"This guy really knew when to bend and when to stand tall."
After watching a good show, Ye Qiyan vaulted off the train.
"It's time I left too. Here, take this back."
He pulled a water pipe connected to the Shopping Hall out of the first carriage's window and tossed it to Smiley.
The water tank inside the carriage was now filled to overflowing.
"Finally full. That took forever."
Smiley silently pinched the pipe shut, severing it, and spoke in a hollow voice.
"Letting a conductor draw water in the Trading Hall was against the rules to begin with. You were lucky we even found this pipe."
Ye Qiyan smiled faintly. That was what Smiley said, but hadn't he agreed in the end anyway?
He boarded the train and closed the door.
Outside, Smiley removed his mask once again.
"Please remember, no matter when or where you are, never trust 'Infinite.' This is what happens if you do."
"I'll remember."
"The next time we meet, I hope you can help free me. If you can't, that's all right too. I've been disappointed so many times already. Once more won't make a difference."
Looking at Smiley's twisted, distorted features, Ye Qiyan felt neither disgust nor fear. He shook his head, took a blessed Whiteforest Fruit from his Storage Unit, and held it out the window.
"Don't worry. I'll remember this. The next time we meet, I'll definitely help free you."
Smiley accepted the Whiteforest Fruit, and Ye Qiyan pressed the start button.
At this station, he was free to depart whenever he wished.
The train traveled away, passing through a curtain of nothingness ahead.
When he looked back, the platform that had been behind him had already vanished.
"So even though it's a station in the wilderness, it's still a little different?"
This world held too many secrets for him to figure out right now.
Throwing himself onto the bed, Ye Qiyan brought up the system Light Screen and took stock of his gains from this station.
First were the two level 6 items: the Great Compassion Heavy Machine Gun and the Deceptive Play Sword.
The former would undoubtedly be mounted on the Security Sentry.
Of its nine weapon slots, only five held Fine Marksman Rifles and one held a Mithril Crossbow. Even against a level 4 Slaughter Platform, it had nothing to fear. With this heavy machine gun added, Ye Qiyan felt that if he visited a level 4 Slaughter Platform again, he could drive around actively searching for monsters to kill.
As for the latter...
Honestly, this sword held almost zero appeal for him.
Any weapon that consumed his maximum Mental stat was immediately sentenced to death in his eyes.
But he had gotten it for free, after all. Free stuff was always good. Even if he only got a chance to sell it to someone later, it would still be worth a fortune.
Besides that, his water tank was now filled with a thousand kilograms of fresh water.
Although he had already made it through seven stations, fresh water remained a relatively precious resource.
After all, a person could go seven days without food, but not three days without water.
He wouldn't be short of drinking water for a while.
"Whew, I can't rest just yet."
Leaving the soft bed, Ye Qiyan took the Great Compassion Heavy Machine Gun out of the Safety Box.
Looking at the imposing heavy machine gun before him, Ye Qiyan rubbed his hands together excitedly.
"Hehe, will it look even cooler and get even bigger after ascension?"
He was looking forward to it.
And so, he began the ascension.
[Stamina: 120 → 90] [Mental: 120 → 100]
Only fifty points consumed?
Strange. This was a level 6 item. Why had the ascension cost so little?
Puzzled, Ye Qiyan opened the appraisal function.
[Enchanting · Mental Magazine · Great Compassion Heavy Machine Gun] (Level 6) [Mental energy can be consumed to fill an additional magazine with a capacity of five hundred rounds...]
Its level hadn't increased. There was just an additional ability beyond its original description.
Unfortunately, this heavy machine gun's potential had also been completely exhausted, making further upgrades impossible.
"Not bad. An extra five-hundred-round magazine, plus its own three-hundred-round capacity. Tsk, tsk."
Ye Qiyan was relatively satisfied with this ascension. After assigning it to the sentry, he spent fifty points of Mental energy to fill its Mental Magazine and load three hundred level 3 rounds.
"As for this sword... forget it. There's no point using Ascension on something I don't plan to use."
He tossed the Deceptive Play Sword into the last slot of his Storage Unit.
"It's still early. Looks like I'll have plenty of free time today. Might as well use Ascension on this thing too."
The Pure Earthbound Stone.
Back at the level 4 Slaughter Platform, Ye Qiyan had considered using Ascension on it to ensure that evil entities couldn't invade the train.
But the sentry had subsequently proved so ferocious that it had practically slaughtered its way through the entire platform, so he had put the matter aside.
[Stamina: 90 → 40] [Pure Earthbound Stone → Pure Purification Stone] (Level 5) [Place anywhere on the train to keep its interior perpetually pure, free from the intrusion of filth, interference from evil entities, and invasion by evil.]
Its potential was exhausted.
In Ye Qiyan's hand, the already smooth, rounded stone had actually become somewhat transparent.
Cradled in his palm, its cool, hard surface somehow felt inexplicably soft.
The stone itself gave off a faint glow. It would probably make a pretty good night-light.
He bought a wall-mounted decoration on the Trading Platform and placed it in the center, directly facing Ye Qiyan's large bed.
"Looks good."
"Whew, finally got everything done."
Casually taking out a Whiteforest Fruit, Ye Qiyan lay comfortably on the bed, brought up the system Light Screen, and looked at the current public chatroom.
By now, other people should be arriving at the station soon.
That meant everyone should soon learn about the unlimited stopping time that Li Xiaosheng hadn't told them about.
How many people would fall into this trap?
[1574/10000] ["Holy shit, I'm finally about to reach the station. This trip has worn me out."] ["Damn, you're that fast? Did you upgrade your train's wheels?"] ["Hehe, I got a blueprint a few stations back that lets me use manual labor to increase the train's speed. That's why I said I'm exhausted."] ["Didn't Li Xiaosheng say he'd post the information as soon as he reached the station first? I've been waiting forever. Why hasn't he posted anything?"] ["Brother Li said he'd send it to Alliance members. You're not in the Alliance, so why should he send it to you? Idiot."] ["Heh, why are there still people willing to be someone else's dog even in this world? Disgusting. If he won't post it, I will."]
The conductor who used manual labor to increase his train's speed entered the Transit Station, becoming the fourth person to arrive here.
Panting heavily, he stepped out of the train and saw two trains parked nearby.
"Damn, someone besides Li Xiaosheng got here this fast? There really are other impressive people around."
After a moment of envy, the system Light Screen appeared before his eyes.
"The platform's called the Forward Station. What the hell kind of name is that? Sounds awful."
"Uh... huh? St-stopping time? Unlimited!!? Holy shit!"
A screenshot was soon sent to the public chatroom.
["Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!"] ["My eyes played tricks on me. I read the last post backward. What a shame."] ["+1"] ["What are you people focusing on? The stopping time is unlimited! If we stay at this station, does that mean we'll never have to go to the next one!?"] ["+1 to the person above."]
Before you continue