259: Chapter 259 His face showed no sign of hunger, but his heart harbored secrets!

"Train Conductor?"

Lin Xiao didn't bother to correct the title.

He spoke casually, "Is everyone settled in? If you encounter any problems during the process, let me know anytime, or contact Fan Sinian directly."

"No problem, no problem at all!"

Tang Chen waved his hands twice and said with a chuckle, "We used to sit in ordinary second-class carriages; we've never enjoyed the luxury of a sleeper car. Sigh, when we first boarded, everyone was thrilled!"

As he spoke, he gestured to his surroundings, sighing with emotion. "And this train is simply ridiculously large. Look at this corridor, look at this ceiling..."

"Exactly, exactly. We are so lucky to have met Conductor Lin!" the surrounding passengers chimed in at just the right moment.

Lin Xiao nodded slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"The compartments can also be expanded, but you need to enter the top ten of the leaderboard. You should all know this rule?"

"We know, of course we know."

Tang Chen nodded hurriedly. "Rest assured, Conductor, we will definitely work hard!"

Lin Xiao's gaze focused slightly, scanning the corridor unhurriedly before falling back on Tang Chen.

"Where's your grandson?" he suddenly asked. "Why don't I see him?"

The moment those words were spoken, a very subtle change occurred in the surrounding air.

The gazes of several passengers subconsciously drifted toward Tang Chen, only to be calmly suppressed by his look.

Lin Xiao keenly captured this, but said nothing.

His expression remained normal.

The smile on his face was neither too deep nor too shallow.

"Xiao Nuo is resting in the compartment."

Tang Chen sighed, his tone carrying a perfectly measured sense of helplessness. "After all, he hasn't closed his eyes for many days and is exhausted right now. Once he wakes up, I'll bring him to see you."

"It's fine," Lin Xiao's voice was unhurried. "We're all on the same train; we'll see each other eventually."

Before his voice had even faded, a strange sensation suddenly rose in his heart.

He didn't turn his head immediately, but first shifted his gaze to the side.

From the corner of his eye, he caught a figure leaning against the doorframe of compartment 08-13, peering out.

The door was only cracked open slightly, just enough for half a face to show.

The person looked young, with delicate features.

So delicate... they didn't look like a boy.

The moment that figure met Lin Xiao's gaze, they quickly ducked back inside.

The door panel closed gently with a very faint click.

Lin Xiao was wondering about it.

But Tang Chen stepped in front of him first.

He extended his hand in a "please" gesture.

Despite the old man's white hair and beard, his movements were quite fast.

"Conductor, it's inconvenient to talk out here. Why don't we go into the compartment to chat?"

The old man's face still held that same smile from before.

Gentle, respectful, and humble—his expression was pitch-perfect.

Now this is an old fox!

"Forget it." Lin Xiao withdrew his gaze, his tone devoid of any emotion. "We still have things to do. We're leaving."

Without waiting for Tang Chen's response, he turned and walked straight down the corridor, quickly passing through the junction between Car 08 and Car 09.

The footsteps of the three echoed in the carriage connection for a moment before being swallowed by the noise of Dining Car 09.

Dining Car 09 was a different scene altogether.

Old passengers sat on the public seats near the bar, their postures similar to the group in Car 08—legs crossed, leaning against the windows, very relaxed and comfortable.

They watched the scenery outside while constantly snacking on small treats.

The state shown by the group in Car 08 earlier wasn't much different from this scene.

So, could this really be a situation where they had no resources and hadn't eaten for nearly two days and nights?

Lin Xiao withdrew his gaze and walked behind the bar.

"Wanwan, how's the situation?"

Jiang Wanwan was comparing the ledgers. Seeing Lin Xiao walk in, she placed her dip pen by the ink dish and stood up.

"The number of passengers coming to deposit or withdraw loans has decreased a lot," she said. "All the supply vouchers have been exchanged. Of course, I kept one sample of each denomination."

She took three supply vouchers from the drawer and handed them to Lin Xiao.

The surface of the vouchers shimmered faintly under the cool white lights of the dining car.

Not a single stroke of the patterns Princess Xiyao had drawn had faded.

"Also..." Jiang Wanwan flipped through the ledger. "Many people have been using their borrowed stardust to spend directly on the network trading system. We've sold quite a bit of the high-level equipment we listed."

Borrowing money to buy good equipment—if they didn't earn it back, they would lose everything.

Lin Xiao didn't really care; after all, everything was under his control.

"Wanwan, did the new passengers from Car 08, the CR7197 group, come over to borrow stardust?"

Jiang Wanwan flipped through several pages of the ledger.

Her fingertip followed the ink marks down, skipping past several pages of dense transaction records.

Then, she looked up.

"No."

Lin Xiao looked at the two captains beside him.

"From what we saw just now, do you think that group looks like survivors who were stripped of everything and haven't eaten for two days and nights?"

"They don't," Liu Bi answered without any hesitation.

He was reminiscing, his brow furrowed deeply. "I didn't see a single trace of a sense of crisis on their faces."

Chen Pingan also shook his head.

"There's one more thing, I don't know if you noticed..."

His left hand rested on his sword hilt, his thumb lightly rubbing the edge of the scabbard, his expression quite serious.

"Tang Chen's group might have ragged clothes, but everyone's face is clean!"

Lin Xiao's gaze darkened.

After being attacked and staying on the coast for so long.

Except for the injured, most of them had no dirt on their faces, nor the swelling and sallowness caused by hunger.

"Wanwan," Lin Xiao withdrew his thoughts, "help me keep an eye on this group's movements, especially their network trading. They aren't borrowing stardust, but they have to buy things eventually..."

"If they don't even touch the network trading, then things will get even more interesting!"

Jiang Wanwan nodded.

Lin Xiao's gaze crossed the bar and landed on a corner on the other side.

Wen Yiran was slumped on the table, her head buried in her crossed arms, her ponytail tilted to one side.

Tian Xiwei leaned beside her, her head nodding down repeatedly, jerking back up every time it was about to hit the table, only to sink down again.

"When you're done, take them both back to the territory to rest." Lin Xiao tilted his chin in their direction.

Jiang Wanwan looked up and a gentle smile curved her lips. "Got it. Go on and get to your work."

Lin Xiao put the three sample vouchers into his backpack, then turned and walked through the bustling Dining Car 09 into the Car 10 corridor.

Crossing the carriage connection, in just the distance of a passageway, the steaming human warmth vanished instantly.

It was very quiet here.

It wasn't that there were no people.

When Lin Xiao entered the corridor, he saw a few tables of passengers sitting sparsely on the public seats by the windows.

At the first table, six people were sitting.

Six people, sharing two ears of corn.

Another table had half a salted fish on it.

The fish meat was divided into large and small chunks, passed around between several hands.

A table in the corner was slightly better off; not only did they have corn, but a Frost-patterned Coconut was also on the table.

The coconut was constantly passed among the companions, each taking a small sip before handing it to the next person.

They looked very wretched.

Lips cracked by the sea breeze, eye sockets sunken from hunger.

This was what real survivors fucking looked like.

But, in stark contrast to the pitifully small amount of food, was the equipment they wore.

Brand-new Tier 3 pieces, likely just purchased from network trading or the market.

Seeing the three of them approach.

The group first looked up warily to size them up, then hesitantly stood up, calling out "Brother Lin" one after another.

"Taking out loans to buy such good equipment, you guys are quite willing to spend."

Lin Xiao sat directly on a nearby seat, smiling at the table of passengers with a hint of teasing in his words.

The people at the table froze for a moment.

Their previously tense posture slowly relaxed.

"We plan to try our luck in the Rift Space; we might be able to earn some living expenses."

At that moment, a voice sounded from behind Lin Xiao.

The voice was both strange and familiar.

Lin Xiao turned his head.

It was Hao Ke.