The man was holding a pocket watch in his hand.

 

Shao Lin thought for a moment and also understood what Tan Feng meant.

It wasn’t that Tan Feng smelled the sweetness of watermelon on the chef, but rather that the chef deliberately let Tan Feng smell this scent, using the strong aroma to cover up other smells. After giving Tan Feng a preconceived idea, he then distributed gum with the same scent to many people, completely disrupting Tan Feng’s scent tracking.

And that wasn’t even his full aim. The truly frightening part was that once Tan Feng realized the opponent could use scent confusion to counter his initial skill, he would become unable to trust his own nose. Even if he encountered the real Thirty million, he would suspect it was a smokescreen released by Xing Ye.

“No,” Shao Lin shook his head. “It’s more than that.”

There was also that teammate who injured someone with a knife. Under Xing Ye’s design, he was taken away by the train police right in front of Shao Lin and Tan Feng, which would create a sense of crisis for the two. It would make them feel that unless they could confirm the opponent was Thirty million, they couldn’t act casually. Otherwise, if they fought and the train police were drawn over, it would be terrible.

Shao Lin dragged Tan Feng to a corner and muttered, “Along the way he has already used at least three disguises: the baseball cap guy, the chef, and the train police. Maybe even a fourth or fifth. It’s quite possible that his initial skill includes the ability to disguise himself. From the moment he entered Carriage 9 and used the train police to get rid of those two idiots, he began laying multiple layers of traps. Could there be some deeper meaning? Tan Feng’s ‘hidden killing intent’ can only be used three times, and one is already spent, so he can’t use it lightly…”

Just as he was speculating, Tan Feng suddenly curled his fingers and flicked Shao Lin on the forehead.

Shao Lin snapped out of his deep thinking and looked up at Tan Feng, only to see Tan Feng stuffing a piece of fruit candy into his own mouth.

“Bought it earlier from the snack cart,” Tan Feng said. “I think you’re overthinking. You don’t need to analyse one-two-three-four. Since you’ve already confirmed he’s Xing Ye and know he’s good at laying plans, the last thing you should do is think too much and walk right into his traps.”

The fruit candy was orange-flavoured. The sweet citrus taste spread through Shao Lin’s mouth, waking him up a bit.

Tan Feng continued, “You’re not so scared by him that you got PTSD, are you? That shouldn’t be. Just one failure shouldn’t make you this nervous.”

“It wasn’t just once,” Shao Lin said seriously, looking at Tan Feng. “The feeling he gives me is too similar to Xing Shuo, and I suspect he possesses an ability similar to Xing Shuo’s.”

At the mention of Xing Shuo, Tan Feng’s expression grew heavy. ‘Kua Fu chasing the sun,’—the ability to stop time for one minute within 24 hours?”

“Yes,” Shao Lin nodded. “Back in the casino world, I kept wondering how he swapped the bullets and when exactly he did it. Trapped on the cruise ship for fourteen days, I kept replaying that day’s footage and found no differences. Considering his name, I have reason to suspect he’s related to Xing Shuo and inherited Xing Shuo’s skill.”

Tan Feng pondered. “If he really had this skill, then back when he was selling lunch boxes, he should’ve already noticed our identities. Why wouldn’t he pause time and kill us then, before we had any defence?”

His words reminded Shao Lin. Shao Lin thought and said, “Because there were other players in the carriage—players who are very powerful. Xing Ye wants to save that skill as his trump card.”

Tan Feng looked at Shao Lin. “I trust your brain completely, but when you get this flustered in front of Xing Ye, you become useless. In that case, I’d have no reason to partner with you.”

Shao Lin’s heart tightened. He stared at Tan Feng. “You plan to fight me first?”

“No,” Tan Feng shook his head. “I’m just reminding you—don’t let someone scare you senseless. He might be deliberately waving himself in front of you.”

Tan Feng leaned back in his seat, hands resting calmly on his abdomen, looking completely relaxed. He said, “Before I kill someone, I love sitting like this. Whether I’m confident or not, I scare the opponent first. Let him know I’m a ‘player slayer.’ Once he panics, it’s easy to strike. Oh, and the less certain I am, the more arrogant I act.”

Shao Lin stared at Tan Feng for a moment, then suddenly understood. “You’re right. He scared me. Even earlier, when he ran back and forth in the carriage, he was telling us he changed his appearance and outfits and could move freely through the carriages. But all that could be misdirection. Such actions are meant to make us unable to confirm his true identity and to display his composure. Thinking in reverse—since he can use misdirection, when he was moving around in the carriage earlier, his real self might not have moved at all, relying on some skill or QR code.”

“He was conspicuously shouting ‘help,’ stealing the lunch-box cart, handing out gum—maybe all of that was to cover up the fact that he was in some carriage the whole time, not moving even a bit, using a substitute!”

Seeing Shao Lin’s thoughts clear and his eyes regain confidence, Tan Feng reached out and ruffled his hair. “Not bad. I won’t need to take your initial skill.”

Shao Lin brushed his hand away. “‘Sweet talk’ and ‘watching the fire from across the river’ — would you even know how to use those?”

Tan Feng said, “All your skills are mind games. I’m too lazy to use them.”

Tan Feng was very strong and very alert. Shao Lin knew he couldn’t hurt Tan Feng, and Tan Feng couldn’t hurt him either. That was why Shao Lin chose to team up with him.

Shao Lin said, “Since we can’t get rid of Xing Ye for now, we might as well stop, or we’ll just be led around by the nose.”

“What do you plan to do?” Tan Feng asked.

Shao Lin said, “Find other players. The strong ones—we temporarily team up with. The weak ones—if they’re fate-following players, we can use them to shift our luck. Oh, right, what’s your fate-following item’s ability again? I remember one that could control others?”

Tan Feng said, “‘Shadow puppetry’—if the person doesn’t agree with my thoughts, I can’t control them. And the time is short. Even after upgrading it’s only ten minutes. Not very useful. Killing is easier.”

Shao Lin shook his head. “That reminds me of someone. He claimed to be Xing Ye’s good friend. Xing Ye trusted him too in the casino world. And he has absolutely no resistance toward women.”

As he said this, Shao Lin gently lifted his hair, letting its fragrance drift toward Tan Feng’s nose.

Shao Lin said, “At first I thought being female was inconvenient. Now I don’t think so.”

Tan Feng sniffed lightly. “Women smell nice. What are you planning?”

A cruel expression appeared on Shao Lin’s beautiful face. “Record Thirty million’s position every ten minutes. Find out his definite carriage and don’t be fooled by misdirection. Also find other hunters. Team up with the strong, and use the weak as cannon fodder to exhaust Xing Ye’s abilities. Meanwhile, watch for hunters who were once Xing Ye’s teammates. Find a way to control one at a key moment and make him charge ahead to assassinate Xing Ye. When Xing Ye’s mind wavers, we strike and kill him.

“There are still seven hours before the final stop. We don’t need to rush. We can take it slow.”

Tan Feng smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

On the other side, Xing Ye refreshed his phone again and found that the number of hunters had decreased from 13 to 12.

His expression darkened, and he said seriously, “It seems that the hunters who entered this world are even more unscrupulous than I imagined.”

Cao Qian glanced at the number on his phone and asked, “Why is there one less again—did someone get caught for fare-dodging?”

Speaking of which, Cao Qian’s own ticket had also been set to expire at the first stop. Fortunately, she was careful enough to notice immediately and asked a train attendant to get her ticket reissued.

Xing Ye slowly shook his head. “We’re almost at the third stop. No one will be eliminated inexplicably over ticket issues anymore. The three people eliminated in Carriage 9 should have made the other players more cautious. Even if they suspect someone, they won’t attack openly anymore. They’ll definitely try to avoid the train police. Cases of being eliminated by rules will become fewer and fewer.”

“Then why…” Cao Qian suddenly thought of a possibility and froze.

Seeing that Cao Qian had guessed it, Xing Ye nodded. “There is a powerful hunter absorbing other players to strengthen themselves.”

Cao Qian felt a chill run through her body. Clearly, the target of this round’s hunt was Xing Ye; everyone except him could theoretically be an ally. In this world, bound by rules, attacking Xing Ye was understandable—it was a system task. But some players, considering that the Xing Ye with thirty million points might be too difficult to defeat, chose first to harm the relatively weaker hunters—kill them and seize their points.

Players with Fate-Following items could even take their lives.

Xing Ye said, “Since Shao Lin was able to be released from the casino world by the system, how many of our old friends do you think might be on this high-speed train?”

Cao Qian carefully thought about the enemies they had encountered throughout the game. The points of Di Kuang from the first world shouldn’t be enough—he hadn’t yet levelled up to an advanced world and shouldn’t be able to enter this world. Besides, in the eyes of players from advanced worlds, Di Kuang’s abilities were nothing special.

But the other worlds…

A figure surfaced in Cao Qian’s mind. Her pupils shrank, and she whispered, “Randy!”

Xing Ye nodded gravely.

If Randy really was on this train, then Xing Ye’s trump card, “Kua Fu chasing the sun” would be countered. And if Randy cooperated with Shao Lin, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Cao Qian stood up. “I can’t keep sitting here waiting to die. I have to take the initiative. Be careful.”

“The one who needs to be careful is you,” Xing Ye said. “Why don’t we act together?”

“No,” Cao Qian slowly shook her head. “The two of us together draw too much attention—we’ll look suspicious. I’m a hunter. I have that layer of protection, so it’s easier for me to act. We’ll use the phone to communicate.”

Cao Qian was already a player capable of handling things alone—strong, and with Linlin to assist her. Xing Ye knew he should trust her. He could only nod. “Be careful. If Randy really is here, watch out for his pocket watch. If things reach the worst point, it’s better to kill yourself than be killed by their Fate-Following item.”

“I understand.” Cao Qian clenched her fist and walked out of Carriage 12.

She touched her chest, where the miniature version of the swan-crystal Linlin was hanging.

At the mention of Randy’s name, Linlin trembled uneasily. That man was her nightmare—the one who ended her formerly peaceful game life, turned her into a Fate-Following item, left her body unconscious, and made her family shed countless tears for her.

Carrying Linlin, Cao Qian immediately went to search for the passenger suspected to be Qian Daniu in Carriage 13.

Entering Carriage 13, she immediately saw that beside the passenger suspected to be Qian Daniu sat an extremely handsome man. In his hand, the man held a pocket watch.

Translator : DarNan