Sss—
The train stopped, and Ye Qiyan looked out the window.
This station’s world was not as dark as the previous two. On the contrary, the sun hung high in the sky, shining brightly over the entire land.
This place was completely different from the earlier stations.
Outside on the street were deep red stains everywhere, with rows of abandoned cars blocking the way.
Doomsday Town.
A name well deserved.
“Hey, WALL-E, time to get to work.”
[WALL-E, activate.]
Watching it wobble away through the recycling chute, Ye Qiyan seriously doubted whether the monsters lurking out there might snatch it up as a toy.
“By the way, what’s the task for this station?”
His question was soon answered.
Through the window, Ye Qiyan spotted a corpse clutching a backpack. Inside that backpack, a piece of parchment flapped in the wind.
Clearly something was written on the parchment, but it was too far away to read.
Standing at the train door, Ye Qiyan gave his equipment a final check.
Food, water, a finely crafted rifle on his back, a black-gloss pistol and a sharp dagger hanging from his waist, and finally, he wore the advanced ceramic plate bulletproof vest obtained from the treasure chest at the last station.
He had also sublimated this vest, transforming it from a bulky, bucket-like armor into a genuine vest without sacrificing any protection.
Fully armed, he pressed the button.
The train doors opened. He stepped off, then closed the door behind him with a flick of his wrist.
Only the conductor himself could open the doors, so he wasn’t worried about anything sneaking in.
A wave of scorching heat hit him, and the air was thick with a strange stench—like rotten salted fish mixed with long-decayed bread.
Approaching the corpse, Ye Qiyan used the rifle barrel to nudge open the backpack and took a full look at the parchment inside.
[As you can see, I am a great courier.]
Ye Qiyan quietly stared at the body lying on the ground. Great? Courier? No sign of either.
[As a courier for RUN Company, I bear the heavy responsibility of delivering supplies in this post-apocalyptic world. Only we can move freely here. But, well, I’m probably going to die.]
It was not hard to imagine that this courier had a dark sense of humor.
[But the courier’s mission must not be broken! Whoever you are, after reading this message, please deliver the items in my backpack to the silverware shop in the southeast corner of this town!]
[If you deliver the items and show my RUN badge, the reward for this delivery job will be yours.]
[Of course, you don’t have to deliver it if you don’t want to, whatever, I’m going to die anyway...]
[Really not going to deliver it? The reward is great~ RUN Company is the best in the wasteland~]
A courier, huh?
So this must be the station’s task.
“What’s inside the backpack?”
Curious, Ye Qiyan fully opened it.
Inside, apart from the parchment, was a cake sealed in a transparent box, preserved remarkably well.
Four characters were written on it in jam:
Happy Birthday.
A birthday?
Ye Qiyan silently picked up the backpack.
Judging by the decay, the courier had been dead for a long time.
“The birthday won’t be celebrated, but the cake can still be eaten.”
He rummaged through the backpack and found a very mechanical-looking badge. The badge’s image, formed by gears and metal, depicted a courier running.
On the back of the badge was a large RUN symbol.
There was also a map of the town, with a red dot marking the destination.
Stowing away the cake and badge, Ye Qiyan headed toward the marked location, using the map as a guide.
The road was littered with skeletons, dark red bloodstains telling tales of horrific events that had taken place.
“What’s that?”
He saw a hyena feeding on a corpse.
Come to think of it, this was his first time seeing any living creature besides himself in this survival world.
Wait, was it really alive?
The hyena seemed to hear a sound and turned its head toward Ye Qiyan. Only then did he see—this was no living dog. Its skull was rotten, heart exposed. This was clearly a zombie dog!
“Roar!”
The zombie dog let out a strange growl and charged at Ye Qiyan.
“Stay calm! Stay calm!”
Suppressing the fear rising in his chest, Ye Qiyan raised his pistol and pulled the trigger.
Bang bang bang bang bang—!
He wasn’t a sharpshooter. Although only one bullet hit the zombie dog, the powerful impact was enough to blow it to pieces.
“No good, need to get out of here fast.”
The gunfire was loud enough to be heard throughout the entire town. Monsters like this zombie dog might already be swarming toward this location.
Fortunately, the monsters were not very smart. Taking a slight detour, Ye Qiyan successfully arrived at his destination—the silverware shop. What surprised him was that there was no sign of any monster nearby.
Strange.
“Is anyone really here?”
Looking at the shop’s tightly closed door, it was hard not to suspect that whoever was inside had long since been devoured by the monsters outside.
Just as he was debating whether to pry the door open, the metal shutter suddenly slid open a crack.
Ye Qiyan immediately raised his rifle, aiming at the gap.
“Don’t shoot! I’m human, not a zombie!”
Seeing the dark muzzle pointed at him, the person inside hurriedly answered in a hoarse voice.
“...Are you the owner of this shop?”
Unable to see clearly inside, Ye Qiyan simply took out the badge.
“I’m a courier for RUN Company. The previous courier died halfway here. I’m taking over the delivery.”
Out here, identity was something you gave yourself. In this unfamiliar post-apocalyptic wasteland, being a courier seemed to earn more respect.
The shutter rose a bit more, revealing a scruffy, bearded man in his forties.
“Hey, I know, I know you’re a courier. Nowadays, the only ones brave enough to be outside are couriers, lunatics, and monsters. Heh heh, come on in.”
Ye Qiyan didn’t move, keeping his rifle aimed at the man’s head, and pulled out the sealed cake from his backpack.
“Forget coming in. Here’s the stuff. Where’s the reward?”
The man stared at the cake for a moment.
“What a pity. If only you had come a little earlier, heh heh... The reward, right, the reward. I’ll get it for you now.”
He turned and left. Soon after, a box was extended from under the shutter, opened to reveal its contents.
Ye Qiyan recognized them immediately.
Train Coins?
Three Train Coins lay quietly inside.
Could it be that Train Coins were the universal currency across all station worlds? Otherwise, it was hard to explain why the natives here had such things.
Just as Ye Qiyan was about to collect the coins, the man inside suddenly reached out and grabbed the barrel of his rifle!
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