"I'm sorry," Gu Mian said from behind the counter, looking at the pale woman before him. "What did you say you wanted? I didn't hear clearly." His expression genuinely suggested he hadn't heard clearly.
Angel Slaughter paused. She was standing so far away yet had heard it clearly. How could this Doctor not have?
The woman in front of the counter opened her mouth again. She seemed extremely tired; even opening her mouth appeared to be a great effort. Gu Mian saw large beads of sweat gathering on her forehead, tracing past her wide-open eyes, and then trickling down her pallid cheeks. Her face now looked exceptionally terrifying.
The woman weakly opened her mouth, "I want two jin of meat..."
Just then, the announcement in the train carriage sounded again: "We have now arrived at the third stop, Rongcheng City. The train will stop for one minute. Passengers wishing to alight, please do so promptly."
The mechanical broadcast drowned out the woman's voice. This time, because of the announcement, Angel Slaughter truly couldn't hear what the woman at the counter had said.
She paused, then looked towards Gu Mian. The stop was only for one minute. If they wanted to get off and resupply, they had to do it within that minute. Time was tight; it was best to get off now. Although she wanted to stay and watch the drama unfold, circumstances didn't permit.
Angel Slaughter turned slightly and glanced again at the woman at the counter. The woman's complexion was even more terrifying now, almost like that of a corpse dead for several days. This was definitely not the complexion of a living person.
Seeing this horrifying face, Angel Slaughter's hand trembled slightly. She began to withdraw her gaze, murmuring as she did so, "Now I can only accept the order." Who could refuse a ghost's request?
She didn't plan to stay here and watch the Doctor accept the order. Time was tight; she had to get off the train immediately. As Angel Slaughter thought this, she was about to turn and walk towards the carriage door.
But just as she was about to turn, she witnessed an astonishing scene.
She saw the Doctor push the train manifest on the counter towards the woman, and then, inexplicably, he began to smile. Then, Angel Slaughter saw the Doctor extend his hand. His hand stretched out very far, right up to the terrifyingly pale woman's face, almost touching it.
What is he trying to do? Her scalp tingled slightly.
Up until now, she had experienced quite a few instances. She had seen many cases of ghosts stretching their pale hands towards players, but a player stretching their hand so far, almost touching a ghost's face, was a first. She swore this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.
And just then, she heard the Doctor say something even more shocking.
His hand remained outstretched, his face beaming with a friendly smile, as he uttered two words: "Tickets, please."
Angel Slaughter stopped in her tracks.
Checking a ghost's ticket, this was truly—
At that instant, she suddenly realized something and looked at Gu Mian in shock.
The terrifying-looking woman's eyes widened even further, but she made no sound. Half a second later, Angel Slaughter saw her lips tremble; she took several large steps back, then turned and rushed into the restroom behind her.
So that's how it is...
「At this time, Han Shan and the others had already reached the platform.」
Guigu seemed afraid the train would depart as soon as he alighted. He hesitated for a moment, then quickly ran over after spotting Han Shan on the platform.
By now, four players had gathered on the platform: Han Shan from Carriage No. 3, Guigu from Carriage No. 1, Suo Qingqiu from Carriage No. 6, and the middle-aged man Xiao Tiantian from Carriage No. 2.
As expected, there was also a peddler on this station's platform. A figure squatted in the distance, with colorful goods spread out before him.
At this moment, the balding Xiao Tiantian was looking left and right. "By the way, aren't the other three planning to come down?"
Han Shan was holding a pen. He paused for a moment before saying, "The Doctor might have just received an order for raw meat; time isn't tight for him yet."
Suo Qingqiu raised her hand. "Mr. Fang Xiang injured his leg and can't get off the train, so he entrusted me to bring something back for him."
The four of them had now walked up to the peddler.
It was late at night, and the platform was pitch black; they could only see by the light of a few streetlamps. Suo Qingqiu had initially feared this peddler might be something terrifying. Now, looking closer, she saw the peddler appeared normal, though his eyes seemed to constantly gleam with a sharp light. Eyes gleaming with a sharp light were much better than eyes gleaming with green light. Seeing the normal-looking peddler, the others breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, they weren't quite sure how to buy things from this peddler, as this instance hadn't provided them with any money.
"Hello," the peddler, still squatting, looked up at them and smiled. "What do you need? We have everything here."
At that moment, Suo Qingqiu was holding a walkie-talkie, seemingly talking to Fang Xiang. "Mr. Fang Xiang, they have orange juice, soda, and the like here. What would you like me to bring back for you? Preferably not too much; I can't carry a lot if it's too much..."
But the walkie-talkie was silent. Not only was Fang Xiang's voice absent, but there were no other sounds either, as if the signal was gone. Confused, Suo Qingqiu called out again, "Mr. Fang Xiang? Mr. Fang Xiang?"
Han Shan glanced at Suo Qingqiu behind him, then turned to the peddler and asked, "What about the prices?"
The peddler seemed startled for a moment, then waved his hand. "Prices? I'm just someone specially sent here by the train company to supply goods. Why would I need money? Just take whatever you want."
"However..." At this point, he suddenly changed his tune. "My items here are limited. Once they're taken, there won't be any more. You'll have to distribute them well."
Is that how it is? Han Shan clenched the pen in his hand. Provide resources that are in short supply, then let the players fight over them.
The peddler on the ground continued, "But you don't need to worry. You can pre-order. If you reserve what you need at this station, I can have the people at the next station prepare everything. When you get to the next stop, you'll have everything you need."
As he spoke, he pulled out something like a tablet. "See this menu? It's just like ordering food in a hotel. However, you must specify which carriage number it's for at the end, otherwise, it'll be hard to sort out later... Speaking of which, did you not pre-order at the last station?"
It wasn't just that they didn't pre-order; they hadn't even gotten off the train.
Han Shan didn't answer the question, instead looking down at him. "No matter how much we pre-order, it will all be ready at the next station?"
"Of course," the peddler patted his chest.
Han Shan frowned again. This is somewhat strange. Resources are very plentiful... Could it be that this instance wasn't designed to make players compete with each other?
Guigu spoke up, "Is raw meat also available?"
The peddler smiled. "Of course. I have several bags here right now." As he spoke, he opened a nearby black plastic bag to show Han Shan and the others. An experienced person could recognize the meat inside as pork hock. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
"If you want them, I'll give these to you first." The peddler handed the tablet forward. "Time is almost up. Use this to pre-order first. Let me remind you, it's best to order a bit more at once when you pre-order. What you order at this station, you can only get at the next. It's possible that goods might run out in between."
Han Shan was still frowning deeply. He always felt something was off, but he couldn't quite say what.
Xiao Tiantian immediately took the tablet and began tapping away furiously. Guigu glanced his way and saw that he had actually pre-ordered twenty jin of meat, plus other things. Finally, at the end, he selected Carriage No. 2 and then submitted the order.
After pre-ordering, he picked up a black plastic bag, rolled up some other items, and ran towards the train. He probably feared the train might leave at any moment and felt it was safer on board.
At this moment, an announcement came from the train: "The train will depart again in half a minute. Passengers who need to get off, please alight quickly."
Guigu was startled by the announcement, thinking the train was about to leave immediately. There was still half a minute.
At this time, Suo Qingqiu took the tablet, seemingly wanting to help Fang Xiang pre-order.
The peddler glanced at her. "You must pre-order in person."