Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 595 Arrival
What Sun Hang couldn't understand the most was that he didn't sense the slightest trace of the strange creature on this "passenger".

This thing clearly doesn't exist in the normal world. Even someone with the least knowledge of supernatural beings would immediately recognize it as a supernatural creature upon seeing it...

Yet, in this carriage filled with eerie atmosphere, this "passenger" became a "clear stream" untouched by the memes.

Not only this "passenger," but also the other "passengers" in the other carriages, Sun Hang could not sense any eerie aura from them.

"Are these 'passengers' just 'decorations' in the carriage? Used to enhance the atmosphere?" Just as Sun Hang was thinking this, the passenger suddenly changed his posture, resting his elbows on his legs and supporting his chin with his hands... This posture was almost exactly the same as that of an extremely tired office worker who had just finished get off work.

"Hello...?" Sun Hang raised his hand and greeted the other person.

However, the other party did not react at all, as if they had not heard Sun Hang's voice.

Sun Hang mustered his courage and walked over, waving his hand in front of the other person's blurry face, but the other person still ignored him.

"Dude, can I ask you something?" Sun Hang pretended to pat the other person's shoulder, but his hand actually went straight through the other person's shoulder.

These "passengers" are just qualityless projections; they don't actually exist, which explains why Sun Hang couldn't sense any presence from them.

"Is this what the ghost in 'Ghost Train' means?" Sun Hang simply sat down in the "passenger's" seat, striking the exact same pose as the other person, completely overlapping himself with the phantom.

To say they completely overlap isn't quite accurate. Sun Hang and the phantom figure have some differences in physique. The other figure is taller than Sun Hang, but is much thinner, and with its hunched back, it looks like the shrimp in the "downward head" meme (no, buddy.jpg).

After sitting for a while without any reaction from the illusory figure, Sun Hang stood up helplessly and walked towards the next carriage.

The "passengers" in the next carriage were all the same ghostly figures. Some were sitting in their seats, looking down at the newspapers in their hands; some were standing in the aisle, holding onto the handrail with one hand and holding their phones with the other; and some "passengers" seemed to be couples or best friends, leaning intimately together and occasionally making some ambiguous little gestures.

Unfortunately, both the newspapers in their hands and the screens of their phones were covered with a thick layer of mosaic, just like their faces, making it impossible for Sun Hang to obtain any information from them.

"Preliminary assessment: 'Afterimages'." The mini-computer's voice sounded in Sun Hang's earpiece. "These people were likely passengers on this 'ghost train,' and the train saved their video footage from their journey, playing it on a loop in this manner..."

"It seems the ghost train isn't operating very well. Even at Xiaojiazhuang Station, where there's so little passenger traffic, the carriages would be packed if every passenger's image were recorded," Sun Hang said, glancing at the rather empty carriages.

“Given the unique boarding mechanism of the ‘Ghost Train,’ even though it has existed for many years, not many people will have the opportunity to board it,” the Mini-Mastermind replied.

"Now that you mention it, I'm quite curious how these people boarded the ghost train." Sun Hang examined the phantom images of these "passengers." "Could it be that their computers also had those pop-up ads that looked like they were full of Trojans and viruses?"

“The probability of this hypothesis is low.” The Mini-Brain refuted Sun Hang’s statement. “Only anomaly investigators, ghost researchers, hunters, or adventure streamers who want to attract attention would be able to explore the ghost train. When normal people receive such news, they would either ignore it as a prank or report it to the local anomaly investigation bureau. It is very unlikely that they would come alone to verify the authenticity of the ghost train.”

The mastermind continued, "Moreover, the postures of these passenger phantoms are no different from those of ordinary subway passengers, so it can be concluded that they are unaware of the existence of the ghost train, and are completely unaware that they have boarded a distorted train."

"Where did these passengers end up?"

“It’s uncertain. Every year, there are over 100 unsolved missing persons cases across the Federation, and about a quarter of them have solid evidence linking them to the supernatural,” the Mini-Master said. “In its local operation, I cannot access the archive data, so I cannot filter these cases or obtain any relevant clues.”

Just as Sun Hang was about to go to the front of the train to take a look, the train suddenly slowed down. A dozen seconds later, accompanied by a screeching sound of brakes, the train came to a complete stop. The view outside the train window changed from a blurry band of light to clear scenery.

The golden sunset cast its dazzling light upon the endless sand dunes, where nothing but sand and gravel stretched as far as the eye could see.

With a "click," the car doors slid open to both sides.

An extremely dry stream of air rushed in from outside the carriage.

"arrive?"

Before Sun Hang could react, an irresistible force pushed him out of the carriage, and then the entire ghost train "whooshed" into the sand dunes and disappeared completely.

"Holy shit?" Sun Hang looked at the sand dune that had swallowed the train and couldn't help but curse.

“We’ve arrived,” the mini-brain said. “This should be the site of a subway station somewhere in Cairo from back then.”

"Are you sure this is Cairo, Egypt?"

"Assuming the flow of time inside the carriage matches reality, there's a six-hour time difference between Egypt and Chunming City. So, it should be 6 PM in Egypt right now, which corresponds to the current position of the sun in the sky. And the temperature and magnetic field data collected by the sensors also match the characteristics of this season and time in the Cairo area of ​​Egypt," the mini-brain replied.

“Let’s assume this is Egypt… Anyway, at least we weren’t sent straight into the nest of the giant sand worm.” Sun Hang curled his lip.

But the most crucial thing right now isn't where he is, but how he gets back.

Fortunately, Sun Hang was prepared.

He crouched down and plunged his right hand into the sand—a few seconds later, a subway turnstile made entirely of glass slowly rose from the sand pile.

“I think this thing will work.” Sun Hang took out a Chunming City subway card from his pocket and swiped it on the sensor of the glass gate.

"Di."

no response.

“I almost forgot something.” Sun Hang slapped his forehead. “It’s only 6 p.m. now, and there are still five and a half hours until 11:23 p.m. That means I have five and a half hours to familiarize myself with… the local customs and culture.”

"The sun is about to set, and the giant sand worms will become active after nightfall. Please be careful," the mini-brain immediately said.

[P.S. Regarding the title change, it's because I'm planning to sell the rights to a manga adaptation, and my editor suggested I change the title to potentially increase traffic, so I did. But don't worry, it's just a title change; it won't become one of those mass-produced works from a studio (after all, it's almost finished, and with my writing speed, you certainly won't suspect I hired ghostwriters, right? lol).]

(End of this chapter)