Chapter 159: Life and Death Speed |
"Wooooooo—!"
The train whistle wailed. The locomotive hurtled through the forest, which had completely transformed into a vast swampland.
Submerged beneath the surging floodwaters, the trees thrashed violently in the roaring gale, looking like the wicked claws of monsters. Any ordinary train facing such a predicament would have been utterly helpless, left with no choice but destruction.
Fortunately, this was no ordinary train. At least, not anymore.
A freezing chill mingled with thick water vapor spread outward in all directions, coating every tree it touched in a thin layer of white frost. The train flew across the water, its massive headlamps casting a light as cold as moonlight. Strangely enough, if anyone were to look from the outside, they would see that the entire train didn't seem to be running on tracks at all; it resembled a ship floating upon the water's surface.
The massive locomotive acted like a prow, slicing through the waves as it charged ahead.
Fortunately, no one was bored enough to look outside at a time like this. Inside the carriages, panic had already broken out.
"Go gather all the passengers from the second and third-class carriages and move them into the Salon Car!"
Levi barked orders at the conductor and the crew, who scrambled to carry them out. The people in the first-class carriage were also deeply unsettled, completely in the dark about what was happening.
"A flash flood."
"A flash flood?"
Levi obviously couldn't tell them that there was something wrong with the forest itself. Luckily, it was the middle of the night and no one could see outside. He began deploying his deceptive skills to bluff them completely.
"Days of continuous heavy rain have triggered a landslide on the nearby mountain. A mudslide is rushing down the slope straight toward us. We must leave this area at maximum speed, or we will be completely buried alive!"
"What?!"
Hearing this, everyone was shocked. Madam Bedrick shrieked in terror.
"Then shouldn't we hurry up and run?!"
"The train has already been pushed to its maximum speed. If all goes well, we will clear the danger zone in half an hour at most."
Levi glanced at Madam Bedrick.
"Before that happens, I want everyone back in their compartments! Wait there calmly! Do not cause a scene! Is that understood?"
"..."
Faced with Levi's command, the passengers exchanged glances, unsure of how to respond. But Levi didn't care what they thought. His expression hardened as he addressed them once more.
"Return to your rooms immediately, pack your personal belongings, and hold onto the handrails in your compartments to steady yourselves. We want to prevent anyone from falling and getting hurt. Any more questions?"
This time, the passengers obediently followed Levi's orders, returning to their respective rooms to pack their things.
"What a hassle. If you don't give them something to do, they just won't stay quiet."
Watching the first-class passengers return to their rooms, Levi finally let out a sigh, though his expression remained solemn.
After transforming the train into a Ghost Ship, Levi could observe the surroundings through the vehicle itself. Although it was pitch black outside, the actual situation was incredibly grim. The tracks beneath the train had been completely entangled and destroyed by vines. If the train were still running normally on those rails, it would have been immobilized long ago. The only reason the train could still hurtle forward was the massive flood caused by the torrential rain. It was precisely this flood that prevented the forest from unleashing its full power. Most of the vines were swept away by the roaring waters before they could take effect.
However, this only seemed to infuriate the entity further. Though Levi still didn't know what kind of creature he was dealing with, it was clearly determined to stop them from escaping in one piece.
Sigh. It was a shame this was just a train. If it were a real ship—well, without weapons, it wouldn't matter anyway. Fortunately, the Phantom Fog inherent to the Ghost Ship core seemed to possess perception-disrupting and concealment effects, causing several of the entity's attacks to miss.
But the creature clearly hadn't given up. Through his supernatural awareness, Levi could see countless vines swimming through the floodwaters like water snakes, lunging toward the train!
As expected, it still wasn't enough.
Seeing this, Levi's expression grew grim. This was exactly why he had ordered the conductor to move the passengers from the rear carriages to the front. The train was currently too long with too many carriages, making it an easy target. Moreover, the excessive weight was severely restricting its speed.
Even though Levi had used the Ghost Ship core to transform the vehicle into a Ghost Train, he still had to obey the fundamental laws of physics. Before long, the passengers from the rear carriages were ushered in by the crew. Unlike the first-class passengers, most of these travelers looked completely drained. They resembled a flock of bewildered sheep just awakened from a deep sleep, entirely oblivious to the situation.
"Has everyone been transferred?"
Levi looked at the conductor, who nodded quickly.
"I am certain. Everyone has been moved forward!"
"Make absolutely sure no one was left behind. No missing children, right?"
In movies, during these race-against-time scenarios, a common cliché was discovering a missing child, forcing the protagonist to run back, find them, and then narrowly escape death together. Perhaps directors knew how annoying this trope was, which was why the character who wandered off was usually a child. After all, children were small and couldn't understand reason, so audiences were far more forgiving. If it were an adult, the audience's immediate thought would just be to let them die.
Levi felt the same way. What he hated most was when everything was perfectly prepared, only for a stray child to ruin the plan. Nothing was more frustrating than that kind of development.
"Please rest assured, Mr. Levi, we verified everyone's tickets! No one is missing!"
"Good. Prepare yourselves. Starting from the ordinary luggage car, decouple everything else!"
"Wait, wait a minute! What are you doing?"
A nearby passenger overheard the conversation between Levi and the conductor. Horrified, he began to shout.
"Our luggage is still back there!"
"There is no time. We must leave immediately! To increase the train's speed, we have to cut off the rear carriages and lighten the load."
"No, absolutely not!"
Upon hearing Levi's words, a huge uproar erupted among the passengers.
"Are you telling us to abandon our belongings?"
"My invention is in there! How do you plan to compensate me?"
"Are you out of your mind? Why must we abandon our luggage!"
"Exactly! No way...!"
In an instant, the carriage turned into a chaotic mob as passengers surged toward Levi and the conductor. The train crew grew incredibly tense, looking at the angry crowd with no idea how to handle them.
Faced with the protests, Levi didn't say a word. He simply raised his gun and pulled the trigger.
"Bang—!"
The gunshot cut through the air, instantly silencing the arguments. The crowd stared at the gun raised high in Levi's hand, their mouths open, but not a single sound came out.
"If you don't want to abandon your luggage, you are welcome to go back and stay with it," Levi said, lowering his weapon as he scanned the crowd. "After all, the fewer people we have, the lighter the load, and the faster we go."
"..."
Faced with Levi's blatant threat, the passengers swallowed hard, none of them daring to speak another word. Although they still didn't know what was happening outside, instinct told every single one of them that danger was rapidly approaching...
"Clang—!"
Suddenly, the train shuddered violently, as if something had grabbed it in a vice grip. Caught off guard, the passengers standing in the carriage lost their balance and tumbled to the floor in a heap.
"Whoa!"
"Ouch—!"
"What happened?"
Damn it, it caught up! Levi gripped a nearby handrail, gritting his teeth. He could already see that the vines had seized the very last third-class carriage and were rapidly creeping forward! Even though the train had accelerated to its absolute limit, it still couldn't break free from the entanglement!
Hey, you're really pushing your luck, aren't you! A surge of anger flared up inside Levi. Of course, if he wanted to escape the vines, he could easily use the Ghost Ship's Spirit Form ability, but that skill wasn't meant for frequent use. More importantly, breaking free once didn't mean the entity wouldn't try a second time. Since this thing wanted to hold onto him so badly...
"Conductor!"
"De-Detective?"
"Is there anything highly flammable or explosive on this train?"
Furious, Levi intended to teach the creature a lesson. Naturally, relying solely on the revolver in his hand wouldn't be enough, but if he had something a bit more potent...
"Flammable? Explosive? Detective, we don't carry such dangerous materials on this train..."
"I do!"
Just as the conductor answered, a passenger stepped forward. He wore thick glasses and looked quite frail.
"The flame combustion machine I invented can set an entire house ablaze in just a few seconds!"
???
"Setting a house on fire is nothing!" Another inventor scrambled up from the tangled heap of fallen passengers. "The super explosive device I invented can completely level a building!"
"And me! When it comes to fire, duration is what matters! The flame combustion machine I invented can sustain a flame for several hours without dying out!" A chubby man panted as he scrambled to his feet, shouting loudly. But another person quickly jumped out to counter him.
"What's the use of maintaining a flame for hours if it's just like a candle? The super fuel I invented can maintain a temperature above eight hundred degrees!"
"Blast radius! Blast radius is what matters most! My convergent compression explosive device can restrict the explosion to a specific zone. Even if you stand right behind it, you won't suffer a single scratch!"
Listening to the chaotic bickering of the crowd, Levi felt completely numb. He stared at the group of inventors and asked quietly, "Where are these inventions of yours?"
"In the luggage car, of course!"
"..."
Levi silently looked at the conductor, whose face had gone entirely pale. This is more dangerous than an actual ammunition depot! It seemed they really needed to implement strict security screenings for trains in the future. Levi had no idea he had been traveling alongside a walking armory for the past few days.
"The one who invented the fuel, come with me."
Levi motioned with his hand. The fuel inventor smirked triumphantly at the others, raised his chin proudly, and quickly followed Levi and the conductor through the dining car toward the luggage car.
"Where is your fuel?"
The ordinary luggage car was currently in complete disarray, with various trunks and bags scattered all over the floor. To be honest, Levi hadn't paid any attention to these bags before, but now he knew they weren't ordinary luggage—they were bombs, incendiary devices, and landmines... Why did so many people love creating explosive devices? Was explosions truly a man's romance?
"Right over there, Detective!"
The inventor pointed toward a corner of the luggage car. Levi followed his gaze and spotted a wooden barrel resting against the wall. From the outside, it looked no different from a wine barrel.
"How do you detonate it?"
"Its ignition point is incredibly low, please don't worry, Detective!" The inventor boasted proudly. "Just a single spark will set it ablaze instantly! And inside is a special raw liquid I spent all my blood and sweat developing. Its power is boundless!"
"..."
It is truly the Holy Lord's blessing that I survived these past few days in one piece.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
As Levi was complaining internally, deep dents suddenly slammed into the walls of the carriage, as if something outside was squeezing the train with immense force.
"W-What's going on?"
"Oh no. Conductor, decouple the carriage immediately!"
"Ah, yes, Detective!"
The conductor finally snapped out of his daze. He rushed forward and yanked open the coupler used to connect and lock the carriages together. Soon, the luggage car shuddered as it disconnected from the dining car where Levi stood. However, the moment the luggage car separated from the dining car, Levi saw several thick vines creeping over like old tree roots, extending straight toward his carriage!
"Whoa, what kind of monster is that!"
Staring at the thick vines wrapping around the vehicle, both the conductor and the inventor stood dumbfounded. Levi grit his teeth, and then...
The perception of time began to slow down. Levi slammed an incendiary round into the cylinder, raised the Persuader, and aimed at the slowly separating luggage car. Completely ignoring the vines that flew toward him like the long hair of a vengeful spirit, he lined up his sights with the wooden barrel sitting in the corner of the luggage car. Then, Levi pulled the trigger.
"Ref—!"
Time snapped back to its normal pace. The bullet whistled through the air, striking the plain-looking wooden barrel perfectly. In the next split second, an unimaginable sight unfolded.
"Boom——————!"
Flames erupted into the sky. The blinding flash transformed into a massive pillar of fire, tearing through the heavy dark clouds and torrential rain, illuminating the entire area with a brilliant, dazzling glow. White flames surged outward, incinerating everything they touched. The vines that had been coiled around the carriage like pythons were instantly reduced to ashes by the unparalleled blast. Even the thick mist surrounding the Ghost Train was blown away by the scorching shockwave.
The entire train began to shudder and shake violently. Furthermore, under the glare of the headlamps, the driver could now see the tracks ahead completely blocked by the mudslide!
"We're going to crash!"
The driver screamed and closed his eyes, instinctively bracing for the impending impact. But to his utter surprise, the train continued to glide smoothly forward without the slightest hint of collision. When the driver opened his eyes again and peered cautiously ahead, he discovered that the mudslide covering the tracks had vanished entirely, replaced by a perfectly clear, level rail line.
"Phew..."
Only then did Levi lean against the carriage wall, letting out a long breath. He lowered his right hand, withdrawing the Ghost Ship core. Turning his head to look back, he saw a dense mushroom cloud of smoke billowing into the sky, refusing to dissipate for a long time. How should I put it... these inventors are truly terrifying.