Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!

The second round of player battles didn’t last too long. After about ten minutes, both sides had to stop due to excessively heavy casualties, and the subsequent exit was very formal and orderly.

First, the military strategists from both sides took their people to retrieve their wounded. The accompanying medical staff first treated the severely injured, saving their lives before using vehicles to send the remaining people back in batches.

Next was the battlefield cleanup. Of course, the bodies of their companions needed to be recovered, followed by the machinery and boar corpses. They would take whatever they could, whether to rebuild or for consumption.

These people were clearly battle-hardened, and both sides adhered to the rules. They didn’t interfere with each other during the cleanup; once each side was done, they retreated. Although they each went their separate ways, they were all heading in the same direction, towards Ye City.

Ye City is located to the northwest of the station, considered the closest city to the station. Another slightly closer city is to the northeast, with some distance between them, but Xu Huo’s instance information didn’t activate after getting off the bus, likely requiring a trigger in a nearby city.

There wasn’t more information on the tickets, so he decided to head northeast to Xi City first.

Traveling wasn’t a problem for him now, and it didn’t take long to reach the vicinity of Xi City. At this point, the Girl in the painting could also come out, and the two entered the city together.

Beneath the Dimension doesn’t contain detailed information about Xi City; it’s only known that most people gathered here worship a god called the "Shadow-eating God." There are only a few doctrines extended by this god, but they’re extremely exclusive. The most famous one is not allowing outsiders to step on their shadows, as shadows are offerings to the Shadow-eating God, equivalent to their lives. If an outsider steps on their shadow, first, it contaminates the offering to the god, and second, it sullies the believer’s faith, so anyone who steps on their shadow must die, regardless of age or gender.

Of course, if it were just this, it wouldn’t count as exclusive. They not only don’t allow others to step on their shadows but also don’t allow anyone to step on the shadows of non-religious people. If found, they’ll try every means to kill both parties involved.

In simple terms, if someone steps on a Shadow Eater Sect cultist’s shadow, the stepper must die. If someone steps on a non-member’s shadow, both the stepper and the one stepped on must die. It’s primarily about an attitude of "I reign supreme, and those who displease me must die."

As soon as Xu Huo and the Girl in the painting reached the city’s vicinity, someone actively approached to sell umbrellas.

"Sir, Madam, would you like to buy an umbrella? This umbrella can protect your shadows from outside interference, ensuring safety wherever you walk in the city." The seller was all smiles but still kept a distance.

Xu Huo wasn’t interested, but the Girl in the painting was quite eager. She reached out to take an umbrella, but when she advanced, the seller retreated, and only with a hint did they notice two masked individuals watching them from a distance.

Right then, another player appeared in the passageway, likely having used a Teleportation Prop to arrive, randomly emerging. Despite those conducting business in the passage keeping a distance, he unfortunately stepped on the edge of someone’s shadow.

The player hadn’t yet reacted when the person stepped on unhesitatingly dropped their things and fled into the distance. But surprisingly, not only the two masked individuals, who seemed to be monitoring others, but also nearby vendors all drew their weapons, some with crossbow arrows, others with pistols. It was apparent they were outdated products, but enough to kill an ordinary person.

The fleeing vendor was pierced through the back of his head by a crossbow arrow. The successful killer vendor didn’t bother with business anymore, wrapped up his things quickly, took a badge from the masked individuals, and swiftly returned to the city.

The player who stepped on a shadow was a bit confused, but no one dared to make a move against him. Still, even a blind person could sense the apparent hostility in the air.

The player didn’t linger and swiftly entered the city.

No one pursued him; the two masked individuals merely watched him leave and then continued observing the vendors around the city’s entrance.

Xu Huo bought an umbrella, but the Girl in the painting felt it was ugly and didn’t want one. The two entered Xi City, one after the other.

The city was still bustling. While aircraft weren’t everywhere, they were displayed in some shops, though the prices were exorbitant, and very few were seen in use.

Everywhere on the streets were leaflets promoting the Shadow Eater Sect, and some shop signs bore the sect’s marks, indicating that they were either run by sect members or under the sect’s protection. People on the streets were cautious to keep their distance from each other. Although it wasn’t raining, most people were holding umbrellas.

The umbrellas were likely intended to cover their shadows while maintaining distance from others. Not just locals, even some who were obviously from out of town dressed this way. Those like the Girl in the painting, who didn’t carry an umbrella, were avoided by everyone.

Along the streets, there were films and TV shows promoting the sect, free lectures for non-sect members, gift packages for new converts, and rewards for reporting shadow-stepping offenders. Killing someone who steps on a shadow not only results in automatic membership in the sect but also fetches a substantial reward.

"No wonder those people outside are so willing to kill." The player who entered the city before Xu Huo and the Girl in the painting was nearby. Seeing the Girl in the painting look over, he smiled. "Seems even Outer Zone players aren’t spared."

After saying this, he nodded at Xu Huo and the Girl in the painting before disappearing from sight. Meanwhile, the three players surrounding him missed their target and soon turned away.

The Girl in the painting glanced at them and then the content on the bulletin board. Taking out a communicator, she asked Xu Huo, "Is stepping on shadows fun?"

"Stepping on shadows isn’t fun, but making the Shadow Eater Sect members step on each other’s shadows might be interesting," Xu Huo said calmly, ignoring the subtle stares around them.

The two were looking for the instance entrance, so they had to keep moving forward. This zone had random instances, so they first went to the official selling point to check what instances were nearby.

The local government members were evidently also part of the Shadow Eater Sect; each instance booklet bore their symbol. For Outer Zone players, these were one-time transactions, so the booklet prices were extremely high.

Xu Huo bought one and discovered that Xi City alone had nearly ten instance entrances.

Indeed, these were known instance entrances, with records of locals disappearing from here. Local players had marked the entrances after discovering them but hadn’t entered, so it was unclear what instances the entrances led to, whether they were ticket instances or random instances.

"Do we have to check each one?" the Girl in the painting asked.