Chapter 156: From the Train in the Snowstorm

Booming train horns blared from outside the city, like a peal of thunder exploding in the wind and snow!

In front of Aurora City’s gates, an enforcement officer, who had been resting against the wall, suddenly snapped to attention, looking towards the horizon.

Flurries of snow were swept into the sky by the strong winds. Amidst the swirling snow, a black dot appeared out of nowhere, and behind it, an endless, surging tide of calamity seemed to churn!

“That’s…” The enforcement officer hurriedly pulled a telescope from his pocket, looked in that direction, and stood rooted to the spot. “…How…how can this be?!?”

He frantically pressed a button on his communicator, shouting amidst the howling wind, snow, and the blaring whistle:

“Headquarters, headquarters! This is Southwest Gate 4!! This is Southwest Gate 4!!”

“I... I see a train!!”

Meanwhile.

On a street not far from the city wall, people who had been parading and shouting suddenly paused. They turned their heads towards the source of the sound, their eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

“A train sound? Did I hear that correctly?”

“It’s coming from outside the wall…”

“Impossible. Isn’t the area outside the wall already occupied by the Gray Zone? Where would a train whistle come from?”

“I recall there are no railway tracks outside the city gate in this direction… How could there be a train?”

The crowd whispered in confusion. Just then, figures in black trench coats darted towards that section of the city wall like lightning. The enforcement officers who had been maintaining order on the street also seemed to have received an order, quickly moving closer to the same location.

The citizens exchanged glances, knowing that something was likely happening outside the city wall. They followed the enforcement officers towards the wall, but as soon as they passed through Dove Plaza, they were stopped by the officers.

Yellow caution tapes were quickly pulled up, blocking everyone in front of the plaza. Behind the tapes stood a dense line of enforcement officers and an enforcement officer wearing a three-striped trench coat.

“The area ahead has been sealed off. Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from approaching,” the enforcement officer stated with a stern face and a deep voice.

“Why can’t we go through?!”

“Exactly, this is a public area. How can you just seal it off?”

“Something has definitely happened outside the city wall… We have a right to know the truth!”

Two figures carrying cameras pushed through the crowd, ignored the caution tape, and bent down to enter the restricted area. Before they could take two steps, they were stopped by several enforcement officers.

“I am Wen Shilin, a reporter for The Aurora Daily. According to Aurora City law, I possess independent media operational rights, and even enforcement officers have no authority to interfere with my actions… Stand aside,” Wen Shilin said earnestly, pulling out his press pass from his pocket.

The enforcement officers exchanged glances, appearing somewhat at a loss, but under orders, they did not move aside and continued to block his path.

Seeing this, Wen Shilin’s brows furrowed involuntarily. He spoke in a low voice:

“Three hundred years ago, Aurora City established the enforcement system to better maintain order. To prevent enforcement officers from abusing their power, civilian media were also granted the right to monitor and report freely, a right on par with your absolute enforcement authority… Don't just say you, even Tan Xin himself would have no right to stop me here! Are you trying to go against the laws of Aurora City?”

Upon hearing these words, the expressions of the enforcement officers changed slightly. The three-striped enforcement officer walked directly over, saw Wen Shilin’s serious and resolute face, and shook his head helplessly.

“...Fine, let him through.”

As the enforcement officers blocking his way stepped aside, Wen Shilin glared at them, then, carrying his camera, hurried towards the city wall.

Dove Plaza was located directly behind Southwest Gate 4, with only a straight road of five to six hundred meters connecting them. Wen Shilin and his assistant walked directly across the road and onto the city wall. Along the way, many enforcement officers tried to stop them, but after catching sight of their press passes on their chests, they allowed them to pass.

“Begin recording,” Wen Shilin said, pulling out a brown notebook and a golden fountain pen from his pocket.

As he finished speaking, the pen stood upright on its own and began writing rapidly.

“At 3:42 PM, a suspected train whistle was heard outside Aurora City’s southwest wall. Enforcement officers swiftly mobilized to seal off the area near the city gate. The author bypassed the blockade to ascend the city wall, seeking the truth behind the anomaly outside the city…”

Wen Shilin stepped onto the city wall, using its height to gaze outwards. As his eyes fell upon the horizon, his pupils contracted slightly!

His voice cut off abruptly.

Amidst the swirling snow, countless black creatures were crawling out from the edge of the Gray Zone, like a surging black tsunami overwhelming everything and rushing towards them. And amidst this roaring tide, a train, perilous and blaring, charged at the very front!

It was a train scorched black all over. Its massive body crushed countless black creatures into fragments. Fierce flames surged around its wheels, making it look from afar like a colossal steel beast emerging from the Gray Zone, treading through fire!

Tracks forged by flames burned wildly across the ice plain. On the pitch-black engine, a blood-red overcoat flapped in the wind.

Wen Shilin was stunned. He was momentarily speechless, unable to describe the scene. He didn't know how the train was moving across the trackless ice plain, nor why it could burst out of the Gray Zone. Its appearance on the desolate and desperate ice plain seemed like a miracle!

The flash above the camera burst with light; his assistant had already immortalized this scene on film. Only then did Wen Shilin come back to his senses, turning to ask the enforcement officer beside him, bewildered.

“What… what is this train?”

The five-striped enforcement officer didn’t bother to answer Wen Shilin, as they had no obligation to cooperate with a reporter’s investigation. He turned and walked towards the other side of the city wall. At the same time, an enforcement officer hurriedly ran up to him.

“We’ve confirmed it! That’s the train used by the Usurper back then. It’s suspected to have merged with some kind of ritual artifact and was temporarily stranded in Winter Harbor.”

“What about the person on the train? Have they been identified?”

“Confirmed,” the enforcement officer said, pulling out a file. The photo showed Chen Ling’s face. “The mastermind behind the complete destruction of the Ancient Soldier Repository, a heretic who infiltrated the enforcement system, and former District Three Enforcement Officer Chen Ling.”

“Chen Ling…” the five-striped enforcement officer murmured the name.

“This is unbelievable,” another enforcement officer muttered, staring blankly at the rapidly approaching steel train. “It’s been twenty full hours since the Aurora vanished. By all accounts, the area outside the city should be swarming with calamity… How did he fight his way out of the Gray Zone?”

“He’s still approaching Aurora City? What exactly does he intend to do??”