Chapter 152: Train Crossing Borders

Everyone was terrified. They didn't know why they were there or what those things were; they just ran backward desperately. Even so, the runic creatures continued to lunge forward, and hot fireballs ignited bodies one after another.

"...How did we enter the Grey Realm?! We were just walking normally along the tracks...""Where are the tracks? Why are they gone? How do we get back?""So hot... so hot!""We barely escaped from District Three... Do we have to die here before reaching Aurora City??"

The will to survive consumed everyone, but their speed was no match for the small runic creatures. These creatures could leap out from the ice beneath their feet at any moment, making escape almost impossible. One figure after another fell, transforming into a fireball, yet not dying immediately. Instead, they struggled and screamed in the flames, turning to ash. Extreme fear spread wildly through the crowd.

Mr. Xu stumbled backward, clutching his crying child. The firelight repeatedly illuminated his face, and despair was clearly visible in his eyes.

"Daddy, are we going to die?""No... Daddy won't let you die!"

Mr. Xu gritted his teeth, pushing out his last reserves of strength. A black runic creature suddenly leaped from the reflection in the ice beside him, nearly brushing past his body. Mr. Xu gasped and clutched his child as a searing fireball exploded behind him, sending him flying.

Mr. Xu's clothes were burned to ash, and the skin on his back was charred black. He cried out in pain but gritted his teeth, struggled to his feet, and continued to run. Before him stretched an endless, desolate sky. On the barren ice plain, there was no cover or escape route to be found. Ripples spread across the ice's reflection, as if sealing off their retreat entirely. Deep despair welled up in Mr. Xu's eyes.

Just then, a blinding train headlight suddenly illuminated the ice beneath their feet, like a slowly approaching sun. A speeding train violently crashed through the convergence point of reality and the Grey Realm, appearing out of thin air on the ice plain!

BOOM—!!

The hum of steam broke the silence of the ice plain. The massive train body roared as it tore through the air, its hard wheels crushing three runic creatures about to emerge. Blazing fire erupted from the bottom of the carriages, leaving a long trail of flames on the ice.

This sudden appearance of the train happened to cut across the path between the fleeing people and the runic creatures, like a black dividing line between life and death. The screech of brakes echoed on the ice plain, and blinding flashes of fire burst forth from its surface.

All the residents froze, staring blankly at the moving train. On the locomotive's front, a figure in a greatcoat stood before the surging steam, pulling the trigger against the continuously leaping runic creatures.

Chen Ling?!

Seeing that familiar face, everyone stood dazed and bewildered. It felt like a dream; they had just seen Chen Ling drive away in a roaring locomotive a short while ago, so how had he returned with an entire train in the blink of an eye?

BANG—!

This single shot directly annihilated several clustered runic creatures. As the train slowly decelerated, the figure calmly spoke:"What are you waiting for? Get on the train."

At the carriage door, a five or six-year-old girl poked her head out and waved repeatedly at the crowd. Only then did the people react, scrambling into the carriages.

Chen Ling stood at the front of the train, his gaze fixed on the creatures constantly leaping on the ice plain's reflection. His eyes narrowed slightly... The next moment, he lightly jumped from the train's front and headed straight for the nearest creature.

Sensing Chen Ling's approach, the surrounding runic creatures simultaneously converged on him. They continuously leaped between the ice plain and its reflection, like a school of fish churning on the sea surface. This time, Chen Ling did not use the Tribunal. Relying on his own speed, he lightning-fast caught a runic creature flying towards him. Only when he had the thing firmly in his hand did Chen Ling clearly see its appearance.

It resembled a miniature eel, roughly the size of a palm and as thick as a finger. Its surface was covered with mysterious black runes, almost identical to those Chen Ling had previously seen on the seaweed by the Frozen Sea.

"More runes?" Chen Ling unconsciously furrowed his brow. "Are these 'eels' and the calamity in the Frozen Sea... from the same source?"

Chen Ling held the 'eel' in one hand, while with the other, he swiftly drew his gun and shot at several other 'eels' flying towards him. With the enhancement of his Arcane Eye, Chen Ling's marksmanship was terrifyingly precise. A few shots disintegrated all the 'eels', causing blinding fireballs to simultaneously burst into flames in mid-air, then vanish into nothingness like fireworks.

"They self-destruct when attacked... Are they not even Tier 1?"

Chen Ling quickly understood the characteristics of these 'eels'. Holding the last "test subject" in his hand, he was about to turn back to the train when his peripheral vision caught something on the ice plain beneath his feet, making him stop. He stood on the ice plain, slowly crouching down. Ripples spread across the ice's surface, like a shimmering sea. And deep within the reflection beneath the ice, numerous dense black shadows were surging in one direction, like migrating schools of fish in the deep sea.

These shadows were composed of countless runic 'eels'. Chen Ling followed their direction of movement, his brows furrowing more and more.

"Aurora City... are their movements all targeted?"

Chen Ling had always thought that calamities were like "beasts" from another world, growing in the Grey Realm, with differing characteristics and no discernible patterns in their behavior. But the scene before him made him change his mind. These schools of 'eels' were directly heading for Aurora City. Was it an instinctual swarming behavior, or was something guiding them?

Chen Ling didn't have time to ponder further, as a large group of 'eels' seemed to have detected the anomaly here and began to break off from the main force to attack. Chen Ling turned back into the carriage and spoke to Zhao Yi in the control room:"Go!""Which way?""Do you see the reflection of train tracks under that ice plain? That's the convergence point, drive towards it."

The train had never stopped, moving slowly on the ice plain to allow residents to board. At Chen Ling's command, the steam hummed again, and the train rapidly accelerated, rushing towards the reflection Chen Ling had indicated. As the train's shadow appeared on the ice plain's surface, the convergence point of the two worlds merged once more. The train forcibly drove back from the Grey Realm into the real world. Everyone felt a dizzying sensation as the lead-grey sky was replaced by dim daylight, and the familiar train tracks reappeared on the barren land.

"Except for Aurora City, the convergence of the Grey Realm in other places is becoming increasingly severe... At this rate, it won't be long before the two worlds have no boundaries." Chen Ling murmured to himself, looking at the unremarkable expanse of ice behind the train.