Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 257

Chapter 257

Gu Huaiwei reacted fast. Just as the Noble Lady was about to let go, she reached out with one hand and hauled the young conductor back up again.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. I’ll contact the train captain right now and have him stop the train, then we’ll go back the way we came and search for him.”

The Director’s Wife stared at Gu Huaiwei.

That promise was supposed to have been made to the Director’s Wife by a Trial-taker.

Now that Gu Huaiwei was the one saying it, the Director’s Wife froze in place like a wooden puppet. Her face was expressionless. She could neither attack nor stand down.

“Mom, why did you and Dad get on this train?” Lulu had half a foot planted on the pried-up floor of the train. Her body swayed, and all it would take was one sudden brake for her to fall through the hole.

In other Instances, Anomaly would generally not initiate conversation with unrelated Anomaly.

Lulu spoke up because the Director’s Wife was her mother.

There was no familial love between Anomaly.

What connected them was the obsession they had carried in life.

The Director’s Wife turned to look at Lulu. Her eyes were deathly still, without the slightest glimmer of light. They did not even reflect Lulu’s image.

“Click, click, click… I taught you since you were young that when we are outside, you are to address me as Vice Dean, not Mother.

“Back in Carriage Zero, because it was your first offense, I did not correct your improper behavior. This is now your second mistake, so I am giving you a warning. If you make the same mistake a third time, I will punish you… click, click, click…”

“Vice Dean… click, click, click… Vice Dean…”

Lulu repeated those three words over and over. Black mist churned around her, but restrained by Gu Huaiwei’s Contract, she could not do anything too extreme.

Gu Huaiwei hoisted the young conductor onto her shoulder and headed for the carriage where the train captain was.

The train was not willing to stop.

He did not believe for a second that anyone could have fallen off the train.

So Gu Huaiwei had no choice but to have a friendly conversation with the train captain using her fists. After that, the bruised and swollen train captain stopped the train and stated that getting off to inspect the situation was very necessary.

Once the train stopped, a message was sent to the central control desk.

Gu Huaiwei dragged the somewhat dazed young conductor along the tracks, retracing their route.

It was nighttime.

On both sides of the tracks stretched a vast field of golden wheat.

The wheat stood as tall as a person.

In the wheat field, many hat-wearing figures stood there, waving at them.

Gu Huaiwei did not smell any other humans in the air.

Those people waving in the wheat field were probably Anomaly.

Farther out from the two sides of the tracks, there were also some small paths that looked like they might lead to a way out.

Gu Huaiwei had no need to clear the Instance, so for the time being, she did not bother studying where those paths led.

After walking back several kilometers, Gu Huaiwei saw a mangled lump of flesh squirming faintly on the tracks.

Fog had risen in the night. Gu Huaiwei walked forward through the mist and saw the Dean lying across the tracks, his hands and feet severed as he groaned in agony.

“Click, click, click… Save me…”

“I can save you, but you have to sign a Contract with me.” Gu Huaiwei pulled Lulu out from behind her. “Your daughter is in my hands too. Sign a Contract with me, and your whole family can be reunited.”

“Find my hands and feet, and I will agree… click, click, click…”

His feet and right hand had been completely separated from his body, while the bones of his left hand were still connected by skin, barely allowing him to press buttons on his phone.

Crows had carried off the Dean’s hands and feet.

One hand had fallen onto the tracks.

One foot was hanging from a scarecrow in the wheat field.

And another foot had been brought back by Black Cat.

Gu Huaiwei patted Black Cat on the head and had Bai Miemie retrieve the remaining hands and feet.

After using the restroom, the Dean had fallen through the movable panel in the train carriage. The speeding train wheels had crushed and severed his hands and feet, and he had then lost consciousness from the excruciating pain.
Some time later, he woke up on his own and found himself surrounded by darkness. Only after he had recovered a little did he pick up his phone and call his wife for help.

Gu Huaiwei picked the phone up from the ground.

On it were chat records between the Dean and his wife.

The reason they had boarded this train was that, every year, they would secretly accompany Lulu on her birthday.

From the age of one to twenty, their twisted ideas about education made them believe they were playing the role of strict parents.

They believed that a cold family atmosphere would help a child become independent and mature more quickly.

And so they never hugged her, never praised her, and never kept her company.

They provided Lulu with excellent material conditions, yet were stingy with even the slightest display of love.

Lulu was their only child.

They forced Lulu to face the ugly birthmark on her face. They forced her to get used to standing in front of cameras and displaying herself to everyone.

Lulu was the heir to Gray Mist Hospital.

An outstanding heir was not allowed to show weakness or sentimentality.

But they did love Lulu.

So they would secretly visit Lulu from the shadows.

Of course the Director’s Wife remembered that today was Lulu’s birthday.

The city light rail was under construction in front of the hospital, and that road had been sealed off. Private cars couldn’t get out; only this Green Train, which was about to be taken out of service, could still make the trip back and forth.

They boarded this Green Train.

Then they remained in this Instance forever.

When Lulu died, she had always believed she had never received her parents’ love.

When the Dean and his wife died, they had always regretted not showing themselves on Lulu’s birthday.

“There’s a road. There’s a road over there…” The young conductor was somewhat out of his mind. After coming into contact with the Hospital Director’s blood, he climbed up from the ground.

“You can’t go that way.”

“I’m going to be free! I’m going to leave this Instance!” The young conductor acted as if he hadn’t heard Gu Huaiwei at all.

Gu Huaiwei shone her sister’s mirror on his body and discovered that pollution had already corroded him.

The pollution had thrown his mind into chaos.

He stumbled onto the narrow path through the wheat field.

At first he walked slowly, then broke into a jog, and finally clapped his hands in delight. A strange smile appeared on his face as he shouted madly, “Wonderful! I found the way out!”

As he leaped along, he stripped off his conductor’s uniform, then spun in circles and vanished into the wheat field.

Bai Miemie tilted their head and asked, “Sister Gu, should we stop him?”

Gu Huaiwei glanced in the direction the young man had gone. “The pollution has already corroded him too badly. There’s no saving him. Leave him.”

Bai Miemie bit their finger. “What a shame. We’re down one customer.”

“It’s not a shame. We found him, didn’t we? He counts as an influential local merchant too.” Gu Huaiwei snapped her fingers and pointed at the Hospital Director lying on the ground, her tone rising slightly. “Miemie, this is where you come in. Sew those severed limbs back on for him. We’re taking him back with us.”

“As you command, Sister Gu. Your personal little tailor has arrived~” Bai Miemie took out a needle and thread and stitched the Hospital Director’s severed limbs back into place.

Gu Huaiwei, meanwhile, took a wheelchair out of the Jade Bracelet and lifted the stitched-up Dean into it.

The two parties signed a Contract.

With the death of the final Trial-taker in this Instance, the Green Train Instance closed.

Gu Huaiwei pushed the Hospital Director’s wheelchair back the way she had come. She saw the young conductor standing in the wheat field, smiling as he waved at her.

“Bye-bye~”