The view from the green train: a rocking vacation
Tomorrow, the South Sea.
The train wheels rolled over the seams of the rails, making a dull thud. The carriages swayed in response.
Zhou Yu turned off the screen of the terminal in his hand and put it in his pocket.
Sigelica sat on the lower bunk opposite, clutching a paper train ticket in her hand.
"From the Flamebearers' Academy to the South Sea Resort, the spaceship takes only two hours."
She slapped the train ticket on the coffee table in the middle.
You've booked a soft sleeper carriage on a slow, green train. This train will take fourteen hours to crawl along the tracks.
Zhou Yu picked up the thermos from the coffee table and unscrewed the lid.
"The spaceship doesn't stop at any points along the way, so we can't buy local specialties."
"This car isn't stopping!"
"I've added a temporary stop instruction to the Logistics Department system. At 3 PM, the train will stop for two minutes at Yunling Valley on the Huanglong border."
Zhou Yu took a sip of water.
"The beggar's chicken there is Huanglong. Two minutes is enough for the vendor at the bus stop to pass the chicken through the train window."
Sigelica pointed to the door connecting the carriages.
"The money spent on chartering this entire carriage is enough to buy a hundred beggar's chickens."
Zhou Yu put down his thermos, opened his canvas bag, pulled out a document, and tossed it over.
Application for Upgrading Security Measures for the Specially Appointed Security Supervisor and Accompanying Personnel of the Flamebearers' Academy on Long-Distance Business Trips.
The bottom right corner is stamped with Lupa's red seal.
Sigelica opened the file.
"It says on the document that it's an application for advanced armored personnel carriers."
"The troop carrier's shock absorption is too poor; Dania is prone to motion sickness."
Zhou Yu took the documents back and stuffed them into her bag.
"I converted the budget for the armored vehicle into this individual sleeper compartment. This complies with the financial swap regulations."
Sigelica took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair.
Dania sat next to Zhou Yu.
She was holding a bag of tomato-flavored potato chips. The plastic bag had been torn open.
She reached in, took out a piece, and popped it into her mouth.
The sound of chewing echoed in the carriage.
The carriage swayed slightly. Her head tilted down.
Her chin hit her chest, jolting her awake. She then pulled out a potato chip and stuffed it into her mouth.
After three times, her head tilted heavily to one side and slammed into Zhou Yu's shoulder.
My breathing became even.
A long stream of clear liquid flowed down her half-open lips and dripped onto the shoulder strap of Zhou Yu's fluorescent yellow vest.
Zhou Yu did not move her shoulder.
He reached out his left hand, grabbed the bag of potato chips that was about to tip over in Dania's hand, and lifted it up.
The plastic bag made a very slight rustling sound. He rolled the opening up twice and tucked it between his fingers.
Chisa sat on the single seat next to Sigelica.
She crossed her arms over her chest, the long sword and its scabbard tucked into the crook of her arms.
Eyes tightly closed.
The train rolled over a switch, causing it to shake violently.
The copper bell hanging from Chisa's waist swayed, emitting a very faint metallic clanging sound.
Bite.
Her right hand instantly slipped from her arm, her fingers spread, and she grabbed the bell.
The veins on the back of my hand are bulging, and my knuckles are white.
The sound of the bell was muffled in the palm of his hand.
Zhou Yu looked at her hand.
There are no enemies in this carriage. You can let go of my hand.
Chisa did not open her eyes.
"Habit."
Zhou Yu looked away, took a mint out of her pocket, and unwrapped it.
What did the sound of bells signify at the Reed Plain Frontline?
"This means something has crossed the line. It means a knife needs to be drawn."
Chisa's fingers loosened little by little. The bell dangled back down at her waist.
"This is the train to the South Sea. The only one that crossed the line was that beggar's chicken at 3 PM."
Zhou Yu popped the mint into her mouth.
"You'd better put the knife in your bag beforehand. If the vendors at the platform see the knife, it will affect the efficiency of delivering beggar's chicken."
Chisa opened her eyes, her gaze falling on Dania, who was fast asleep on Zhou Yu's shoulder, before returning to her scabbard.
She didn't put the knife in her bag, but she relaxed her arms slightly.
Sigelica's terminal screen lit up.
She glanced down and her shoulders trembled.
Fingers tap rapidly on the virtual keyboard.
The light from the screen shone on her face.
She bit her lower lip, letting out a very soft laugh, which she quickly swallowed back.
Zhou Yu chewed on a mint.
"Has Doctor Lu finished writing his academic paper?"
Sigelica suddenly looked up, the terminal in her hand lying face down on her lap.
"We are discussing a clinical case of post-war psychological intervention for those Resonator."
"Should clinical case studies be accompanied by that pink cat emoji?"
Zhou Yu pointed to the terminal that was upside down on her thigh.
Sigelica grabbed the terminal and stuffed it into her coat pocket.
You've misunderstood.
My vision is 5.2.
"That's the default emoticon provided by the system!"
Sigelica turned her head and looked out the window. Her ears turned bright red.
Zhou Yu did not press further.
He took an A3-sized sheet of printer paper from his canvas bag and spread it out on the coffee table.
The paper was printed with contour maps of Huanglong and the South Sea.
The top is covered with numerous red and blue circles.
Zhou Yu pulled the cap off the red pen.
The pen tip landed on a blue circle in the lower right corner of the map.
The sign next to it reads in small print: South Sea Seafood Stall.
He drew a red circle outside the blue circle.
"The first night, grilled oysters and garlic scallops."
Move the pen tip up two inches.
"The next day at noon, coconut chicken hot pot. In the afternoon, seaside smoothie."
Sigelica turned back and looked at the map.
"You've packed your schedule so full, what if something unexpected happens?"
"No emergencies."
Zhou Yu drew a large red circle around the third day.
If so, postpone it. If it can't be postponed, block them.
The pen tip poked a red dot on the paper.
Zhou Yu's terminal vibrated.
Chisaki's message popped up on the screen.
[The environmental parameters in the hard-seat carriage are normal. Aimis has already eaten three bento boxes.]
Zhou Yu typed a reply with one hand.
[The bill is on the Logistics Department. Tell her not to overeat; there's beggar's chicken left this afternoon.]
The train plunged into the tunnel.
The interior of the carriage was instantly swallowed by darkness. Only the emergency lights on the ceiling emitted a dim, yellowish glow.
The view outside the window turned into a pitch-black rock wall.
The old-fashioned digital watch on Zhou Yu's left wrist began to vibrate violently.
The dial lit up with a blinding red light.
A line of green code scrolled rapidly across the screen.
[Warning: High-dimensional coordinate anomaly detected.]
[Target: The curvature of the space where the train is currently located.]
[Source: Unknown (99% match points to Aleph One residual fluctuations).]
[Spatial overlap is expected to occur in three seconds, pulling the train into the replicated battlefield.]
Zhou Yu sat in the darkness.
He looked at the line of green text.
After being interrupted by the holiday sign at the seaside, Aleph One changed its strategy. Instead of forcibly descending, it used the enclosed and weak signal terrain of tunnels to carry out low-level spatial coverage.
If left unattended, this sleeper car will become a trench in the Lahai-Roi Defense Line in three seconds.
The potato chips in Dania's hand will turn into shrapnel.
Sigelica's phone will lose signal.
The beggar's chicken stop will become ruins.
Chisa suddenly opened her eyes in the darkness.
She gripped the hilt of the knife.
There's something there.
She pulled out half an inch of the blade. The metallic scraping sound was extremely jarring in the carriage.
The air temperature inside the carriage dropped sharply.
Zhou Yu raised his right hand.
My index finger rests on the metal crown on the side of the digital watch.
[System Options: 1. Deploy a high-level defensive barrier (consumes Security Supervisor privileges); 2. Awaken Dania to resonate and fight back; 3. Request remote support from the Flamebearers' Academy.]
Zhou Yu didn't choose any of them.
He flipped the crown down, pulling out a hidden menu.
[UI-blocked radar/custom blacklist]
Press the confirmation button with your index finger.
The red light suddenly went out, and the dial returned to its normal digital time display.
14:27.
The chilling energy that tried to penetrate the carriage was instantly erased from the system's core the moment it touched Zhou Yu's wrist.
Not even a single echo was left.
The process of spatial overlap was forcibly interrupted.
Zhou Yu pressed down on Chisa's hand as she drew her sword.
There's nothing there.
Chisa stared at him.
The suffocating sense of oppression vanished. Only one second remained.
She looked at Zhou Yu's calm face.
The man didn't even change his breathing rhythm.
She slowly pushed the knife back into its sheath.
The train rushed out of the tunnel.
The blinding sunlight streamed back into the carriage.
The scenery outside the window has transformed from wilderness into a vast oasis.
Dania nuzzled against Zhou Yu's shoulder.
"Xiao Yu..."
She mumbled something with her eyes closed.
"Beggar's chicken... add lots of chili peppers."
Zhou Yu withdrew his hand from the watch crown.
He pulled up a corner of the blanket that had slipped off the coffee table and covered Dania's shoulders, then casually pulled out a tissue to wipe the drool off the bra strap.
Chisa remained with her hands on her knees.
Sigelica took out the terminal again, and a new pink cat emoticon popped up on the screen.
Zhou Yu picked up a red pen and added two words next to the beggar's chicken label on the map.
"Make it extra spicy."