Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 699: Claiming a Celebration Subsidy

Chapter 699: Chapter 699: Claiming a Celebration Subsidy

The foggy mountain air retained the scent of burning, with bits and pieces of bodies at various stages of decay visible among the charred remains. The entire city was permeated with the stench of death and decay, which, wrapped in silence, was like plant roots rotting away underground—soundless, unknown to all, and of no concern to anyone, even less significant than a speck of dust.

Half a day had passed since the instance was cleared, and the people from the county town were whisked away by tour buses. The damaged houses were set aside, and the remaining Black Armored People were repairing the blown-up gates of Sifang Palace.

"Click clack... click clack..." The sound of leather shoes striking stone grew from distant to near, as a man wearing a top hat and overcoat appeared at the entrance of Sifang Palace. Carrying a black leather suitcase, he walked into the palace. The busy Black Armored People shuddered like short-circuited, halting their movements until he passed by. They then resumed their usual behavior, but no longer busied themselves with the gates and instead stood still with their heads bowed.

Silence filled Sifang Palace. The stairs that Xu Huo had struggled to find before were right in front of him. The Suitcase Man ascended to the second floor, and soon spotted the words "Guess who was here" written on a column.

The Suitcase Man’s half-masked face showed no emotion, but at that moment, a paper airplane flew out from the room and slowly landed at his feet.

The next second, the Suitcase Man turned towards the exterior of Sifang Palace. With one stride, he disappeared from his spot and reappeared at the entrance of the palace.

Standing not fifty meters away from him was a scruffy middle-aged man in an old leather overcoat, standing on a paper crane with flapping wings...

The two, one above the other, locked gazes, and the paper crane transformed into a metal creature, diving down with steel sinew. The Suitcase Man’s black leather suitcase burst open and a giant doll’s head swelled forth, its mouth full of metal teeth, snapping the paper crane in half!

Then, multicolored tiles rapidly spread from the suitcase, and with genuine laughter and music, Sifang Palace, along with the city, was pushed outward in a circular motion. Folded buildings rose from the ground, balloons and parrots flew about, and crowds of people appeared on the colorful streets, trailing plumes of colored soap bubbles and the sweet scent of cotton candy. They opened their arms to welcome the paper birds flying towards them...

*

Xu Huo arrived at Zone 011 without incident and stepped out of the station to find the city more bustling than when he had left.

The streets were filled with citizens and robots parading, and flying machines bearing the words "Celebrating the Harvest Festival" occasionally flew overhead. Interviews with governmental figures played on large screens and projections, all cheerfully boasting about Zone 011’s bounteous harvest and who had contributed significantly. It was announced that not only those who had accomplished meritorious deeds would be rewarded, but every citizen could claim a gift pack with their identity proof, and there were additional celebratory allowances—given for the enjoyment of food and festivities by all residents of the district.

Xu Huo hailed a flying vehicle to head towards Rose Castle and took out a communicator of Zone 011 to browse messages on the web.

It had been nearly a month since he left that cruise ship for the nobles’ murderous entertainment. To get off the ship, he had first initiated the "Seventeenth Hospital" instance, and the results were of course favorable. Yuguo from the Guile Sound Knights was killed, and Xu Huo successfully obtained the Rank A Prop "Life Core."

It wasn’t just Bai Kou and the members of the Guile Sound Knights fighting on the ship; there was also infighting among the nobles of Zone 011. With the disruption caused by his own instance, many "prey" players were still alive on the ship when he left.

The ship itself was a prop, and the holder, Captain Matt, was a Rank-B player with Rank-A player strength. The ship would set sail periodically. To date, boarding the ship was still a matter of prestige, indicating that secrecy was well-maintained. Captain Matt wouldn’t allow players to escape easily.

However, the waters the cruise ship traveled through weren’t originally part of the game, but the fact that "The Seventeenth Hospital" could be successfully opened indicates that the area had also been successfully integrated into the game. When the hospital shut down, there must have been other players escaping into different instances; there were people getting out, so there should have been survivors. Unfortunately, there seems to be no news of this sort on the network platform. The only thing related to the cruise was an inconspicuous piece of social news.

The content was infuriatingly simplistic. It basically said the cruise ship encountered danger on its voyage, with numerous casualties. The nature of the danger wasn’t specified, but instead, there was praise for Captain Matt and Black Epaulette Ran Ying for their calmness in the face of danger. As for any mention of a hunting game or noble infighting, not a word was said.

The Harvest Festival was when the government player team from Zone 011, having gathered a significant amount of supplies, returned from other zones.

The timing of the Harvest Festival was not fixed; it took place whenever the players brought back valuable items. Ordinary citizens didn’t care where these items came from, but during this period, a great number of players and tourists from other zones would visit Zone 011, bringing with it a staggering income.

In such circumstances, even if the players who survived the cruise shared the slaughter game amongst the nobles, it probably wouldn’t have much effect.

Xu Huo then searched for information related to the government. Besides a few nobles who, under the pretense of "sacrifice," held high-profile funerals, the rest was about personnel changes among the Black and White Epaulettes.

Team leader of the Black Epaulettes, Ran Ying, was promoted once more, gaining the authority to oversee the White Epaulettes, while the government members and nobles supporting the White Epaulettes were disciplined.

A sense of fiery expansion was pervading the entire Zone 011.

"Ding dong! You have a new message." A notification popped up on the communicator. Xu Huo tapped to open it, first checking Bai Kou’s: "Good news, the Whale has taken notice of you."

The Whale was a member of the Guile Sound Knights.

Xu Huo’s brows rose slightly – even though he had altered his appearance in the instance, in the final melee, he had used the "Director’s Authority" in an attempt to delete Yuguo’s and the Whale’s memories of him taking the former’s palm and prop. Of course, Yuguo was killed by Bai Kou in the end, which not only solved a big problem for him but also resulted in him obtaining the "Life Core." However, given the circumstances at that time, the Whale shouldn’t have focused on him...

There was more, "Guile Sound Knights have a cooperative relationship with Zone 011, and the Black Epaulettes will screen the boarding passengers."

The Guile Sound Knights were undoubtedly a sub-contractor for the Rongxin Group, dealing in weapons obtained through robbery, so it was no surprise that this player organization had an infamous reputation.

But given the chaos at the time, even Ran Ying couldn’t have been certain of his identity. Going back openly would actually make him less of a suspect. From the looks of it, the Whale did not know who he was, having only narrowed the field to those who boarded the ship.

The aircraft soon arrived at Rose Castle. Mr. Dong stood at the entrance as always, "Sir has returned."