Chapter 146: Extinction of Winter Harbor

By the time the engine plunged into the thick fog and disappeared, everyone finally came to their senses.

"How could this be? Where are the carriages behind it?"

"I think... I saw Officer Chen in the train?"

"I saw him too. That red outfit is too conspicuous; you can spot it at a glance!"

"Why didn't Officer Chen stop to save us?"

"This train doesn't even have carriages; how could it carry us? He must have run off by himself!"

"There seemed to be someone else next to Officer Chen just now... I couldn't see clearly."

"It was Zhao Yi, if I'm not mistaken."

“……”

Everyone spoke one after another, their eyes filled with envy as they looked toward where the engine had disappeared...

"Stop looking... let's go." Boss Xu shook his head. "Officer Chen couldn't save us; we have to rely on ourselves..."

The roaring engine didn't change their fate. Sighing with envy, they picked up their feet and continued on.

Meanwhile, inside the train's control room.

"Chen Ling, I think I saw Boss Xu and the others just now." Zhao Yi rubbed his eyes, speaking uncertainly.

"Oh."

"Aren't we going to give them a lift?"

"There's only enough space for three or five people at most; how could we give them a lift?"

Zhao Yi opened his mouth, but eventually fell silent.

"I... I can shrink down." A tiny voice came from the side.

Zhao Yi looked over and saw the girl sitting on the floor in the corner of the control room, hugging her legs and silently curling her body into a ball. She took up very little space, not even as much as a watermelon.

Zhao Yi couldn't help but find it funny. "No one is getting on the train now, why are you trying so hard to shrink?"

The girl buried her head in her knees and said nothing.

Zhao Yi didn't have to drive, and with nothing to do, he simply squatted in front of the girl and asked in a soft voice:

"By the way, I still don't know your name?"

"I... my grandma calls me Ling'er."

"Ling'er." Zhao Yi nodded. "How did you get on the train?"

"Grandma brought me... Grandma said to sneak under the train and crawl in, hide so no one would find me, and she would come pick me up when the train arrived." Ling'er pursed her lips and answered in a small voice.

Zhao Yi fell silent.

According to Ling'er, with her and her grandmother—one old and one young—it was impossible to walk to Aurora City. The only way was to take this train... Her grandmother likely knew she couldn't get on, so she came up with this plan for her. As for the grandmother herself, she was likely shot by the Enforcers.

At the station, Zhao Yi lost his father, and Ling'er lost her grandmother. Their fates were very similar, which made Zhao Yi feel even more pity.

"My name is Zhao Yi. If you need anything in the future, just come to me!" Zhao Yi patted his chest and said.

Then, as if thinking of something, he hesitated and added,

"Um... his name is Chen Ling. Sometimes, he might be more useful than me..."

Chen Ling didn't join their conversation, focusing instead on operating the train. The last time he saw something of this antique level was in a museum in his previous life. If it weren't for the manual in the control room, it wouldn't have been easy for him to get this thing moving.

Even so, the train stopped from time to time, until a long while later, when a familiar platform slowly approached.

"We're here."

Chen Ling jumped off the engine, with Zhao Yi and Ling'er following closely behind.

They looked at the dead, silent town before them. There was no sign of life. In the thin mist, only the biting cold wind from the frozen sea whistled through the houses, making a low, wailing sound.

"Is this Winter Harbor?" Zhao Yi shivered. "It feels colder than the Third District..."

Ling'er seemed frightened by the sound of the wind, her small face deathly pale as she clutched Zhao Yi's sleeve tightly.

"Not a single person... It seems this place has fallen too."

Chen Ling frowned slightly. "Be careful, there might still be calamities active here."

Hearing this, Zhao Yi's expression turned ugly. He couldn't help but ask, "Chen Ling, what exactly are we doing in this ghost town?"

"Follow me."

Chen Ling didn't answer him, instead quickly identifying a direction and walking forward.

Seeing this, Zhao Yi had no other choice but to take Ling'er's hand and follow quickly. The thin mist drifted through the dim town, and as they walked deeper, a thick smell of blood entered their nostrils.

Chen Ling's gaze swept over the houses on both sides. There were no signs of violent destruction, and there were no corpses on the road. The whole town was quiet, as if it were asleep...

Chen Ling narrowed his eyes and walked straight to a house, gently pushing the door open.

Creak—

As the door opened, the room was dim. On the bed in the deepest bedroom, a figure lay quietly, neck swollen, eyes wide open, no longer breathing.

"Why does it smell so bad?" Zhao Yi stood at the door, unable to help covering his nose.

At the same time, he didn't forget to reach out with his other hand to cover Ling'er's eyes. Although the corpse was far away, it was never good for a child to see such things.

"It's seawater."

Chen Ling bent down and rubbed his fingertips lightly on the floor. A stain of water stuck to his fingertips, emitting an indescribable stench.

Chen Ling pushed open several other doors, and the situation was the same as the first one. Even the method of death was identical. Even the streets of the town were covered in this seawater.

Chen Ling's frown deepened. Following the memory in his mind, he walked along the street to a grocery kiosk and pushed open the small, closed window.

A woman's corpse lay on the table of the kiosk. In front of her hands was telegraph equipment, but a message seemed to have been cut off before it could be fully sent.

Chen Ling certainly recognized her. When he had come to Winter Harbor before, he had met with the Twilight Society at this kiosk. This woman was also an peripheral member of the Twilight Society; she must have been trying to send a message to the Twilight Society before she died.

"Do you know her?" Zhao Yi asked, puzzled by the complex look in Chen Ling's eyes.

"...No."

Chen Ling took a deep breath and spoke slowly:

"Something has come ashore from the frozen sea... All the residents of Winter Harbor must have died in their sleep, completely caught off guard."

Zhao Yi was stunned. His gaze followed the main road of the town, extending into the sea deep in the mist. In the incredibly quiet environment, the sound of the waves was as clear as someone rubbing sandpaper.

"Is... is that thing still here?"

"Hard to say." Chen Ling shook his head.

"In any case, we should speed up."