14: First passenger

The Catfish opened its mouth wide and lunged out of the hole.

Seeing this, Luo Chen hurriedly turned around and scrambled toward the shore, using both hands and feet.

He kicked his feet downward repeatedly, trying to find footing on the steps.

However, the soft sensation he felt several times made Luo Chen realize that he kept kicking the Catfish.

It turned out that when the Catfish lunged out of the hole, its body happened to land right behind Luo Chen's feet.

The slimy sensation caused a surge of adrenaline in Luo Chen, and his kicking motion became so fast it was like a blur.

Soon, a firm sensation came from the soles of his feet. Luo Chen was overjoyed and scrambled quickly onto the shore, using both hands and feet.

In less than a moment, Luo Chen finally managed to crawl his entire body out of the water.

"Huff, huff!" Luo Chen sat down on the steps, letting out a heavy sigh of relief as he watched the nearly three-meter-long shadow not far away.

The Catfish's massive body increased its drag, but also caused its turning radius in the water to become quite large. Furthermore, after being kicked a few times by Luo Chen, it had veered off course.

So, by the time it turned its head back around, Luo Chen had already climbed onto the shore.

Watching the huge black shadow not far away, Luo Chen let out a heavy sigh of relief and couldn't help but complain:

"Damn! So this bastard was actually hiding in the hole down there. No wonder I couldn't find it before."

In the distance, the giant Catfish just stared quietly in Luo Chen's direction without any further movement.

Seeing that the giant Catfish had no intention of attacking him, Luo Chen slowly pulled the rope, his eyes fixed tightly on the giant Catfish not far away.

As the treasure chest was about to be pulled out of the water, the giant Catfish lunged at Luo Chen again.

Seeing this, Luo Chen hurriedly let go of the rope, picked up the handgun on the ground, and fired fiercely at the giant Catfish.

But the bullets hitting the giant Catfish didn't cause it any damage, and it kept closing in.

Soon the treasure chest sank back to the bottom of the water, and the giant Catfish stopped.

Could it be that as long as the treasure chest isn't taken away, the giant Catfish won't attack?

Thinking this, Luo Chen tried a few more times and discovered that this was indeed the case.

Seeing this, Luo Chen got an idea.

He stuffed all his clothes into his bag, then, with the backpack on his back, walked up the stairs while letting out the rope.

His eyes were fixed on the Catfish not far away.

Feeling that it was about right, Luo Chen gave the rope hook a sharp tug, and the Bronze Treasure Chest instantly flew out of the water and landed on the steps.

The giant Catfish was instantly enraged and lunged toward the shore.

But Luo Chen was already a long distance from the water's surface, and as he kept pulling the rope, the treasure chest moved further and further away from the water, so the Catfish couldn't reach it at all.

After trying a few times, the giant Catfish realized it couldn't attack effectively and turned to swim toward the center of the reservoir.

Watching the giant Catfish's receding figure, Luo Chen let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey! Luo Chen! Why did you fire your gun? What happened? Are you okay?"

At this moment, Luo Wan Ning ran down the stairs carrying an M4A1 rifle. Seeing Luo Chen sitting on the stairs naked, she asked anxiously.

"I'm fine!" Luo Chen looked at Luo Wan Ning's anxious appearance, smiled slightly, and said, "It's fine. When I was grabbing the treasure chest, I ran into that Catfish, but I chased it away."

"Phew! That's good! As long as you're okay!" Luo Wan Ning let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright! Let's go back!" Luo Chen said, slowly standing up, picking up his handgun and backpack, and pulling the treasure chest to head ashore.

Seeing this, Luo Wan Ning hurriedly blocked Luo Chen with her body, while pointing at a mother and daughter on the dam, whispering, "Uh! You'd better put your clothes on first! There's a little kid up there!"

"Xiangxiang! Close your eyes." The young woman on the dam hurriedly covered the girl's eyes with her hand.

Seeing the figures above, Luo Chen blushed, ignored the remaining water on his body, and hurriedly took his clothes out of the backpack to put them on.

"What's going on with them?" Luo Chen pointed at the figures on the shore and asked vigilantly.

"Oh! They want to join us." Luo Wan Ning turned her head to look, then said.

After speaking, noticing Luo Chen's curious gaze, Luo Wan Ning had to continue explaining:

"When I came out of the bedroom, I happened to see that little girl peeking at the snacks inside my Train through the window. Seeing how pitiful she looked, I just casually gave her a pack. She thanked me and left, so I didn't pay it any mind."

"But not long after, her mother brought her back to our door, saying she wanted to return the snacks to me! I said it wasn't necessary, but she insisted on paying. I remembered that Qin Mengyue mentioned before that we should merge more Trains, so I asked if she was willing to join us, and then I told her about some of our advantages and conditions. She thought about it for a while and then agreed."

Luo Wan Ning finished, looked at Luo Chen, and asked, "What do you think? If it's not okay, then forget it."

"You did well!" Luo Chen nodded, then said with some concern, "The problem now is that we don't have any extra fusion cores. If she wants to merge, she'll have to give up her status as a Train Conductor. Furthermore, our Train level isn't high enough yet; to merge her Train, we'd still need to exchange for some upgrade materials with others."

"I've already talked to her; she happens to have some upgrade materials that she was originally planning to use to upgrade to Level 2, so she can give them to us now." Luo Wan Ning whispered, explaining, "Now check if there's a fusion core in this treasure chest. If there is, we can use that."

Hearing this, Luo Chen lowered his body and opened the Bronze Treasure Chest.

After a quick count, it contained one cyan core, 122 star coins, 10 train coins, a roasted chicken, a 92-5.6 handgun just like the one in Luo Chen's hand, and 200 rounds of ammunition.

"None! There's only one cyan core." Luo Chen shook his head and said.

"Then she'll have to give up her Train Conductor status."

Luo Wan Ning and Luo Chen pulled the treasure chest up onto the dam.

"Sister Yujun, this is our Train Conductor, Luo Chen. I've already told him about your situation." Luo Wan Ning introduced him first.

"Hello! My name is Chen Yujun, and this is my daughter, Chen Tianxiang." The charming young woman, Chen Yujun, hurriedly pulled the little girl hiding behind her out: "Xiangxiang! Say hello to the uncle!"

"Hello, uncle!" the little girl called out timidly.

"Hello, little one! How old are you this year?" Luo Chen looked at the cute little girl in front of him, feeling quite good, and couldn't help but ask casually.

"Xiangxiang is 5 years old this year," Chen Tianxiang answered in a cutesy voice.

Luo Chen gave a thumbs up and praised, "Wow, you're amazing!"

"Thank you, uncle."

Luo Chen patted the little girl's head and looked at Chen Yujun:

"We are very willing to merge with you, but we don't have a fusion core at the moment."

"So if we merge, you might need to give up your Train Conductor status. May I ask what kind of Apostle you are?"

"Breeding: Breeding Pioneer. I only get rewards after giving birth to a child. So for me, it doesn't have much use." Chen Yujun pursed her red lips and said somewhat awkwardly.

Unexpectedly, she was also a Breeding Apostle. Luo Chen was slightly stunned.

But since he was one too, it wouldn't be much of a loss for him if she gave it up. Besides, his seemed to be a higher level than hers.

He nodded: "I am also a Breeding Apostle, but my level might be a bit higher than yours. Since you're willing to give it up, then everything is easy to handle."

"I have no problem with that! This Apostle type doesn't have much value to me." Chen Yujun said nonchalantly.

"Alright! Then let's go merge."

After settling it, Luo Chen and Luo Wan Ning first helped Chen Yujun move all her supplies onto his Train, and then upgraded the Train to Level 3.

After the Train finished upgrading, Luo Chen spent 20 star coins at the supply store to buy two Train tickets.

【Train Ticket: Can be given to any person to use as a Train boarding pass. (Note: If used by a Train Conductor, they will be stripped of their Train Conductor status and Apostle status.)】

【Passenger Agreement: 1. The Train Conductor and passengers must not harm each other; 2. The Train Conductor has the right to expel passengers upon arrival at a station; ...】