17: Chapter 17 Dark Tunnel

The train plunged headlong into the abandoned abyss of a tunnel.

All light was stripped away in an instant. Outside the carriage, the ink-thick darkness seemed like a living thing, clinging tightly to the frost-covered window glass.

A heart-palpitating low-frequency vibration traveled along the tracks beneath them, surging up from the soles of their feet to their spines.

"Thump... Thump..."

It sounded like the heartbeat of some ancient behemoth—dull and oppressive.

The girls in the carriage were so terrified that they huddled together, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

Half of the fire had been jolted out during the emergency brake earlier, leaving only weak embers struggling to survive in the wind.

Xia Wanqiu clung tightly to Lin Feng. She had just finished a deep energy infusion, and her body was brimming with magic power; she should have been in peak condition.

But at this moment, out of fear of the unknown darkness, she instinctively sought out her only reliance.

The tattered school uniform she wore could no longer cover her body, leaving her wrapped only in a piece of animal hide.

Her full, soft breasts heaved violently due to tension, pressing hard against Lin Feng's arm and squeezing into a breathtaking curve.

That dark red, heart-shaped demon tail was even more like a startled snake, tightly entwining itself around Lin Feng's waist as she tried to draw a sense of security from the man.

Lin Feng ignored the warm, fragrant beauty in his arms; his gaze was fixed on the virtual panel in front of his retina.

The moment the train entered the tunnel, the system panel suddenly erupted with a piercing blue light.

[Global Announcement: Congratulations to some survivors for surviving more than 24 hours.]

[Survival Database Updated.]

[New Data Panel Unlocked: Tier System.]

A cold, mechanical voice echoed in everyone's mind.

Lin Feng immediately clicked on the new panel. On the interface that originally only had simple 'Talent' and 'Mana Value', detailed grade divisions had appeared.

[Tier Description:]

[Talent (E-rank to SSS-rank) only represents the player's potential ceiling and skill characteristics.]

[Tier (1st-Order to 9th-Order) represents the player's current mana capacity, physical strength, and true combat power.]

[Current Status Assessment: All players on this train are in the 'Unranked' state.]

[Characteristics of Unranked: Extremely shallow mana pool, mortal body, unable to maintain high-intensity combat for long periods.]

Seeing these lines of text, Su Ya, who was in the carriage, was momentarily stunned.

She slumped onto the bench, her long, straight legs restlessly crossed together.

Her tattered white shirt barely covered the scenery on her chest, and large patches of snow-white skin glowed with an alluring luster under the weak firelight.

"Unranked..." Su Ya murmured to herself, a flash of realization and bitterness crossing her pink eyes.

She finally understood why, despite having such a powerful B-rank Flame talent, she had ended up with mana exhaustion and on the brink of death after releasing just one fire ring.

No matter how high the talent, if the water cup is only the size of a fingernail, how much water can it hold?

Lin Feng also nodded inwardly.

This system was very logical.

Talent determines how high you can climb, while Tier determines which step you are currently standing on.

No wonder using magic was so difficult in the early stages; without the support of a basic mana capacity, those seemingly world-destroying skills were nothing more than short-lived suicidal methods.

While everyone was still digesting this new information...

The temperature outside the carriage began a cliff-like plunge.

If the Crimson Ruins Platform earlier was early winter, then this tunnel was an absolute polar hell.

A cold wind desperately squeezed through the gaps in the carriage's iron plating, making a shrill wailing sound like a woman crying.

Wan Qiu, who had felt a bit hot earlier, couldn't help but shudder now.

The pair of petite bat wings on her back folded uneasily, pressing tightly against her smooth spine.

"So cold... Train Master, I'm so scared..." Wan Qiu's voice was soft and trembling, her entire person almost melting into Lin Feng's embrace.

"Beep—!"

The ear-piercing red alarm blared again, directly drowning out the sound of the wind outside.

[Warning! Regional danger source locked!]

[Target: First-Order Magic Creature — Blood-Sucking Bat-Humanoid.]

[Location: Above Train No. 99.]

[Combat Assessment: First-Order Magic Creature. Its physical strength, speed, and mana reserves are more than five times that of an Unranked individual. It possesses basic night vision and sonar positioning capabilities.]

More than five times!

The moment this data appeared, the dozen or so girls in the front half of the carriage fell into utter despair.

They couldn't even handle the most ordinary Carrion Dog, and now a First-Order monster with stats five times their own had suddenly jumped out. How were they supposed to fight this?

"Five times... We're going to die, we're all going to die." Tong Tong clutched her head, her tears bursting forth like a broken dam.

Su Ya bit her lip hard, trying to mobilize the fire-element mana in her body once more.

But as soon as the thought occurred, a needle-like sting came from her meridians.

She was too weak; the shallow link was only enough to sustain her life, far from enough to support a cross-tier battle.

Lin Feng sat on the leather chair, his eyes sharp as knives.

A First-Order Magic Creature.

This was the strongest enemy he had encountered so far, but there was no fear in his heart, only a faint sense of excitement.

The stronger the monster, the better the loot it dropped. He was currently only one Low-level Magic Core away from upgrading the train.

This Bat-Humanoid had arrived at just the right time.

"Bang!"

A dull, massive thud suddenly came from the rear half of the train.

The entire carriage shook violently, as if some gargantuan object had slammed heavily onto the roof.

"It's in the back!" Su Ya cried out.

The rear half of the carriage.

The Labor Area, which was already as cold as an ice cellar, had now turned into a veritable Asura field.

Zhang Meng and the other eighteen girls were huddled in a corner, shivering. They had been deprived of food and warmth, and their physical strength had long since bottomed out.

"Skree—!"

The tooth-aching sound of metal tearing exploded overhead.

The already dilapidated green-skinned roof was forcibly torn open with a two-meter-long gash by a pair of sharp claws covered in black bristles, with nails ten centimeters long.

The howling wind, mixed with cold gravel, poured into the carriage.

Immediately after, an upside-down dark shadow squeezed in through the hole.

It was a monster the size of an adult man. It had an ugly, bat-like head with no eyes, only two huge ears and a bloody maw filled with fangs.

A thick layer of flesh membrane connected its arms to its torso, covered in dark red blood vessels.

A Blood-Sucking Bat-Humanoid.

A strong stench of blood and rot instantly filled the entire rear half of the carriage.

"Ah!!!"

The girls erupted in shrill screams, fleeing in all directions, but in the enclosed and narrow carriage, where could they run?

The Bat-Humanoid didn't need sight at all; relying on sonar and the heat of living people, it instantly locked onto its prey.

Its legs kicked off the roof fiercely, its massive wings folded, and it slammed into the crowd like a cannonball.

Puchi!

The sharp claws swung.

The girl running the slowest didn't even have time to cry for help before a gash deep enough to see bone was torn across her back.

Blood sprayed like a fountain onto the cold metal walls, instantly freezing into blood-colored ice flowers.

"Help! Lin Feng, help!"

"Open the door! Hurry and open the Explosion-proof Door!"