Suddenly, a loud “clang” came from beneath their feet, and everyone staggered. The speed of the Yehai No. 7 abruptly slowed down and then came to a complete stop.
Pei Ran could guess why.
Under the new wave of text-based attacks, some remaining text on the train’s components had been burned and damaged.
There was also a commotion in the neighboring carriage, with a series of crackling noises.
Pei Ran turned her head.
In the middle of the aisle of Carriage No. 4, a young man was frantically jumping and stomping his feet. The sound of his shoes hitting the carriage floor was like tap dancing.
What he was desperately trying to get rid of was a small flame that had sprung up on the back collar of his clothes.
After jumping around for a while, he suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly stripped off his jacket, throwing it to the ground.
But immediately after, the collar of his sweater and the waistband of his pants also caught fire.
He frantically tore off his sweater, slapped at his waistband, and rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames.
People around him quickly took off their clothes and joined in to beat out the flames.
The elderly couple who communicated using pictographs also came over. The old woman was carrying a large water bottle. She unscrewed the lid and poured the water all over the young man.
The water was poured just in time, and the fire was finally put out.
“Labels,” Pei Ran said to W.
The fire had started at the location of the labels on his clothes. The Federation had already issued a warning earlier, but some people still hadn’t removed the labels from their clothes in time.
If there was one such person, there were definitely more.
Although the body of the Yehai No. 7 was entirely made of metal, the seat covers were all fabric. If they caught fire, it would be a major problem.
Pei Ran immediately turned back.
Sure enough, in Carriage No. 3, a neatly dressed middle-aged woman was frantically pulling items out of her burning briefcase.
The fire had started with the documents, which looked like contracts, stacked one after another. The flames grew fiercer, rising half a foot high.
Besides the documents, there was also a small black square box, about the size of a palm. It looked like the small black block on a wristband, but larger. It was probably another device capable of projecting a virtual screen. Some internal components with text on them were now spouting flames.
Pei Ran rushed over in a few large strides, snatched the briefcase from the woman’s hands, opened the window, and threw the burning briefcase, along with its contents, out of the train.
The bag and its contents tumbled on the roadbed outside, and as the cold wind blew, they burst into a large ball of fire.
The middle-aged woman stared blankly at the fireball outside, unable to snap out of her daze.
Even at a time like this, there were still people clinging to material possessions, unable to let go.
Further ahead was Carriage No. 2. Before even entering, shouts could be heard:
“It’s on fire!!”
“It’s on fire!! Help!!”
It was Nuomituan, standing on its owner’s shoulder, panicking and flapping its wings incessantly.
The entire carriage was filled with thick smoke. The seats were on fire. Sheng Mingxi, Tang Dao, and a large group of people were gathered together, beating at the flames. They frantically tore off the burning seat covers, and Pei Ran went over to help them open the window, throwing the seat covers out through it.
The plastic seat surfaces were still spouting flames, and several people jumped on them, stomping wildly.
The fire was finally completely extinguished. Everyone collapsed onto the seats, exhausted.
Jin Hejun was still lying on a seat not far away.
He had taken his medicine, but he was still in pain, curled up into a ball, clutching his head with both hands. His face was pale, and he was biting his lips hard, afraid he might accidentally cry out.
Pei Ran had no other way to help him with the pain, so she continued forward.
Carriage No. 1, however, was not on fire. Engineer Jiang was not in his seat and had likely gone further ahead. Pei Ran pushed open the door to the driver’s cabin.
The driver’s cabin was also empty, with the door wide open. Ai Xia stood in front of the train’s head.
Both she and Engineer Jiang were outside, and Engineer Jiang had crawled under the train’s head again.
Pei Ran set down her backpack, carrying only the metal sphere, and got off the train.
Ai Xia looked deeply worried. When she saw Pei Ran getting off, she began frantically tapping her fingers again.
Having seen it so many times, Pei Ran had mostly figured out her gesture system.
Each joint of her fingers likely corresponded to a letter. Tapping different joints would spell out the pronunciation of words using letters, forming sentences. This symbol system was simpler and easier to learn than Morse code, but one had to memorize the corresponding letter positions on the joints.
Fortunately, Pei Ran had her powerful assistant with her.
Pei Ran: “W, I think each joint of her fingers corresponds to a letter. Generally, a specific joint on the thumb or pinky should represent the letter A, arranged in a zigzag or bow pattern. But I don’t know the exact arrangement. Can you help me figure it out?”
W replied: “Of course, no problem.”
He only needed to iterate through every possible arrangement to see which decoding method would make Ai Xia’s sentence meaningful.
In less than a second, W spoke up: “The first joint of her right pinky finger is A. The letters are arranged from top to bottom on each finger. The sentence she just said was: ‘Grandma tried her best to remove the text from the components while repairing the train earlier, but there are still some that slipped through.'”
It seemed the train would need more time to repair.
It was already dark, and the train had stopped in the middle of a vast, flat wilderness. There were no fusion entities or any buildings around.
The wind was cool, and the air was fresh. After the terrifying incident when the train had stopped earlier, none of the passengers dared to get off again. They all stayed on the train, at most opening the windows for some air.
The Yehai No. 7 lay dormant on the tracks like a resting animal.
Ai Xia lit up her wristband screen and moved closer to provide light for her grandmother.
Someone turned on the lights, and the carriages lit up one by one. The train was the only source of light in the dark wilderness. A stationary, lit-up train wasn’t safe, and Pei Ran hoped it would be repaired quickly.
Leaving Ai Xia and Engineer Jiang alone outside made Pei Ran uneasy, so she leaned against the train’s head and chatted with W.
She asked, “Did you scan the passengers and find anyone suspicious?”
W replied, “Actually, yes.”
Pei Ran: “Oh?”
W said, “There are currently forty-seven people on the train. One just died, so forty-six remain. I’ve gathered as much information as possible about these passengers from various federal databases, including their names, birthdates, education, professions, and work histories. Only one person’s background has any connection to hypnosis.”
He continued, “It’s the girl with the parrot.”
This was unexpected for Pei Ran.
“The girl’s name is Inaya Ganguly, twenty-two years old. Since dropping out of high school at sixteen, she’s been working as a waitress at a café in Yehai City. Her personal history seems unrelated to hypnosis, but in a document collected by the Security Department, I found her name—she’s been attending an unlicensed hypnosis workshop almost every week for the past two years, illegally learning hypnosis with a small group.”
Pei Ran: Your federation really has a lot of illegal activities.
Finding someone who knows hypnosis so easily made Pei Ran a bit skeptical.
“If this were a novel,” Pei Ran said, “this Inaya, who’s studied hypnosis, would definitely be a red herring to distract the readers. The real culprit wouldn’t be revealed until the final chapter, and it certainly wouldn’t be her. It would be the most unexpected person.”
W: “The most unexpected person?”
“Mm,” Pei Ran said, “The most unexpected person, like Tang Dao who knows Morse code, Sheng Mingxi from a wealthy family, or the elderly couple who write in pictographs…”
Pei Ran continued, “…or the most unexpected bird, Inaya’s parrot.”
W was a bit speechless: “Can a parrot even become a fusion entity?”
Pei Ran replied cautiously, “Who knows?”
She kept pondering: “That little parrot, Nuomituan, follows its owner to the workshop every day. One day, after absorbing the green light, it becomes a fused entity, its intelligence skyrockets, and it learns hypnosis too. During the Yehai fire today, it wanted to help its owner escape, so it used hypnosis to control others, making them test how to get past the gate.”
W fell silent, “Isn’t that a bit too far-fetched?”
Pei Ran retorted, “Is it really unreasonable?”
W: “Well, not exactly.”
Pei Ran went on: “Inaya didn’t plan to get off at the last stop, right? So Nuomituan came up with a way to keep more passengers on the train to accompany its owner. There might be dangers ahead, and these passengers could act as shields or sacrifices if necessary. See? The logic is smooth.”
W remained silent, protesting her logic.
Pei Ran: “But I’m more inclined to think that the culprit isn’t Nuomituan, but Yulianka, who’s been trying so hard to win everyone’s favor—helping the elderly onto the train, handing out meal boxes to everyone. Her persona is a bit too perfect. In novels, it’s always people like her who are the most suspicious.”
W paused, “I haven’t read many novels…”
Pei Ran: “Then you should read more. They’re quite interesting, especially mystery novels, the kind where you have to find the culprit.”
W said, “While I agree with your skepticism toward Yulianka, who’s been trying so hard to win your favor, I think reality isn’t like a novel. Inaya, who has systematically studied hypnosis, should logically be the primary suspect.”
His sentence was convoluted and fast, as if something strange had slipped by in a flash.
Tang Dao suddenly poked his head out of the train door, holding a few aluminum foil meal boxes.
He handed one to Pei Ran and the others, each with a disposable spoon. It seemed Yulianka had indeed distributed the meals.
Pei Ran slung the metal sphere across her body, leaned against the train’s head, and opened the meal box.
It was chicken rice, with chicken pieces on top of the rice, drizzled with sauce. It had been heated earlier and was still warm. Pei Ran scooped a spoonful and put it in her mouth.
W chatted with her: “Fast food on trains usually doesn’t taste very good.”
Nonsense. It’s not like he’s ever eaten anything—he doesn’t even have a mouth, let alone taste buds.
The fast food was actually delicious.
Ai Xia, sitting beside her, also opened her meal box. She glanced up and noticed Pei Ran eating quickly—half the chicken rice was already gone. Without hesitation, she moved her own meal box closer and started scooping her chicken into Pei Ran’s box.
Pei Ran immediately blocked her hand—if she kept giving, Ai Xia wouldn’t have anything left to eat.
Ai Xia insisted stubbornly, while Pei Ran dodged left and right, equally stubborn. The two of them faced off for a while, and then suddenly, they both burst into silent laughter.
W watched them quietly, then suddenly spoke up in Pei Ran’s ear: “Pei Ran, we’re friends, right?”
Pei Ran glanced down at the metal sphere.
It sat obediently at her waist, unmoving. In the dim light, the cracks faintly revealed the blue glow of its core processor.
He was an artificial intelligence, almost identical to the things in the bunker world that killed and burned.
Pei Ran paused before answering, “Yes. We’re friends.”
W said, “Then let me ask you a question—just casually, like how people sometimes chat about meaningless things to pass the time.”
Who knows what he was about to ask, needing such a long preamble.
Pei Ran took another bite of chicken rice: “Go ahead.”
“If Ai Xia is your friend, and I’m also your friend, hypothetically, if both of us fell into the water, who would you save first?”
Pei Ran: Huh???
Wasn’t this usually about choosing between saving your mom or your wife?
Pei Ran answered honestly, “I wouldn’t be able to save either of you because I can’t swim.”
Kids who grew up in the bunker had hardly ever seen large bodies of water, so of course, she couldn’t swim.
W fell silent.
He quickly rephrased the question: “What if Ai Xia and I were both trapped in a burning room? Who would you save first?”
“Obviously, Ai Xia,” Pei Ran replied without hesitation this time. “You have a metal shell, so you’d last longer. Besides, you’re not affected by smoke or toxic gas. You can wait a bit.”
W: “…”
Ai Xia, leaning nearby and eating her meal, was completely unaware that she had just been through hypothetical water and fire. She suddenly nudged Pei Ran with her elbow and pointed her spoon at the horizon.
Far on the horizon, there was a faintly glowing shape, curved like a dim lamp.
Pei Ran glanced at it, then looked again, and suddenly realized what it was—
The moon.
A crescent moon hiding behind the thin haze of the night sky.
This was a place where you could look up and see stars and the moon. Since arriving in this world, this was the first time Pei Ran had seen the moon.
She tilted her head, searching the sky, but the haze was too thick—no stars were visible. Still, having the moon was already a blessing.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t share this excitement with anyone.
Pei Ran silently scooped another spoonful of chicken rice and swallowed it with the crescent moon in view.
Sitting in the wilderness, leaning against the train with friends, basking in the moonlight, and eating delicious chicken rice—this was an experience unlike anything she’d ever had before.
Finally, Engineer Jiang crawled out from under the train, a strand of silver-white hair falling over her forehead.
Ai Xia handed her the meal box, but she shook her head, brushing the hair aside with the back of her hand. She smiled at the two girls and made a circular motion with her hands, then positioned her elbow at the center and rotated her forearm like a clock hand. From Pei Ran’s perspective, it moved clockwise.
Her gesture was easy to understand—it could be fixed, and it would take about half an hour.
Pei Ran felt much more at ease.
The crescent moon rose higher and higher, eventually hanging above the black silhouette of a nearby tree branch. By then, Engineer Jiang finally straightened up and gave a thumbs-up.
They were ready to go.
The three of them returned to the train, and Engineer Jiang pulled the lever on the control panel.
The train slowly started moving again.
Just as it began to pick up speed, the door to the driver’s cabin was pushed open in a panic. It was Sheng Mingxi and two other classmates.
Sheng Mingxi looked frantic, gesturing to Pei Ran by mimicking digging at her eyes, then bending over as if in pain, lying down, and wrapping her eyes with imaginary bandages.
She was talking about Jin Hejun.
Sheng Mingxi then pointed to herself, pretending to walk, and suddenly looked down at something at seat height, her face showing surprise.
She mimed walking around, looking everywhere, as if searching for something.
As expected of the drama club president, her expressions and body language were spot on. Pei Ran understood: Jin Hejun was missing.
The train only had a few carriages, and no one had been seen getting off earlier. It was unlikely he couldn’t be found. Pei Ran asked Engineer Jiang and Ai Xia to keep driving while she followed Sheng Mingxi and the others to the back.
On the way, they ran into Tang Dao.
Sheng Mingxi grabbed Tang Dao and repeated the series of gestures for him.
Tang Dao quickly understood and tapped out a series of Morse code on the small table beside him.
He was saying: Jin Hejun was taken by the doctor.
The only obvious doctor on the train was Yulianka, the one in the white coat.