Performance Art

A black Steam Train sped across the pure white snowfield.

Looking out from the train carriage, one could see the distant snow-capped mountains, their peaks white, while the area below them was a solemn black, creating a truly magnificent sight.

It passed through wilderness and lakes.

In the snow-capped mountains, there are also natural hot springs that steam up water vapor, and when the Steam Train passes through, it feels like passing through a fairyland.

The snow-covered plains of the Northland are picturesque and captivating.

At one point, Qing Chen felt that this Steam Train was actually like a tourist express line, specifically choosing the most beautiful places to go.

The ticket price of one or two taels of gold is not expensive; it works out to be more than 19,000 yuan for a 27-day trip around the Federation.

It's worth noting that some private compartments Outer World tourist trains like the K2 and K3 are more expensive than this, and the journey is shorter than that of Steam Train.

To be honest, if the Federation hadn't prohibited people from leaving the city at will, Qing Chen thought this special train might have been quite a lively affair.

Qing Chen even thought that since he could open the doors of the Steam Train at any time, he could An Xin work as a ticket seller if he could put aside everything in the Inner World...

People no longer need to give gold coins to the Steam Train riding it; just give it to him, and he will open the door for everyone.

It seems pretty good.

Just then, a herd of deer ran across the snowfield. Upon seeing the Steam Train, the deer stopped with remarkable intelligence and curiously examined it.

The snow-covered plains and deer are breathtakingly beautiful.

Li Cheng stared blankly out the window. "This deer... looks delicious."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gurgling sound filled the entire carriage. These people... hadn't eaten anything proper in a long time.

Otherwise, so many soldiers wouldn't have fallen behind and sacrificed their lives on the way.

They came out of A02 Base and finished their captured individual rations on the first day. For the next four days, they ate nothing but hay and tree bark.

Even if you manage to catch some prey along the way, it won't be enough to share.

So at this moment, the soldiers were all starving, and they didn't care whether the deer looked good or not, they only cared whether they tasted good.

But the Steam Train doesn't wait for anyone. It can't just stop whenever Qing Chen tells it to. Each stop only lasts for 10 minutes, which is not enough time for them to go out and find food.

Qing Chen calculated the map and realized that they would need at least three more days to head south and escape the territory of the Divine Era. Until then, everyone had to be patient.

But three days! There's not even snow to eat on this train. Everyone will starve to death.

This left Qing Chen both amused and exasperated. He had finally managed to escape with everyone, and they had overcome the most difficult obstacle, only to have everyone starve to death in the car.

He glanced at the countdown. "Alright, everyone, crouch down. This Steam Train will stop at the next station soon, which is on the outskirts of City No. 23. Be careful not to be noticed by the people of the Age of Gods."

As they spoke, all the soldiers squatted down as if given a military order, and it seemed as if there was no one outside the car window.

The Steam Train enters the void before entering the station, and only after it arrives at the station does the world brighten again.

But just then, a voice came from outside the car. "Hurry up, hurry up, stop dawdling, bring all the goods over, the boss is waiting at the next stop!"

As they spoke, dozens of burly men dressed in fur coats carried boxes filled with mechanical limbs they had looted in the city, which they planned to send to another city to launder.

It's like stealing a car. If you steal a car in city A, you have to go to city B to dismantle it and launder the parts. Otherwise, if you drive it directly in city A, what if the owner finds out?

Thirty-six burly men carried eighteen boxes, each half a person's height. The goods alone were worth a fortune, clearly indicating that they were members of a large gang in City No. 23, specializing in the smuggling of mechanical limbs.

One of them said confidently, "Once this deal is done, big brother, transfer the money to me, and I'll take you guys to the Entertainment Street to have a good time. We'll eat and drink well, and each of us will have a girl with a big, sexy leg on our arms. We'll make up for all the suffering we've been going through. In a bit, the Old Three and I will get in the car and carry the stuff. You guys wait downstairs, or you'll have to pay extra gold coins."

The burly men worked with laughter, not caring whether the weather was cold or not.

These people work in a very simple way: during these ten minutes, two people receive the goods through the window in the car, while the rest of the people wait below.

This way, you only need to take out two gold coins.

Steam Train only accept "passenger tickets," not "freight tickets." How much cargo you can carry in those ten minutes is up to your skill.

However, at that very moment, as these people carried the goods over, they looked up.

Inside the Steam Train carriages, there were over nine hundred faces, densely packed together, watching them with great interest...

"Holy crap!" The 36 burly men were immediately shocked.

Imagine this: in a deserted wilderness, a train that should be empty arrives, and you are doing something shady.

Then, suddenly more than nine hundred people emerged from the train that should have been empty, pointing automatic rifles at you through the windows.

This scene is so vivid that I'll have nightmares about it every night.

Qing Chen stood at the window and said with a smile, "Come on, hand over all the goods, or I'll shoot you all dead."

He had no reasoning with these gangsters. They had to understand that these mechanical limbs were forcibly taken from others, which was no different from cutting off the victim's limbs.

Therefore, every single one of these people, once brought to court, will be convicted of multiple crimes including intentional injury and robbery, with a minimum sentence of 15 years.

The 36 burly men stood still. Someone whispered, "Don't listen to them. The bus will leave in 8 minutes. We'll run the moment it starts moving."

Bang.

Qing Chen shattered this guy's knee with a single shot. "Type III meniscus injury, ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, comminuted fracture of the tibial plateau. You'll be relegated to mechanical limbs for the rest of your life. Anyone else want to try?"

The burly men immediately wet themselves; these guys were really firing.

The problem is, who are these people? Over 900 people traveling around the Federation on Steam Train, engaging in double-crossing? That takes an incredibly wild imagination!

This is so romantic!

Qing Chen laughed and said, "Don't worry, I've timed it. Before the Steam Train starts moving, I'll definitely cripple every one of you. Anyway, you're all no good."

The next moment, the burly men rushed to carry the boxes through the windows into the carriage, while Li Cheng and Qing Ling directed the soldiers to neatly stack the 18 boxes.

Qing Chen continued, "Take off all your clothes."

The burly men humiliatedly took off their clothes and emptied their pockets.

To Qing Chen's slight disappointment, these people didn't bring much food; there were only a few dozen flatbreads, not even enough to satisfy the hunger of more than nine hundred people.

The only pleasant surprise was that these people were carrying satellite phones!

Qing Chen instructed, "Bring the satellite phone over, then tell your eldest brother to wait for me at the next stop..."

The Steam Train started moving again and disappeared into the darkness.

The burly men, who were naked in the snow, quickly put on their clothes and ran towards the car they had hidden in the distance.

Once inside the truck, the man responsible for unloading the goods immediately called his boss, his voice trembling with tears, saying, "Boss, we've been double-crossed!"

The person on the phone erupted in fury. "Do you even know how much this shipment of goods is worth? 3 million, you know that?! I've already found a buyer, and you're telling me you've been double-crossed?"

"Brother, I didn't want to either, but I really had no choice."

"That's bullshit. I specifically told you to take more than thirty people with you. How many are there?" the older brother asked.

"More than nine hundred..."

"Hiss!" The eldest brother gasped, looking on in surprise and doubt. "Which gang is this? Is someone trying to get us? This is making a huge fuss."

Many people don't know that clubs also have human resource costs. Paying a salary to one person costs five or six thousand yuan, so for more than nine hundred people, the cost is around 4.5 million yuan.

It's not worth it for him to spend 4.5 million to snatch goods worth 3 million!

The burly man said aggrievedly, "They're not from any gang. We use Steam Train to transport goods, right? They came by Steam Train. Yes, brother, you heard me right. More than nine hundred of them came by Steam Train. I suspect they're trying to destroy the entire black market supply chain of the Federation."

The elder brother was immediately astonished when he heard that these people were riding Steam Train.

You should know that a ticket to ride the Steam Train costs more than 10,000 yuan per person, so a ticket for more than 900 people would be an astronomical price.

The older brother exclaimed, "Wow, that's a huge amount! This isn't just robbery and double-crossing, it's practically performance art!"

The eldest brother also had a dream of being a chivalrous thief. He also fantasized about riding Steam Train to rob the world. But there was a problem. If too many people went on, it wouldn't be worth it. If too few people went on, what if you went out to rob with 30 people, but when you arrived at the station, you found that there were more than 60 people? Wouldn't that be very embarrassing?

At that point, it won't be about robbing people by train, but about delivering money by train.

He had never even considered the idea of robbing Steam Train with more than 900 people; in fact, he admired the idea to some extent.

The older brother hesitated for a moment. "Are those nine hundred-plus people still on the bus? Even if I wanted revenge, I couldn't beat them."

The burly man quickly said, "Oh, right, they said you should wait at the next stop and exchange your goods for these items!"

The older brother asked, somewhat puzzled, "Exchange for what? Cash? Forbidden Item? Women? Organs?"

The big man said, "They want 300 boxes of water, 300 boxes of bread, 100 boxes of vegetables, 100 boxes of meat, and 100 alcohol stoves for hot pot. They want you to wait in advance, and start loading them onto the Steam Train as soon as it arrives, otherwise it will be too late."

Big Brother: "???"

That's it?

Is this guy here to rip someone off, or to buy New Year's goods wholesale?

Big Brother: "You're not fucking kidding me, are you? What, they said they wanted a chest of gold, and you're just messing with me, letting them shoot me, so you can become the boss?"

The burly man said with great distress, "Brother, that's really all they ask for. I'm not lying to you. The brothers are with me."

The eldest brother immediately felt a deep respect for Qing Chen and the others. "They really are performing art! I'd better bring them two more boxes of dried fruit!"

The burly man. "..."

There will be another chapter at 11 PM.