"From the beginning, we weren't the only players in this instance. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably structured like a team battle..."

"We're one team, and the vendors are another."

Gu Mian stroked his chin. He had experienced similar team battles before and ended up inadvertently dragging the host out due to a mistake.

The logistics staff from that instance also inexplicably followed... But none of that was important now.

"It's rather unfair how the teams are divided. The other team seems to be fully aware of our existence, while we're blind to theirs, only able to guess their presence based on clues. It's like a battle between a conspicuous team and one hiding in the shadows."

Han Shan interrupted, "The teams must be divided according to strength. The weaker side tends to have more favorable conditions, and it's also very likely that the weaker side may have an impact on the other."

Gu Mian continued, "Alright, let's assume we are the stronger team... To sum up the current situation, both of our teams are on the 'Time Escape' train at two different time points. The instance has twisted these two time points together. Our task is to meet the passengers' demands and refill goods, while they're masquerading as vendors selling goods to us."

"I'm quite curious where they got their goods from, especially the raw meat... However, we discovered earlier that passengers in our carriages have disappeared. After the first time we pre-ordered goods from the vendors, anyone who had pre-ordered had some passengers disappear from their carriage."

Guigu's voice came over the intercom, "Suo Qingqiu seems to have gone silent. Aren't you guys going to pay any attention? And when we were going through the tunnel earlier, it felt like something was blowing cold air on my head."

Han Shan glanced down at the intercom. "Understood."

Guigu fell silent.

Gu Mian continued, "Of those who pre-ordered goods, only Guigu is still alive. By the way, Guigu, can you check how many passengers are left in your carriage?"

After the question, Guigu's voice instantly came through the intercom, "Thirty-two. Only one passenger is missing, and the count hasn't continued to decrease..."

So, Guigu's No. 1 carriage had, up to this point, only lost one person.

Guigu seemed uneasy. "I'm the only one who pre-ordered goods that's still alive. Am I going to be the next one to die?"

Gu Mian answered, "Theoretically, you should be next."

Guigu choked. "I want to understand why pre-ordering goods leads to death. We never went to collect what we pre-ordered anyway..."

From the intercom came Angel Slaughter's voice, "I didn't lose any passengers, but the man who was taking pre-orders for raw meat has come by a few times. I refused him each time."

Fang Xiang also chimed in, "In my carriage, no one has disappeared."

Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "Because no one got off the train to pre-order at the last station, the number of passengers didn't continue to decrease this time?"

Han Shan frowned. "If you pre-order goods, the number of passengers decreases. What is the connection between the goods given by the vendors and our passengers?"

Gu Mian glanced out of the window. "Perhaps because 'goods' equals 'passengers'?"

Hearing this, Guigu felt a chill run down his spine.

No matter how powerful the instance was, it couldn't turn living people into orange soda or the like, but he remembered that 'raw meat' was an option among the pre-ordered goods.

Turning living people into raw meat... most people should be capable of that.

Angel Slaughter took a deep breath. "Are you saying that the raw meat we pre-ordered was all sourced on the spot by them killing passengers to provide it?"

Gu Mian nodded towards the intercom. "In the beginning, each of our carriages should have had only one ghost, one that liked raw meat but wasn't particularly aggressive..."

Suddenly, an announcement rang out on the train.

"Fifth stop, Crazy Game City is approaching. Passengers planning to alight, please prepare in advance."

Gu Mian quickened his speech, "This ghost should be considered a trigger, its purpose being to mislead players into pre-ordering raw meat from the vendors. And once we pre-order raw meat from the vendors, they will kill passengers in the corresponding carriages to obtain the raw meat."

"For example, if Xiao Tiantian in carriage No. 2 pre-ordered ten kilograms of meat, then those ten kilograms of meat would also be taken from carriage No. 2."

"Here, I'll make a bold guess: although they can kill passengers in the carriages, the decision-making power is actually in our hands. They should be constrained by some rule; if we don't pre-order, they can't just kill passengers arbitrarily."

"In other words, as long as we pre-order, passengers on the 9 o'clock train will be killed for their meat. If passengers on the 9 o'clock train die, their counterparts on the 11 o'clock train will naturally die as well... They might even turn into ghosts and then attack us."

"Suo Qingqiu was short three passengers for ten kilograms of meat, so Xiao Tiantian's carriage should also be short three. Adding Guigu's one, there should now be seven ghosts on our train. Therefore, from the moment someone pre-ordered raw meat, we were already in danger."

Guigu listened, somewhat dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this instance to be so insidious, luring them into a trap from the very beginning.

Fang Xiang's voice suddenly came through. "They were the ones who killed the people, so why are the ghosts coming after us?"

Is it because their train has some protective mechanism? If the vendors killed people, and the passengers turned into ghosts seeking revenge on the vendors, then this instance couldn't continue.

Just then, Han Shan thought he heard faint footsteps behind him. He whipped around to look, but the passenger area was quiet. Everyone was sitting lazily in their seats; no one was moving in the aisle. Strange...

Then Angel Slaughter's hesitant voice came over the intercom. "So, is there nothing we can do now? Do those who pre-ordered raw meat just have to wait in their carriages to be killed by ghosts?"

Gu Mian responded, "No."

Hearing Gu Mian's "no," Guigu felt a flicker of excitement; he really didn't want to die a horrible death in this instance. But Gu Mian's next words plunged Guigu into deep self-doubt: "People who didn't pre-order might also be killed by ghosts. Possibly."

This situation is even worse than before!

"Why?" Fang Xiang's volume suddenly increased, sounding extremely agitated.

Gu Mian recalled the instance's cautionary notes. "This instance stipulates that two players cannot be in the same carriage, so you didn't dare to casually run into other people's carriages. But ghosts aren't players. They aren't restricted to a single carriage; they can roam around wherever they please."

At this moment, the faint, slow footsteps were heard again from behind. Han Shan quickly turned around once more.

His gaze passed through his own carriage to Xiao Tiantian's No. 2 carriage. There should have originally been three ghosts in carriage No. 2. Now that the attendant of carriage No. 2, Xiao Tiantian, had been killed by them, they should be killing other people now...

Angel Slaughter clenched her fists. "In that case, from the moment someone pre-ordered raw meat... we were already in a no-win situation, right?"

Just then, the train suddenly decelerated sharply. Simultaneously, an announcement followed.

"Fifth stop, Crazy Game City, has arrived. The train will stop for one minute. Passengers who need to get off the train, please alight as soon as possible."

"Speaking of which," Gu Mian suddenly said, "don't you think this train is stopping a bit too frequently?"

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