Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1266. Midnight Return (6)

The girl's laughter was sharp and piercing, particularly jarring in the quiet carriage, like rusty iron scraping against the glass.

She opened her empty palm, and there was a black silhouette in her palm that looked exactly like the cloaked figure in the photo.

"Do you think it's the only one that takes pictures? Everyone on this train is collecting shadows, including you."

--What's the meaning?
—I don't understand!
—Is everyone collecting shadows?
—123 They didn't collect them either!
Lichun's fingers tightened suddenly as she held the Polaroid camera, causing the camera casing to crack slightly.

He looked down and flipped through the photo album, which was indeed full of photos of the shadows of everyone in the carriage.

Lin Xi looked at him warily.

There is a silhouette of Xiaoming holding a teddy bear.

There was even the moment just now when the entire shadow was missing its shoulder.

Every single one is very clear.

"Who exactly are you?" Yu Chen stepped forward, a faint blue light emanating from his fingertips. "Are you in camouflage with the cloaked man and the train conductor?"

The girl tilted her head, and her pupils suddenly turned pure black, like two glass beads immersed in ink.

“My name is Su Yao, and Su Xiao is my older sister.” Her voice suddenly turned icy, filled with deep resentment. “Two years ago, she was abandoned by 'players' like you, her shadow was taken away, and she is forever trapped on this train.”

Lin Xi's heart sank, and she immediately recalled the words in Su Xiao's diary.

“We’ve seen your sister’s diary.” She softened her tone. “We’re not here to abandon anyone; we’re here to find a way to get through so everyone can leave.”

"Leave?" Su Yao scoffed and suddenly pointed to the car window.

"Impossible! This train has no end. Unless all the stolen shadows are gathered and the train is forced to stop, no one can get off. And you are nothing more than sacrifices used by the train to replenish its shadows."

As soon as he finished speaking, the red light at the connection between the carriages suddenly became blinding, accompanied by a screeching sound of rails scraping against each other, and the train jolted violently.

Everyone instinctively grabbed onto something nearby.

Xiao Ming was so frightened that he hugged the teddy bear tightly. The doll's button eyes loosened again, and this time they stared straight at Su Yao.

“It’s afraid of you,” Xiao Hong suddenly said, pointing to the teddy bear in Xiao Ming’s arms. “Its ears were twitching the whole time.”

Su Yao's face instantly turned ugly. She stared intently at the little bear as if she had seen something she utterly loathed.

“That’s my sister’s doll. The train conductor put a curse on it to monitor everyone who boards.” She suddenly reached out to snatch it. “Give it to me! If you keep it, you’ll all die!”

Lin Xi was prepared and stepped aside to block Su Yao's hand.

“Your sister wrote in her diary that the teddy bear could protect her. If she were really under a curse, she wouldn’t have written that.”

She stared into Su Yao's eyes.

"You're lying. You don't want to help your sister at all; you want to take away all the shadows, don't you?"

Su Yao's expression twisted, and she suddenly screamed. Her body began to swell strangely, and countless black shadows appeared on her skin under her clothes, as if countless hands were wriggling inside.

"Since you've seen through me, then you can all die!"

Her arm instantly extended, her fingertips transforming into sharp black claws, reaching out to grab Lin Xi.

Lin Xi reacted quickly, raising his hand and throwing a dart that struck Su Yao's wrist.

Su Yao cried out in pain as the dark shadow on her arm mostly disappeared, returning to normal.

But during their argument, several people disappeared because their shadows were accidentally blocked.

Soft gasps filled the train.

Yes, everyone was too scared to shout.

Someone had already remembered something and crawled under the lower bunk to lie down, so at least their shadow wouldn't be reflected on the window. —So, was she possessed just now?

—Damn, there are only twelve players left.

—There are 7 of them, which means there are only 5 left in the other carriages.

—It seems like more NPCs are dying.

—The NPCs in this instance are also unlucky.

"Her body must have been occupied by shadows."

Li Chun teleported behind Su Yao and reached out to grab a dark shadow protruding from her back.

Su Yao struggled to dodge, and the lights that had already been turned on in the carriage began to flicker wildly, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

All the shadows on the wall were twisted and deformed, as if trying to break free of their restraints and rush out.

The teddy bear in Xiaoming's arms suddenly moved. It broke free from Xiaoming's hand, jumped to the ground, and ran towards Su Yao, making a weak "woof" sound, as if it was crying.

"Yaoyao...no..." A faint female voice came from the little bear's mouth.

Su Yao abruptly stopped, a glint of clarity flashing in her dark eyes.

"Sister?" she murmured to herself. "I've come to save you... I'm going to take your shadow back..."

“It’s no use.” The little bear stopped and raised its fluffy head. “The train conductor locked my shadow in the camera. Only by destroying the camera can all the shadows be freed. But the camera is protected, unless…”

Before it could finish speaking, a loud crash suddenly came from outside the carriage, and the entire train shook violently as if it had hit something.

Countless distorted faces appeared on the car window, their shadows struggling painfully on the glass, emitting silent screams.

"Oh no! The train has been alerted!" Su Yao's face turned deathly pale. The dark shadow on her body suddenly went out of control, surging wildly in all directions. "It's going to devour all the shadows!"

The red light at the connection between the carriages grew brighter and brighter, and screams were now coming from the carriage that Guo Yuelang and Lichun had seen earlier.

“Let’s go back in time and pass through directly!” As soon as Huang Jingjing finished speaking, they returned to the station.

"You wore a bracelet?" Huang Jingjing asked Lin Xi.

Lin Xi shook her head.

"I thought it was you."

“It could be other players,” Guo Yuelang said.

"Did someone use the item to go back in time, but not the item to directly pass the game?" Quan Quan asked.

"That's fine too. Let's start over again and consider it a cycle." Bai Yueming still maintained his nonchalant attitude.

Lin Xi immediately summoned her last remaining wolf hair. If she guessed correctly, the item that allowed everyone to clear the game once should be on this wolf hair.

"Pass directly," Lin Xi said immediately.

A ticking sound rang out.

"Player 200123 used an instant-clear item. Congratulations on clearing the dungeon. Since this dungeon was cleared by all players, it will not appear again."

A white light flashed before his eyes.

"You guys are so boring!" Bai Yueming said, drawing out her voice. "Can't we play again, and have everyone complete the game? Since we're allowed to use items, can't we use them later?"

"I wonder who used the time-travel item," Lin Xi said, ignoring Bai Yueming.

"Looks like you haven't been watching the live stream." Quan Quan laughed. "Including us, there are only twelve people left. I know the names of the other five."