CHAPTER 201: [THE INFINITE TRAIN] – DEGENERATE’S PART (11)

"You guys are here looking for clues, too? Step aside, the zombies are about to flood this place."

Just then, a cold voice suddenly rang out behind them.

Smith and William quickly turned their heads and saw a familiar face—Ron, from Team One of the Association of Espers.

Ron swiftly pushed his way inside. Seeing the pile of papers scattered across the floor, he couldn’t help but frown. "Searching like this won’t help you find anything useful, and you’re just making it harder for those who come after you to find clues, Asta."

A mop of red hair swayed behind the pile of papers. Asta jumped up from the pile, then leapt to the floor, landing behind Ron and speaking nonchalantly, "There is nothing here. I’m certain the clue isn’t in this place. You can leave now."

"You’re that confident with that tiny brain of yours?" Ron scoffed.

"Whoa, who pissed you off? Are you Ron? Not being with your team making you this cranky?" Asta sneered. "You look like a puppy that’s lost its mama. So pitiful."

Ron narrowed his eyes and turned to glare at Asta.

"Now, now, don’t be like that. We’re here to find clues and work together against the dungeon. You two can’t go at each other like this," Smith quickly stepped in and wedged himself between Ron and Asta.

Ron’s face remained expressionless. Asta only shrugged, acting like he couldn’t care less, and headed for the door.

But at that moment, the door had already shut. William stood there, deep in thought about something.

"Hey, move aside, man," Asta said.

As he spoke, he lightly pushed William.

What he didn’t expect was that William collapsed straight to the ground. Everyone was startled.

Asta raised both hands in surrender, looking innocent: "Hey, I seriously didn’t do anything, okay? I’m rushing to return to Aurora, so I’m leaving!"

And with that, he dashed off. Earlier, he’d been focused on looking for clues about the train, but apart from learning that all the passengers had the same destination—Watson Town—he hadn’t found anything else. Things outside were surely chaotic by now, and he was worried that an ordinary girl like Aurora might be in danger.

Aurora—the ordinary girl—had just returned to their train car with her "child" and Lily. Compared to the front cars, theirs was the last car and hadn’t been affected much. From the looks of it, the people there didn’t even seem to realize something had happened in the front cars.

"Everyone, please be careful! There are zombies ahead! Don’t let them scratch or bite you—if they do, we’ll die too!" Aurora warned loudly. The others immediately sprang from their seats.

Suddenly, a male NPC stood up and shouted, "Just now I saw a few people coming back from the restroom—they looked suspicious as hell!"

As he spoke, he pointed to several people who had gone to the restroom: "That one, that one, and that one too... they all passed through the front cars. How can we be sure they aren’t infected?"

Aurora pressed her lips together. Just as she was about to respond, the man’s finger shifted to point at her: "You—you’re even more suspicious!"

"You’re the one who’s suspicious!"

Lily stepped forward in front of Aurora, glaring at the man with disgust.

The man saw Lily’s red apron and suddenly stumbled back. He moved so fast he fell flat on his back, his finger trembling as he pointed at her.

"M-mon... monster!"

The man roared, making Lily shrink back in fear. She clung tightly to Aurora’s leg, her teary eyes full of fear and helplessness.

Just then, others started getting angry and turned on the male NPC:

"I think you’re the one who’s infected! No one else was panicking, but you went off the rails first!"

"Yeah! Let’s check if he’s got any wounds on him!"

With that, a few people stepped forward.

"Get away from me, or don’t blame me for what happens!"

The male NPC shouted, struggling nonstop, but he couldn’t break free.

Just then, his body suddenly went rigid, then went limp, his breathing ceased—he looked dead.

Some people instinctively let go of him, but at that exact moment, the male NPC’s eyes flew open. The whites of his eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out, and his pupils had shrunk into a single thread. He suddenly sat up, opened his mouth wide, and bit directly into the neck of the person closest to him!

"Aaaaah!"

"He’s infected!"

The entire train car erupted into chaos as fresh blood sprayed into the air. Like headless flies, people scrambled in every direction.

Aurora shouted, "Everyone, please—we can kill the zombies! Stay calm! You have to cut off their heads!"

But it was as if no one heard her. Someone even bumped into Aurora, making her stumble back a few steps before she could regain her footing.

Bang!

Suddenly, the train car’s door flew open—no one knew whether it was by a monster or a human.

Aurora’s eyes widened, and she turned around belatedly—but the horde of monsters she expected to flood in never came.

Instead, a dazzling light burst through the window, illuminating the otherwise gloomy train car.

Looking out, they saw vibrant greenery bathed in sunlight. It was as if the train had returned to normal for a brief moment.

"Hey, hey William, get up. What’s wrong with you?"

William’s eyes snapped open, a flash of red light glinting inside them. His pupils, which had shrunk to a single line moments ago, now opened fully again.

He looked dazed as he grasped his arm, raised his head to look at Smith, and shook it. "I’m fine."

Swish!

Ron yanked open the curtain and looked out the window, his brows furrowing deeply. A sudden appearance of sunlight—this change affected the dungeon.

Upon top of the train stood Nyx. She stretched her arms out, welcoming the not-so-warm sunlight, and smiled in satisfaction.

"Looks like judgment day has arrived."

And with those words, she vanished on the spot.

"Please, no—I’m just a normal person! I’m still normal! You can’t kill me!"

The NPC who had been madly attacking others was now pinned down, but his mind seemed to have returned. He screamed desperately for mercy, even as his mouth dripped with blood and mangled flesh.

And yet, in that moment, he did look human—he wore the form of a person...

Swish! Thud!

Just then, a streak of light sliced clean across the male NPC’s neck. His head fell directly to the ground, his face still frozen in terror and pleading.

Everyone instinctively let go of him and backed away, simultaneously trying to locate the source of that sudden flash.

At last, all eyes landed on the train door—there stood a man holding an amber-colored gemstone in his hand. It glowed with the same hue as the light just now. But clearly, a gemstone couldn’t have decapitated someone like that!

Asta didn’t care about their stares. He ran straight toward Aurora.

"Aurora, are you okay?"

Then, suddenly, he shouted: "Your dress and shoes got dirty!"

From the look on his face, you’d think he wanted to change her outfit right then and there.

Aurora smiled and shook her head. "It’s alright. White clothes are supposed to get dirty easily."

"By the way, what’s going on right now?"

She tilted her head slightly as she asked.

Although the height difference made Asta feel awkward, it didn’t stop him from thinking Aurora was charming. He stared at her for a moment, dazed again.

"Asta. Asta!"

Asta snapped out of it and quickly said, "Ah, it’s probably the light. The sudden burst of light must’ve turned all the infected back to normal."

Then he frowned. "And now the uninfected are taking this chance to wipe out all the infected... Aurora, you’re okay, right?"

Asta couldn’t even imagine Aurora becoming one of those monsters. In his mind, even if she were a monster, she’d still be beautiful.

Lily narrowed her eyes at Aurora, then glanced at Asta, and finally let her gaze shift back and forth between Asta and the baby still cradled in Aurora’s arms.

She gripped Aurora’s hand tighter, her gray eyes narrowing slightly—like a bit of fox.