Setting off after fifteen years

"Is this entire church part of the train's interior? How many upgrades would it take to do this?"

"Jealous? I'm a level 57 Train Conductor, you know. That level was pretty impressive even in my day. Let me tell you..."

Ye Qiyan didn't hear anything Shaya said after that.

He was stunned by the number fifty-seven.

Given that the level of the platforms his train had to enter currently increased with every level it gained, did platforms above level 50 really exist?

Shaya answered him.

"Something this simple doesn't count as a question. Platforms only go up to level twelve. Buildings, items, treasure chests, and all that only go up to level twelve too. Everything except Train Conductor levels caps at twelve. Of course, I'm talking about fifteen years ago. I don't know how things are now, but they shouldn't be too much higher, right?"

"All right, I should get going."

Shaya finished setting the train's controls, walked over to Ye Qiyan, and poked his cheek.

"No matter what, don't let the Blasphemy Card leave your side. It belongs to you. Whatever you do, never, ever throw it away."

She meant no harm. Ye Qiyan could feel that she was just teasing him.

"Heh, don't worry, Shaya. I definitely won't throw away the one you gave me."

"You're not allowed to throw away your own either. Synthesize it as soon as you can. It's dangerous, but it'll benefit you too. A great deal."

There was a hint of melancholy in Shaya's voice.

"I'm leaving. As for you, I could take your train with me, but staying on a train all the time is boring. Enjoy your time on land and wait for the docking countdown to end. Those houses in this town are all carriages I casually made back then. Just salvage whichever ones you want. It doesn't matter how many you take. When you leave, remember to set a fire for me and burn this place down."

"I'm never coming back here again."

Shaya's gaze seemed to pass through the church as she surveyed, for the last time, the town that had sealed away fifteen years of her life. The church doors-no, the train doors-slowly opened.

Little Tina took Ye Qiyan's hand.

"Mr. Inspector, we're leaving. It's time for you to get off too~"

Tina was adorable, so adorable that it was hard to believe she was only one of the Puppets.

Ye Qiyan patted her head, recalling their first meeting. Remembering that she seemed quite fond of Whiteforest Fruit, he took ten blessed Whiteforest Fruits out of the Storage Unit.

"These are for you."

"Wow, yummy fruit! Thank you, Mr. Inspector~"

Tina picked up a Whiteforest Fruit and started eating. Shaya, who was still working on some controls, smelled its fragrance too. She looked up at the Whiteforest Fruit in Tina's hand and pondered briefly.

"This fruit..."

"What a lucky fellow. No wonder he managed to find that one-third. And why does it carry the aura of a blessing? How strange."

"And was that the ability of a Storage Unit carriage? Would a carriage that rare really appear on a mere level 3 train?"

"Have I fallen behind the times after being sealed away for fifteen years? Are conductors nowadays all this impressive?"

"Just what is his talent?"

"I'm so curious..."

Unaware that Shaya was suppressing her urge to investigate, Ye Qiyan carried the box out through the train doors and said his final goodbye to Tina.

Only once he was outside did he finally get a clear view of Shaya's level 57 train in its entirety, and learn why this station had two tracks.

Predominantly black, with pure white lines and angel motifs, its eighteen carriages were all different, but every one looked exceptionally sophisticated and luxurious.

And from the outside, it was impossible to imagine that the space inside could be as enormous as a church.

"Spatial compression? Will I be able to make my carriages like that someday?"

No joke, he was jealous.

Then he looked back at his own battered wreck of a train, with just two carriages in total.

"There's no place like home, even if it's a dump. Sigh."

"It's fine. Someday, we'll definitely be bigger and thicker than hers!"

Encouraging himself, Ye Qiyan had only just returned to his train when he saw a friend request from Shaya.

I really want to decline...

He couldn't shake the feeling that getting too involved with this woman wouldn't lead to anything good.

Then he saw a message forcibly delivered to his light screen.

"You're not thinking of declining, are you?"

The message was followed by a smiling chibi Shaya sticker.

"Of course not. It's an honor to have you on my friends list, Shaya."

Between being turned into one of the Puppets and staying alive, Ye Qiyan chose the latter without hesitation.

Still, Ye Qiyan secretly gave her a name in his friend notes.

[Big golden retriever]

But he soon paid the price for his mischievous sense of humor.

"Good boy. Now I can find you wherever you run. Learn from this. From now on, be careful even when someone sends you a friend request. Don't just add people."

"..."

He added a prefix to the note.

[(Wicked woman) Big golden retriever]

Rumble, rumble, rumble. The roar of the train echoed through Miling Town.

The ground shook.

Fifteen years of stagnation had left this train yearning to move forward.

Fireworks blossomed in the sky.

Inside the train, Shaya sucked on another lollipop she had produced from somewhere.

"Finally, I can leave."

Countless chains appeared ahead, laying tracks.

The spatial distortion for departure appeared.

"Dark Night Angel, we're setting off."

Shaya's ringing voice came over the speakers.

The angel motifs on the black train stirred as though they had come alive.

It passed through the void until it vanished from sight.

Miling Town returned to its former silence.

"Was that an animated train skin? They even have those? That's pretty cool."

Ye Qiyan thought of his own train again.

"..."

He stopped thinking about it.

He lowered his gaze to the box Shaya had given him.

Neither light nor heavy, it was no different from an ordinary gift box.

[2×2 Safety Box] (Level 9)

[Absolutely secure. Cannot be broken from the outside. Cannot be forced open by any means. Items placed inside are absolutely! Secure!]

[Note: Please place it somewhere. Once placed, it cannot be moved by anyone other than the person who placed it.]

[Current status: Please bind it. It can be opened after binding.]

"Level 9? Holy shit!"

He had thought it was just an ordinary box. He truly hadn't expected Shaya to be so generous.

Even if there was nothing inside, the box alone was valuable enough.

Now he had no choice but to delete "old hag" from her note and change it to "beautiful and kindhearted."

"What could be inside the box?"

After fiddling with it for a while, Ye Qiyan tried pressing his thumb against the center of the box.