◎ Temporary Blindness, Second Phase of Internship, Lasting Ten Days ◎
There’s actually another intern train conductor! And they’ve come to Spring City!
Jiang Qi was stunned.
Judging from what the other person said, he must have forcibly brought a newbie into Spring City and the previous dungeon.
So this fellow’s collection of corpses is for himself, and he even controls many players, who are scattered all over Spring City!
Jiang Qi: “…”
Alright, she couldn’t keep staring anymore.
Because she realized she was blind.
Everything before her was pitch black; she couldn’t see a thing.
Jiang Qi: !!!
She panicked for a moment, but quickly realized that this was due to overusing her abilities. She had finally blinded herself—but it was only temporary, and her vision would recover eventually.
She gripped her internship medal tightly, trying to draw more energy from it and quietly calm herself.
To Wang Minxing and the others, it just looked like she was staring blankly ahead.
“Team Leader Jiang?” Wang Minxing waited for a long moment, then cautiously called out.
At the command center, Zhang Zhengtian noticed the lack of movement on the other end and asked with concern, “What’s wrong, Xiao Jiang?”
Jiang Qi blinked, found her voice, and said, “Um, Commander Zhang, I tracked the target, and they went to see someone else. I also made a fairly important discovery that may require me to return to the command center to report to you in person.”
“Alright, come back immediately,” Zhang Zhengtian said, not asking further over the phone.
Jiang Qi added, “Stop all operations in the Xingqing District; don’t pursue the target any further. That person isn’t someone we can catch.”
Zhang Zhengtian paused, then said, “Alright, we’ll go over the details once you return.”
In the night, the modified vehicle Jiang Qi was in, along with the surrounding escort vehicles, turned around and left just as they were about to enter Xingqing District.
On the rooftop of a hospital at the edge of Xingqing District, a cloaked figure stood in the wind, blending completely with the night.
He looked at the frozen city and waited for a while, but nothing happened—no one appeared.
He frowned slightly.
Earlier, he had deliberately opened all his sensory defenses. If anyone had tampered with him, the previous conversation in the clinic should have already been intercepted by someone behind the scenes.
Yet nothing happened.
Could he have guessed wrong?
…
More than two hours later, Jiang Qi finally returned to the command center, having switched vehicles twice along the way.
Once because a car part was deformed by the cold and broke down midway, and another time to switch to a smaller, less conspicuous vehicle.
This was still relatively close to Xingqing District; otherwise, just traveling would have taken much longer.
The vehicle stopped in the underground parking lot. Wearing large sunglasses, Jiang Qi got out, greeted by Li Yue: “Team Leader Jiang, the original passage was blocked due to low-temperature access control failure. We need to take a new route into the command center.”
Jiang Qi nodded and reached out: “Oh, then help me walk.”
Li Yue: ?
Jiang Qi calmly said, “It’s nothing—my eyes just can’t see very well right now.”
Li Yue almost knelt, quickly turning to Wang Minxing and the others with wide eyes: How could you not report something this important?!
Wang Minxing and the others were stunned—they didn’t know!
They hadn’t noticed anything unusual during the journey.
Although it seemed odd that Team Leader Jiang wore sunglasses, maybe she just wanted to shield her bloodshot eyes—who would have guessed she was blind!
Ten minutes later, Jiang Qi was sitting in a warm medical room, letting the doctor examine her eyes.
Zhang Zhengtian paced nearby, nearly enraged: “You said you could handle it! Your ‘handling it’ got you like this!”
Jiang Qi rested her chin on the slit lamp’s chinrest, forehead against the headrest, eyes wide open under the light, quietly defending herself: “Um, it’s only temporary. I’ve gone blind before too.”
“Before, it was just a skill test gone wrong, a transient blindness. But this time… how long has it been? You haven’t recovered yet, and you didn’t say a word the whole way. Wang Minxing and the others didn’t notice anything at all. You really played it well!”
Jiang Qi remained silent.
“So if you recovered within these two hours, you just wouldn’t mention it at all?”
Jiang Qi: “…”
That was exactly her plan—but two hours had passed and her vision still hadn’t returned.
Zhang Zhengtian was nearly furious!
The doctor finished the examination: “Currently, there is no structural damage in either eye. The cause of blindness is unknown. A more detailed examination would require more precise instruments.”
Jiang Qi waved her hand: “No need for further checks. It’ll recover soon—I know it. Um, could you pour me a glass of water?”
She was thirsty.
Zhang Zhengtian personally poured her a glass of hot water. Seeing her listless, red eyes, obediently holding the cup, he couldn’t bring himself to scold her further and turned to admonish Dong Shengfeng: “Your player identity is adapted enough now. From now on, don’t leave Jiang Qi’s side for even a step!”
Dong Shengfeng stood at attention, “Yes, Commander!”
Jiang Qi said, “Even if she’s next to me, it won’t help. Whatever I need to do, she can neither persuade nor stop me.”
“You actually have the nerve to say that!”
Jiang Qi chuckled, “Opportunities won’t wait. Without this adventure, how could I have discovered such a big secret?”
She then grew serious: “Commander Zhang, notify everyone to hold a meeting. I have something very important to announce.”
…
In the conference room, Jiang Qi first recounted everything that had happened that day and what she had gained from it. She then reported the completion of the first phase of her internship and, finally, relayed word for word what she had overheard the doctor say.
“At that time, I not only saw the scenes but also heard the sounds—there’s absolutely no mistake. Although I never met the person face to face, I seem to be particularly sensitive to the presence of my own kind. I am certain that he is an intern train conductor.
“He was collecting the corpses for himself, and what he intended to do in the Xingqing District on the last day remains unknown, but it certainly wasn’t anything good.”
As expected, everyone present was shocked.
After the shock came worry and excitement.
The excitement, on the other hand, came from one reason only: a perfect scapegoat had appeared out of nowhere.
The excitement, on the other hand, came from one reason only: a perfect scapegoat had appeared out of nowhere.
“So, this intern conductor and his subordinate aren’t genuine new players. They must have used some means to infiltrate the Cunning Snake’s train and even entered two dungeons consecutively.”
An expert spoke excitedly, “From this perspective, the two of them are anomalies. As long as anomalies exist, any unreasonable aspects of Spring City as a dungeon can be attributed to this anomaly.”
Why were there so few corpses?
One reason is that in a civilized city, corpses were burned promptly. The other reason is that this intern conductor took them—most importantly, he actually did it.
Why were the players in this dungeon so thoroughly suppressed, almost all struggling miserably?
Because this intern conductor existed. He wanted to replace the Cunning Snake, so naturally, he suppressed the players under the Cunning Snake to maximize his own benefit.
Similarly, even if in the end the overall casualty rate of Spring City’s residents was unusually low—as if it had been anticipated—it could still be attributed to this person.
Because by suppressing the players, the NPCs naturally benefited.
In short, all unreasonable, abnormal, or shouldn’t-have-happened situations could be blamed on him.
Even after the Spring City dungeon ended, their nation would certainly want to reveal some things to the world. Previously, they were worried about disclosing the dungeon or the train survival game, as it wasn’t something the dungeon’s natives should know.
But now the situation was different; they might actually be able to appropriately reveal some insider information.
And who was the source of this information? Naturally, it was this intern conductor.
He got arrogant, his sense of superiority was too strong, he wasn’t careful with his words, and he said things he shouldn’t have—that’s perfectly normal, isn’t it?
The expert became more and more excited, even slapping the table in delight.
Others followed suit, becoming happy and offering suggestions.
“Then we need to find a way to kill him, leaving no evidence, but of course, expose his intern conductor identity before he dies.”
Jiang Qi listened as everyone spoke one after another. Though she couldn’t see them, she could imagine just how pleased they looked.
She scratched her cheek. Wait—was everyone really this optimistic?
She spoke up. “But I think this person cannot die in Spring City.”
The room immediately fell silent, and all eyes turned to her.
Everyone looked extremely serious; naturally, Jiang Qi’s opinion carried more weight than anyone else’s.
One person asked, “Xiao Jiang, why do you say that?”
Jiang Qi replied, “First, killing an intern train conductor is very difficult. To use an analogy, if you tried to kill me right now, I would have countless ways to fight back. Even if I were ultimately defeated, I could still drag many others down with me.”
Although she had only triggered forty projects so far, and only some of them were skills, as long as she was not killed in a single blow, her retaliation would be swift and bloody.
“Second, this intern train conductor is certainly more experienced than I am and has more methods at his disposal. From their conversation, it seems he controls many players and has them spread throughout the entire dungeon. If he were to rally them all, and those players went berserk, could Spring City withstand it?”
Everyone fell silent, frowning, the atmosphere tense.
“Finally, I need him to survive and return to the train to accomplish something more important.”
Everyone was curious about what that could be, but Zhang Zhengtian understood.
He glanced at Jiang Qi and told the group, “As mentioned before, after the dungeon ends, the Cunning Snake will descend upon Spring City. At that time, Xiao Jiang said to me privately that she could, at that moment, activate the Cunning Snake’s train and force the Cunning Snake to abandon Spring City and return immediately.
“But I felt this was too dangerous. Xiao Jiang would hardly escape unharmed in front of the Cunning Snake, and it could even expose all our people, so I rejected the proposal.”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
“So, if that intern conductor can do it instead, it would achieve the same effect, and Xiao Jiang could remain perfectly hidden?”
Jiang Qi nodded, “That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
Previously, she had considered having Wolf Sai do it, but Wolf Sai had no foundation and couldn’t operate the train, so she abandoned the idea.
Now, someone appeared who was far more suitable than Wolf Sai.
The intern conductor’s legitimacy was important—being able to pull off a deception was a bonus.
But the Cunning Snake was the enemy they would have to face directly in ten days. If, in his anger, he simply ignored all of that and retaliated by poisoning Spring City, placing a curse, or releasing some strange creatures…
Therefore, the Cunning Snake was the top priority.
The group pondered, then someone said, “Actually, these two matters don’t conflict. If he activates the train and forces the Cunning Snake to retreat, he effectively exposes his identity to the Cunning Snake, which is even more appropriate than trying to reveal him to the players ourselves.”
This made sense.
Zhang Zhengtian said, “Then the current priorities are, first, to prevent this intern train conductor from making a move on the final day of the dungeon, and second, to ensure that he activates the train as soon as he returns.”
The group began discussing the details.
Jiang Qi felt they could start with the cloaked figure. For one thing, she was still tracking him, so finding him would not be difficult.
Second, she had a strange feeling that this person could cooperate with them.
When he mentioned that the intern train conductor controlled many players, there had been a note of mockery in his tone.
Also, during their conversation, Jiang Qi suddenly shared his hearing and learned the content of the conversation; previously, she could only see blurred images through his eyes.
It felt as if he was deliberately holding back.
These two details caught Jiang Qi’s attention.
Hearing her say this, everyone agreed with her idea.
“Then we start with this cloaked figure,” Zhang Zhengtian said, looking into Jiang Qi’s eyes. “He’s elusive and powerful, and only you can find him. But rest first, recover your sight, and don’t use your abilities until then. We have time; there’s no rush.”
Then, Zhang Zhengtian gave the orders.
Investigate that doctor.
While tracking, Jiang Qi confirmed the hospital and described the doctor’s appearance. With these two clues, pinpointing the target wouldn’t be difficult.
Once the person is found, their social connections should be checked, and their daily activities monitored.
In addition, all shelters are to be sealed off and enter a silent state. On the surface, Xingqing District seems normal, but no more refugees will be sent there. From this moment on, anyone entering Xingqing District must be combat-capable. The troops of Spring City are to be deployed primarily around the district.
Jiang Qi listened silently and finally made two suggestions.
First, all allied players were to lie low and avoid appearing in front of the intern train conductor. She was concerned that he might have the ability to see through false identities.
Moreover, since the intern train conductor controlled many players, and to guard against the possibility that he could share their senses as well, those unknown players also needed to be treated with caution.
Second, release Wolf Sai and help him gain momentum.
A well-known player with a name and an established base of power appearing now would not raise any suspicion and could distract other players. If the intern conductor takes action against him, it would also be a way to test the opponent’s strength and intentions.
Both suggestions were unanimously approved.
…
May 29.
The 20th day since the dungeon began.
2 a.m.
Wolf Sai lay in the corner of the cell, idly tapping the floor with his fingers, silently counting, “Day 20.”
Today, if he could acquire the remaining three talent abilities, he would finally be free—assuming that Lord Yi really kept his word.
He had been captured on the 2nd day of the dungeon, wasting so much time. Only 11 days remained, and he had to use them well. Otherwise, when he returned to the train, he feared he would be demoted.
He, the mighty Shadow Wolf, could not endure such humiliation!
It was all that damned Lord Yi’s fault!
Once he became stronger than the other, he would…
He pondered various revenge plans, then looked at the cell. He didn’t know what material it was made of, but the walls were completely unbreakable. He tried scratching it with his claws many times. After prolonged attempts, the wall emitted a strong electric current, sending tingling shocks through his body.
At that moment, voices came from outside the cell, and the door was opened.
He immediately sat up.
An unfamiliar male player stood at the doorway: “You can go now.”
Wolf Sai was not pleased. He frowned, “Weren’t we supposed to take out three people first?”
The man replied, “We don’t need you. We have other matters to attend to, no time to keep an eye on you.”
His tone was clearly, “Just leave, we don’t need to waste manpower on you.”
Wolf Sai was annoyed—how did it sound as if he were a burden?
Yet he was also curious: what matter could be so important that these people would casually give up three soon-to-be-acquired talent abilities?
It was just a matter of a few extra hours, yet they let him go early.
The male player added, “By the way, Lord Yi said, in recognition of your help in acquiring many talent abilities for us, here’s some information for you.”
He tossed over a few rolled-up sheets of paper.
Wolf Sai unrolled them. It was text from this dungeon, and with the empathic translation function, he could understand it.
It was… the current locations of his subordinates. At least half of the names on it were people he knew!
Additionally, it included details on other players’ distributions.
The last page included a dungeon map. As long as he wasn’t an idiot, he could match personnel to locations on the map.
His eyes widened in surprise. “This… such detailed information, and the map—how did you get this?”
The male player acted as if it were obvious: “Lord Yi can mobilize NPCs to get this information. Is it that hard?”
Wolf Sai fell silent. He’d almost forgotten that Lord Yi had a lot of influence over NPCs.
Information that normal players could never obtain was just a word away for him.
Even so, he couldn’t deny the value of this information—it was like being granted a god’s-eye view. The entire layout of the dungeon unfolded before him, and player positions and movements were fully revealed.
This data could even compensate for the nearly 20 days he had been imprisoned!
Wolf Sai’s breathing grew heavier.
Then he realized: whatever Lord Yi said about using him for his own purposes was likely a lie.
He had already decided to reward him with this information all along.
He felt a mix of emotions—anger at being deceived, but a large part of his resentment was alleviated.
“Alright, let’s go. This place will be shut down soon.”
Wolf Sai got up and left the cell. Everyone here seemed in a rush to move.
He wondered if Lord Yi had gotten into trouble, judging by his subordinates’ anxious looks.
He strained his ears and caught fragments of conversation:
“Daring to kill one of our people…”
“If I can accomplish this merit, I’ll be Lord Yi’s top subordinate…”
“The message sent back by Luo Shang before he died… that killer is no ordinary person…”
Wolf Sai roughly understood. Someone had killed Luo Shang, one of Lord Yi’s subordinates. To regain face, Lord Yi assigned missions to his people: whoever avenged him would gain favor.
Wolf Sai felt a bit amused. That killer was bold enough to make Lord Yi frustrated and angry.
At the same time, he felt aggrieved. Someone else could challenge Lord Yi, but he had been locked up all this time—didn’t that make him look useless?
He struggled with these thoughts, curious to learn more, but as soon as he asked, he was urged to leave:
“That person can kill more than ten people in a flash. Can you do the same? They’re elusive and can even fly. Do you think you can compete? This has nothing to do with you. Don’t meddle—just go!”
Wolf Sai: “…”
He… had no choice but to leave the small base.
What the hell—he really felt useless. Had other players become much stronger while he was imprisoned?
Wolf Sai grit his teeth and thought to himself that he must regain control and prove his strength.
“Better start by gathering the team back together.”
He shoved the papers away, lay flat on the ground, and instantly transformed into a shadow wolf. A few leaps later, he vanished into the night.
Once they confirmed he had left, the male player—Cui He—hid the expression on his face and said, “Just as Team Leader Jiang guessed, he’s been provoked and wants to win.”
He then gave the order: “Accelerate the destruction of all traces here, seal all entrances and exits, and retreat!”
…
Jiang Qi woke up to find that she was no longer completely blind.
The world in front of her was no longer pitch black, though it wasn’t perfectly clear either; everything looked fuzzy, like severe myopia combined with astigmatism.
She breathed a sigh of relief—at least her sight was recovering.
She didn’t dare use her abilities yet, but that didn’t mean she had nothing to do.
She still had an important daily task: helping her own team seize player identities.
Even with blurry vision, she could handle this task—it basically just involved killing people.
She spent the entire day doing nothing else.
By nightfall, the last player fell to her hand. The 1,000th person obtained a player identity, and she heard the panel announce it as expected:
[Ding! You have assisted a total of 1,000 people in acquiring passenger identity credentials. Your proficiency in this area is comparable to a fishmonger who has spent ten years killing fish. All passenger identity credentials must immediately kneel and beg for mercy upon seeing you.]
Jiang Qi: “……”
“Can you be normal for once?”
The train conductor panel replied in a flat, serious tone: [When you stare at a passenger for an extended period, there is a certain chance to freeze, reverse, or destroy their identity credentials.]
Jiang Qi raised an eyebrow. Translating that… she had a certain ability to freeze, reverse, or destroy a player’s panel?
If a panel was frozen, the player couldn’t open their backpack or use any skills.
If the panel was shattered, the player would basically be dead.
But what did “reverse the panel” mean?
She stroked her chin, thinking she could try it when the chance arose.
She opened the train conductor panel, squinting at the words:
Name: Jiang Qi
Identity: Train Conductor
Level: Intern (37.09/100) (Phase 1 completed)
Medal: “Phase One Internship” Medal (Healing Attribute)
ID Number: ?
Train Number: ?
Note: You have triggered 40 internship tasks, of which 36 are completed. The remaining four are [Train Conductor’s Contempt], […Mystic Eye], […Home Field], […Mark]. Phase One Internship has been completed; Phase Two Internship is about to begin.
Jiang Qi took the medal from her collar and examined it. It was indeed a healing-type medal. No wonder wearing it close to her body felt like it was aiding her recovery. She had someone make a cord for it and hung it around her neck.
Her fast recovery owed a lot to this medal.
However, the medal wasn’t omnipotent. If worn too long, its effect became less obvious—just better than nothing.
She put the medal back and pondered what Phase Two internship would entail and how it differed from Phase One.
With just over an hour of rest left, it was time to prepare.
…
During that last hour, Jiang Qi did nothing but rest properly.
At 8:30, she returned to the conference room. Few people attended this time; the purpose of the meeting was to immediately share information about Phase Two internship and formulate the corresponding plans.
At 8:40, Jiang Qi squinted at the time: “Two more minutes.”
She had finished Phase One internship at 8:42 the previous night.
Two minutes passed quickly. At 8:42, the train conductor panel rang punctually again. Jiang Qi straightened up, and everyone else looked at her.
[Ding! Rest period ended. Phase Two internship begins immediately.]
[During train operation, the conductor will encounter extreme environments such as severe cold, extreme heat, oxygen deficiency, total darkness, swamps, fog, poisonous miasma, cliffs, sinkholes, oceans, corrosion, beast swarms, ghosts, illusions, and more.]
[As a train conductor, you must first be physically capable of withstanding these challenges. Second, you must be able to lead the entire train to overcome, cross, and escape these hazards.]
[Phase Two internship was created to hone your physical fitness and train your ability to operate the train, preparing you to become a true conductor in the future.]
[The essence of the Phase Two internship is a mix of reward and benefit, so it lasts only ten days. There is no limit to the number of projects; only after completing one project successfully can the next project be triggered. Each successfully completed project grants 1 point of internship experience.]
Note: Due to current limitations, on-site internships cannot be conducted, and the intern’s consciousness will enter a simulated environment.
Jiang Qi was startled. “My consciousness will enter a simulated environment? How, then, can it train my body? Isn’t that contradictory?”
Wait, it lasts ten days. Ten days from now would be 8:40 p.m. on June 8th, but the dungeon ends at 8 a.m. on June 9th!
She still had a lot to do: she hadn’t contacted that cloaked figure yet, the intern conductor hadn’t been dealt with, and the task of hiding the identities of 1,000 people hadn’t been done…
Could this internship be stopped halfway?
Seeing her face change drastically, Zhang Zhengtian hurriedly asked what the panel had said.
Jiang Qi was about to speak when the panel displayed:
[After the internship ends, the gains from the intern’s consciousness will gradually manifest in the body, strengthening the physique. Phase Two Internship countdown: 3, 2…]
The conductor panel in front of Jiang Qi suddenly shone brightly, making it impossible for her to open her eyes.
Jiang Qi: “!!!”
So fast! Not even a moment to prepare?
Everyone: “!!!”
The light was so bright that everyone could see it. A purple radiance filled the room, stinging their eyes.
Dong Shengfeng, beside Jiang Qi, immediately reached out, but the panel’s light blocked her: “What’s happening!”
Jiang Qi felt a strange pull, as if her soul was being drawn into the panel.
She shouted quickly, “The second-phase internship has begun! My consciousness will enter the simulated environment for ten days and return afterward!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the light retracted, and the panel disappeared from her mind. She closed her eyes and collapsed directly onto the desk.
“Jiang Qi—!!!”