"How are things outside?"
The tea tasted good, but he wasn't quite used to it.
Ye Qiyan set down his teacup and answered casually:
"It's chaos outside. Those people who used to be Train Conductors but abandoned their trains are fighting over trains at the exchange, trying to enter the Wasteland again, but..."
He hesitated for a moment.
Monrojina smiled faintly and finished for him.
"But even if those people get their hands on trains, they'll only end up dying in the Wasteland or at some station, right?"
"Not necessarily. Some of them might get lucky?"
"Hehe, if there really were people like that, they wouldn't have chosen to abandon their trains."
Monrojina spoke at an unhurried pace.
"Don't you find it strange? The rulers of the cities preach peace and stability, encouraging Train Conductors to abandon their trains and live in the cities as ordinary people, yet the children they have are taught to devote all their efforts to serving Train Conductors. That strange contradiction can only mean one thing."
She rubbed the rim of her cup, her tone growing increasingly playful.
"Only ordinary people and weaklings who fear the Wasteland would choose to abandon their status. None of the cities' higher-ups would ever give up their trains. They simply use certain means to remain in their own cities forever, without having to leave. Giving up a train doesn't mean giving up your strength, nor does it mean you can't keep growing stronger, but~ without a train, you can't move forward. People with real aspirations won't let themselves stagnate."
What Monrojina said was much the same as what Zhao Xi had told him.
Joining a city didn't mean abandoning one's train.
Even with the influence of the Order Cards, those who made that choice also did so because of