139: Chapter 139 Internal Conflicts, a Test of Humanity!

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

Everything that happened inside Dining Carriage 09 had already spread throughout the entire train via the chat channel.

Those texts, images, and video clips were flickering on everyone's screens.

A question emerged in the minds of the passengers, involuntarily and in unison.

Ever since they were trapped on this train and transported to this godforsaken doomsday world, all they could think about was how to survive.

Killing zombies, avoiding Calamity Creaturess, scrambling for resources...

They wished they could split every 24-hour day in half; who had the time to think about anything else?

But now, with the Calamity round paused and one bizarre event after another occurring, they began to think.

What kind of world is this, anyway?

Why were stories that took place in the history of the real world playing out here?

The titanic, the British Kingdom, World War I...

How could those names that should have been lying in textbooks be entangled with the Mermaid Princess and those Calamity Creaturess?

Lin Xiao stood in the center of the dining carriage, his gaze sweeping over those faces, some terrified, others bewildered.

"Continue the exchange!"

His voice was not loud, but it clearly drowned out all the whispers.

"Focus on the task at hand first. If you can't even survive, what's the point of thinking so much?"

The crowd was silent for a few seconds.

Then, the line for exchanging resources started moving again.

The Fish Tide Surge had three and a half hours left.

The first batch of people who finished exchanging their resources clutched the equipment or skill books they had traded their catch for and hurried back to their respective fishing spots.

There was still enough time to cast a few more lines.

There were also crafty passengers who didn't exchange resources and chose to leave immediately.

They stored their catch in their backpacks, planning to exchange them all at once after the event ended.

This way, they only needed to pay the 50 stardust service fee once.

Lin Xiao watched their retreating figures and smiled.

There were still clever people around.

50 stardust didn't mean much to him, but for some passengers with low combat power, that was hard-earned money exchanged for their lives.

Especially in Carriage 06.

Pei Qingzhao, having been snubbed, returned to Carriage 6 with a group of girls, her expression very ugly.

Just now in the dining carriage, as the one who stuck her neck out, she hadn't managed to get any benefits from Lin Xiao, and instead, her hard-earned prestige had been damaged.

She saw the gazes of the onlookers and heard the whispers, taking it all in.

But as the leader of the all-female carriage, she absolutely could not collapse.

"Sisters, let's gather all the catch we've fished up together!"

Pei Qingzhao spoke, keeping her voice as steady as possible, "If we exchange them all at once, we only need to pay the service fee once, which can save a lot of stardust."

This was indeed a good method.

The forty girls in Carriage 06 mostly had a few fish in their hands.

If they pooled them together, they could trade for a large batch of resources at the cost of only 50 stardust.

However, Pei Qingzhao seemed to have thought about the matter too simply.

"Is that really a good idea?"

At this moment, a girl with a mushroom haircut raised her hand weakly, her eyes darting away, "What if we pool all the fish together with one person, and they go missing?"

Sounds of agreement immediately erupted in the crowd.

"Yeah, that's right. If we pool them to exchange, how should the resources we get back be distributed?"

"With Sister Qingzhao here, what are you worried about?"

Someone started speaking up for Pei Qingzhao.

"Tch..." A girl with permed hair rolled her eyes, "A bunch of people who haven't contributed anything, haven't even seen the fish yet, and are already worrying about how to split them. It's laughable!"

The woman wearing black-rimmed glasses said angrily, "Why are you being so unreasonable, little girl? How do you know we can't catch fish? I think you're all in on it, just trying to scam us out of our fish!"

"Please, lady," the girl with permed hair said with a sarcastic laugh, "Why should I hand over the fish I worked so hard to catch for you to handle? It's not like I can't afford that 50 stardust service fee!"

"Who are you calling lady? I'm only 25 this year! You uneducated brat..."

"Oh, well, you've aged quite well, then."

"You!!!"

"Enough!"

Pei Qingzhao's voice rose sharply, and she slammed her red-tasseled spear onto the ground, creating a dull thud.

Having just gone through that earlier, and being humiliated in public, she was already displeased.

Seeing the women arguing with each other for profit at this moment, she felt even more irritated.

The carriage instantly fell silent.

She took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and didn't lash out on the spot.

She couldn't lose her temper.

The all-female carriage was built by her own hands, and these people had all come here because of the slogan "helping each other."

If an irreconcilable conflict arose, wouldn't the morale dissipate? Wouldn't she become a laughingstock?

"If you're worried, you can hand it all over to me."

Pei Qingzhao softened her tone and said solemnly, "I will keep records. How much everyone hands over, and what resources they want to exchange for, I will write it all down, and then..."

"Hand it over to you?"

The mean-spirited woman with black-rimmed glasses interrupted her mercilessly, a look of suspicion on her face.

"Little Pei, it's not that we don't trust you, but what if a few fish go missing or a few entries are wrong? These things need to be discussed in advance, right?"

Pei Qingzhao's fingers tightened on the shaft of her spear, then loosened with a slight tremor.

She suppressed her anger and squeezed out a smile, "Don't worry, if there are any mistakes or omissions, I will compensate you. I absolutely won't let everyone lose out!"

"It better be that way!"

The woman glanced at her companions nearby, seemingly satisfied with the answer she got, took a white-quality small fish from her backpack, shoved it into Pei Qingzhao's hand, and turned to leave.

With someone taking the lead, others followed suit.

But more people just stood there, exchanged glances with each other, and then quietly withdrew from the carriage.

Pei Qingzhao watched those disappearing figures, the red-tasseled spear in her hand trembling slightly.

Not because of anger.

It was because of something indescribable, something even more painful than anger.

She thought the all-female carriage was a sanctuary, a light in the apocalypse.

But the people under the light always see their own shadows first.

...

Dining Carriage 09.

Lin Xiao was studying the roof outside the side window.

Climbing up and down was too troublesome, especially for Jiang Wanwan and the others; climbing through the window was indeed quite inconvenient.

He needed a more convenient and faster passage.

"Captain Lu Gongda."

He beckoned to a sturdy figure in the crowd.

Captain Lu Gongda, who possessed a construction skill, trotted over immediately.

"Brother Lin, what is it?"

"Use this side window as an entrance and exit, and build a staircase to the roof. It needs to be sturdy and stable!"

Captain Lu Gongda looked at the side window, leaned out, looked up at the roof, and then nodded, replying, "No problem, give me a few minutes!"

Soon, this dark-skinned, honest-looking man took out a wooden mallet and materials and began to hammer away.

Jiang Wanwan watched Captain Lu Gongda's busy figure and whispered to Lin Xiao, "Does this person also have a star emblem like us?"

"Doesn't seem like it." Lin Xiao shook his head slowly, "If he really had a star emblem, he would have built more than just these things."

He might have been able to hammer out a wonder on the spot.

He paused and continued, "It should be just as Xu Shan said, he possesses a special construction-type skill."

Jiang Wanwan nodded and didn't ask further.

Three minutes later, a sturdy wooden staircase stood steadily beside the side window.

Stepping onto the wooden stairs, bending down to pass through the side window, and then walking a few steps up the stairs, one could reach the roof.

Lin Xiao tried it first.

Except for needing to lower his head when exiting the window, the whole process was very smooth.

"Not bad!"

He initiated a trade request with Captain Lu Gongda and gave him 1,000 stardust on the spot.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy some decent equipment.

Captain Lu Gongda accepted it and smiled honestly.

Seeing how useful this thing was, Fan Sinian immediately approached, "Brother Lu, can you build one for me too?"

As soon as he spoke, others also started clamoring.

"I want one too!"

"Master Lu, please help us out!"

Captain Lu Gongda scratched his head, surprisingly didn't mention asking for money, and nodded honestly, "Okay, okay, okay, one by one..."

Moreover, he didn't charge a single cent and built staircases leading to the roof for every carriage for free.

Lin Xiao watched Captain Lu Gongda's busy figure, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

He didn't expect that in such a harsh survival environment, there could still be such an honest person.

It's rare.

The apocalypse had turned everyone into ghosts, and everyone had lived to become beasts with nothing left but the instinct to kill.

In the experiences to come, he hoped this guy could keep this original intention.