111: Chapter 111 Chess and Cards as Destiny, Praising the Divine Court of Destiny

As the train continued to accelerate, the scenery outside the window changed rapidly.

The pink mist that shrouded the skies of Neon Country, seemingly eternal, was finally left completely behind.

When the last wisp of cloying fragrance was scattered by the wind,

An eerie change occurred within the carriage.

The Neon Country "passengers" who had been sitting in their seats, dressed in various outfits and whispering to one another,

Began to flicker violently, like holographic Projections with a poor connection.

Zzzzt... Their bodies gradually became transparent and blurred.

Ultimately, they turned into countless greyish-white dust particles, drifting in the dim air of the carriage.

In just a few short seconds,

The once crowded and noisy carriage instantly became empty and deathly silent.

Only the coughing ghoul clone controlled by Lin Chuan remained, still sitting lonely in the corner.

This instantaneous clearing was more absurd and bizarre on a fundamental level of rules than if the entire train had been filled with horrors.

"It's not just movement through space..."

"It seems to involve... a crossing of dimensions."

Far away in the Rebirth Temple, Lin Chuan analyzed the situation calmly through the perspective of the coughing ghoul clone.

The train was still racing along.

Outside the window was no longer the pitch-black Void Realm, but a desolate land.

This was... the Idfu Continent.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Hummm... Screeech!!

The train seemed to stop briefly at an obscure little station.

The doors opened, then closed again.

Several survivors, scrambling in panic to escape some terrifying entity, stumbled onto the train.

"Thank God! There's finally a train!"

"Quick! Start the train! Those monsters are catching up!"

They shouted in pleasant surprise, thinking they had caught a life-saving straw.

However,

When they clearly saw the deathly silence within the carriage that seemed to freeze time, and the hunched figure in the corner letting out occasional "cough cough" sounds,

The joy on their faces instantly froze.

The next second,

The stale, decaying aura permeating the carriage suddenly surged into their mouths and noses.

Thump! Thump!

A few muffled sounds echoed.

These survivors' eyes bulged as they fell straight to the floor, their life force completely severed.

Their corpses rapidly shriveled and weathered, as if experiencing a thousand years in an instant.

Eventually, they turned into several skeletons, and then... even the skeletons vanished within the train.

Clearly, they had triggered some kind of train "rule."

Lin Chuan watched all of this indifferently.

There was no pity in his heart.

In the era of horror, pity for the deceased was meaningless.

The train continued forward,

Passing through dense forests and crossing dried-up riverbeds.

Just as the train was about to leave the Idfu Continent and approach the edge of the legendary and most mysterious West Continent,

A strange passenger suddenly boarded.

This was a man.

His appearance was completely out of place with this dilapidated and terrifying death train.

He wore a well-tailored white tailcoat that shimmered even under the dim lights.

On his left wrist was a pure gold watch encrusted with diamond fragments.

In his right hand, he carried a massive, vintage brass alarm clock.

Tick-tock... tick-tock... The ticking of the clock was clear and rhythmic, as if counting down the passing of some life.

The man's skin had a unique brownish-red hue, like meticulously fired clay, gleaming with a healthy and mysterious luster.

His dazzling blond hair was combed impeccably, and his azure eyes were as deep as two pools of quiet lake water.

After he boarded,

He did not die suddenly like the previous unlucky Souls.

Instead, he acted as if he were returning to his own back garden, walking with an elegant and composed gait.

Ignoring the eerie atmosphere inside the train, he walked straight to the corner of the carriage and stopped in front of the coughing ghoul clone controlled by Lin Chuan.

"This... friend."

The man spoke.

He spoke the official language of the Yanlong Empire with standard fluency, his pronunciation perfect, carrying an elegant magnetic quality like a cello.

"May I ask if I can sit here?"

He pointed to the empty seat opposite the Coughing Ghoul, a gentle and polite smile on his face.

The Coughing Ghoul controlled by Lin Chuan did not look up.

His head remained lowered, as if he were a soulless corpse.

He neither responded nor refused.

"Silence, in certain ancient etiquettes, usually represents tacit consent."

The man did not seem to mind Lin Chuan's coldness.

He bowed elegantly, then lightly brushed away non-existent dust from the seat and sat down steadily.

Tick-tock... tick-tock... The large alarm clock in his hand was placed on the small tray table between the two of them.

That crisp ticking sound was particularly piercing in this deathly silent carriage.

"Allow me to introduce myself."

The man adjusted the pure gold buttons on his cuffs, looking at the coughing ghoul clone with a gentle gaze.

"I am Sherlock Haigeway."

"A... traveler who wanders all over the world."

Lin Chuan still did not respond.

But his perception had already firmly locked onto the man before him.

A living person?

No.

Although blood flowed within the man's body, and he had a heartbeat and body temperature,

Under Lin Chuan's Buddha's Eye, which could see through all delusions,

This man... was clearly a mass of highly compressed, personified source of horror governed by rules!

Clearly, the man was a Lawful Taboo with human intelligence!

As if sensing Lin Chuan's Peeping,

The smile on Xia Lange's lips deepened.

He leaned forward slightly, a hint of playfulness flashing in his azure eyes.

"What an interesting Puppet cloning technique."

"Although the disguise is perfect, even enough to fool the perception of this train..."

"But... there is only a shell, no Soul."

"Your Excellency's main body shouldn't be here, right?"

His identity having been seen through,

Lin Chuan remained unmoved.

But the coughing ghoul clone he controlled slowly raised its head and, with those greyish-white, dead eyes, looked directly at the man for the first time.

The cold aura unique to an S-rank Taboo spread from the coughing ghoul clone... as if as a warning.

"Oh, don't be so nervous."

Xia Lange waved his hand, appearing oblivious to the cold aura that was enough to freeze the Soul.

"As I said, I am just a traveler, or... a devout preacher."

"I am different from those low-level existences who only know how to kill and spread Chaos."

At this point,

His expression suddenly became somewhat solemn, even carrying a hint of fanatical devotion.

He pulled a card with a complex pattern on its back from his coat and pressed it lightly under the large alarm clock on the table.

"Has Your Excellency heard of... destiny?"

"In this collapsing world, all things are chess pieces; only that great existence holds the direction of the game."

"My Lord... is the supreme card game dominator."

"He told us that on the back of every card, a predetermined destiny is inscribed."

"Whether it be life, death, destruction, or rebirth..."

"As long as you are willing to flip this card and submit to my Lord..."

While he was prattling on about his faith,

Far away in the Rebirth Temple, Lin Chuan's mind moved slightly.

The System panel instantly expanded, and a segment of red information surfaced in his mind.

[Target detection in progress...]

[Name: Sherlock Haigeway.]

[Identity: Fate Kin, Lawful Taboo.]

[Rank: S-Rank Seventh-Tier!]

[Sequence: 86]

[Affiliate: Divine Court of Destiny (card game dominator)]

[Ability Description: Masters eerie rules such as "Time Deviation," "Misfortune Shuffling," and "Destiny Displacement." Extremely dangerous! The master is advised to remain vigilant!]

S-Rank Seventh-Tier!

Sequence 86!

Lin Chuan felt a slight chill in his heart.

This was the first time he had encountered a taboo sequence ranked so high.

Furthermore, the other party was a kin of a "Dominator."

A Dominator... that was a terrifying existence corresponding to SSS-Rank tiers 4 through 6!

Thinking of this, Lin Chuan became increasingly wary of Xia Lan.

He did not want to continue having any interaction with the other party, so he controlled the coughing ghoul clone to slowly turn its head and cast its gaze out the window.

With this look,

His attention was instantly drawn away.

At some unknown point,

The scenery outside the window had completely changed.

The mountains, deserts, and oceans outside the train had all disappeared.

In their place,

Was a wall.

A Gray Fog Wall that connected the heavens and the earth, with no end in sight!

The mist was as thick as a solid substance, rolling and surging as if it were an upright gray ocean.

That was... the Border of the West Continent!

It was also an absolute forbidden zone that even Lin Chuan's Blood Crow Servant could not penetrate or peep into!

And at this moment,

This death train carrying countless secrets showed no intention of slowing down.

Woo——!!!

Accompanied by a long whistle that seemed to tear at the Soul,

The train crashed headlong into that patch of gray fog.

"Hehe..."

Xia Lange, behind him, saw this scene, stopped his preaching, elegantly picked up the card, and a meaningful smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

"It seems... we are about to enter the 'Unknown Theater'."

"I wish you good luck as well... friend."

The next second,

The gray fog swallowed everything.

The world outside the train window turned completely into a chaotic grayish-white.

Even the perceptual connection between Lin Chuan and the Clone became blurred in this instant, as if it were about to be forcibly severed by some rule!