The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

According to the diary, most of the monsters at night are of the "Ghost" race... Ghost bats, and huge tentacles that appear and disappear in the thick fog. But they only appear after dark.

When Zhou Zhenguo and his team detonated the liquefied gas tank, it wasn't completely dark yet.

So this thing isn't "strange"?

Or is it that "eeries" don't only appear at night?

He thought about it for a long time, but couldn't come up with a solution.

Finally, he opened the trading channel and traded a meal for a kerosene lamp.

The kind Lin Yuwei described... glass shards mixed with water, oil, and rice, rags twisted into rope, lit—it would light up. Extremely crude, but it definitely produced light.

Su Mu placed the kerosene lamp in a corner of the cable car and lit it.

A warm, yellowish glow spread out, making the entire cable car feel cozy.

He didn't know if this thing would work on "ghosts". But Lin Yuwei had said that those ghost bats were afraid of light. If the old man was also a kind of "ghost", it might have some effect.

and......

Su Mu glanced out the window.

Thick fog billowed, obscuring everything.

But he knew that there were nearly a thousand cable cars on this cable line.

Some were lit up, while others were completely dark.

He didn't want to be the brightest, but he also didn't want to be the only one in the dark.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

If that thing really does follow the cable, there are so many cars with their lights on, why would it specifically target him?

Only after doing all this did Su Mu close his eyes.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night, but he must force himself to sleep for a while.

Who knows what might happen in the middle of the night?

He adjusted his posture, the grenade was tucked into the right pocket of his chest sling, and the wrench was resting against his leg.

The tapping sound outside the window continued incessantly.

The flame of the kerosene lamp flickered slightly, casting dim, yellowish light on the glass.

Su Mu closed his eyes and slowly adjusted his breathing.

Go to sleep.

Whatever that thing is, it will come eventually.

He needs to conserve his energy before that.

In his dazed state, Su Mu felt the cable car vibrate slightly.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his hand already on the wrench.

Outside the window, it was still thick fog and darkness.

The kerosene lamp was still burning; the flame flickered, then settled.

The "tap-tap" sound continued, just like before.

Su Mu stared out the window for a few seconds but didn't notice anything unusual.

But he always felt that something was wrong.

He glanced down at the system panel...

[Cable car upgrade remaining time: 3 hours 21 minutes]

It's still early.

He glanced at the cable car's durability again.

100%.

no change.

There was nothing outside the window.

Su Mu frowned, observed for a while longer, and only closed his eyes again after confirming that there was nothing wrong.

But this time, he slept very lightly.

Even the slightest sound outside the window could make him frown slightly.

It was so shallow that he could feel the cable car swaying slightly in the wind and hear the faint hissing sound of the kerosene lamp wick burning.

So shallow that he could feel it...

Something was watching his cable car from inside the thick fog.

.....................

In the middle of the night, Su Mu was awakened by a noise.

It wasn't the previous "clattering" sound, but a deeper, more muffled "thump. thump. thump."

It felt like something was tapping on the cable car door frame.

Su Mu suddenly opened his eyes, his right hand already gripping the wrench and grenade at his waist.

He stared at the cable car door, motionless.

Outside the window, darkness remained thick, the flame of the kerosene lamp flickering slightly, casting a dim, yellowish light over the entire carriage. There was nothing on the doorframe.

And then the sound never came again.

Su Mu glanced at the system panel.

[Cable car upgrade time remaining: 31 minutes]

[Cable Car Armor: 40/40]

[Durability: 100%]

no change.

He glanced at the door again... it was intact, without any signs of damage.

Su Mu frowned.

He opened the chat channel to see if anyone else had encountered a similar situation.

Two unread messages.

The first one is from Lin Yuwei, posted about twenty minutes ago:

"Did you hear any strange noises?"

Su Mu replied, "Yes. It sounded like something was knocking on the door."

The other party replied almost instantly.

"You're only getting back now? How can you still sleep? You're so carefree!"

Su Mu didn't respond to that question, but instead asked, "You heard it too?"

"I heard it. It wasn't just me," Lin Yuwei said. "I checked the channel. Quite a few people heard it, but since nothing happened, they just thought it was like the crash sound yesterday. But I discovered that since early morning, someone has been dying about every half hour, very punctually."

Su Mu's fingers paused. In this environment, death was commonplace—starvation, freezing to death, or even suicide.

After all, even though everyone knows that it's cold at night, food is important, and keeping warm is important.

They would also generally search for supplies.

But going there is one thing, whether you can find it or not is another.

So death is normal, but regular death is not normal.

"you mean......"

"I didn't mean anything by it," Lin Yuwei replied quickly. "I'm just telling you about a phenomenon. From 1 a.m. until now, the number of deaths on the channel has been very regular... about one every half hour, very punctual."

Su Mu stared at these words, a chill running down his spine.

One every half hour.

Regular death.

At this time of day, most people are asleep. Who would be counting the death rate? Unless she's been watching her closely.

Given Lin Yuwei's personality, she must have observed for at least two or three hours to confirm the pattern before she could speak with such certainty.

"Are there any monster attacks tonight?" Su Mu asked, "Like yesterday's?"

"No," Lin Yuwei said.

Su Mu frowned even more deeply.

There were no monstrous bats, no collisions, and no battles.

But people die in a regular pattern.

He remembered the knocking sound from earlier... If he hadn't woken up, would the sound have continued? If he hadn't opened his eyes, would the thing outside have come in?

He closed the chat window with Lin Yuwei and opened the second unread message.

Zhou Zhenguo.

There are only three words.

"He's here."

Su Mu stared at those three words, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

He glanced at the sending time... 1:17 AM.

It is 3:42 AM.

More than two hours ago.

Su Mu immediately replied, "What's going on?"

No reply.

He sent another message: "Are you still there?"

There has still been no reply.

Su Mu glanced at Zhou Zhenguo's profile picture... it was still lit up. He should be alive, but he wasn't replying.

He waited a few more minutes, but there was still no response.

Su Mu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He opened the channel and started browsing the chat history.

.........................