Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 145: Ten-Second Operation

The three Holy Sword Society members didn't waste words. Their leader swept his hand through the air, and the surging poisonous gas around them seemed to be erased like pencil marks, creating a clean, straight path leading directly to the Painting Woman.
At the same moment, Dou Shengnan also stood within the toxic fumes, her crimson pupils glowing faintly as she swung her pocket watch and commanded the Painting Woman: "Cut your own throat."
The Painting Woman turned back and looked at her with confusion.
Dou Shengnan paused momentarily, then shifted her gaze to the three Holy Sword Society members. The latter were momentarily stunned by her stare, but in the next instant they had retreated back to the rooftop edge. Just then, the balloon boy stretched his legs straight down and came stomping toward her head, forcing Dou Shengnan to move out of the way!
The entire exchange between these experts had taken mere moments. By the time they retreated to the dome's edge, the hotel building began collapsing. Towering clouds of dust shot into the sky, enveloping the entire structure and blocking the view of all players.
While the players, including drone operators, were searching through the ash and debris for any sign of the Painting Woman, the papers fluttering around the building suddenly froze mid-air. As if losing all power, they began falling one after another. Immediately after, a figure shot out from the dust cloud like a cannonball, crashing through several nearby buildings before being buried under rubble!
"That was the female player from Zone 014 who just flew out!"
She remained buried under the wreckage and didn't emerge again. As the floating papers continued falling to the ground, it could only mean one thing—the Super Item had changed owners!
Who killed her?!
The three Holy Sword Society members cleared the dust from the air, only catching a glimpse of a hooded figure wearing a black mask flashing by before being forced away from the Pearl Hotel area by overwhelming pillars of paper and intermittent artillery fire.
Simultaneously, papers from throughout the entire city converged toward the hotel like white doves, twisting and knitting together in the air to form a nearly solid giant pillar that rapidly rose upward. It soon extended beyond the dust cloud coverage, and standing atop it was clearly visible a figure wearing a hoodie, long pants, and a mask!
The vortex pattern on that black mask made it impossible to discern his features, though his build suggested a man. The only visible parts—his eyes—seemed covered by a white film, making his entire person resemble an emotionless instrument.
"I command you! Commit suicide!" Dou Shengnan appeared directly in front of him, her eyes blazing with red light.
Unfortunately, the man on the paper pillar ignored her command. Not just her—he treated the Holy Sword Society members as if they didn't exist either. He merely turned his head to "look" toward the southwest direction before disappearing from the paper pillar.
From his appearance to his disappearance, the entire process hadn't exceeded ten seconds!
This suddenly emerging unknown player left everyone bewildered. He was so powerful that Dou Shengnan's hypnosis proved ineffective, and he didn't even regard the Holy Sword Society's Gold Disciples worth his attention. He moved with such leisure, as if he had just come to catch some wind while casually collecting the Super Item everyone was fighting over. Before leaving, he only gave a slight bit of attention toward the Phantom Sound Knights' group battle, but who dared say this attention was actually directed at the Phantom Sound Knights? Laurence Li was an S-grade player after all!
"Could he be an S-grade player?" Everyone couldn't help but wonder.
But he had already left. Even several A-grade players hadn't managed to keep him there—what could the other players possibly do?
The situation had transformed in the blink of an eye. This high-level player battle for the Super Item ended before it even properly began, abruptly drawing a close to the war that had shaken the entire E27 Wormhole Point over competing for the Super Item.
The three Holy Sword Society members left first, followed by Dou Shengnan and the balloon boy heading toward the southwest direction of Harbor City. The foreign zone players trapped in the life-and-death round, after seeing the outcome, gradually began leaving too. Those who remained were observing the Phantom Sound Knights' group battle.
Similarly, the Harbor City Command Room found it difficult to believe things had ended so suddenly.
Beyond disbelief, they couldn't help feeling angry and frustrated. So many people had died, yet the Painting Woman was ultimately killed by foreign zone players, and the Super Item had fallen into outsiders' hands!
"The most urgent matter now isn't calculating losses," said the elderly man from Capital City. "Saving people takes priority!"
Thus, the command room quickly issued orders to cease artillery fire, search for the Painting Woman's body, and formulated rescue plans.
The Super Item was gone, and most players were dead. Now there was nothing left in Zone 014 worth foreign zone players lingering for. The only thing left to wait for was the conclusion of the Phantom Sound Knights' battle.
The command room also lacked spare capacity to deal with them, only evacuating Harbor City residents to clear space for their fighting. Once they had fought enough and determined a victor, they would leave on their own.
"We must find the Painting Woman's body," the elderly man from Capital City repeatedly emphasized. "We cannot let a hero die like this!"
The black-and-white roulette wheel hadn't disappeared yet. Besides trying their best to protect ordinary citizens caught within it while waiting for events to conclude, the only thing rescue teams could do was search for the Painting Woman's body.
However, the Painting Woman had already secretly slipped away by this time. She changed her face and clothes, hiding in a hotel room where she happily hugged her Gentleman of Light medal while eating snacks and sending Xu Huo a text message: "I'll wait for you to come back."
Xu Huo naturally couldn't receive her message. He had already reached the station by now. The moment he arrived at the station, he put away his twisted mask, removed the film covering his eyes and the headphones blaring deafening music, then threw them along with his hoodie into the "Stingy Suitcase" and stored it in his item slot.
Only then did he check the time—perfect timing.
Four other players were in the station, and these people subtly closed in on him when they saw him.
He didn't devote significant attention to these people.
Things had progressed more smoothly than he anticipated. The high-level players restraining each other had given him the perfect opportunity. To guard against the Phantom Sound Knights' hypnotic player, he had simply disguised himself as blind and deaf. During those ten seconds, he genuinely couldn't hear or see anything around him.
While it appeared he was controlling the paper pillar's movements, it was actually the Painting Woman playing dead while providing remote assistance. He only needed to stand there, finally giving a ambiguous look toward the southwest direction—where intense fighting was happening—to divert players' attention.
Successfully entering the station meant his plan was mostly accomplished. Currently, his only concern was whether someone might pursue him here.
Just from watching the Painting Woman's brief confrontation while trapped in the Pearl Hotel, he clearly understood that some high-level players truly possessed certain special abilities or items related to space. Not knowing whether they had precise tracking or positioning items meant he couldn't relax until actually boarding the train.
Xu Huo finally looked up and scanned these people. "Will two tickets be enough to share among you?"
Their eyes lit up. "If you have more, even better!"
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Has starving for a few days clouded your thinking? Someone who can obtain four or five train tickets—and you dare try to rob them?"
The group exchanged glances, their expressions turning fierce. "I've been starving here for two or three days! Even if I die, I want to taste meat one last time before going down!"