Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 654 - 312: Curtain Call Station_3

Chapter 654: Chapter 312: Curtain Call Station_3

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Since leaving Town No. 10, the Eastern Train had faced many hardships, dwindling down from five to three people. Short-staffed, they spent their days dealing with Fortress agents and their nights exhausted by nightly tasks. That night was their best sleep until they were awakened by the automatic driving system announcing that they were 10 minutes away from Curtain Station. The time was 7:20 AM on the seventh day.

Though Curtain Town was small, with a similarly modest station, it boasted a plethora of train tracks, dozens of them, running tightly together. Between the tracks lay a complex network of switches. By moving these switches, it was possible to transfer the train onto an alternate track.

The stationmaster NPC locked everyone in for 10 minutes, introducing the new operations like a tutorial for beginners. Now, at the driver’s console, there were two new buttons, one on the left and another on the right. Press the left button when you need to switch to the track on the left; when approaching a junction where two tracks crossed, the train would follow the left track. If there were only two tracks to choose from, you had to choose either left or right; otherwise, the system would make a random selection for you.

Next, the stationmaster began to introduce the story background.

Curtain Town was the last town under the control of the Final Human Sanctuary. The villain, infuriated after learning that the ten special agents he had dispatched to kill Sasha failed, unleashed his ultimate weapon: the Nuclear Spider Train.

The news left Lin Maqing, Maya, and Lin Wu stunned into silence.

To understand the name, one must break it down: "nuclear" indicating its powerful drive and unlimited energy storage, "spider" referring to the zombie spiders, and "train" being just that, a train.

Lin Wu tried to understand, asking, "There’s a train engine coming to chase us, and this engine is either a spider or controlled by a giant spider?"

"You could think of it that way."

The Spider Train would pursue the player’s train, and as for what kind of attacks it had, players would need to find out for themselves. Currently, 42 trains were transporting Sasha, and all of them were set to depart at 8 AM, each pursued by their own dedicated Spider Train.

"Only the players who reach Curtain can see the railway map to the shelter," the stationmaster motioned for the three to follow him into the waiting hall.

On the wall of the waiting hall was a massive railway map, dense as a spider web, with 42 entrances. Another advantage of the Curtain Train was knowing your own location: Curtain Station was situated to the southeast on the Spider Web Railway map, while the other 41 entrances were located to the southwest.

The railway environment was ever-changing, with tracks cutting through large cities, laid alongside country roads, winding up mountains, and even over lava flows. Additionally, there were tracks in extreme environments including ice, snow, and deserts.

Within this network of Spider Railways, there were no exits, no destinations; time was the only endpoint.

As for the rules, head-on collisions wouldn’t cause damage, but trains moving in the same direction would risk derailment if they squeezed each other. This was the case whether it involved player trains or Spider Trains. "Squeezing" meant that when two trains were running parallel, one would suddenly switch to the same track as the other through a junction, causing both trains to derail.

If there was a repair worker, they could get a derailed train back on track in about 5 minutes. Without a repair worker, it would take around 10 minutes. During this time, no defensive battles would occur.

The map also displayed special stations; passing through them would earn players a certain amount of coal, ammunition, and food. There were also stations marked with question marks, where fortune or misfortune would depend on the players’ luck.

The last benefit the Curtain Station offered was the Challenge Mission. Players could simulate a duel with the Spider Train—if they survived for 15 minutes, they would earn an electronic map of the Spider Railway, showing their current location. There was no penalty for failing the challenge.

If they didn’t want to take on the challenge, they could upgrade their train once; for example, reduce coal consumption or increase the durability limit of the carriages. They could also opt to receive five hundred kilograms of coal directly.

Maya looked at the others and asked, "Shall we take the challenge?"

"Challenge," Lin Wu and Qinglang responded in unison.