"Is that so? It really makes one feel so sad." Xu Xiaoyou uttered sorrowfully, lowering her head.
Angelina ignored the lodramatic Xu Xiaoyou and stood on the train roof, gazing back at the pitch-black, cold sea. A group of Scale Horned Whales lay subrged beneath the surface, letting out cries as they surrounded their deceased companion.
In the depths of the ocean, a pair of crimson eyes t hers, indescribable sadness and anger flowing through the gaze of the ocean monarch.
The once calm sea grew tumultuous. Dark clouds spread from afar, wild winds howled, and amid flashes of lightning and bursts of thunder, hundreds of ters tall tentacles of a Sea Siren rose skyward, stirring up endless waves. The looming sea mountain seed interminable, reaching into the gloomy sky!
A rumbling thunder enveloped the scene, as wind and waves converged upon the Kuiniu Train. Before the divine rage-like force of nature, all things in the world turned sinister and wild!
"Looks like their king is angry."
Angelina braced herself against the lance, peering into the distance.
"Take care of yourself in the coming monts."
"I won’t be able to look after you."
Xu Xiaoyou noticed the doomsday-like scene outside the window. Yet, inside the train carriage, the passengers remained asleep, and no alarm warnings sounded to signal the impending crisis.
Angelina flashed a defiant smile. Raising her lance tip, she cut through the cloaked air, drawing a deadly arc directly at the outline of the ocean monarch, hidden within the storm clouds. Her black velvet coat danced wildly on her shoulders.
"Hunting the Scale Horned Whale King? I’m very excited."
"Give it all your struggle, don’t disappoint !"
...
The storm on the sea finally abated, winds and waves receded, the moon like a silver platter, the scales of the whales glimred like starlight. The sea returned to calm, no hint of storm signs remained.
Everything reverted to its original state, as though the prior marine disaster, the apocalyptic scene, was rely Xu Xiaoyou’s illusion. Yet, the presence of the silver-haired girl faded into the distance.
Xu Xiaoyou refocused, placed the imrsion device on her head, and reloaded into the Oasis.
A vivid burst of colorful light flashed before her eyes, and at the edges of the light halo appeared several indistinct black spots, resembling tiny flying mosquitoes.
As the dizziness from the light gradually subsided, Xu Xiaoyou shook her head and clarified the view before her.
It seed she was in a small room, dark red moonlight shone in. On the bedside cabinet lay a photo fra, the woman’s image in the photo blurred by the light.
This should be the room of the character she was playing as, the doctor.
The clock on the wall ticked steadily, Xu Xiaoyou glanced at it. It was half-past eleven at night, half an hour from the start of the main task.
Xu Xiaoyou walked to the bedside cabinet and picked up the woman’s photo.
The photo seed to have so age, the edges surrounded by yellow stains from oxidation, appearing to be a photo of the doctor and a woman, whose features could no longer be discerned. The photo was not taken on the train; it was in a forest, looking sowhat dazzling amid the scattered sunlight.
"Sub-path Artifact: Doctor’s Wife’s Photo."
"Quality: Dim (White)."
"Item Introduction: Is this the wife’s photo? ’Doctor’s’ gender wasn’t ntioned in the replica."
"Clue ’Doctor’s Wife’s Photo’ has been added to the notebook, available for review anyti."
Puts the photo back.
Xu Xiaoyou also noticed a potted plant on the windowsill, vibrant red flowers were growing there. She felt these flowers seed very familiar, like she had seen them sowhere before.
She rembered, in the laboratory, the glass culture dishes were filled with such vivid crimson flowers, which research personnel’s experintal logs referred to as ’Red Chestnut Flower’.
Xu Xiaoyou continued searching the room, eventually found the usual diary of horror suspense mystery gas tucked in a white research coat hanging on the wall.
Who writes diaries in modern tis, anyway?
She made a simple complaint, opened the diary, directly flipping to the first page. Due to its age, the paper was rough and fragile, a gentle pinch would crumble it. She had to turn it carefully.
On the yellowed pages, Xu Xiaoyou could barely discern the writings.
"June 13, 1376."
"Today’s weather is quite nice, perhaps because Lina looked very happy, which made feel the weather was pleasant. Due to magnetic field disruptions, the Saint Puniel had to stop at a gorge to rest. No one knew where this place was, maybe it was on the Ring Asia Continent, or at Everlasting Hope Cape on the Ofei Continent, or perhaps in the corner of South Lijia Continent’s lson Strait, who knows."
"June 27, 1376."
"The train still hasn’t started. Truthfully, the situation is terrible. We’ve been stranded here for half a month. We don’t really need to worry about food resources; the existing reserves on the train are enough for the whole carriage for a year without outside supplies. Our pressing problem right now is that most people on the train are getting sick due to health issues caused by water and soil differences, their immune systems are over-operating, causing them high fevers and incessant vomiting, maybe due to other reasons as well."
"The patients said they heard songs from the valley, beautiful and lodious like a flute. This is bad; I’m worried about their ntal condition since neither Lina nor more mbers of the transport team nor I heard the songs they spoke of."
"The Tredy Clan wants to figure out where we are, the archaeological team on the train has to stop here to test the water quality, survey geological soil, dear heavens, pray everything gets better."
...
"July 15, 1376."
"Without my pen, the archaeological team would be numb to the passage of ti. Psychology generally suggests that when facing adversity, if one cannot perceive the passage of ti clearly, even after rescue later, it can induce a series of stress aftermaths."
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