Chapter Eighty-Five: The Final Battle

Fang Nian and Duan Rui swiftly slipped through the doorway into the second carriage. They had no time to take in the interior before hurriedly bolting the door behind them. Leaning against it, both of them panted heavily, still shaken by the tension of the moment.

Duan Rui had shed her usual aloof composure. With a secretive grin, she nudged Fang Nian with her elbow.

“I didn’t expect you to be such a good actor. That terrified little look you just made was really convincing.”

Fang Nian gave her a wry smile.

“You were just as good. The way you jumped around was so realistic that even that old fox Scorpion Luo was fooled.”

Duan Rui curled her lip and shot him a glare.

“Who do you think taught me? Ever since I met you, I haven’t learned a single decent thing. It’s all this low-down stuff.”

Fang Nian shot back with a disdainful look.

“What’s wrong with low-down stuff? Seems to me you’re learning it with great enthusiasm.”

Duan Rui was amused by his words. This was the first time she had ever laughed like this, as though she had done something wicked without the grown-ups finding out.

Only after their breathing had settled did they begin to examine the carriage.

Unlike the one before it, this second carriage held no furnishings at all. The only things within were a few paintings on the walls and stone tablets carved with writing. Like the murals in an ancient tomb, they recorded historical events and the course of events in images and text.

The two of them stepped closer to inspect them. Duan Rui looked at Fang Nian in confusion.

“Do you understand it? What’s recorded in these paintings seems to be the development of this apocalypse, along with some of Brian’s actions after he discovered the secret. These were all written in Brian’s diary too. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything special about them.”

Fang Nian understood that as well, but his thoughts differed from Duan Rui’s. He silently ran through the entire sequence again and again, only to feel that although the story seemed flawless, something about it never sat quite right.

“It does look that way. Brian not only recorded how he discovered the cold ring and how he built the doomsday train, even his feud with Scorpion Luo is documented with painstaking completeness.”

At that point, Fang Nian stroked his chin and abruptly changed direction.

“But don’t you think the story is a little too perfect? This is the real world. There are no prophets in the real world. Brian wasn’t a god, so how could he have known so much?”

“And there are plenty of other parts that don’t quite make sense, like…”

Fang Nian poured out all the doubts in his mind to Duan Rui. His ideas were somewhat extreme, but they were not without reason. If the story were to unfold along Fang Nian’s line of thought, it still seemed possible.

Duan Rui looked at him somewhat helplessly.

“I didn’t expect you to be this good at organizing a storyline too. If you’re so capable, why not go it alone? Why drag the rest of us into it? Aren’t you afraid we’ll hold you back?”

Fang Nian blinked.

“I really did take a liking to you, but who said I wanted to recruit anyone else?”

Duan Rui waved a hand.

“The moment you came in, I knew what you were up to. Should I say you’re lazy or greedy? You actually wanted to build your whole team during a single hunt. That really is…”

She shook her head helplessly, while Fang Nian suddenly laughed.

“Well, I have to admit you guessed right. I really do want to build a team. But scouting people everywhere is too much trouble, so I came up with this idea.”

Duan Rui glanced at him, and immediately thought of how he had tricked her into making that bet. She muttered under her breath, “Liar.”

She checked the clock. There was only one hour left before the cold ring appeared. Time was pressing, and they still had not found a way through, so they had to get into the final carriage as quickly as possible and find Brian’s descendant.

However, when they saw the sealed door to the last carriage, both of them froze. The door did not seem to want anyone inside; it could only be opened from within, and there was no mechanism on it at all.

Duan Rui looked utterly exasperated.

“Is the designer cheating? How are we supposed to get through a door like this?”

Fang Nian gave a bitter laugh.

“You can’t be that hard on him. I don’t think he’d go that far. It is the last door, after all. It has to be special.”

Duan Rui nodded and began feeling around the door, searching for a way in.

While she searched in earnest, Fang Nian stood frozen in place, lost in thought. He too did not understand why the door had been locked from inside. The meaning of such a design was clear enough: if they wanted to enter, someone inside had to open the door for them.

“Inside?”

Suddenly, Fang Nian seemed to understand something. He began scanning the surroundings, using his insight ability and his excellent eyesight to search everywhere for the information he needed. Sure enough, before long he discovered a highly concealed camera hidden beneath the shadow of a mural’s edge.

“There.”

Duan Rui hurried over. Guided by Fang Nian, she also spotted the concealed camera.

“This camera is... installed by Brian’s descendant?”

Fang Nian nodded and said evenly, “Yes. Look, it’s actually operating right now. That means we’re under someone’s surveillance.”

Duan Rui looked at the camera.

“Then it must be Brian’s descendant.”

Fang Nian agreed with a nod. He knew he had to be ruthless now, so he stepped forward and spoke toward the camera.

“Friend, it seems rather pointless for you to keep watching us like this. Why not come out so we can meet face to face?”

After he spoke, the great door showed no sign of movement.

“Perhaps I can solve the problem that has been troubling you all along. I imagine you also want a way out before the train is destroyed, don’t you?”

Even after that, Fang Nian received no response. It was as though he were speaking to a patch of empty air. But at that moment, Duan Rui heard something from behind them: the door of the third carriage seemed to be under heavy impact from something massive. Judging by the force of the blows, it would not hold for long.

Fang Nian and Duan Rui both knew that the one coming was Scorpion Luo. If he got in, then in this sealed second carriage, they would truly be in mortal peril.

Faced with such a situation, Fang Nian decided to throw caution to the wind. He said to the camera,

“Scorpion Luo is coming in. I think your door will be forced open too. Given how much he hates you, I’m afraid a storm of bloodshed is unavoidable.”

At that point, Fang Nian suddenly changed his tone.

“Our abilities have already been proven to you from the moment we stood here. How could anyone without real skill appear before you? Whether we are enemies or allies is for you to decide.”

This was the last door. If it could be opened, then the final battle would begin.