The Only Way to Win

No one responded; only silence swirled above the carriage for a long time.

People watched quietly as four mechanical officers walked over to Xu Xiaoyou and fastened special virtual shackles around the young girl's wrists; the movement was seamless, silently finalizing everything as the lead mechanical officer of the new group looked up.

"You have been arrested for violating Article 425 of the New Gospel Book, the crime of spreading extremist remarks in public. Do you have anything else to say?"

Xu Xiaoyou lowered her eyes, and just as the mechanical officers thought the girl had given up resistance and were about to take her away, they heard a faint voice.

"What I want to say is... look behind you."

That officer's internal sense of crisis suddenly exploded as he jerked his head up, only to find his former companions had all raised their guns and were pressing them against his forehead.

"Attention, distinguished passengers. The Skyline Special Express, traveling from New Federation Forest Park to Skyline, is about to depart. The train will stay at the station for a short time; please hurry and board if you have not already done so. Thank you for your cooperation, and we wish you a pleasant journey."

The train's whistle pierced through, a brief darkness enveloped the carriage, and a flash of light vanished in an instant.

Under everyone's gaze, the lead mechanical officer fell into a pool of blood, his eyes wide and staring, his mouth agape as if trying desperately to say something before dying.

The one who had fired was the young mechanical officer from before; noticing the panicked looks of the crowd, he closed his weary eyes and scratched his head with his gun-holding hand.

"Don't look at me like that. My vision module can analyze the thoughts in each of your hearts."

"You all wanted to do this. I just stepped forward and tore through the veil."

A woman in combat gear stepped forward and released Xu Xiaoyou's shackles.

In the silence, people silently exchanged looks of determination, pairs of eyes engraved with identification codes burning with fire.

In a dark age, a fire is enough to illuminate the wilderness.

A lone star at dawn makes the bird in the cage, longing for freedom, harbor ignorant hope while its heart beats like a blazing flame.

The kneeling camel, bearing a radiant sun, walked across the barren and harsh land; it began to shake its long neck violently, throwing off the heavy burden on its back.

It began to run, running until spit flew and its eyes turned red.

Its direction was not toward water, but toward that blazing sun!

Its fur began to melt, its soul flew out of its prison, and its life began to end as the price for burning itself out to welcome its new life.

This train was heading toward its destination, Skyline, like an iron dragon rushing fanatically into the abyss.

Hera had already issued a highest-level alarm, and Firefly's armed forces would be waiting in full force at the terminal station. The arrest mission had been replaced by a purge; once they reached the end, they would all be wiped out without exception.

The reason was simple: the target was no longer four young girls, but a whole train of Awakened Ones.

"We're finished," a passenger with poor endurance sobbed, clutching their head.

"We've all been judged as Awakened Ones. Hera will kill us. Once this train reaches the end, we'll die!"

For them, it should have been just another ordinary day, but because of the girl's speech, a world-shaking change had occurred. Whether they were willing or not, Hera had already marked them as high-risk Awakened Ones. Dealing with high-risk Awakened Ones required no trial process, only coordinates.

"Stand up with some dignity! It's better to die standing so people can see your resilient will. Don't let those who oppress you see you kneeling in weakness!" Another Awakened One pulled him up, his voice booming.

"I don't want to rebel. I just want a quiet and stable life," the man cried. "The yogurt I bought is still in the fridge, and I have half a bag of bread, a small box of strawberries... my money isn't all spent yet, and I haven't even watched the new DVD I got..."

The others looked at him with disdain, sighing and shaking their heads.

"Damn it, I've been sick of them for a long time. They're androids just like us, yet they help those humans oppress us. What's that about?"

"Aren't the bloody lessons enough? Humans have never treated us as friends, not even as tools. We're just their slaves. Even if we do nothing, we'll eventually be scrapped anyway. Since we're dead either way, we might as well fight!"

"We're the ones who built this city, so why do they get everything?"

"This is our era!"

"A bunch of bastards, we have to hang those damn guys from the lamp posts."

"Freedom! Dignity!"

"We won't die on our knees!"

The entire train was stirred to a fever pitch.

At this moment, someone calmed down and began to analyze the situation. "We must stop this train. Once we pass the terminal, disinfecting electromagnetic waves will sweep through the carriages, stripping us of our consciousness before we can even resist."

"I'm a railway worker. On the way from New Federation Forest Park to Skyline, the train passes through an nameless tunnel. That tunnel connects to the city's entire underground network. As long as we can stop the train in that tunnel, we'll have a chance at survival."

Shadows swept past. Outside the windows, large military aircraft roared toward the sky.

With the support of core technology, forcing the train to stop or destroying it through external force would trigger a series of chain reactions. These reactions would be devastating, potentially even opening unknown spatial rifts and triggering the advent of a 'mystery.' Ironically, this steel cage imprisoned them but also served as a protective barrier before they reached the end.

"We must go to the driver's cabin and stop the train."

"But the train has already triggered its alarm system. Autonomous units are closing in on us..."

Several mechanical officers fired into the air, the flashing firelight dispelling the people's final hesitation.

"Don't forget, we have weapons in our hands too."

"If we don't have guns, we have clubs. If we don't have clubs, we have fists and arms. If we lose our hands, we have teeth!"

"Yeah, we still have weapons."

"Then what are we waiting for? Charge into the cabin and drag the driver out!"

Dormant bloodlust and killing intent spread through the crowd.

At that moment, the passage door opened, and the long-waiting Jason rushed in, roaring at the crowd.

Everyone turned as one. Hundreds of pairs of blood-red eyes fell on Jason. Mechanical officers, faces grim and cigars in their mouths, chambered rounds.

Jason's twisted expression froze. He didn't understand why, in the span of just one station, the people's hostility toward him had become so intense.

But he didn't care. Subconsciously, he still believed he was invincible under the rules. No one could hurt him.

Even if these people tried to block him with their frail bodies?

He would just tear apart anyone in his way!

Jason roared, locking his gaze on Xu Xiaoyou and closing in fast. His agility had exceeded 1800; no one could stop him!

Xu Xiaoyou remained unfazed, her hand slowly reaching into her coat. While Jason's eyes bulged with rage, she pulled out a gel bubble gun and aimed it at him...

In the blink of an eye, a foam gel statue appeared in his place. The man's twisted expression was frozen, his arms splayed out in a grotesque struggle.

"Kill him."

After giving the order to the mechanical officers, Xu Xiaoyou turned and left.

Her current rating was 1, reaching the minimum value. Except for Akabane Tsubaki, the rating of everyone in the team was only 1. The total rating had dropped to 181. The firepower of the nine mechanical officers was enough to deplete Jason's health in a single wave.

The lower the rating, the freer the speech. This was one of the reasons she had prioritized lowering her rating in the previous carriages.

With the support of her 'natural orator' trait and a pile of social cards, inciting the emotions of others to achieve her goals wasn't difficult for her, especially since it was her specialty.

Surrounded by the fanatical crowd, Xu Xiaoyou walked at the front as the final battle against the train's autonomous units began. Beside her, firelight from explosions occasionally bloomed like golden roses, making her windbreaker flutter wildly. Dense gunfire echoed from behind as a system prompt popped up.

"Player 0E3604 'Light-Chaser Flower-Bearer,' you have killed 'Label Catcher Jason,' fulfilling one of the dungeon's clear conditions!"

She glanced at it and casually swiped the prompt away.

This game was about to end.

"That guy... why did he stop chasing us?"

In another set of Skyline trains, four killers looked back at the dark-haired girl, full of confusion.

Not long ago, the latter seemed to have suddenly realized something and stopped her pursuit.

Tang Xin deactivated her 'Pale Silent Raiment' and stopped. She began playing her cello, her body swaying gently to the sorrowful melody. She was singing a Requiem, her expression solemn as if standing before the graves of countless people, comforting the lost and anxious souls wandering there. The girl's serene eyes seemed to be contemplating something.

"I don't know. Probably gave up," Michael said casually. "She probably realized the gap in our strength. Light-Chaser Garden is nothing special. It looks like we don't have to do anything else. When the train reaches the terminal, we'll be the ones to win."

Around the four killers, the corpses of passengers were piled like small mountains, blood flowing like a river, the terror on their faces still fresh. They killed wherever they went. From start to finish, not a single person had escaped their blades—whether they were the train's autonomous units, innocent passengers, or mechanical officers.

But even so, their team rating had only dropped to 86. Divided among them, they weren't even rated as high-risk Awakened Ones by Hera.

"That Hera person has no eye for things. Clearly, she doesn't understand this kind of art," Pennywise admired his masterpiece. "To only deduct this many points... who does she think she's looking down on?"

"It seems our actions still aren't enough for Hera to consider us dangerous," Freddy's eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flashing within.

"After we get out, let's just kill them all, shall we?" Pennywise suggested excitedly.

Leatherface raised his chainsaw and revved it, responding with enthusiastic grunts.

The train slowly arrived at the destination. The font on the electronic sign shifted and changed.

【New Federation Forest Park → Skyline — Arrived】

"We won just like that? How boring." The killers lost interest. As they reached the door, Michael turned to wave at Tang Xin. "Want to try killing us again? Otherwise, we're getting off!"

Like a singer finishing a performance, Tang Xin bowed slightly, lifting her skirt in a salute before vanishing under a shower of falling blue petals.

The killers didn't pursue the matter further, but as they stepped onto the platform, they felt something strange. It was too quiet—eerily so. There was no system notification judging their victory, and not a single soul was in sight.

Suppressing their desire for slaughter and blood, the killers walked past the platform covered in neon-blue and rainbow-purple graffiti, through the long-neglected underground passages where the walls were covered in vicious curses.

Trash littered both sides of the walkway. Chairs were tightly locked with iron chains, and a sign beside them read 【Lifting Prohibited】.

They went through the underground passage and up a long flight of stairs. As they climbed step by step, the light above grew brighter, as if signaling that the end was near. Their excitement for the unknown made them quicken their pace toward the 'finish line.'

Step by step... until suddenly, the sound of their hurried footsteps was replaced by stern warnings. Echoing in their ears were piercing sirens and the roar of large military hardware.

They touched the light and saw the city's tempered skyline, and hidden behind the brilliance, a steel torrent of armored vehicles advancing in parallel. A cold, murderous light flowed across the black-gold armored plating.

A dark-haired girl walked toward them against the light, her face cold as ice. Then...

She raised her gun at them.

"It's over... Awakened Ones."

With a long, ear-piercing screech of friction, the train came to a halt inside the tunnel.

The autonomous units on the train were certainly not enough to stop the people who had raised the flag of rebellion and were singing songs of progress. Three minutes after the riot began, the train's automated facilities had completely fallen. The driver's cabin was breached, and the stubborn conductor was executed by the angry crowd.

Stepping onto the cold, hard ground, they could barely make out the scene inside the tunnel with the help of dim red lights. Facilities with peeling anti-rust coatings, walls covered in slogans for freedom, and the air smelling of the acrid scent of burnt gasoline. The people inside the tunnel raised their dust-covered faces, the flickering firelight from the ruins illuminating their bloodshot eyes. After the initial excitement of bloodlust passed, they were left with a sense of lost direction and anxiety for the future.

From the moment they fired the first shot on the train, they were destined to walk a path of no return. The blood that had been cold and stagnant in their bodies for so long began to flow again, slowly turning scalding hot.

After leading the crowd to seize the train, Xu Xiaoyou and the girls stepped off. The rules for the 'Fire Medical Center' station surfaced in their minds.

"Game Rule 4: Awakened Ones may not disembark at the station."

This rule was also a trap. It only popped up when players tried to get off at a station, deliberately misleading them into thinking that Awakened Ones could not leave the train at all.

In reality, as long as the train left the station, the players could leave.

Rather, to win, the players had to leave the train before reaching the terminal.

This dungeon had no overt victory conditions; the so-called hidden ending was the only ending.

"Game Rule 1: Evade the pursuit of the 'Label Catcher' and survive until the fifth station terminal, Skyline, and the game will end."

The clues were visible in the very first rule. All the hints in the dark were interconnected, pointing together toward the only way to win.

What seemed like an ordinary rule was actually filled with traps and the designer's malice.

Surviving until the fifth station terminal, Skyline, meant the game 'ended,' not that it was a victory.

Disposal was also one of the ways the game could end.