CHAPTER 199: [THE INFINITE TRAIN] – DEGENERATE’S PART (9)

"Sister Aurora, I want to go to the bathroom."

Lily held Aurora’s hand, her eyes looking up at her as she spoke hesitantly.

Aurora looked at the little girl’s expression—nervous and fidgety, as if afraid she would be abandoned.

Although this kid was a bit troublesome for suggesting she abandon her child, she was pretty adorable.

Aurora said softly, "The restroom is probably in the front car. Let’s keep going."

The design of this train was also quite strange—extremely old-fashioned, and none of the cars had their bathroom. Aurora could only guess that the restroom was at the front of the train. It was a shot in the dark, but a child like Lily would naturally treat an adult like Aurora as the absolute truth.

The little girl clutched Aurora’s hand tightly and continued walking forward, her tiny head constantly tilted upward to look at Aurora, eyes filled with intense focus, never seeming to tire.

[Is no one noticing how strangely Lily is looking at Aurora?]

[She’s giving off total yandere vibes. My instincts are never wrong!]

[It’s just dependence, guys. Anyway, when is the real explosion going to happen?]

[Don’t worry, don’t worry. Let the illness brew slowly—when it explodes, it’ll scare us.]

[Roughly one-third of the passengers on this train are already infected and have no idea.]

[Some of those who know and are hiding it are human too. Humans are so unpredictable. If this keeps up, we’re all going to die.]

The entire train car was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. The lights were still on, yet everything felt unbearably heavy. A putrid, metallic stench filled the air—whether it was because the car was connected to the train’s only restroom or for some other reason, no one could say.

The passengers here were oddly "calm." A bunch of people sat sprawled across the seats—some with their eyes closed as if resting, but their faces were so pale and ashen they looked practically dead. Others had their eyes wide open, but they were dull and unfocused, the blood vessels in their eyes squirming and spidering out eerily identical, sending chills down one’s spine.

When they heard someone approaching, they didn’t even turn and look.

Aurora instinctively held the child in her arms tightly and could feel Lily drawing closer to her as well, as if she might cling to her leg at any moment.

Aurora couldn’t help but frown slightly and said softly, "Let’s move quickly."

With that, she briskly led Lily toward the restroom.

The stench was becoming more and more unbearable. Only now did Aurora realize that although Asta’s group had headed in this direction, she hadn’t encountered them once along the way.

The restroom was unexpectedly larger than Aurora had imagined—as if this dungeon had used half a train car to build a bathroom. But the stench inside was even more overwhelming.

The floor was soaked with a disgusting brown liquid, and dark, almost black fluids were seeping through the cracks in the tiles.

Lily nearly screamed: "No! It’ll dirty your shoes! I can hold it!"

Aurora glanced at Lily, finding the girl’s thinking quite peculiar.

"Just go quickly," Aurora said in a firm tone.

Lily pressed her lips together and hurried inside, not forgetting to remind Aurora to wait for her before disappearing through the door.

Aurora didn’t pay much attention to the little girl. She lowered her gaze to look at the baby in her arms, still asleep, brow slightly furrowed as if not entirely at ease.

"Hey, you..."

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out behind her. Aurora’s eyes widened, and she swiftly dodged to the side.

That grayish, feeble hand grasped at empty air. The person hadn’t expected Aurora to be that fast.

A look of surprise flickered across his face, but he quickly smiled and said, "You’re human too, right? I was hoping to investigate the train as well. Can you tell me what’s going on in the rear cars?"

The gentle expression on Aurora’s face vanished entirely. She began examining the man before her at top speed.

Like many others, the man had a gray, weary face, as if suffering from chronic liver disease. His hands were strange too—his nails slightly overgrown, tinted a dark grayish-black, as though they hadn’t been trimmed or cleaned in ages.

Every time he spoke, his mouth moved stiffly, giving the impression of a severe underbite. He looked extremely unsightly.

"I don’t know anything. If you want to find out, check for yourself. And don’t touch me."

As she spoke, Aurora backed away, avoiding the man’s hand with its sharp nails reaching toward her.

After failing to touch her for a second time, the man’s fake, polite expression cracked open instantly:

"You bitch, you think you’re pretty, huh?! A girl like you must have tons of people dying to help you. You made it this far safely and think you’re all that?! Die. Die with me!"

He roared and suddenly lunged at Aurora.

Aurora swiftly dodged to the side. With one leg, she kicked him hard in the back, sending him crashing face-first into the filthy water.

"Crack! Crack!"

But Aurora didn’t immediately lift her foot. She pinned him down with force, her calf pushing through the hem of her skirt, grinding against his back until the man’s bones gave off deep, painful cracking sounds. Her long white hair fell forward, veiling the expression on her face.

"Crack!"

Finally, even his spine broke. The man jerked violently, mouth agape, and then went still, like he had stopped breathing altogether.

Aurora’s eyes widened. She instinctively took a step back, blankly staring at her foot, seemingly unable to believe she had killed him that easily.

[That sound... oh my god... But why does she still look so beautiful and pitiful after all that?! I admit it, I’m captivated—completely captivated!]

[Asta probably has no idea that his gentle girl is secretly a powerhouse.]

[I knew it! There’s no way Asta was the only one who fell for Aurora at first sight. She only talks to Asta! She likes him too! Who wouldn’t want someone as adorable as Asta?!]

[Seriously, someone thinks that perverted guy is adorable? That’s just fangirl filters at work.]

[Exactly. Stop trying to claim Aurora—she’s my wife!]

[Ooh... something unexpected is coming...]

[That child...]

"Aaaaaaaah! Sister Aurora!"

Right then, Lily’s piercing scream rang out inside the restroom, snapping Aurora back to reality. She startled and rushed in, just in time to see Lily’s body falling backward.

Aurora quickly stepped forward and caught her with one arm.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Lily shook her head rapidly. Her hand trembled as she pointed ahead.

Aurora followed her finger and saw a bright red mass inside the toilet bowl that looked somewhere between jelly and flesh, continuously pulsating. Thick, black tendrils ran across its surface, squirming and inflating like breathing.

Squish, squelch...

The thing kept writhing, expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Aurora felt a wave of disgust rise. She grabbed Lily’s hand and decisively pulled her away.

This place was no longer safe!

"Die... die... die..."

But just as Aurora was pulling Lily out of the stall, the man—who should have been dead—was standing up.

His knees were slightly bent inward, his feet twisted at odd angles. It was a mystery how he could even stand like that.

But clearly, he wasn’t standing...

He hoisted his body with effort. With his spine broken, his torso was bent nearly at a right angle. His upper body swayed unnaturally with every step.

His limbs were stiff, gray, and shriveled. His toenails had punctured through his shoes, and his fingernails were now nearly as long as his palms.

Even more revolting was his face, rotting away at an alarming rate, as if some invisible force was rapidly decomposing it. Part of his skull had begun to protrude, drenched in a thick, brownish-black fluid.

He opened his mouth wide, revealing a maw like a basin filled with shark-like fangs. His eyes bulged so much that the corners split open. The eyeballs looked like they could fall out any second, exposing far too much white, while the irises shrank to a single red dot. His pupils narrowed into vertical slits, like some monstrous beast.

A heavy, guttural growl echoed from his mouth as he menacingly advanced toward Aurora.