Chapter 200: The Train Is Coming

The sky became impossibly clear, as if a thin veil had been lifted away.

"Where is this?"

On the left arm of the Y-shaped pipe, the fallen Midnight Howl staggered to his feet, staring blankly at his own hands.

"Huh?"

Li Cheng glanced at him; as the pipe's gate closed and the temporal currents ceased leaking, the broken Mí Suǒ appeared to have reset Midnight Howl back to a specific time node.

"How am I still alive?"

Like Li Cheng, Midnight Howl had experienced both Cycle A and Cycle B: Cycle A ended with Cliff killing him instantly upon meeting, Cycle B ended with him being brainwashed by Silver Mercury—and then killed by the Li Cheng of Cycle B.

Two utterly contradictory memories of death surfaced simultaneously in Midnight Howl's mind; his head throbbed with unbearable pain, and he groaned in agony.

"Are you okay? Headache?"

Grey Rain kindly handed him a heavy iron sledgehammer used for demolition work. "Here."

Midnight Howl froze. "What is this?"

"A remedy for headaches," Grey Rain said solemnly. "When I get a headache from reading, I just smash my forehead a few times with this hammer—it instantly stops hurting."

It's not just the headache that's in question—whether your head is still attached is another matter entirely!

Midnight Howl's eyelid twitched; he quickly declined.

Swish, swish.

More rustling came from the grass—not only Midnight Howl, but also the dead Crimson Racer, the Bandage Man, and even Cliff and others, had been revived by the temporal currents and now stood dazed, staring around.

All restrictions in this place had been broken; the grassland's area had shrunk by more than tenfold and no longer caused disorientation.

If they could all be revived, then the mastermind behind this mission, the root of it all—

"Ahh—"

From deep within the grass, Silver Mercury let out a furious growl; his face appeared like a 3D projection high above, looking down coldly at Li Cheng standing in the clearing.

His left half remained in desiccated corpse state; his right half was slightly swollen, showing the flesh tone of a normal human face—as if resurrection had been halfway completed and abruptly interrupted.

"It was you," Silver Mercury spat with venomous hatred. "You destroyed the Mí Suǒ?!"

Li Cheng replied with unshakable confidence: "What happened to the Mí Suǒ? Everyone knows about the Mí Suǒ. So why was the Mí Suǒ destroyed? Today, your friendly neighborhood editor will take you to find out. The truth is—it was just destroyed. You might ask why, but that's just how it is. Even I'm surprised. Alright, that's the truth behind the Mí Suǒ's destruction."

The freshly revived Crimson Racer nearly stumbled to the ground, instinctively muttering: "That's such an old, tired joke! What year is this?!"

"Mercury Alloy vanished a year ago, and the Bandage Man came from four years in the past—so for them, this joke isn't old or tired yet."

Li Cheng smirked casually. "Silver Mercury, you're probably at Lv15, 16, or 17 now? Still half-alive, at least."

Why don't we go our separate ways?

I won't hold it against you for screwing us over so many times. Don't come after me for revenge."

"Die!"

Silver Mercury's massive phantom surged downward at Li Cheng—he could not let Li Cheng and the others leave. Not only had his resurrection been forcibly interrupted, leaving him half-dead, half-corpse and agonizingly uncomfortable,

if he truly let Li Cheng escape and reveal the truth here to the outside world, Silver Mercury would be utterly disgraced in the Killing Ground for killing his own teammates.

Silver Mercury remained calm: Li Cheng and the others had not yet completed their mission—they could not leave directly.

And Silver Mercury's own combat experience far surpassed these novices, all barely Lv10, plus his mind-enchanted brainwashing abilities—he could kill everyone here in seconds.

Eliminate all witnesses.

"Sigh."

Li Cheng anticipated his reaction, sighed, and calmly raised his palm, snapping his fingers.

Skill: 【Familiar Swap】 activated.

His body vanished instantly, replaced by a paper origami crane.

This origami crane, summoned by magic, could theoretically last no more than two hours.

But precisely because of the Mí Suǒ's nature, every cycle's version of Li Cheng always released his own origami crane.

Tap.

Li Cheng stepped back two paces, reaching the spot he had previously marked with chalk—the designated landing point of the circulating train—and raised his arm, pointing one finger skyward, took a deep breath, and shouted: "The train is coming!"

His voice echoed above the grass.

After a brief pause, the unmistakable clatter of a train engine suddenly sounded; the green-painted train, capable of freely traversing the Killing Ground, burst violently from the void.

"Woo—oo—"

Steam billowed from its chimney as the train slowly settled behind Li Cheng.

Inside the eleventh car, the headless reindeer wearing a Patagonia jacket stared out the window at Li Cheng, puzzled. "Master Pi Fu?"

No time for explanations. Li Cheng cut straight to the point: "Reindeer Brother, I'll treat you to a feast—a half-dead Lv30 transcendental's corpse."

The headless reindeer's own strength was at least equivalent to a Lv33 transcendental, and he adored devouring the corpses of powerful transcendental beings, regardless of decay.

Silver Mercury, an expert in mind-prophetic arts, instinctively sensed danger. He immediately dissolved his phantom, attempting to use the system's logout function to forcibly exit the Killing Ground.

Too late.

Shhh—

The headless reindeer moved at a speed beyond human perception, smashing through countless tall grasses, arriving beside the muddy pit where Silver Mercury's corpse lay. His two front hooves swiftly clamped onto Silver Mercury's shoulders and lifted him up.

"No, no!"

The half-resurrected Silver Mercury screamed in terror, unleashing wave after wave of psychic bombardment.

The reindeer remained utterly unaffected, raising Silver Mercury high above his head.

The reindeer had no head; above the severed neck, a tiny, constantly collapsing black hole materialized out of thin air.

A furious wind howled around them as the reindeer slowly, deliberately, shoved Silver Mercury's entire body into the black hole.

Half a minute later, the headless reindeer turned slowly. Zhao Zijing and the others standing around the muddy pit turned pale, not daring to move.

The reindeer ignored them, waved through the gap he had torn in the grass toward Li Cheng by the roadside, and said: "That was a full meal. Thanks for the feast, Master Pi Fu."

"You're too kind, you're too kind."

Li Cheng let out a breath of relief; in truth, he couldn't be sure the Reindeer would help one hundred percent.

The reason the Reindeer could coexist on friendly terms with a human organization like the Global Occult Coalition was, aside from his own formidable strength and ability to communicate,

more importantly because the Reindeer was very well-behaved, never killing human players just to satisfy his appetite.

But Mithril's state was very strange — the resurrection process had already begun, yet he wasn't fully revived, so the Reindeer eating him didn't violate the agreement with the GOC.

"So full, so full."

The Reindeer contentedly patted his belly. Having just finished the corpse of a Lv30 Transcendent, he had temporarily lost interest in the Bismuth-yellow corpse not far away.

After a friendly chat with Li Cheng, he gave him something as a thank-you gift, then boarded the tour train and departed once more.

The green steam train thundered away. Li Cheng turned around to look at the tall grass that had lost its mystery.

What followed was just some wrap-up work.

(End of chapter)