Chapter 153: Spreading Despair

"What do you mean?" Zhao Yi didn't understand and asked back.

"Ten hours ago, the Gray Realm intersection points were only a few meters wide and quite obvious... Now, they are almost everywhere." Chen Ling pointed to the ice field just now. "Remember the seaweed we encountered at Winter Harbor?"

"I remember."

"Where did they appear from?"

"...The reflection in the puddle?"

"Exactly." Chen Ling spoke slowly. "Although I don't know why, everything in this vicinity that can cast a reflection seems capable of connecting to the Gray Realm... In other words, the two worlds have begun to connect through reflections."

"Those residents just now also entered the Gray Realm because they stepped onto the ice layer and through the reflection. We also fell for it without realizing it... At this rate, the frequency of us entering the Gray Realm will only increase, until..."

"Until the two worlds are completely merged?" Zhao Yi understood what Chen Ling meant.

Chen Ling nodded.

"We must enter Aurora City as soon as possible. Only there is it safe."

"Soon. With this train, we’ll arrive at Aurora City in half an hour at most!" Zhao Yi operated the train skillfully, saying confidently.

Chen Ling turned and returned to the carriage. The originally empty carriage now held more than forty people. Several of them were lying on the ground with large areas of skin burns, and the moans and wails were continuous.

Although the others weren't hurt by those eels, their situation wasn't much better. Long hours of walking in the ice and snow had left them with frostbite, and coupled with exhaustion and their narrow escape from death, their faces were as pale as paper. They huddled on the floor of the carriage, looking like they were about to faint.

Seeing Chen Ling arrive, a glimmer of light appeared in their dim eyes. Boss Xu let go of the sleeping child in his arms, stood up shakily from the ground, and then fell to his knees in front of Chen Ling with a thud.

"Thank you, Officer Chen, for saving our lives... Your great kindness, I, Xu Chongguo, will remember forever!"

Counting it up, this was the second time Chen Ling had saved their family. Xu Chongguo really didn't know what to say, so he just kowtowed repeatedly.

Seeing this, the others also knelt on the ground one after another. Without Chen Ling, they would have either died in the Gray Realm or on the way to Aurora City. Chen Ling’s appearance not only cleared the siege for them but also gave them a place to rest on this bitterly cold journey.

Moreover, from their perspective, Chen Ling had driven that train engine away, only to return with a brand-new train. It was out of pity for everyone, willing to give up his own chance to enter Aurora City as soon as possible just to take them along... This kind of righteousness and compassion, compared to those Enforcers who were slaughtering people at the station, was like an angel.

The wind and snow howled outside the carriage. Chen Ling’s gaze swept over the people kneeling in the carriage, and he touched his chin thoughtfully.

"Not enough people..."

"What did you say?" Xu Chongguo, who was kneeling at the front, was stunned.

"Nothing." Chen Ling shook his head. He spoke unhurriedly, "You walking like this... where do you want to go?"

Everyone looked at each other, a bit bewildered. They thought, isn't that obvious? Aren't you also going to Aurora City?

"Officer Chen, we are going to Aurora City." Xu Chongguo answered immediately.

"What for?"

"To seek shelter. Now that the Seven Districts have all fallen, only Aurora City can keep us alive..."

Chen Ling chuckled. "Then do you know who abandoned the Seven Districts?"

Everyone was stunned. A moment later, they answered cautiously, "Is it... Aurora City?"

"You know full well that Aurora City abandoned the Seven Districts and the hundreds of thousands of civilians living there, yet you still want to go to Aurora City and let it shelter you?" Chen Ling’s voice was calm, without a trace of emotional fluctuation. "Do you think that’s possible?"

Once this question was asked, everyone fell silent. This was a problem everyone had realized, but no one was willing to face... But besides Aurora City, where else could they go? This was their last hope.

"What if... what if?" Xu Chongguo said hoarsely. "Officer Chen, right now, only Aurora City is safe in the entire realm... Only by going to Aurora City do we have a glimmer of hope for survival."

"It’s useless." Chen Ling said flatly. "Aurora City will not take you in."

Chen Ling’s flat tone shattered the last hope of these people in the carriage. They stared blankly at Chen Ling, their eyes full of despair and confusion.

"Why???"

"What can you bring to Aurora City if you enter? Refugees with nothing? Panic from outside the city walls? Or a potential source of unrest? It has already abandoned hundreds of thousands of lives. Tell me, why would it care about the few dozen of you?"

Woooooo—

The cold wind wailed outside the carriage. Chen Ling watched with his own eyes as the eyes of these people lost their luster and hope... They knelt there like statues, and the aura of despair filled the entire carriage.

Chen Ling was right. These people couldn't bring anything to Aurora City; instead, they would make the residents who had always lived safely in Aurora City feel panic. Moreover, it was Aurora City that ordered the abandonment of the Seven Districts. What if someone among these people held a grudge against Aurora City and caused unrest later?

After a brief silence, Chen Ling’s indifferent voice sounded again.

"The train will carry you to the gates of Aurora City, but this will only extend your lives for a while... After that, whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."

After saying this, Chen Ling turned and walked into the control room. In the silent carriage, only faces of despair and confusion remained...

"Chen Ling, why did you scare them?"

As soon as Chen Ling walked into the control room, he heard Zhao Yi ask in confusion.

"I just stated a fact."

"But you could have chosen not to say it... They are already miserable enough. Why did you have to strip them of their last hope?"

Chen Ling walked to the open door, looking at the wind, snow, and land rapidly receding outside, and answered calmly.

"The more desperate they are, the more they will do anything when they see that glimmer of survival."

"...What do you mean?"

"I naturally have my own plans." Chen Ling looked back at the silent carriage and spoke slowly. "Since they were saved by me and brought onto the train, they have to play a role for me at the critical moment..."