Su Baiye was willing to play a game of chase with death. You chase me, and if you catch me, I'll... die for you to see!
Listening to Su Baiye's ridiculously arrogant boasts, Fang Lin laughed in anger.
"You have no idea what a Perfect Strategy means!"
He wanted to say more, to fight for his survival, but was cut off by Su Baiye's sharp shout.
"I think you're the one who doesn't get the situation!"
Fang Lin hadn't given up. He still wanted to struggle to survive, but a murderous glint had already appeared in Su Baiye's eyes. A barrage of words, like a hail of bullets, riddled Fang Lin with holes.
"What do you think we're doing? Playing a game? Playing house?"
"I was inexplicably thrown into this godforsaken place. The moment I got on the train, I had to chug a bellyful of water and watch myself die dozens, hundreds of times. Can you even imagine how that feels? I've been bottling up a gutful of rage. I was just about to make it to Carriage No. 3, finally seeing a glimmer of hope, and then I run into you two robbers... Fuck! And you have the nerve to say you're 'kindly' leaving me 200 Points? Am I supposed to thank you for that? Huh? Say something!"
Su Baiye gritted his teeth, roaring with uncontrollable fury.
"What is this damn place, huh? What the hell is this place!"
"Drink the wrong glass of water, you die! Play the wrong card, you die! Yeah, you can be revived after death, but is the me after Revival still me?!"
Hearing Su Baiye's words, Tang Ruyu silently backed away again, pulling Wang Luo behind him to shield him from the fallout.
Su Baiye continued to question him furiously.
"You mug people on the road, but you don't even have the guts to be killed yourself, you bastard!
If I let you go now, you think you won't hold a grudge? What kind of morals do you have? Don't you know yourself?! What kind of place is this? Don't you have any idea?!
Once we leave this carriage, you'll have ten thousand ways to kill me! Right now, I only have one way. Why the hell should I let you off the hook?"
Hearing this, Wang Luo felt his blood boil. Though he seemed like a weakling, it was as if he was hearing his own inner thoughts spoken aloud—someone was saying exactly what he wanted to say, but with the most defiant attitude imaginable...
Wang Luo couldn't help but cheer, "Yes!"
After cheering, Wang Luo looked at Su Baiye and voiced his support, "Baiye, if you really have to spend Points to buy the strategy, I'll help you chip in. I'll give you whatever I can!"
They had no idea what the actual price of a Perfect Strategy was; they could only take Fang Lin's word for it.
But no matter the cost, Wang Luo's stance was clear: he was ready to throw in his 200.
Even if it was his last 200.
It wasn't just Wang Luo; even Tang Ruyu felt that Su Baiye was right!
Back when he was robbed, if his teammates had been as fierce as Su Baiye, he would have been on the sidelines cheering them on, wouldn't he?
But alas, there were no 'what ifs'.
Tang Ruyu asked himself; he could never say something like 'we can clear the stage without a Perfect Strategy.' Su Baiye was indeed an arrogant greenhorn who didn't know his limits, but only a greenhorn like him would have the courage and determination to flip the table on Fang Lin.
Perhaps if there were more people like him, the Lost Train would be a better place.
It's great to be young... The world truly belongs to the young.
Su Baiye's attitude was resolute enough. Fang Lin stopped talking and just kept taking medicine.
The game continued.
Just as he'd said, Fang Lin used up all his consumables and cleared his Point debt, leaving his accounts empty. A scorched-earth policy; he left nothing behind.
His net worth was plummeting. This wasn't a case of burning his bridges; it was an act of pure, spiteful self-destruction.
After drinking his last recovery potion, Fang Lin looked at Su Baiye. There wasn't much hatred in his eyes, only venom.
Even at death's door, he didn't regret his line of work. If he regretted anything... it was that he wasn't strong enough!
If he had been just a little stronger, he would have been the one to have the last laugh!
Fang Lin finally made his decision. He reached out, gripped the Dice of Gambling Madness, and squeezed. The dice actually shattered in his hand!
A red glow burst forth, dyeing the entire space a faint crimson.
Seeing this, Tang Ruyu sighed. "This is... a fight to the death."
The loser would have their 'account deleted' on the Lost Train, dying for good!
From the day he first got the 'Dice of Gambling Madness,' Tang Ruyu knew it had two modes. As it was used more and more, the cracks on it would multiply. Once it shattered completely, it would enter the fight-to-the-death mode.
Of course, one could also trigger it manually, as Fang Lin just did.
He had never imagined that Fang Boss would one day gamble with his life, much less that he himself would be a witness to it.
This was the fall of a legend, and also the prologue to the rise of another!
Fang Lin had no way out.
Losing 8000 Points, he couldn't return to Carriage No. 3 alive. Even if he did, a fate worse than death would await him.
Fang Boss had too many enemies...
Fortunately, Su Baiye would likely be the last.
Having made his decision, Fang Lin began to spoil the strategy.
"The Perfect Strategy for Carriage No. 4 is to block the Crow's line of sight and prevent your body from turning into straw. You need four core items in total. The item [Heart-Guarding Mirror] must be purchased from the Free Market and brought into Carriage No. 4 to prevent your torso from turning to straw..."
"The Scarecrow Hat is sealed in the deepest part of the Scarecrow's maze. Enter the maze from the south entrance. The sequence is left, right, left, left, right, right, left. After getting the Scarecrow Hat, you must wear it backwards. The sequence to leave the maze is to head north and always choose the right path at every fork..."
"The Lion King Armor can protect your limbs from turning to straw, but obtaining it will damage your chest, which is why you need the Heart-Guarding Mirror..."
"You must steal the Scarecrow's Scythe. Otherwise, when you try to escape, the Scarecrow will chase you down and kill you with it..."
"..."
Fang Lin had an excellent memory. The complete strategy was nearly ten thousand words long, and he now recited it slowly.
If there was anything Su Baiye didn't hear clearly, he would even make Fang Lin repeat it for confirmation.
Fang Lin: ...Am I being too accommodating?
Su Baiye was very strict. "Be serious! A strategy is no joking matter!"
Even if you're spoiling it, show some professional attitude! You've got to love the job you do, you know?
Tang Ruyu reminded him that he absolutely could not write down the spoiled Perfect Strategy. Leaving textual evidence would be irrefutable proof. Su Baiye was a little disappointed, but he had no choice but to commit it to memory.
Ten thousand words isn't a huge amount, but it's not small either. The time it took to say all this, however, was the last moments of Fang Lin's life.
He could feel Su Baiye's expression growing more and more solemn. He spoke less and less, and even his posture became ramrod straight...
Fang Lin understood Su Baiye's mood perfectly. He saw himself as a respectable opponent, and even in his final moments, such an opponent deserved to be shown respect.
Tang Ruyu also understood Su Baiye's mood perfectly. After all, he had witnessed it once before.
Su Baiye felt that no one could possibly understand his current state of mind. Who could understand the feeling of having drunk more than a dozen glasses of water and being unable to find a toilet!
Yes, Su Baiye was about to lose control again...
Su Baiye wailed internally, "Is he done with the strategy yet...? I need to go to the bathroom..."
Su Baiye's expression was somewhat contorted.
Carriage No. 3 has a bathroom... As soon as I get there... everything... will be... alright...
Under Su Baiye's solemn gaze, Fang Lin spoke the last word of the strategy and, at the same time, met the end of this round of the game.
A pair of scissors pierced through his chest, and the life faded from him. But it wasn't over. The gamble would continue until all his assets were lost.
The moment Fang Lin died, Su Baiye shouted, "Turn around!"
Wang Luo was still dazed, but Tang Ruyu had already turned around, even helping Wang Luo turn as well.
He knew what Su Baiye was about to do, and he knew that turning around was a way to preserve a shred of dignity for everyone involved.
What else could they do, stand and watch with a formal salute?
"Shhhh—"
From behind Wang Luo, the gushing sound of flowing water could be heard.
Huh?
Wang Luo's expression was a picture, difficult to describe with words.
No way...
By the time Su Baiye finished relieving himself, Fang Lin had revived.
Fang Lin frowned, sensing that something was amiss. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the image of Su Baiye hastily pulling up his pants and walking away...
What happened?
Discovering the truth, Fang Lin was both shocked and furious. "Su Baiye! What did you do!"
Su Baiye waved his hand dismissively and explained, "Nature calls. You should be more understanding. You're the one who illegally detained me here, so what's wrong with taking a piss? I haven't even asked you for penalty Points yet!"
Su Baiye was highly aggressive, retorting angrily, "If it were you, you wouldn't have been able to hold it this long!"
Fang Lin demanded, "Then couldn't you have done it on your own side?"
"Have some decency!"
Su Baiye argued righteously, how could he possibly urinate on his own side!
A rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its own burrow, and a person shouldn't piss near their own nest!
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Fang Lin was so enraged he couldn't catch his breath and nearly fainted.
Fortunately, the Lost Train deducted another Point from Su Baiye and instantly cleaned the area, making the corpse on the ground disappear along with it.
A second bloom. In the time it took to take a piss, he'd lost half his life again.
"Round two. My turn to place a bet."
Without any hesitation, Su Baiye went all in.
His initial 2000 Points, Tang Ruyu's 1000 Points, items worth 2000 Points, and the 2000 Points Fang Lin had lost to him... added up to a total of 7000 Points!
Fang Lin no longer had that many Points to his name.
He had to go all in, in a gamble he was guaranteed to lose!
Fang Lin looked at the 7000-Point bet and gave a bleak smile. Only at this moment was he certain that he was utterly doomed...
Fang Lin no longer cared about what happened next.
Like a walking corpse, he went through the final motions.
Play a card, lose, get injured.
Play a card, draw.
Play a card, lose...
When the final rag fell, Fang Lin paid no attention to the process of his own death. He was lost in the montage of his life flashing before his eyes. Since entering the Lost Train, his unscrupulous life had been smooth sailing, until he met Su Baiye. First, he lost 2000, then 7000...
But a strange thought suddenly popped into Fang Lin's mind. "7000? How could it be 7000?"
"A rookie gets 1000 Points, Tang Ruyu's net worth is 3000 Points, I lost 2000 Points... Wang Luo's Points are with me too. How could Su Baiye have 7000 Points?"
Fang Lin suddenly looked up at Su Baiye, his eyes filled with shock.
He had guessed a certain possibility!
"Su Baiye... cleared the Challenge Task for Carriage No. 1!"
"How is that possible!"
"No! That's the only possibility!"
In Fang Lin's shocked eyes, the hope for survival was rekindled!
That idiot Tang Ruyu had no idea what it meant for a rookie to complete the Challenge Task in Carriage No. 1, but Fang Lin knew!
Players like that needed to be closely monitored. If necessary, they were even to be sent to the higher-ups, handed over to the truly important figures!
Finding such a Player was, in fact, Fang Lin's hidden mission!
Fang Lin subconsciously tried to use his Pass to leave, only to find it had been included in the bet and was unusable.
The private chat channel... included in the bet, unusable!
What about my consumables? Save me! I don't want to die! I can't die! I can still live! I still have a chance to live!
The dying Fang Lin was like a drowning man who had just managed to grasp a life-saving straw, only to watch it drift away. And all of this was his own doing!
This huge reversal of fortune nearly broke him. The dual torment of body and mind drove him completely mad.
"As long as I can get this information out, I can live! I'm still valuable! I can still live!"
"I have to get the message out, get it out..."
The next moment, the rag fell. Flesh rotted and bones melted. Fang Lin's brain stopped thinking, his thoughts frozen forever in that instant.
Fang Boss, who had made a notorious name for himself sweeping through Carriage No. 2, had his life's curtain fall. He was left with only one final thought:
"I have to get the message out..."