That tearing sensation disappeared after the train exited the tunnel, and An Bai was finally able to open his eyes and observe his surroundings.
Through the glass, he discovered a building not far away. That must be the platform the system had mentioned.
An Bai adjusted his condition. After ensuring that his body had recovered, he proactively opened the train door and walked out.
“Huh, there are two more trains?”
When An Bai reached the open concrete ground, he discovered two other trains stopped on the railway tracks not far away.
“They’re probably the trains of other survivors,” An Bai guessed.
There was more than one railway track in front of this platform. An Bai counted them—there were five railway tracks in total.
“Five railway tracks. That means five people will be coming to this platform.”
An Bai tried to enter one of the trains, but when he reached a point five meters in front of it, he discovered that an invisible wall was blocking his way.
It was probably to prevent other people from stealing things.
Helpless, An Bai could only walk toward the only building in this area. The people who had arrived first should be there.
This wooden building, which resembled a train station on earth, was a full ten meters tall. Its surface was covered in green plants. Perhaps because of the humidity, the leaves of those plants were covered in dewdrops.
Under the accompanying dim lighting, it looked rather Aberrant, as if countless eyes made of dewdrops were staring at him.
The building was about five hundred meters from the place where the trains were stopped. An Bai’s pace was neither fast nor slow.
He held an iron axe in one hand and an iron pickaxe in the other, with several python teeth tucked into his pocket.
As the distance between them narrowed, the building before him became clearer and clearer. Through the windows, An Bai vaguely saw several figures.
He stopped in front of the building. The wooden door before him was not closed; it was merely ajar.
He opened the manual and wanted to ask the Strange Man something, but discovered that the man’s account was offline.
Few people in the chat channel discussed entering the platform. An Bai seemed to be among the first people to enter the platform.
As he pondered, the wooden door before him was opened by someone. It was one of the figures he had seen inside the building earlier.
The person who opened the door was a rough man of about thirty. His face was covered in stubble, his hair was thick, and his bushy eyebrows and large eyes made him look full of vigor.
He seemed unwilling to say much. He waved his hand, signaling An Bai to come in.
An Bai hesitated for a moment. After discovering through the doorway that there was nothing unusual inside, he walked in.
The space inside was fairly large, approximately six hundred square meters, and its arrangement was no different from a waiting station on earth.
Only the seating was arranged somewhat chaotically. Based on the seats, the building was divided into five areas: east, west, south, north, and center.
The rough man pulled the door nearly shut again. Seeing An Bai standing motionless, he
reminded him, “The eastern and southern areas are already occupied. Choose one of the remaining three areas.”
After hearing this, An Bai looked toward the southern area. It was one of the other figures he had seen earlier.
This person had long black hair that nearly covered their entire upper body, leaving only one eye exposed.
Judging solely by their appearance, it was impossible to tell whether they were male or female. They were curled up in their seat, their body trembling slightly, as if they had encountered something extremely terrifying.
“Sit down first. She’ll be here soon.” After saying this, the rough man ignored An Bai and quickly walked to his own area, where he found a seat and sat down.
After thinking briefly, An Bai walked toward the northern area and casually chose a seat near its center.
Looking around, An Bai discovered a rather simple wooden table in the central area, positioned directly in its middle.
The space was eerily quiet. Both the rough man and the long-haired freak sat silently in their respective places.
This Aberrant atmosphere reminded An Bai of self-study periods in high school, when the homeroom teacher’s head would suddenly appear outside the window while he was slacking off.
This Aberrant atmosphere continued for approximately fifteen minutes.
The building’s wooden door was pushed open. An Bai turned to look and saw a man and a woman cautiously poke their heads out from behind the door, observing their surroundings.
“A couple?” An Bai noticed that their clothing styles were very similar.
The two of them looked around, found the western area, and sat down together. They seemed to know some information in advance and did not ask the three people anything.
The Aberrant atmosphere continued for another twenty minutes. Just as An Bai was about to fall asleep,
the wooden door was pushed open again, though it was not the wooden door through which An Bai had entered.
In an inconspicuous corner on the western side of the space, a pair of hands covered in thick calluses tremblingly pushed open a wooden door, and an old woman walked in.
“Looks like everyone is here.” It was an old woman’s voice, extremely hoarse, sounding like a crow that had swallowed sulfuric acid, cawing away.
An Bai initially wanted to turn his head toward the voice, but the fear in his subconscious forcibly restrained the impulse.
Following the principle that he would not move if no one else moved, An Bai maintained his original posture without moving.
“What’s wrong? I’m all of your saviors. Now that you’ve seen me, why aren’t you showing any reaction?” The old woman behind him let out a strange laugh.
This time, her voice was considerably louder. She seemed to be walking toward An Bai.
“Oh my, what a loving little couple. You’re even sitting together.” The old woman’s tone was strangely sarcastic.
She was not coming for him. An Bai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It remained completely silent. The couple seemed to have been frightened.
“How boring.” The old woman got up and went elsewhere.
Don’t come over here, don’t come over here! An Bai prayed silently in his heart.
Fortunately, the old woman went to the southern area, where the long-haired freak was.
“Oh, my, why are you covering yourself up so tightly? Am I really that frightening?” The old woman continued to tease them.
There was still no response.
“Sigh, people these days. They don’t know any manners and can’t even say hello.”
The old woman’s crow-like voice echoed through the six-hundred-square-meter space, like the resentful wail of a vengeful ghost demanding a life.
Suddenly, a peal of bells rang out, and the originally somewhat dim space immediately became bright.
“All right, all right, you win!” The old woman’s voice sounded somewhat dejected.
“It’s finally a little safer.” The speaker was the rough man from earlier. His voice was loud, and An Bai heard every word clearly.
The couple beside him also moved. Judging by the sounds, they seemed to be embracing.
An Bai maintained his original posture, turning his eyeballs as far as possible toward the couple.
They can really move now! An Bai felt a faint bitterness in his heart as the couple whispered sweet nothings to each other.
“Hehe.” It was the old woman’s laughter again.
“There are still three hours until dawn. I look forward to seeing how you perform next.” This time, the old woman walked to the very center of the space, where the simple wooden table was located.
After waiting for about a minute and seeing that the couple was fine, An Bai finally relaxed completely.
He turned his head toward the old woman. To be honest, this was the decision An Bai would regret most.
--The old woman with five heads lay on the table in an extremely Aberrant posture, her eyes closed as she rested. All five heads had identical features.
Some of them grew from her armpits, some from her hands, and another grew from that place...
An Bai felt his stomach churn, as if something were about to come up.
This was the most disgusting creature An Bai had ever seen since birth!
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