognized the brushwork of this painting; it was created by an ancient immortal, [anonymous], and was painted by Luo Ping'an himself.

The theme of this portrait is called "[Covering the Lamp Fire]". Luo Ping'an, this VIP, is most particular about the metaphysical imagery of the year, month, day and time.

Looking at the painting, the red snake has just shed a layer of black old scales and is about to engage in a life-or-death battle with the old, white-bearded green dragon that has been lurking in the water for a long time. It is a scene of fighting to the death with broken scales, claws, and bloody flesh. Using this painting to celebrate the New Year would probably scare away many newlyweds.

In the painting, the red serpent has already bitten the green dragon's neck. The serpent's horned head has also grown mottled red and black scales, gaining extraordinary fortune from the Dragon Blood. It seems that both sides are injured, but in fact, the battle has already been decided.

The inherent meaning of [Covering the Lamp Fire] as shown in the <Guicang Yijing> --

--It is the fire that illuminates the night in the human world, with wood as its core and water as its oil. It is auspicious when it encounters yin, but inauspicious when it encounters yang. The fire of the covered lamp shines like a golden cup and radiates brilliance from a jade platform.

--To illuminate places where the sun and moon are obscured, and to reveal times when heaven and earth were not yet bright.

The transition between the years of Jiachen and Yi Si is a taboo juncture, a time of struggle between dragons and snakes, a nighttime departure and a dawning return.

In plain terms, it's a clash of the Earthly Branches, like a lamp going out in the wind, indicating a period of great upheaval and change.

Wen Bucai didn't really understand these metaphysical and fortune-telling things, and he wasn't interested in them. He only knew from this portrait that the New Year's gift that Daoist Master Ping'an gave to the BOSS was such a wicked and unlucky painting.

He returned to the cabinet calmly and unhurriedly.

As soon as I pushed open the cabinet door, I saw the BOSS looking pitiful.

The boss's eyes were watery, as if he were seeing a good child who had gone on a long journey and was finally returning home.

The lady was giving instructions urgently regarding the Little Kitty and the Cat Tree Lady.

"Get up quickly! Hurry, hurry! Go and meet him!"

Upon receiving the order, the Cat Tree Lady immediately picked up the BOSS and walked towards the red carpet in front of the door.

Wen Bucai: "You're too kind! You're too kind!"

The BOSS opened its two little paws and pounced into Wen Bucai's arms.

"Oh! Oh, oh, oh! Wen Bucai! I've missed you so much!~"

Wen Bucai caught the BOSS without saying a word, but he could feel the cat wiping away tears in his arms, as if it had suffered a great injustice.

The boss looked up, his mouth firing off a barrage of questions.

"How have you been all these years? Have you been alright? Has anyone been bullying you? For the past sixteen years, I've been thinking day and night about whether the T0-level combat units at the station have been mistreated outside?"

Wen Bucai: "You're joking."

After wiping his tears and snot off Wen Bucai's shirt, the boss immediately returned to normal. "Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony."

With an air of seriousness, its expression turned fierce and ruthless. It demanded a kill list from the Cat Tree Lady, a list of targets left behind by the vengeful cat over the past sixteen years. Each person on the list was a major threat to the Abyssal Railway, a member of a derivative sect of the Madness Butterfly Sect, and other scattered criminals, all considered [high-value targets].

"This is a little gift I've reserved for you before we meet."

Wen Bucai: "I'm back for the New Year, Boss, is it really necessary?"

The boss immediately put away the list and, as if coaxing a baby, said in a cute tone, "Then let's not talk about these unpleasant things."

Wen Bucai: "You sent Victor's two apprentices to my side, and my vacation is over. Can you tell me why? I was doing just fine at the Mimir Hot Spring Market. There must be something more important for me to do, and it's the only thing that can be done by me, right?"

The boss nodded and began to explain his design in detail.

"I didn't want to disturb your life. You should be having a great time at the Hot Spring Market. If I hadn't fed you this Mímisbrunnr, you wouldn't have remembered the past and could have lived happily for decades—without remembering the pain of losing your wife and daughter, or the suffering of losing your brother and losing your memory."

Wen Bucai cupped the BOSS's large cat face in his hands. "Alright, alright, that's enough, stop!"

The BOSS's face was squeezed and manipulated by a pair of large hands, turning into various shapes before returning to normal after a while.

"But Luo Ping'an told me that fate is predetermined—the annual cycle of the 'Covering Lamp Fire' star will inevitably bring many major events at the turn of the Chen and Si years, and the time has just arrived."

Wen Bucai became serious and cautious. "The time has come, what do you mean? Is it the time I was thinking of?"

The boss nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's the time you're thinking of."

This is no secret to VIPs.

--The true form of Ming De is the Taowu beast.

It is a stubborn, human-faced tiger; the BOSS is merely its spirit, not its true form.

The fact that the Senate of each school of thought obtained the remains of [Mingde], not [Ming De], means that the BOSS has undergone Daoist transformation and conversion, and is a black cat that understands human nature and speech.

However, its physical body does not understand this principle. Only by severing its limbs, using the Vita Imprint to steal its essence, and constantly creating Universal Elixir can it be made to behave itself.

As the Vita Imprint spreads across Aohun's body, a harvest season inevitably occurs every few decades—judging from the BOSS's mental state, the next harvest season is not far off.

The prison holding the ferocious beast's body will open, all VIPs must return to the Nine Realms, and all trains must return to this starting point, gathering a large amount of manpower and resources to harvest the White Lady born from the ferocious beast's body.

Without the restraint of the Vita Imprint, this ferocious beast would exude an extremely terrifying Inspiration Pressure.

This ritual is extremely dangerous. The BOSS can only vaguely judge the physical body's mental state through sleep cycles—the inconsistent sleep quality makes it difficult for it to be certain of the body's exact condition.

Every harvest season, there are ultimately only two possible outcomes.

In one scenario, Ming De fully awakens, the BOSS's spirit is summoned back to its physical body, the three elements merge into one, and the Taowu beast regains its true name.

This is the worst-case scenario; within a radius of over 4,400 meters from the center of Nine Realms Station, no mentally sound living beings will remain.

The terrifying spiritual pressure of the Taowu can instantly destroy the mental world of all living beings and reconstruct their minds, turning them into tools that only know how to perform certain tasks.

Imagine people eating who, upon feeling the Inspiration Pressure emanating from the Taowu, instantly transform into flesh-and-blood machines that only know how to eat. Their three elements are also affected, and everything evolves solely for the purpose of consuming food—becoming monsters born from terrifying Spirit Calamity.

The Great Archives recorded these kinds of subordinate monsters, collectively referred to as [Chang Ghost].

They followed the Taowu, a giant tiger with a human face, collecting excellent elemental substances for Taowu.

Their forms vary. If they are born solely for feeding, most are twisted, agile, and hairless. Beneath their skin are multiple sets of appendages and bony fangs used to skin, dismember, and separate the flesh of their prey. They have ring-shaped teeth densely packed in huge cavities, like a flesh-and-blood roller. Any high-quality primordial energy will be carefully processed and eventually become the energy within these Chang Ghost, to be given to the Taowu as nourishment.

Their functional brains are located near the excretory organs in their skin sacs. They have a simple structure and only need to maintain basic mobility. Occasionally, they release some pheromones as a reward for the hunting behavior of the Chang Ghost.

These monsters occasionally retain some human characteristics, such as the language they liked before they were born, which they use to lure prey into traps.

This is just one of the more common types of Chang Ghost.

If among those affected by the Taowu beast, there are those with strong willpower, things they are determined to accomplish, and desires they find extremely difficult to relinquish, then this subordinate entity will evolve into an even more bizarre and terrifying appearance.

This monster was also recorded in the cryptic archives.

--A terrifying Chang Ghost named [Thousand Heads].

Originally a researcher at Research Station, he wanted to explore more profound astral knowledge. However, he spent too much time in contact with Ming De's true form and deliberately exposed himself to the environment contaminated by Spirit Calamity several times, which turned him into Chang Ghost beast.

In the Research Station, it pretended to work normally using human flesh and skin, but secretly murdered its colleagues to seize their spiritual essence. After its deeds were exposed, it fled deep underground, collected nearly a thousand skulls, and used the brutal and savage method of limb reattachment to transform its own body into a huge sphere of skull.

These remains include not only human remains, but also the heads of various ferocious beasts or animals.

When Guangling Zhixi's rapid reaction force found it, it was hiding in a satellite town of a trade transit station. The people who originally lived in the village had gone mad because of the strange spiritual pressure of [Thousand Heads] and could no longer be called normal humans.

According to the archives--

--[Thousand Heads] fell into a long slumber.

Even from 400 meters away, the armed employees and the soldiers who Guangling Zhixi could still hear it murmuring and singing in its sleep.

It's as if its spiritual world has achieved a state of perfect harmony, and ordinary people or those with Inspiration are drawn to this strange singing, falling one after another into a state of inhuman madness.

To resolve the [Thousand Heads] Spirit Calamity, the train cannon fired sixteen napalm bombs at this village. The psychic contamination has not completely dissipated to this day, and passengers with transcendent Inspiration can still hear its song when passing through this area.

This is the worst possible outcome of the harvest season— the Taowu beast has fully awakened.

The other result is relatively more acceptable to humans.

The BOSS constantly monitors the physical body through its mental state, estimating the time of the harvest season. If this physical body is hollowed out by the Vita Imprint and the Madness Butterfly gain the upper hand, countless giant Madness Butterfly will emerge from Aoheng's body.

Based on calculations using psionic tides, the Research Station could barely reach a critical value. Before Aohun's physical body completely collapsed, the harvest season ritual had to be performed.

If this physical body is weak enough, the school will extract four of the twelve Mingde remains and return them to Aohun's body, restoring it to wholeness. This pure essence will then be used to resist the erosion of the Vita Imprint, and even in its dying state—

--Aohen will fall into a deep sleep and drift off to sleep.

In fifty hours.

When Aohun and Mingde unite their spirit and flesh, the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid will bring new vitality to the body, and its bioelectric field will tend to stabilize. In just fifty hours, the people of the Nine Realms Station will be able to extract a huge Universal Elixir from its body.

After fifty hours, in order to maintain the BOSS's intelligence and humanity, five VIPs will remove Mingde's remains and perform a limb-setting ceremony. If the VIPs are not mentally strong and have weak will, they may be used by the half-awake, half-asleep, hungry and thirsty Aohen to use the remains as a medium to pull these high-quality primordial carriers into their bodies, digest and absorb them, and integrate them into one.

The remaining ceremony officiant will return with the Black Cat to become the BOSS's servant.

These five men are the new kings of the Council of Five Kings, the "men who will become kings" that the Old Man of Spirit spoke of.

Including the current Cat Tree Lady, whose title should be [Hunter King], she was once a member of the Blue Stone School's council of elders. During the harvest season ceremony, she saw the true face of the arrogant and fierce, and also lost her four other companions who did not have a strong enough will to survive.

Not every harvest season requires four VIPs as consumables.

At the coronation ceremony of the Cat Tree Lady, she was both lucky and unlucky. From then on, she abandoned her real name and never wanted to recall that terrifying memory again.

Not long after--

--For the BOSS, this is the time to indulge in bitterness.

The BOSS said to Wen Bucai, "I believe you have the ability to pass this trial and confront my unruly physical body head-on."

Wen Bucai smiled and said, "Just save me a seat when the time comes."

The boss said very seriously, "I don't want any barriers between us. Let me make this clear from the start: don't treat my physical body as the same thing as me."

Wen Bucai shrugged. "You mean, the train station and the sticks are both masterpieces of Mingde, and have little to do with arrogance and ruthlessness?"

The boss's expression was complex, with an indescribable sense of melancholy.

"I imprisoned it, offered up my flesh and blood, just like Jiang Xueming said in modern terms, I only took, and the more I took, the emptier I felt."

"People call me a ferocious monster. I think if this continues, I will inevitably taste the most powerful weapon in the human world. In the 10,000-degree heat of nuclear energy, in the strong magnetic field of nuclear heat, in front of the artificial sun of nuclear explosion, I am nothing, not even a hair will be left. It is retribution that is inevitable, blood debts must be repaid."

"I gave away my entire body to make Universal Elixir for you, and you see me as a new god—perhaps William Nietzsche was right, he said he was the sun, but in the end he went mad, because the sun only radiates light and heat, but never asks anything of people."

"I am now clear-headed and rational. Building this railway, for my arrogant and ruthless nature, and for the Taowu, has already infected me with an incurable madness."

Wen Bucai not continue speaking.

He simply looked down at the cat-like creature in his arms.

The BOSS silently raised its head, looking up at the VIP with its frail beastly form.

Wen Bucai suddenly asked, "I've heard that the little dwarf of the Skull and Bones Society, that Big Leader, figured out a way to kill you while he was still alive."

BOSS: "My Gate of Death has a simple structure."

Wen Bucai: "As long as you can't survive the harvest season, can't enter a dream, and are completely swallowed up by the Vita Imprint."

BOSS: "The Madness Butterfly will use my ternary essence to create an extremely powerful individual. It is a virus, and also a biological entity. The Red Flash Butterfly that bursts forth from my body may be the most terrifying Spirit Calamity in the world since the age of mythology."

"I understand." Wen Bucai returned the cat to the Cat Tree Lady: "It's a big project, take it slow, it'll be faster if you take it slow."

After explaining these matters, the boss inquired about Wen Bucai's schedule.

Wen Bucai pulled out his "kill list" from his clothes.

"Here's a personnel list. Take a look. They're all people from Mimir Hot Spring Market who used to collude with Skull and Skull and Bones Society cabinet members, as well as quite a few opinion leaders from the Red Stone School. They've been doing power and money deals with the Madness Butterfly Sect. I'll go back and sort things out, then I'll be on standby at Mimir Hot Spring. Call me on WeChat if you need anything."

Boss: "Okay, where are we going to spend the New Year?"

"I'm going to [JoeStar] to meet the rising star." Wen Bucai succinctly stated, "He wants to modify my gun, have a suit custom-made for me, and we'll have New Year's Eve dinner together."

Boss: "Then I won't delay your schedule any longer, please go ahead."

Wen Bucai taken a few steps.

The boss immediately called a halt.

"JOE! Don't you really need me to provide you with a waiter?"

"No need! You've lived so long, you should understand how I feel."

"We live in a vibrant information age, a modern society, where many ancient creatures are willing to connect with humans and share their bloodlines. I have several candidates, and their growth cycles are not short."

"Here's the problem, Boss, do you think I, this lone wolf, can take good care of them? These people are willing to risk their lives with me to slay dragons, but can they really take a lava bath in the Mímisbrunnr with me? What I need are indestructible weapons, companions who can watch and cheer me on from afar, not inner demons that haunt me in life-or-death moments, not burdens."

The BOSS scratched his head. "I'll also consider this need to soak in lava. Maybe there really are monsters similar to Pompeii worms, capable of withstanding temperatures of thousands of degrees, that have had blood transfusions with humans."

Wen Bucai fell to his death at the doorway.

"What kind of strange thing are you talking about?"

The Cat Tree Lady farewell with a cool and elegant demeanor.

"Rest in peace. It's always been like this, please understand. Even if a new dog comes to the station, it will try to find the dog a good mate."

Wen Bucai disappeared in a flash, leaving behind the polite words.

"You're too kind! Don't address me with such formalities, Hunter King! Happy New Year!"

Wen Bucai didn't mention a word about any of the above to Jiang Xueming.

It's too early for Xue Ming and Liuxing, those two little guys, to know these things.

Xue Ming worked silently in the simple workshop, smelting silver ingots and making silver-plated bullets.

Wen Bucai also received a New Year's gift: a modified short sword submachine gun with a revolved barrel and bolt, now using 9mm armor-piercing ammunition, and a drum magazine that allows it to hold fifty rounds.

The M500's magazine has been readjusted and no longer jams.

However, Wen Bucai dragged Xue Ming along, insisting that Xue Ming name these two steel monsters. Xue Ming really didn't know how to name them—so in the end, nothing came of it.

In addition, there was a Flash Butterfly Armor outfit. During the Chinese New Year Xue Ming didn't want to work too much overtime and had to prepare for the trip to the Great Library, so she only asked Wen Bucai leave his body measurements so she could make it later.

As the countdown to the New Year begins--

At the last second, Jiang Xueming reserved a rather formal gift.

It was the main weapon left for Xiao Qi, and also a [life-protecting talisman] that Xue Ming made for himself during the bell-ringing ritual.

The enormous weapon case was pushed from the large table at the Four-Sided Terrace Bar, where they were having their New Year's Eve dinner, to Xiao Qi by Xue Ming.

Xiao Qi's eyes lit up when she saw this thing.

"For me?"

Xue Ming nodded. "Yes, I'll feel safer if you bring this when I ring the bell for help."

Weapon box opened--

--This is a bullpup rifle, a product of the Russian Central Research and Design Bureau (TsKIB SOO) in 2010.

Its name is [ASH·12.7].

With an effective range of only 300 meters, it uses 12.7mm large-caliber sniper rounds, which are bullets with reduced propellant charges suitable for continuous fire. This kind of ammunition is hard to buy, but Xue Ming trusts Xiao Qi's connections. She is stationed at the train station, and in her opinion, it shouldn't be difficult to get this kind of thing.

It can be equipped with a grenade launcher and, as a rifle with continuous fire capability, has an effective range of no more than 300 meters. It is designed to stop targets at close range and hunt large animals.

Its entire structure was reconstructed by Xue Ming using a titanium steel skeleton, bringing the unloaded weight down to ten kilograms. It doesn't require particularly advanced shooting skills; users need a strong physique to fire continuously.

For Xiao Qi, this gun is like a set of fitness equipment.

Bailu was stunned; ASH's look was incredibly wild.

She found it hard to believe that her older brother would give his sister-in-law something like this for the New Year.

But seeing her sister-in-law's cheerful demeanor, Bailu began to doubt her own aesthetic sense.

But what she didn't know was—

This weapon made Xue Ming feel very safe.

Especially when it was handed to Xiao Qi, the 33-gram heavy warhead was like a flying brick, enough to stop large beasts and armored enemies in their tracks.

Halfway through the New Year's Eve dinner, Meteor told everyone a really tasteless joke.

"Jason and I have been chatting on WeChat!"

Teacher San San asked curiously, "Can you use WeChat abroad?"

The Spring Festival Gala was playing on the large TV at the bar, relieving everyone from their carb-induced dizziness and waking them from their drowsy state.

The shooting star made a loud noise.

"Hey! Anyway, Jason has a way! He told me that he was learning kung fu in the SAS Royal Air Force —and when he was bored, he read Victor's novels. He even received a manuscript, but unfortunately, it was riddled with holes by cockroaches during transport, so it was impossible to understand anything. Jason just threw it away."

Teacher San San asked impatiently, "So you gave him the manuscript you received?"

The meteor smiled mysteriously.

"Yes! But I sent two packages!"

This teenager talked animatedly about his despicable deeds.

"The manuscript was perfectly intact inside a delivery box!"

He clapped his hands, as if he had done something great.

"In the other box was my second copy of the manuscript. I put a lot of effort into it, poking many small holes in the paper! Finally, I sprinkled a few moving fake cockroaches on it!"

3301 is considering how to apologize.

Xiao Qi laughed along with A Xing.

The two Jiang siblings ate their rice in silence.

Only Wen Bucai speechless, both amused and exasperated, and finally said--

"--So talented."