Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 457 The Train to the End of the Illusory Star
"Those who wish to climb the tower must first board the train that carries only the dead."

—From "Waiting Guide to the Tower of the End" (lost text)

The night wind in Dunhuang carries fine sand, blowing across the rusty railway tracks.

Si Ming carried a simple bag and walked into the abandoned station.

The cement walls are peeling off, and the clock in the waiting hall has long since stopped, its hands frozen at the "zero" position, as if waiting for a train that will never come.

However, this place is not empty.

A few people stood scattered on the platform.

Someone was leaning against a pillar, head down;
Someone was carrying a worn-out leather suitcase, his eyes fixed on the end of the railway tracks;
Others simply stood there silently, as if nailed to the ground.

No one spoke; only the sound of the wind filled the air, as silent as a funeral parlor.

Si Ming slowly exhaled.

Ever since he obtained the Golden Fruit to complete his stats in the Harrens bet, he understood that this was the only way in.

After instructing Leng Ji to leave a message for him to meet at the Tower of the End, he followed the directions and arrived there, waiting for the legendary train.

At the end of the railway tracks, the fog swirls and billows.

In the distance, first came a low rumble, like the beating of a heart, followed by the clanging of wheel axles—"clang, clang"—gradually drawing closer.

Everyone looked up, their expressions unchanged, as if they had long known that this was an inevitable destiny.

Si Ming narrowed his eyes.

A line of dark figures emerged from the fog.

It was an old steam train, its iron sheet rusted, its exterior mottled, and its headlights dim, like the eyes of a dying beast.

White steam billowed continuously from the front of the train, carrying a suffocating and heavy atmosphere that weighed heavily on the entire platform.

The train slowly pulled into the station, the rails trembling beneath our feet.

At this moment, Si Ming felt no sense of "modernity"—this was not a train for people to travel on, but more like a carriage for transporting souls.

Someone whispered in their heart:
"The Void Star End Train... has arrived."

The sharp sound of wheels rubbing against the rails was like a knife slicing through the eardrums.

The steam train stopped in front of Si Ming.

It was much larger than I had imagined, its body covered in mottled black paint, rusted runes and cracks, like some kind of ancient seal.

The train windows were all nailed shut with thick iron plates, with only narrow gaps letting in dim light, like the slits of some "creature" peering at the platform.

"Get in the car."

A cold voice came from inside the carriage; it wasn't a human voice, but more like a machine mimicking speech.

Si Ming, holding the train ticket, had a sudden thought and took a step to board the train.

However, just as the tip of the shoe touched the car door—

An invisible pressure suddenly descended upon him, as if the entire world was rejecting him.

His body froze on the spot, unable to move an inch further.

The car door wouldn't accept him.

Si Ming frowned, a chill running through his heart.

"Newbie?"

A clear, girlish voice rang out.

Si Ming turned his head and saw a little girl with pigtails skipping and hopping towards him from the other end of the platform, holding a lollipop.

She looked no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, but her eyes held a playful yet sophisticated air.

"Don't you know?" The little girl licked her lollipop and smiled sweetly, "If you are above the Star Calamity, you have to prove yourself, otherwise, it won't let you in."

As she spoke, she raised the back of her hand.

Instantly, the twelve-star pattern shone brightly on the back of her snow-white hand, swirling into a dazzling sea of ​​stars that illuminated the entire platform.

Under the starlight, the fog dissipated, and the rails and the air trembled with a low hum.

“Star Calamity—” Si Ming’s heart stirred, and he finally understood.

He chuckled softly, reached out and made a gesture in the air, and a white mask covered in cracks slowly appeared.

He put on the mask, and his face was instantly covered by a flowing cloud of stardust and an illusory galaxy.

When the power of the celestial calamity was revealed, the invisible barrier that had been blocking him vanished instantly.

"That's right."

The girl with pigtails winked at him, then nimbly jumped into the car.

Si Ming then lifted his foot and steadily stepped onto the carriage.

The air suddenly relaxed, and he heard whispers from the platform behind him:

"As expected, yet another... celestial disaster."

The iron gate slammed shut, and the carriage suddenly fell silent.

Si Ming looked up, and her first impression was—emptiness.

The long carriage was only filled with a few scattered passengers.

Some people had their heads bowed, their hats pulled down low, and remained motionless like puppets.
Someone was leaning against the window, holding a rotten wooden box in their arms, muttering words that no one could understand.

There was also an old man wearing a tattered divine robe, his arm growing out of the seat, his skin intertwined with rust, as if he had been sitting on this train for thousands of years.

A faint dampness and rusty smell filled the air, and every breath felt like swallowing ancient dust.

The girl with pigtails was already seated by the window, swaying a lollipop in her hand and humming a song softly.

When she saw Si Ming looking over, she smiled and raised her hand: "This way, it's empty."

Si Ming walked over, casually tossed his luggage onto the bike rack, and sat down in a seat not far from her.

He turned his head and looked out the window.

Outside the car window, the night view of Dunhuang City was still visible, but it was obscured by a thick layer of fog, with only a few streetlights casting a faint glow below.

Occasionally, pairs of huge, unfamiliar eyes would flash through the fog, as if something were peering closely into the carriage.

Didn't you hear the announcement?

The girl, with a candy in her mouth, mumbled, "The illusory star's end train, next stop—death." She said this as if she were joking, but her eyes held no hint of a smile.

Si Ming simply nodded without answering. He gently removed the mask, placed it in his palm, and watched the cracks and stardust flow within it, his expression serene.

The entire carriage was eerily quiet, the only sound being the soft sobbing of a passenger deep inside.

The God of Fate knew perfectly well:

Each and every one of these people is a traveler on the planetary catastrophe.

There was no warning.

"Bang——!"

The entire train suddenly jolted, as if some giant beast had given it a violent push from under the tracks.

The metal carriage shook as if it were about to fall apart, and the light bulbs rattled and flickered.

The mask in Si Ming's hand almost slipped, but the surrounding passengers showed no panic, as if they were already used to this sudden violence.

Then, the train began to accelerate.

This isn't just ordinary acceleration; it's—crazy.

The sound of wheels grinding quickly turned into a sharp metallic screech, as if thousands of blades were dragging along the rails.

The night view of Dunhuang outside the window was torn into blurry strips of light within seconds; houses, streetlights, and ruins all dissolved into gray and white afterimages in the corners of my eyes.

The girl took the lollipop out of her mouth, licked it, tilted her head, and smiled:

"It's time to take off."

As soon as she finished speaking, Si Ming felt the entire train suddenly tilt.

It's not heading towards the distance, but rather—straight up.

Everyone was instantly pressed into their seats, their hearts pounding against their chests.

Through the car window, Si Ming saw that the railway tracks in front of the train seemed to rise from the ground and meander into the fog.

At the end of the tracks was a pitch-black sky, and the train roared as it climbed into the heavens along that impossible railway.

"boom--!"

The car rattled and creaked, and suddenly the sky outside the window split open, tearing a gap in the thick clouds.

The next moment, the train burst out of the atmosphere.

The sounds around me suddenly stopped, as if I had fallen into a vacuum.

Siming saw the pitch-black universe slowly unfold before his eyes, with countless stars twinkling in the boundless darkness.
The rusty steam train they were riding in trailed a white plume of flame, like a comet flying in reverse into the vast sea of ​​stars.

Inside the carriage, the old man in the divine robe murmured softly, "We're setting off."

The broadcast blared again, hollow and mechanical, yet carrying an irresistible pressure:
"The Void Star's End Train has departed this world. Next stop: Death."

The train continued to climb.

In the void, it was like a rusty iron nail, suddenly thrown into the vast sea of ​​stars.

Steam and exhaust flames miraculously surged in the vacuum, transforming into a long white trail.

Si Ming raised his eyes.

Then, his breathing suddenly stopped.

—He saw it.

A colossal shadow lay across the deepest part of the starry sea.

Its outline is so indistinct that it cannot be described in words; it resembles a whale, but is billions of times larger than any whale.

Its body obscures several star systems, its spine spans the Milky Way, and its tail fin seems to shatter time itself.

It has no clear edges; its body seems to be woven from stars, clouds, and the void itself, yet it "changes shape" with every blink—you can't be sure if you've seen the whole picture or just caught a fragment of its dream.

"hiss--"

Even through the thick sheet metal of the car window, Siming still felt pressure on his chest.

His reason seemed to be swept away by that gaze, his head buzzed, and his heart skipped a beat for a moment.

The broadcast voice whispered hollowly:

"—Death. Death. Death."

The girl with pigtails in the carriage was licking a lollipop when she suddenly stopped.

Her eyes were wide open, the twelve star patterns on the back of her hands were dazzlingly bright, and her body was trembling slightly.

The old man in the divine robe lowered his head, his forehead pressed against his knees, and murmured ancient prayers.

Only the train, its tracks seemingly extending into nothingness, carried these tiny creatures into the shadow of that colossal figure.

The baleen whale swayed slowly.

With a single sweep of its tentacle-like fins, the entire starry sea trembled, tens of thousands of stars were drawn in, twisted, and emitted their final brilliance before extinguishing. In that instant, Si Ming realized:
The so-called "stars" and the so-called "world" are nothing more than duckweed on the water's surface in His eyes, which disappear without a trace with the slightest movement.

—And humans, in comparison to Him, are not even duckweed.

Si Ming wanted to laugh, but no sound came out.

He suddenly realized that he and all those who climbed the tower, regardless of whether they were backed by an empire, a church, or bloodline honor, were ultimately just a speck of dust in the belly of this indescribable behemoth.

“We… are just people who are allowed to go up the tower.”

He mocked himself inwardly.

However, the train did not stop.

The roar of steam continued stubbornly, like a madman playing a harmonica in the void.

The rusty iron chariot, trailing a faint white flame, drove straight into the enormous shadow of the Starry Whale.

The light was blocked.

Inside the carriage, everything went dark.

Only the broadcast echoed one last time:
"The Void Star End Train is about to begin boarding. Passengers, please prove that you are capable of reaching the End."

Some say that the train wasn't heading towards the tower, but towards the grave.

However, the climbers preferred to die inside the tower than to die of hunger and thirst.

—The last words of an anonymous gambler
(End of this chapter)