Chapter 183: The Train

The newly boarded passenger was a bizarrely shaped monster.

Its form resembled a reindeer from the real world, standing upright on two legs, nearly two meters tall, its body covered in fluffy gray fur. Where its skull-face should have been, it had been cleanly sliced flat, and from the raw flesh of the cross-section grew three pairs of amber-yellow eyes.

A string of bone wind chimes hung from the sharp horn atop its head, clinking and clattering against each other as it walked.

Such an evil, sinister monster actually possessed elements of human society—

It wore an Arc'teryx windbreaker from a few seasons ago on its upper body, carried a canvas bag, had a sun hat perched above the flat cross-section of its skull, held a fishing rod in its left foreleg, and carried a metal bucket in its right foreleg, from which came the faint sound of a big fish's tail slapping the water.

This monster is actually a fishing enthusiast?!

Apart from Li Cheng, the expressions of the other three were somewhat stiff, their weapons hidden beneath the table, utterly vigilant.

The reindeer monster, seemingly oblivious to the group's solemn expressions, nodded amicably toward the humans, then put away its fishing rod on the ground, found a nearby seat facing the front of the car, and sat down,

even adjusting its seated posture, striking the leisurely pose of a retired old man enjoying life.

Bang!

The carriage doors closed, the train started once more, drove into the ocean, and burrowed into the seabed rock strata.

'It's very dangerous, I can feel it.'

Not wanting to make a sound, Midnight Howl wrote on paper with a pen, his expression especially solemn.

As a member of the 【Monster Alliance】 guild, Midnight Howl had seen all manner of strange and bizarre monster transformations, yet the pressure the reindeer gave him was even more intense than that of the guild's senior officers.

Zhao Zijing rubbed her brow, trying to input the reindeer monster's physical characteristics as text into her tablet to search the Global Paranormal Coalition's database.

But every time she tried to type, her thoughts became chaotic and disordered, utterly unable to describe the reindeer monster in human language.

Obviously, the reindeer possessed the property of memetic contamination.

Suddenly, Zhao Zijing had a flash of inspiration. Silently, she held up a sheet of paper, using it to block the reindeer's back,

first borrowing lamplight and shadow to sketch the reindeer's outer outline, then emptying her mind and relying on vague impressions to manually fill in the internal features, and finally placing the traced drawing under the tablet's camera to scan.

Then

【Scan failed, please provide a clearer image】

Looking at the pop-up window on her tablet, Zhao Zijing's expression stiffened slightly, and she silently dismissed the prompt.

Her telekinesis was as skilled as her drawing was terrible. The reindeer she drew was three parts donkey, three parts dog, four parts pig.

The headless reindeer paid no heed to the slight movement at the back of the car; it went about opening its canvas bag, taking out a metal lunchbox along with a knife, fork, and spoon, and began enjoying its meal.

The lunchbox faintly emanated a thick stench of rot; who knew what species of carrion it contained.

Crimson Racer wrote on paper, asking Zhao Zijing: 'Why not just take a photo directly?'

Zhao Zijing wrote helplessly: 'Memetic contamination has several levels. Low-level causes cognitive dissonance, high-level distorts reality. GOC management regulations stipulate that regardless of the level, the initial photograph of a memetic contamination source cannot be input directly into a computer, to prevent the contamination from spreading.'

'As long as it's not the initial photo?' Li Cheng's eyes lit up, and he wrote: 'I have a way.'

'Really?'

Crimson Racer breathed a sigh of relief. This brother Master Pi Fu, though usually unreliable, mischievous, with bizarre thoughts and a brain circuit unlike normal people's, was actually quite dependable. Right?

Snap!

Li Cheng slapped his forehead, and with his left hand swiftly sketched on the back of the paper with a pencil, quickly producing a detailed pencil drawing.

Every detail was rendered with exquisite precision, the hatching lines were nothing short of exquisite, the light and shadow flawless, even the metal texture of the bucket by the reindeer's feet was captured.

The other three players were all stunned. The drawing skill itself was already astonishing, but what struck them even more was that Master Pi Fu could effortlessly shield against memetic contamination.

Could he be carrying some kind of equipment or item? That shouldn't be the case—items of this sort were extremely expensive, and usually came in the form of helmets, glasses, earphones, and the like.

The three racked their brains but couldn't figure it out. They didn't know that ever since Li Cheng became a player by killing the Ink-Spider, he had paid special attention to memetic creatures, seeking countermeasures.

Li Cheng's forehead-slapping action just now had actually used the special effect of 【Assembled Rag Doll】 to sever his own corpus callosum.

The corpus callosum is a bundle of fibers connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres; when it is severed, the two hemispheres separate.

This type of surgery was first used by doctors in the 1940s to treat epilepsy patients. During the process, scientists discovered that split-brain patients exhibited many strange symptoms,

for instance, when shopping at a supermarket, the patient's left hand would pick up an item while the right hand put it back, each hand controlled by its respective hemisphere, contradicting itself as if fighting.

Another example: when the patient looked at an object with the right eye, they could clearly name it. When looking with the left eye, they couldn't say what they saw, but could easily draw it.

The left brain leans toward logic, the right brain toward imagery.

Li Cheng exploited exactly this point, using the 【Assembled Rag Doll】 special effect to separate his left and right brain, and without thinking at all, relying solely on his right brain and left hand, drew the reindeer monster's concrete image.

Once the drawing was done, he used 【Assembled Rag Doll】 once more to reinstall the two hemispheres.

The entire process took place inside his brain; to Zhao Zijing and the others, it looked like magic.

Li Cheng took out an eraser, rubbed out parts of the sketch, erasing several sections of the reindeer's body, then handed it to Zhao Zijing to search with the drawing.

(Too realistic and it becomes just like a photo, easily triggering memetic contamination—had to manually erase parts)

Zhao Zijing photographed the sketch with her tablet. This time the scan succeeded, and she found a relevant entry in the database.

【Species Name: Headless Reindeer

Danger Level: 1

Species Traits: The Headless Reindeer was first discovered in the wild by a member of the 【Mechanism Crafting Society】 guild, who made contact with it.

The Headless Reindeer claims to be a unique native species of the Kill Field, with intelligence above the human average. It can communicate with humans by controlling sound waves, is relatively friendly toward humans, and does not mind lending a hand when it encounters someone in trouble.

The powers it has demonstrated include, but are not limited to: flight, telekinesis, telepathy, sound wave control, plant manipulation, short-range teleportation, energy beams, passive memetic shielding, etc. It is at least equivalent to a Lv33 paranormal.

The Headless Reindeer enjoys wearing windbreakers and fishing everywhere. Its diet consists of fish, moss, and woody plant shoots, but its greatest passion is devouring the corpses of powerful paranormal creatures (it does not mind the degree of decay).

Additionally, the Headless Reindeer dislikes meaningless socializing. It is not recommended for ordinary players to approach and chat proactively, unless they happen to have high-quality windbreakers, fishing rods, or paranormal creature corpses on hand as gifts.

Given its immense power and communicable nature, the Global Paranormal Coalition has classified it as a low-danger target, and it may be hired for cooperation under special circumstances with payment.】

Behind the document was still a great deal of content, such as the humans the Headless Reindeer knew, the friends it had socialized with, and so on, to help players get close to it.

Unfortunately, because Zhao Zijing's clearance was insufficient, much of this section was blacked out and difficult to read.

A Lv33 paranormal creature.

The four players exchanged glances. This level was enough to be worshipped as a demigod or even a true god by mortals in some scenario worlds. And the key thing was, it could be communicated with.

'Native species should not be bound by the Killing Field's restrictions.'

Midnight Howl wrote carefully: 'The Killing Field issued us radar equipment and assigned this route—could it be hinting that we can gain the Headless Reindeer's help?'

'Possible.'

Li Cheng wrote: 'You stay here. I'll go over and try to make some small talk.'

The database entry mentioned that the Headless Reindeer once had human friends—maybe we share a mutual acquaintance?'

'For example, a powerful figure who likes sitting in a vehicle pulled through the sky by nine-headed transcendent beasts.'

Crimson Driver quickly wrote: 'You don't mean Santa Claus, do you?'

Santa Claus, who delivers gifts on a reindeer sled, is fictional. The Headless Reindeer won't mistake itself for a reindeer just because it looks like one.

'What Santa Claus?'

Li Cheng said, baffled: 'I meant the bronze coffin pulled by nine five-clawed black dragons.'

?

The hell do you mean nine-headed transcendent beasts are the nine dragons pulling the coffin? Do you know Ye Fan? Do you think I haven't read 'Zhe Tian' and 'Perfect World'?

The driver's expression was utterly exasperated; Zhao Zijing nearly lost her composure as she watched Li Cheng rise from his seat and walk toward the front of the carriage.

To activate his Mechanic's spellcasting ability, Li Cheng's 3D warehouse was packed with all sorts of bizarre items, including fishing gear.

He first prepared the 【Emergency Escape Card】 as a contingency,

then put on a different-style Arc'teryx shell jacket and a sun hat, picked up a high-end fishing rod, walked to the front row of the carriage, sat down in the same row as the Headless Reindeer—across the aisle—and opened a fishing magazine to read.

Midnight Howl stared in disbelief and wrote: 'This guy's backpack slot must be ridiculously spacious—he's got everything.'

'You'll get used to it,' Crimson Driver replied with a helpless glance, continuing to observe Li Cheng's actions.

The sound of Li Cheng turning the pages soon caught the Headless Reindeer's attention.

It stopped eating (its lunchbox contained the rotted spine of some animal), turned its six eyes toward Li Cheng, then fixated on the fishing rod beside his seat, and couldn't help asking, gripping his knife and fork: 'Is this a sea fishing rod?'

As the database stated, the Reindeer possessed control over sound waves, emitting human speech directly through air vibrations.

The voice was unexpectedly young, like that of a youth.

'Yes,' Li Cheng put down the magazine and nodded with a smile.

In his personal attribute panel, the trait 【Barbecue Enthusiast】 had reduced his Charm by one point; activating the temporary skill 【Misleading Flattery】 added one point back, restoring it to 6—barely a minor handsome level.

Charm wasn't determined solely by appearance, but rather a composite of temperament, personality, ability, moral character, speech, and conduct.

A transcendent with high Charm could cover his face with cloth and still make others feel as if bathed in spring breeze, merely by speaking.

This gave rise to a build style called the Charm Stream, where players persuaded or seduced script bosses directly through personal charisma.

(On the Killing Field forum's creepypasta board, there was an urban legend called 'Biefeng,' said to have bizarre tastes, especially for animals, and with Zeus-like fertility, single-handedly created over a hundred hybrid races across different script worlds.)

Back to the point: Li Cheng's 6 Charm wasn't high or low—it was at least far from repulsive—and he began normal conversation with the Headless Reindeer.

'Do you also like fishing? What a coincidence—I do too.'

'My boss fired me for fishing; my wife divorced me for fishing; I gave away my kids for fishing. My peak record: five catfish, six crucian carp, seven catfish, eight grass carp, five eels, and two floating corpses in one night.'

'This fishing rod? Oh, don't even get me started—it's the latest generation on the market, high-strength cut carbon fabric, one-piece carbon fiber handle, anti-fouling, waterproof coating.'

Adapting speech to the listener, adapting behavior to the creature—in less than twenty minutes, Li Cheng had become close friends with the Headless Reindeer, and generously gifted him the ten-thousand-credit carbon fiber sea fishing rod.

In return, the Headless Reindeer pulled a grotesque strange fish from a metal bucket and insisted on giving it to Li Cheng as a gift.

Midnight Howl and the others watched their companion chatting merrily with the Reindeer monster, unsure what expression to wear.

'Sigh, it's not easy being a headless Reindeer these days. I only like freshly hunted transcendent beast corpses—but the ones too strong, I can't beat; the ones too weak, I don't eat. Finally, I find one with comparable strength—and it's a herd animal. Still can't beat it.'

The Reindeer monster raised the fishing rod and sighed deeply: 'Fishing is the only thing that calms me.'

'Fishing is perfect for cultivating one's spirit. By the way, Uncle Reindeer,'

Li Cheng asked thoughtfully: 'I've never ridden this train before—I don't know the rules. Who built it? Where does it usually stop? Do passengers need tickets?'

'You've asked the right person.'

The Headless Reindeer's personality was actually quite easygoing, and he said casually: 'There are many things most humans don't know.'

In fact, a considerable number of beings in the Killing Field possess intelligence—but your human logic simply cannot comprehend or communicate with them.'

I gained self-awareness four years ago and made friends with many local creatures. According to them, this train has existed for at least two hundred years, and no one knows who built it.'

It appears in two ways: first, it shuttles between fixed stations.'

Second, if a passenger stands on a platform with a strong desire to travel, the train suddenly appears, picks them up, and delivers them to the nearest station to their intended destination.'

Li Cheng understood: fixed shuttle routes, plus random response.

The entire player population amounted to just one Loushi Street—compared to the Killing Field's entities, they were but a drop in the ocean.

Even fewer transcendent beings stayed in the Killing Field daily, let alone had the courage and strength to explore beyond—no wonder no forum posts mentioned this train.

Of course, someone might have discovered the train's wonders and deliberately hidden the secret.

The Headless Reindeer continued: 'The first mode of travel doesn't require tickets and moves relatively slowly. The second responds faster, but passengers must pay a price—perhaps a limb, a memory, an emotion, or even a portion of their personality.'

It depends on the train's distance and its own mood at the time.'

Wuuu—

The locomotive's whistle sounded again; the train emerged from beneath the seabed rock layers and abruptly arrived beside a wide asphalt road.

Grass grew thick on both sides of the road, taller than a person, lush and swaying in the moonlight.

The blue arrow on the players' radar devices immediately shifted, pointing toward the eight o'clock direction of the road—meaning the mission target was nearby.

Zhao Zijing and the others picked up batteries and radar devices, stood up, and exited through the rear door. Li Cheng also rose to bid farewell to the Headless Reindeer.

'I've never been here before. Too bad I still have to keep riding to the next fishing spot—I'd have loved to explore this place with you.'

The Headless Reindeer sighed regretfully, then pulled a business card from his coat pocket and handed it to Li Cheng warmly: 'Here's my phone number. If you ever find a great fishing spot in the Killing Field, give me a call.'

Wuuu—

Listening to the whistle, watching the train speed away again, Midnight Howl sighed sadly: 'Too bad we couldn't get it to stay and help us complete the mission.'

"It's not too much of a loss — at least we picked up some intel, like the fact that this little patch is absolutely safe."

Li Cheng took out a piece of white chalk and roughly drew a rectangle on the asphalt road.

The asphalt in this area was slightly lighter in color; without looking closely you couldn't tell at all — it was probably the train's fixed platform.

In a Killing Ground, there's an unwritten rule: the mysterious yields to a higher-grade mysterious.

The Nameless Train can travel freely through Killing Grounds, its mysterious rating is absurdly high, so the area around its platform is very likely free of danger and can be treated as a safe zone.

The gale howled. Li Cheng suddenly whipped his head around and asked, frowning, "Did you guys hear something just now?"

"Hear what?"

It wasn't just the Crimson Rider who hadn't heard it — even Midnight Howl, whose senses were sharper than the others, looked confused.

"Nothing — I probably misheard."

Li Cheng pushed down his doubt. Just now, in the wind, he had faintly caught a cry for help that felt unusually familiar.

A cry for help from the Crimson Rider.

(End of chapter)