Seeing his serious expression, Yan Jiayu also became somber and followed him to the fourth car before lowering her voice to ask, "Is it that serious?"
"It might not be just a regular storm," Xu Huo estimated the distance before and after, stopping in the aisle between the third and fourth cars, "If it’s a dimensional storm, the first to be severely hit will definitely be the locomotive, but if the storm’s thickness is insufficient, the middle cars might break through."
He wasn’t certain, because this was only his judgment based on videos he had seen. In those records, both the locomotive and the last car of the trains encountering a dimensional storm disappeared, leaving only the two middle cars barely intact.
Yan Jiayu obviously had also heard of dimensional storms, and she immediately said, "I’ll go to the front and find the train staff!"
In fact, the train’s staff had known earlier than they did that this was a dimensional storm. The train was equipped with special detectors that could determine the storm’s level before it was visible to the naked eye.
Yan Jiayu hadn’t left yet when the train’s PA system activated, "Welcome aboard, passengers. I am the conductor of this train, and I regret to inform everyone that there is an E3 level dimensional storm ahead."
"As everyone knows, dimensional storms are the most dangerous spacetime storms for both tracks and trains. Our train’s rating isn’t fully capable of withstanding an E3 level dimensional storm. However, the good news is that E3 is the lowest severity level of dimensional storms, and according to our monitoring data, the storm will reduce to two-thirds of its original size when it encounters our train."
"Therefore, please all passengers gather in the third, fourth, and fifth cars to maximally ensure the safety of your lives and property. The train will shortly travel at maximum speed, please do not panic."
"Lastly, I wish all passengers good luck."
After the announcement, passengers from other cars started to hastily converge towards cars three, four, and five, including the train staff, the conductor, and the head chef.
The train was quite crowded with everyone gathered in three cars, and though it sped along, it didn’t make much noise. Under this tense atmosphere, the conductor switched on some music while smiling, "Don’t be so gloomy, everyone. After we make it through this storm, we’ll just wait for rescue by the tracks—assuming the tracks are still there."
His words were of no comfort; not only the passengers, but even the staff were getting restless.
The train sped straight ahead, and due to the obstruction of the front and rear cars, it was very difficult to see the full scope of the storm ahead through the windows. Everyone could only judge its position from the edges.
However, this anxious wait didn’t last long; as the tracks vibrated, the impact of the storm on the train was a matter of less than half a second. It wasn’t as severe or violent as everyone had imagined. The front few cars were compressed back like soda cans, and whether it was the metal floor or the glass walls, they seemed to instantaneously change their material properties—shattering, becoming lightweight, and being engulfed and carried away by the grey, slow-moving air that flowed in!
Like a thick wall passing through, the locomotive smashed a big hole in the wall and surged forward fiercely; meanwhile, the slightly slower recirculating air merged back from all sides, striking the surrounding areas of the train once more... It was in that brief moment, seemingly lasting less than half a second, that provided a lifeline to two cars!
Holding "Three Seconds of a Lifetime," Xu Huo turned around and gazed at the receding "grey wall", shocked: Who would have thought that the dreaded dimensional storm would only last a mere two to three seconds!
The train stopped in its original track position, with only a third of the third car and half of the fifth car remaining, looking as if they had been sliced by a knife; the rest of the cars and the people inside them had all followed the "grey wall". There was not a drop of blood to be seen at the scene or inside the "grey wall", nor any gruesomely violent scenes one might have imagined. The storm had come peacefully and left peacefully, except near the tracks where there appeared to be two huge pits dug out, and the rest of the surrounding area remained tranquil.
"Did those people turn into fragments in the storm?" a player muttered.
Most of the players lacked knowledge in this area. The danger had come and gone quickly; many hadn’t even caught their breath, let alone delved into the principles of the storm.
As for the principles behind it, encountering a natural disaster as an ordinary person usually left little chance for self-rescue.
"It seems everyone is quite lucky," the conductor turned off his cheerfulness and said to the crowd, "Let’s wait together here for now!"
At this, several lucky players who had survived in the third car burst through the door into the aisle, gasping for air, and said, "The oxygen... it’s thin outside."
Everyone’s expression darkened: That was not good news!
Xu Huo tapped Yan Jiayu lightly, signaling to go and take a look.
Both donned protective suits and went outside; Yan Jiayu said, "At least the air pressure is normal."
Xu Huo tested the tickets, "Can’t teleport to the nearest station."
An elder also came out, "Train tickets might not work on the tracks, especially after experiencing a dimensional storm."
"It seems we can only wait," Yan Jiayu said, "I wonder how quick the Orbital Supply Department is at getting to work."
The old man wearing a clear breathing prop smiled, "The tracks have been destroyed, so it’s bound to take some time."
Yan Jiayu looked at the huge pits on both sides and then asked, "Is the space near the tracks dangerous, can we walk a bit further?"
"It’s best not to," a woman player knitting some yarn came over, "There could be traps everywhere—in the sky, underground, in the air."
"That’s not a big issue," the old man said, "Look, although the tracks are destroyed, the areas along the tracks aren’t damaged as deeply as on the sides. This is because the tracks were built using a special method. The space and time near here are very stable, as long as the dimensional storm doesn’t reach a certain level, it’s fine. Besides, didn’t we all make it out?"
"Then we really are incredibly lucky," Yan Jiayu said smiling.
"What luck is there in staying here?" a middle-aged woman said grimly, "Even if we wait, how many days can we last? If no one comes, we’ll all die!"
This was also what other players were worried about, so someone asked the conductor if there was any way to leave.
"If there were a way to leave, we would have gone long ago," the conductor said lightly, "Rest assured, a signal was sent out before we started traveling at full speed. The Orbital Supply Department will definitely come within three days."
Hearing his words, everyone felt somewhat reassured. Not daring to stray far, everyone found spots along the track to sit down and rest, those who knew each other huddled together while maintaining a distance from others.