Train Survival: Can I get a treasure chest by touching my goddess?

Su Qingxuan stood in front of the worktable, holding the newly made staff in her hand.

The staff was forged from refined iron, silver-gray in color, about the height of a person, and inlaid with a dark red berserk gem at the top.

A flowing fire was sealed inside the gemstone, gleaming with a deep luster under the carriage lights.

"Try it." She handed the staff to Jiang Youchu.

Jiang Youchu took it, and it was lighter than she had imagined. The runes on the staff lit up with a faint icy blue light the moment she touched it.

With a casual wave of her hand, an ice arrow shot out from the tip of her staff, nearly twice as fast as usual, and struck the carriage wall, exploding into a cluster of ice flowers.

"I already told you not to attack the carriages." Su Mu was speechless.

"Hehe, I'll give it a try." Jiang Youchu's eyes lit up. "The casting speed is at least 30% faster, and the energy consumption is also less."

Shen Wen glanced at the time.

"Get ready."

[Distance to next stop: 00:15:00]

The pockets are indeed convenient.

I brought almost everything I could this time.

The car door opened.

A cold wind blew in, not with the damp, fishy smell of a green forest, but with a dry wind mixed with dust and decay, like opening a cellar door that had been sealed for many years.

Shen Wen was the first to step down the stairs.

The platform is not a platform.

There was no cement ground, no awnings, and no dilapidated signs.

Beneath my feet was a hard, rough, uneven rock floor that made a dull thud when I stepped on it. Above me was a rock dome, about four or five meters high, its surface covered with fine dust and cobwebs.

The walls on both sides are stone, damp and covered with gray-black moss. Occasionally, water droplets can be seen seeping from the cracks in the stone, shimmering faintly in the dim light.

Directly ahead was a wide tunnel, carved from the rock, stretching deep into the distance with no end in sight. Every ten meters or so along both sides of the tunnel stood a thick stone pillar, its shafts engraved with indistinct patterns, resembling some kind of ancient script, now eroded beyond recognition by time.

Shen Wen frowned.

The place where the train stopped this time didn't look like a platform; it looked more like the entrance to some underground ruin.

A mechanical voice came from behind me.

[Arrived at Killing Platform: Fallen Crypt]

Current stop time: 04:00:00

[Note: This is a kill station. Defeating targets will earn you points, which can be used to exchange for supplies. The points leaderboard is now open.]

Shen Wen glanced at the leaderboard that popped up on the screen. It was empty, with only the names of the four of them listed, and all of them had zero points.

He didn't look at it much and closed the panel.

Then he heard a sound.

It didn't come from deep within the tunnel; it came directly from my head.

A beast's roar.

The roars of tigers, howls of wolves, and howls of bears mingled together, surging up from the depths of consciousness like a tide, sending chills down one's spine.

But that force was barely beginning to emerge when it was suppressed by an even stronger force.

A faint golden halo shone from Shen Wen's body. It was so faint that it was almost invisible in the dim tunnel, but it could be felt.

The halo spread out from him, enveloping the three women as well.

May the Beast God protect you.

The roar of the beast was suppressed, and in its place, a warm power surged from his chest and spread to his limbs and bones.

Shen Wen clenched his fist, and the power emanating from his palm was significantly stronger than usual.

[Beast God's Blessing activated: Strength +20%, Speed ​​+20%, lasting until the end of this exploration.]

Su Mu also felt that power, looked down at his hand, and then looked at Shen Wen.

Su Qingxuan didn't speak, but gripped her staff tightly, her gaze sweeping across the shadows on both sides of the tunnel.

Jiang Youchu leaned closer to Shen Wen and whispered, "This buff is pretty powerful."

Shen Wen nodded, said nothing more, and stepped into the tunnel.

After walking less than twenty meters, a fishy, ​​stench hit me.

It's not the fishy smell of a green forest mixed with rainwater and mud.

Instead, it smelled stronger, like something had been rotting for a long time, mixed with a pungent, foul odor that made one's throat tighten.

Shen Wen didn't stop walking, his hand resting on the hilt of the knife.

A butcher's intuition buzzed softly in his mind.

Something is nearby, right in front of us, hiding behind that stone pillar.

He slowed his pace and glanced at the third stone pillar on the right.

The pillar is thick enough to hide a person.

No, it's not a person.

It is one.

As Shen Wen walked to the stone pillar, a flash of light appeared.

The scimitar was drawn, slashed horizontally, the blade cutting through the air and slicing through the shadows behind the stone pillar.

"puff."

split into two.

The two halves of the body fell out from behind the stone pillar and hit the rocky ground with a dull thud.

It's a goblin.

But not the gray-green skin of the Green Forest.

This goblin's skin was grayish-white, as if it had been soaking in water for too long, wrinkled and clinging to its skeleton. It was smaller than a normal goblin, with slender limbs, sharp nails like daggers, and fine, pointed teeth protruding from its mouth.

It held a bone dagger in its hand, the blade stained with dark red dirt.

Jiang Youchu came closer, squatted down, and activated her detection ability.

"Crypt Goblin cub, Rotten Wood level." She stood up and kicked the corpse.

Shen Wen glanced at it and found that he had gained 10 points on the leaderboard. "This piece of rotten wood has 10 points."

"Although we don't know what we can exchange for yet, the more the better."

Su Qingxuan sent Xiaoqian and the black iron evil spirit she named Gou Dan out to scout ahead, while the Blood Bride stayed by their side to keep watch.

Suddenly.

Footsteps could be heard in the distance.

It wasn't an echo, but real footsteps coming from deep within the tunnel, mixed with the sounds of dripping water and wind. They weren't very clear, but you could tell they were human footsteps.

Not just one or two, but several.

Shen Wen turned to look at the three women.

Su Qingxuan heard this too, and frowned slightly: "There are still people at this killing platform?"

"There might be other trains that also chose the Degenerate Cave," Shen Wen said. "Or... maybe it's the original inhabitants of this platform."

Jiang Youchu gripped her staff tightly: "Then what do we do? Avoid it?"

Shen Wen shook his head, his gaze falling on the darkness deep within the tunnel.

"This time it's not just about killing platforms, but also about finding the arcane core. We know nothing about it, not even what it looks like or where it is."

We need to figure out the situation first.

He strode forward.

"Make contact first. See who they are."

Su Qingxuan did not object and followed behind him.

Su Mu walked to his right, his curved sword held horizontally in front of him, ready to strike at any moment.

Jiang Youchu walked at the back, the icy blue light on her staff dimmed slightly, just enough to illuminate her feet.

The four walked forward, their footsteps echoing through the tunnel.

After walking for about five minutes, a light appeared in the darkness ahead.

It wasn't natural light, but the glow of torches, that cast flickering shadows on the rock face.

The figures moved in the firelight, becoming more numerous and clearer.

Five people.

The moment Shen Wen saw them clearly, his butcher instincts kicked in and made a judgment.

sequence.

All five people are sequences.

Not the trainee level who has just changed jobs, but a sequence member who has completed at least one advancement and mastered the core competencies.

The leader was a burly man in armor, at least 1.9 meters tall, whose muscles stretched the armor taut.

He holds a tower shield in his left hand, its surface engraved with intricate defensive runes, and a one-handed battle axe in his right hand, its blade gleaming with a dark red luster.

Behind him stood a young man with a sword. He was tall and slender, and the scabbard of his long sword was inlaid with gemstones. He stood casually, but Shen Wen noticed that his center of gravity was always on the balls of his feet, as if he could draw his sword at any moment.

Two girls holding staffs stood behind the young man, and they looked remarkably alike.

She has an oval face, a high nose, deep-set eyes, and long, silver-white hair that falls over her shoulders. She wears a form-fitting robe that accentuates her hot figure.

The only difference is that the staff on the left is topped with a ruby, while the one on the right is topped with a sapphire.

Finally, there was a petite girl in a white robe, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old. She was holding a priest's staff and looked somewhat nervous.

The moment he saw Shen Wen and his group of four, he raised his shield to his chest, placed his battle axe on the edge of the shield, and lowered his center of gravity, becoming like a wall.

"Who are you?" His voice was deep and echoed in the tunnel, carrying a clear sense of vigilance.

Several thoughts raced through Shen Wen's mind.

This station is where I came from because I used the Kingdom Medal, which was given to me by Celia, who is from the Griffin Kingdom.

Since this is a platform of the Griffin Kingdom, if these people are natives, they should recognize the identity of the Griffin Kingdom.

He spoke, his tone flat: "A warrior from the Griffin Kingdom."

The big man frowned slightly, but lowered his shield a little.

"The Griffin Kingdom?" He looked Shen Wen and his companions up and down. "Which adventurer group are you from?"

Shen Wen remained expressionless: "The Train Adventure Team is here on a mission commissioned by the Kingdom."

The big man was silent for two seconds, seemingly trying to determine whether what he said was true or false.

The young man with the sword behind him spoke first, his tone tinged with disdain: "Never heard of it. The Fallen Caverns are not a place for a small team like yours."

His gaze lingered on Shen Wen for a moment, then swept over the three women behind him, paused for a second longer on Su Mu's face, and then looked at Su Qingxuan and Jiang Youchu.

"Even ordinary people without any special skill level dare to come here?"

Shen Wen ignored him and focused his gaze on the big man.

The burly man sheathed his sword, but did not lower his shield.

"We are the Brilliant Adventurers," he said. "We have been commissioned by the kingdom to wipe out the cave goblins on the orc side."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Shen Wen and the other three: "What are you doing here?"

Shen Wen said, "Find the Arcane Core."

The tunnel was quiet for a moment.

The red-robed mage scoffed, crossed his arms, and looked at Shen Wen with obvious sarcasm: "Arcane Core? Do you even know where that thing is?"

The blue-robed mage didn't speak, but his expression was similar to his sister's, with a cold smile on his lips.

The sword-wielding youth replied, his voice even colder: "The Arcane Core can only be found in the ancestral lands of the Fallen Elves. Even we dare not go there, let alone you few?"

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was already very clear.

Shen Wen frowned.

Fallen elves.

He had never heard of this name before, but judging from the tone of his voice, this person was not someone to be trifled with.

He looked at the burly man: "Then how do we find the fallen elves?"

Before the burly man could speak, the young man with the sword had already taken a step forward, staring at Shen Wen with an unfriendly look.

Before the burly man could speak, the young man with the sword had already taken a step forward, staring at Shen Wen with an unfriendly look.

"Can't you understand nice things?"

Shen Wen looked at him, expressionless.

But he could sense that this guy was hostile towards him.

It wasn't the normal vigilance or distrust, but something more emotional.

The burly man frowned, glanced back at the young man, and said in a deep voice, "Hitt."

Hit snorted and didn't say anything more, but his gaze kept sweeping over Shen Wen with obvious hostility.

The burly man turned back to Shen Wen: "We don't know where the ancestral land of the Fallen Elves is. Since we have different missions, let's split up."

He didn't want to persuade him.

These people are courting death; he won't stop them.

The five members of the Brilliant Adventure Team slowly retreated and walked towards the tunnel at the other end of the passage.

Shen Wen stood still, watching their figures disappear into the dim tunnel, without moving.

The footsteps faded into the distance.

The tunnel fell silent, save for the faint hum of the glowing minerals on the dome.

Jiang Youchu leaned closer and whispered, "Those people are quite hostile towards us."

Shen Wen nodded.

"Especially the one with the sword," Su Qingxuan said, "the way he was looking at us was strange."

Su Mu didn't speak, but simply gripped the curved blade tighter.

Shen Wen withdrew his gaze and looked into the depths of the tunnel.

Three sides were tunnels, pitch black, and it was impossible to tell where they led.

"Looks like we'll have to figure it out ourselves," he said. "At least Celia gave us a map; this godforsaken place doesn't even have a signpost."

"It's okay, just keep going forward, but you need to remember the route, just in case you get stuck inside."