Death Train: SSS-level talent right from the start!

Carriage number one.

Su Jin leaned back in her chair, looking at the system chat group. There weren't many messages in the group; occasionally someone would send one, but they were all trivial.

She closed the group chat, swiped her finger across the screen a few times, opened the chat interface with Wen Ning, and sent a message.

[Su Jin: Do you want to join me in the next survival trial?]

After sending the message, she leaned back in her chair, waiting for Wen Ning's reply.

The woman sitting to Su Jin's right was Yang Qing, one of the team members.

She was looking down at her system panel. Noticing Su Jin's movements, she glanced at her, then looked at the screen in front of her: "Sister Su, are you inviting Wen Ning to join our team?"

Su Jin nodded.

"Then just invite him to join the team directly. Why be so subtle?"

Yang Qing spoke casually.

Su Jin paused for a second: "I just don't know if she'd be willing."

Yang Qing leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling for a moment: "Sister Su, you're currently ranked number one on the leaderboard, so she'll definitely be willing to come if we invite her. The next trial is two-star difficulty, and she'll need a strong team."

Just then, Wen Ning replied to the message.

Su Jin lowered her head, her gaze falling on the light screen.

[Wen Ning: I've joined Chen Ye's team. Thank you for taking care of me during the Insect Nest Trial.]

Su Jin frowned slightly.

Yang Qing noticed the change in her expression, leaned forward from her seat, and looked at the screen in front of Su Jin: "Oh wow! Chen Ye snatched it away. Being in a good position gives you an advantage. You should have invited him earlier back in the insect hive."

Su Jin did not respond.

She stared at the message for a few seconds, then closed the system panel.

The blue light curtain shrank before her eyes, turning into a point of light and disappearing.

She leaned back in her seat, looking somewhat disappointed.

Yang Qing didn't speak. He leaned back in his chair and glanced at Su Jin with a meaningful look in his eyes.

……

Midnight.

Carriage number three.

Chen Ye's system panel popped up automatically.

[The reward for ranking second on the leaderboard has been issued! 100 points, current points: 3370.]

He glanced at it and then turned off the panel.

Qin Zhaoyang leaned over from the side, his head almost touching Chen Ye's control panel. He glanced at the closed interface and then pursed his lips: "This system is pretty stingy. The second place on the ranking list only gets 100 points."

"Even a small mosquito is still meat; don't underestimate the value of a steamed bun." Chen Ye glanced at Qin Zhaoyang, then asked, "What did you allocate your free attribute points to?"

Qin Zhaoyang leaned back in his seat and brought up his attribute panel.

He stared at the screen for two seconds, then looked up: "Of course I added strength. My talent doesn't have any attribute bonuses, so without strength, I can't break through those monsters' defenses at all. The next challenge is two-star difficulty, and the monsters will definitely be even harder to kill."

Chen Ye nodded slightly and looked away. Qin Zhaoyang was no longer the weakest in the team. The weakest were Wang Shuo and Li Zheng, who were only level 6.

Wen Ning, sitting in the front row, turned around, one hand resting on the back of her seat, her dark brown curly hair cascading over her shoulders. She looked at Chen Ye: "Su Jin just messaged me, asking me to join her team. I told her I'd already joined yours, and she seemed quite disappointed."

"You were with Su Jin's team in the insect hive. What kind of person is Su Jin?"

Chen Ye asked casually.

"She's a really nice person, and she's taken good care of me. This green-quality magic ring was given to me by the Insect Hive when she distributed the loot."

Wen Ning raised her wrist and shook it.

Chen Ye's gaze lingered on her wrist for a moment. The magic ring on Wen Ning's wrist was similar to Zhou Yating's black jade magic ring, except for the color. Zhou Yating's was black, while Wen Ning's was pure white.

"That person is indeed quite nice. We could cooperate if there's an opportunity during the survival trials."

In Chen Ye's view, Su Jin's team consisted entirely of his own people, while Wen Ning was an outsider who had joined temporarily. The fact that Su Jin was willing to share equipment with Wen Ning was enough to demonstrate his character.

Wen Ning withdrew her hand and pondered for a moment: "She's just a little strange, but I can't quite put my finger on it. She doesn't seem to have any bad intentions."

"It's getting late, let's get some rest."

Chen Ye nodded slightly, not pressing Su Jin for details.

Wen Ning nodded, turned around, leaned back in her seat, and closed her eyes.

Chen Ye also closed his eyes.

The carriage quieted down, the lights were dimmed, and the passengers were all huddled in their seats.

Some wrapped their coats tightly around themselves and leaned back in their seats, closing their eyes to rest; others had a semi-transparent light screen floating in front of them, and were idly tracing names with their fingers.

……

3:50 AM.

Chen Ye woke up from a light sleep.

The carriage was quiet, with only the monotonous white noise of wheels rubbing against the rails echoing in my ears.

The overhead lights were already turned down to the lowest setting, casting a thin layer of dark gold light in the carriage.

He brought up the system panel, and a blue light screen illuminated the dimly lit carriage. He first checked the storage space.

Inside lay two silver treasure chests, a Demon-Slaying Halberd, several green-quality weapons obtained from the insect hive, 12 stamina potions, and 1 recovery potion.

He then checked his current points. The daily reward for being second on the ranking list was 100 points, and his current total points were 3370.

He planned to save these points to exchange for an S-level skill selection chest, which costs 10000 points each, and he had already saved a third of them.

But the next stop is the two-star trial, and 12 energy potions will most likely not be enough.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately exchanged 18 energy potions from the shop for 900 points.

I spent another 70 points to get enough food and water.

2400 points remaining.

After changing the supplies, he closed the system panel, and the blue light screen shrank and disappeared in front of his eyes.

Most of the other passengers in the carriage were still asleep.

Qin Zhaoyang leaned back in the seat next to him, his mouth slightly open, drool dripping onto his chin.

On the other side of the aisle, Zhao Hai stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed, and his breathing even.

His sleeping posture was much more upright than Qin Zhaoyang's, but his brows were slightly furrowed, and he carried a tense vigilance even in his sleep.

Wang Shuo and Li Zheng were seated behind Zhao Hai, both with their heads tilted to the side in different postures.

Zhou Yating, who was in the front row, was still asleep.

Wen Ning was awake. She leaned back in her chair, resting her chin on one hand.

"Can't sleep?"

Chen Ye asked in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Wen Ning turned to look at Chen Ye, a slight smile curving her lips: "She was asleep, just woke up. You're awake too?"

"Okay, let's wait for the announcement."

Chen Ye leaned back in his seat and turned his head to look out the car window.

The grayish-white fog outside the window remained thick, like an endless wall.

"Based on the pattern of the previous times, the train's announcement should be coming on soon."

As soon as Wen Ning finished speaking, a piercing electrical noise came from the loudspeaker on the roof of the carriage.

The sound was like a blunt knife scraping across a metal surface, and many people in the carriage were awakened at the same time.