Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Foreseeing of the Apocalypse

The train car began to shake violently, and the temperature inside dropped rapidly, soon plunging below freezing. Seeing this, Guo Ji had no time to listen to Fang Nian any further and began to observe the state of the surrounding carriages. He noticed that white frost was already spreading across the walls, ceiling, and floor.

“It seems we’re surrounded by a wave of cold air. At this rate, this carriage will turn into a giant freezer soon. We need to find a way out—fast,” he said.

Zhong Ru nodded slightly, acknowledging that, as Guo Ji had pointed out, their time was running out.

However, Duan Rui was still looking at Fang Nian, waiting for him to continue. This time, it was Fang Nian who felt troubled. He knew this stubborn girl would not let it go unless he finished his explanation. With no other choice, Fang Nian skipped over some complex theories from the Book of Changes and gave Duan Rui the concise version.

“The meaning behind the last passage is actually quite clear. ‘Let not disaster befall the generations to come, greed will eventually turn to dust’—this can be seen as Brian’s prophecy for a collapsing world, foretelling that humanity would ultimately pay the price for its greed.

“It was because of his foresight that this post-apocalyptic train existed at all, allowing humanity to preserve its last thread of lineage. If my guess is correct, this train is only a temporary solution Brian devised. Escaping this catastrophe isn’t so simple. The arrival of the four-star alignment signals the destruction of humanity’s final sanctuary.”

Duan Rui agreed with Fang Nian, her mind working quickly, hoping to find a new path forward from these clues.

But the temperature in the room was dropping swiftly. Much of the furniture was now glazed with frost, and the walls around them had begun to crack from the cold.

Xiao Xueluan had already put on a pair of thick leather gloves, which Fang Nian recognized as F+-grade hunting gear made from special materials. They could withstand extreme cold and fire, and most mechanics carried them for just such situations.

Fang Nian had once made such gloves with his grandfather at the hunting grounds. They were difficult to craft, and out of ten pairs, less than three would be successful. The cost was extremely high, and only the wealthiest families could afford them.

It was clear that Xiao Xueluan, born into privilege, lived in a world entirely different from Fang Nian’s.

With her gloves on, Xiao Xueluan began feeling along the icy wall, searching for a weak spot where the wall had cracked. Soon enough, she found a section of wall that had twisted severely from the cold.

“Old Xu, break this open for me.”

At Xiao Xueluan’s call, Xu Dong didn’t hesitate. He grabbed a wooden chair reinforced with steel from the center of the carriage and swung it at the spot she indicated.

The chair crashed into the wall with a rush of wind, shattering into splinters. A shallow crack appeared in the wall. Pleased, Xiao Xueluan signaled Xu Dong to continue. He then ripped out the steel frame from the chair and began hammering at the wall with all his might.

Watching Xu Dong’s wild effort, Fang Nian felt a chill. Though he, too, was a warrior and had even learned the “Mad Blade” technique, compared to Xu Dong’s raw strength, he was in a completely different league.

Under Xu Dong’s relentless assault, the wall soon began to split apart. Large chunks of concrete fell away, and when the last piece dropped, a beam of white light flashed through—revealing a large window before them.

Xu Dong stared out the window, stunned, unable to believe his eyes.

“Is this... the outside world?”

Fang Nian moved closer, pulling away a few more pieces of plaster to get a better look. The sight outside made his heart skip a beat.

He saw a world in ruins, frozen as if in the aftermath of the apocalypse. The cold was so penetrating that even the most frigid Arctic or Antarctic winters could not compare.

Fang Nian had seen the desolate, ruined Earth, had experienced the cold of its wastelands and polar regions, but compared to this, those could almost be called balmy. The creator of this hunting ground had truly captured the despair of the end times—Fang Nian could feel it in his bones.

He could almost envision Earth a hundred or a thousand years from now, suffering the horrific aftermath of ecological collapse.

Pulling himself together, Fang Nian turned his attention to the world outside. He had to find a way to escape. Their post-apocalyptic train was traveling through this frozen wasteland.

Every time the train moved forward, the tracks behind were instantly sealed by the advancing cold, like the shrinking safe zone in a survival game, steadily closing in on the last car. That explained the biting cold they felt—the chill was right behind them.

Jin Jinhui looked out the window, her expression grave as she tapped rapidly on a three-dimensional projection. Soon, she hit the screen with conviction, sending a countdown program to everyone present.

“I just ran the numbers. The advancing cold moves faster than our train. In about fifteen minutes, the last car will be completely surrounded. At these temperatures—at least minus two hundred degrees Celsius—we wouldn’t last a minute before freezing solid. We must escape within fifteen minutes.”

“I’ve sent the countdown to everyone’s watches. Let’s hurry and find a way out. I’m not a fan of winter,” she said.

Everyone nodded and immediately sprang into action.

Fang Nian gazed out the window, staring into the indistinguishable darkness and light, lost in thought.

“Why did Brian mention the Book of Changes in his journal? The hexagram represents the four-star alignment, so what does the four-star alignment... Wait.”

A thought struck him. He glanced outside, then back up at the carriage ceiling, and realization dawned. Excited, he hurried forward to check, but after seven or eight steps he suddenly bumped into something soft and yielding.

It was Duan Rui, who, like Fang Nian, was looking up to inspect the ceiling. They collided head-on.

Fang Nian was unharmed, but Duan Rui was left dizzy, clutching her head and rubbing it vigorously.

“Are you okay?” Fang Nian asked, a bit embarrassed.

Duan Rui shook her head, then pointed up at the ceiling.

“You noticed it too?”

Fang Nian relaxed, nodding in confirmation.