All the illusions before Bai Liu shattered. The countless versions of Bai Liu who had died in grotesque ways crumbled into ashes like burning phantoms.
Bai Liu slowly opened his unfocused eyes.
Everyone held their breath and instinctively stepped back. Du Sanying shrank into the corner, staring at Bai Liu. He gulped and retreated another step in fear. A strange premonition rose in his heart. Bai Liu made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, yet at the same time, his heart pounded faster.
"What's going on now?" Du Sanying muttered. "Did we just gain another monster on our side, or…?"
Mu Sicheng's dark monkey paws were being dragged out through the train doors. His claws scraped against the metal rail as he struggled to resist. The doors were slowly closing, and only his unwilling white eyes remained visible through the narrowing gap.
The next second, Bai Liu moved.
He shot through the carriage at an astonishing speed. The steel walls dented as he passed. In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the door where Mu Sicheng was about to be pulled away.
Calmly, Bai Liu stepped into the crack of the closing doors with tremendous force. Just one second before Mu Sicheng's hand would have been completely dragged out, Bai Liu planted both feet against the doors, stopping them from sealing shut.
He exhaled slowly.
Gripping both sides of the door, he pulled with such strength that his shirt lifted from the strain. The glass shattered with a sharp explosion, breaking into countless fragments. The heavy carriage doors twisted violently as Bai Liu, who appeared thin and unassuming, wrenched them open with his bare hands.
"Bai…" Du Sanying stared, stunned. "Bai Liu evolved into King Kong Barbie!"
The passengers and Brother Thief, who had been dragging Mu Sicheng, froze simultaneously. The Bai Liu who stood there with the torn doors radiated an overwhelming sense of threat.
Brother Thief roared and swung a flaming fist at him.
Bai Liu moved so fast that only an afterimage remained. He dodged, bent low, and yanked Mu Sicheng back into the carriage from below. Then he kicked Brother Thief away.
This completely enraged Brother Thief. Flames burst from his body as he smashed his fist into the ground. The carriage, which had just begun moving, was engulfed in fire once more and forcibly halted by his brute strength.
Puppet Zhang stared blankly, utterly confused. He called out tentatively, "Bai Liu?! Aren't you insane right now?"
Bai Liu glanced back at him with a perfectly natural expression. "There's no need to control me. Use your puppet silk to catch Mu Sicheng."
Originally intending to throw Mu Sicheng into another carriage, Bai Liu instead tossed him toward Puppet Zhang. Then he stepped forward to block Brother Thief.
Brother Thief glared furiously at Bai Liu but did not continue attacking him. Without hesitation, he abandoned Bai Liu and lunged for Mu Sicheng instead, fists aimed at Mu Sicheng's airborne body.
From the beginning, Brother Thief's true target had always been Mu Sicheng.
By the time Bai Liu reacted, the flaming fist was already descending. He yanked Mu Sicheng sideways by the collar and turned his body to shield him.
The blow landed.
Blood sprayed from Bai Liu's mouth and splattered across Mu Sicheng's pale face. Mu Sicheng's charred right hand twitched faintly.
[System Tip: Player Bai Liu's health has dropped to 6!]
"Tsk." Bai Liu wiped the blood from his lips and pivoted to dodge the next attack. Gasping slightly, he suddenly smiled at the motionless Mu Sicheng behind him. "Well done. No wonder Brother Thief is so desperate to drag you away. You stole his broken lens. His hate value is locked onto you."
Clutched tightly in Mu Sicheng's right monkey paw was a heart-shaped fragment of a mirror. Though he had long since lost consciousness, he had never loosened his grip.
Stealing the lens had been part of Bai Liu's plan all along.
And Mu Sicheng had remembered.
Bai Liu turned and kicked Brother Thief away again. The monster roared and attempted to smash his way back into the carriage. Bai Liu fought him briefly. Just as Brother Thief prepared to unleash a group attack, Bai Liu shouted:
"Help me close the doors! As long as the train moves, we're safe!"
The others rushed forward, pushing against the mangled doors Bai Liu had torn open. Brother Thief, significantly weakened after losing the lens, struggled to break through. At last, the wrecked train lurched forward, creaking as it slowly pulled away.
Everyone collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.
Puppet Zhang and his three puppets leaned against the door, staring blankly at Bai Liu. Du Sanying sprawled in his chair, tongue out, drenched in sweat like an exhausted dog.
Bai Liu crouched in the corner.
He had reached his limit. The collapsed mental state consumed enormous energy. Leaning against the damaged wall, his chest rose and fell rapidly as he regulated his breathing.
He purchased two bottles of mental bleach and two bottles of physical recovery agents. After drinking one of each, he roughly poured the remaining two into Mu Sicheng's mouth.
His method was anything but gentle. Mu Sicheng nearly choked to death before coughing violently and waking up. Bai Liu sat beside him and handed over the rest.
"Drink it yourself. By the way, these two bottles cost 1,700 points. I'll charge you a 10% service fee a total of 1,870 points. Thank you for your patronage."
He calmly extended his hand. Meaning: pay up.
Mu Sicheng, who had just survived death and barely regained consciousness: "..."
Silently, he transferred 1,870 points.
He raised a hand to wipe the blood from his face, then froze.
This was Bai Liu's blood. When Bai Liu had turned to block that punch, the blood had splashed onto him.
Bai Liu didn't mention it. But Mu Sicheng remembered vaguely seeing Bai Liu standing in front of him, shielding him.
For someone supposedly heartless, Bai Liu had saved him and said nothing about it. That made Mu Sicheng strangely uncomfortable.
He turned his face away and handed over the broken lens he had been clutching the entire time. "Take it."
Bai Liu accepted it naturally, without asking why. Everything felt effortless, as though it were only right.
Mu Sicheng couldn't hold back anymore. Pretending indifference, he said, "Bai Liu, you actually came to save me. I thought you wouldn't care. Didn't expect you to have a conscience."
"It has nothing to do with conscience," Bai Liu replied casually, wiping the remaining blood from his mouth. "If we were merely exploiting each other, then yes—I could've cleared the instance without you. It would've been much less trouble."
He continued evenly, as though stating an obvious fact.
"But we have a cooperative agreement. We made a transaction. I said I wouldn't let you die, so I won't. That's the deal."
Mu Sicheng blinked blankly. "Transaction? What transaction?"
"The one-point transaction." Bai Liu lifted the mental bleach and drank it, recalling calmly. "When we agreed to cooperate, you transferred me one point. Remember?"
Mu Sicheng fell silent. He lowered his head, as if searching his memory, but it felt hazy, almost unreal.
His dark red eyes flickered before settling.
Then he snorted softly and laughed. "It really was just one point… Bai Liu, you're really strange."
"You're not the first person to say that," Bai Liu replied, tilting his head back to finish the mental bleach.
[System Tip: Player Bai Liu has used Mental Bleach. His mental value has been restored to 60.]
[System Prompt: Player Bai Liu has obtained one large broken lens (1 large lens = 20 small lenses) carried by Brother Thief. Including the broken lenses carried by Player Puppet Zhang, the total number of broken lenses collected has reached 100. Collection task progress has reached 1/4. The total number of broken lenses required has been confirmed.]
[System Tip: Broken lenses collected (100/400).]
[The Exploding Last Train Monster Book has been updated — Brother Thief (2/3).]
[Monster Name: Brother Thief (Younger Brother)]
[Features: Extremely tall and strong. Moves very quickly. Can unleash one large-scale attack every minute (movement speed: 1,400; flames grant bonus damage; prefers using fists to subdue opponents; extremely high attack power).]
[Weaknesses: Broken lenses (1/3).]
[Attack Methods: Rage Hammer, Fire Impact (Since the important lens in his chest was stolen by a player, Brother Thief has become significantly weakened. His attack and movement speed have greatly decreased. The player's survival rate in direct confrontation has increased.)]
[System Warning: Player Bai Liu has only 6 HP remaining! You are on the brink of death! Please protect yourself!]
Bai Liu closed his eyes and leaned back against the carriage wall, finally letting out a long, slow breath.
There was a faint, tired smile on his face after the victory, along with a rare trace of humanity.
"—Everyone survived. And there are still seven platforms left."
Mu Sicheng was silent for a moment before letting out a soft laugh. "Yeah. We all survived because of your insane plan."
That was the truth.
From the very beginning, Bai Liu's plan had been astonishingly ambitious. He wanted everyone to live.
This madman wanted everyone under his control so that everyone could survive. In a game where health was constantly consumed, this was the most cost-effective strategy. Bai Liu would not waste a single point of HP.
It was precisely this extreme greed that made Mu Sicheng believe in him.
Bai Liu would never allow Mu Sicheng to die easily.
-----------------
Five minutes earlier.
When Bai Liu said he would cooperate with the puppet master, Mu Sicheng exploded in anger.
"Who the hell are you cooperating with? The puppet master?!"
"We have to cooperate," Bai Liu replied calmly. "Or rather, I need to control everyone to ensure the most efficient allocation of health."
"It's because our total HP is too low. I only have 21. You have over 70. Du Sanying is in full health. Even so, our side only has a little over 100 HP in total."
"On Puppet Zhang's side, even subtracting 20 HP for exchanging mirror fragments and 10 HP for testing, he should still have at least 370 left. That makes the total HP between both sides less than 600."
Bai Liu's tone remained steady.
"And this instance requires 400 HP to clear."
"That margin is too small."
"It's equivalent to one of us dying," Bai Liu concluded flatly. "We already lost a player without realizing it."
Mu Sicheng couldn't help retorting, "You're the one who lost most of the HP! You dropped over 70 yourself!"
"Oh? Did I?" Bai Liu replied lightly, as if he hadn't heard the accusation. Then he changed the topic.
"If the total number of mirror fragments is 400 and we've collected 40 so far, that means we still need 360 more. That's potentially 360 HP to be spent."
His expression turned serious.
"There's another critical point. We've passed two stations, but only one page of the Monster Book has been updated."
He opened the Monster Book and pointed at it.
"The Exploding Last Train has three pages. That means there are at least two monsters we haven't encountered yet."
Mu Sicheng's expression darkened. "Looking at the progress, we're at 20%. Around this point, a new monster usually appears."
Bai Liu nodded. "Based on typical game mechanics, the monster that appears now will likely be stronger than the exploding passengers."
"It will be harder to obtain broken lenses from it. If we're likely to lose 360 HP collecting fragments, and still have to fight two unknown, powerful monsters…"
He calculated calmly.
"600 minus 360 leaves 240 HP."
"Even if every casualty comes from Puppet Zhang's side, that leaves us with the equivalent of only two and a half people."
Bai Liu looked at them thoughtfully.
"Do you think our chances of clearing the instance are higher or our chances of being wiped out?"
Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying both fell silent.
Mu Sicheng was the first to speak. "So what are you saying?"
Bai Liu answered evenly, "I'm saying we make sure everyone survives so that our combat effectiveness increases."
Du Sanying felt dizzy. "Didn't you just say it was impossible for everyone to survive?"
"I said that from Puppet Zhang's perspective," Bai Liu clarified. "If he controls the game, then yes, it's impossible."
"Because we need their strength to protect us from the monsters. We need them to survive. But they don't need us."
"Our value is limited. If the new monster is difficult to handle, Puppet Zhang can simply throw us at it as sacrifices to clear the instance."
Du Sanying grew even more confused. "Then why should we cooperate with the Puppet Master? Wouldn't that just be delivering ourselves to him so he can control us?"
A faint smile curved Bai Liu's lips. "Yes. The point is to make him believe he controls all of us."
Du Sanying and Mu Sicheng were both stunned.
"If I were Puppet Zhang," Bai Liu continued calmly, "I wouldn't confront us head-on. That would increase his HP loss. To minimize losses, the best strategy would be to separate us one by one and subdue us individually."
"For someone like me, who appears to be in the weakest position, he would lure me out and cut off my retreat. My most obvious support is Mu Sicheng, a player with a strong attribute panel."
"As for a strong player like Mu Sicheng, a direct confrontation would be costly. The higher-probability choice would be psychological warfare. This game has a mental value system. The priority would be to reduce your mental value first. Once you're confused or unstable, you can be controlled or sacrificed."
Mu Sicheng's mouth twitched at how plainly Bai Liu described sacrificing him. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "So you want to cooperate with Puppet Zhang? After he controls us, he might just sacrifice us anyway. How exactly are you planning to keep everyone alive?"
"He controls everyone," Bai Liu replied evenly, "and I control him through cooperation."
He looked directly at Mu Sicheng. "It's that simple."
Mu Sicheng sneered. "Control him? With what? What leverage do you have to make him cooperate?"
Bai Liu lifted his gaze and stared intently at Mu Sicheng. "Because of you."
"You're going to do something very risky. There's a high probability you'll die. But I can use that to control Puppet Zhang."
Mu Sicheng was momentarily taken aback.
"However," Bai Liu added calmly, "even if you're left with only a few HP, I will save you."
His eyes were steady.
"Mu Sicheng, you're my most valuable card. As long as you follow my plan, I guarantee you'll survive."
The plan Bai Liu proposed was full of uncertainty and variables. Mu Sicheng didn't even know what Bai Liu's personal skill was. He had no idea whether Bai Liu's so-called 'cooperation' ability could truly counter Puppet Zhang's Puppet Silk.
And yet—
At that moment, as Mu Sicheng stared into Bai Liu's eyes, he found himself inexplicably convinced.
For some damn reason, he agreed to this insane, high-stakes plan.
He saw his own reflection in Bai Liu's dark eyes and felt slightly startled. He remembered Bai Liu wielding the whip to draw the monsters' hate value without hesitation.
This guy was a madman.
He never flinched. He never avoided risk.
Even when Bai Liu had nearly fallen off the car earlier, he hadn't looked away from Mu Sicheng. Just as he said, he wouldn't hesitate to use the whip if it meant ensuring Mu Sicheng's survival.
In the past, Liu Huai had often taken on the role of drawing hate value for Mu Sicheng, the thief. Liu Huai was skilled and well-suited for it.
But Mu Sicheng suddenly realized—
If Liu Huai had been here today, he might have missed while stealing the broken lenses.
Because Liu Huai would never have risked his life the way Bai Liu did.
Bai Liu had told Mu Sicheng everything without reservation.
He explained the key to the entire plan. He revealed the role and function of the Mermaid Amulet. He even stated plainly that if Mu Sicheng used the item, Bai Liu would become Puppet Zhang's puppet, and the entire plan would fail.
Mu Sicheng sneered at the time. "Why are you telling me this? Aren't you afraid I'll betray you and use it?"
Bai Liu simply watched him.
His eyes were extremely dark. When he lifted them, the other person's reflection appeared clearly inside, like a mirror.
It gave the unsettling impression that Bai Liu, this dangerous, calculating man, was placing absolute trust in him.
Bai Liu asked lightly, "Will you use it?"
Mu Sicheng closed his eyes slightly and remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he said, "Bai Liu, I don't know if I'd use the Mermaid Amulet when my mental value drops to 10."
"People's desire to survive makes them do strange things. They break promises. They betray teammates."
He paused.
Bai Liu didn't interrupt. He simply waited.
Mu Sicheng took a slow breath.
"But if I really make it to the end without using it, then that means I kept my sanity at 10 mental value just like you, you lunatic, demanded."
Bai Liu answered quietly, "If you don't use the Mermaid Amulet, I promise I'll save you as long as I'm alive."
-----------------
The Small TV Wall in the Central Hall
Aside from Bai Liu, who had unfortunately fallen into the Burial Mound Dancing Area, all players from Exploding Last Train had secured promotional spots in the Central Hall.
Even Li Gou obtained a "Central Hall Edge Promotion Slot."
Puppet Zhang, Du Sanying, and Mu Sicheng all received decent recommendation placements.
Puppet Zhang's position was the best.
Originally, he had been featured in the "Hot Multiplayer Promotion Area" of the Central Hall. After successfully controlling Bai Liu, his likes and recommendation metrics surged dramatically, propelling him into a Core Promotion Slot.
Meanwhile, Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying weren't doing as well.
After being controlled by Bai Liu, the audience found their screens less exciting. Viewers gradually shifted toward Bai Liu's small TV, causing their recommendation rankings to slip.
Then, Puppet Zhang used his ability to control Bai Liu, triggering a wave of rewards and tips. He became the first player in Exploding Last Train to reach the Core Promotion Slot.
The viewers on Puppet Zhang's small TV were ecstatic.
"Puppet Zhang's got this! A player with 93 intelligence points completely controlled the field!"
"Holy shit, Puppet Zhang controls Bai Liu, and Bai Liu controls Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying. Doesn't that mean everyone's under Puppet Zhang's control?"
"I'm crying for my Xiao Zhang! He's waited so long for this! He chased after God Mu for ages, and today he finally gets to take him down through someone else!"
"I'm dying of laughter. I can finally watch the grand finale of Puppet Zhang and Mu Sicheng's love-hate drama. I thought Bai Liu would interfere as the third party. Turns out Bai Liu isn't even Puppet Zhang's match, there's too big a gap in strength!"
The audience was chatting enthusiastically when someone suddenly noticed something strange.
"Wait… what's going on? Puppet Zhang played perfectly. Logically, Du Sanying and Mu Sicheng's viewers should be migrating here."
"Then why is everyone running to Bai Liu's small TV instead?"