Chapter 74:Visiting The Hinge Town

In the vast hall, even on this silent night, figures moved across the wooden floor without pause.
A commotion from the front drew the attention of those nearby.
They looked up and saw that on the ancient and massive cathode-ray tube display, an unfamiliar city symbol suddenly shot up like a rocket, appearing side by side with another city.
“How did that city’s ranking suddenly jump eighteen places?”
Those focusing on the smaller screens nearby were also drawn by the commotion and stood up to approach.
Inside the counter-like station below the large screen, someone shook awake the duty officer who was dozing at the desk: “Quick, check what’s happening in City 41.”
“Oh, ah.”
“City 41? Huh, it’s shot up to 23rd place in one go.”
Amid the crowd’s clamor, a man in a red plaid suit emerged from a second-floor booth. He leaned his hands on the wooden railing, gazing at the shifting city code on the screen.
A man in a black long gown and a round hat, sporting a handlebar mustache, appeared beside him.
“Zhu Yin, word is that a few hours ago, a Defender appeared in that city below. Is the sudden spike due to that Defender being eliminated?”
“It’s just a temporary ranking boost. Stability depends on the year-end.”
Zhu Yin tapped his fingers, turned his face to the other side, and looked down from the second floor through the window of a small room beside the hall, speaking slowly:
“There’s a bit of a shortage of some supplies in town. Once summer’s over, we need to prepare coal and grain for winter. The supply team that delivered to us last year has been out of contact for six months.”
The man in the black round hat lit a cigarette.
“Probably gone by now.”
He suddenly smiled at Zhu Yin. “You have ulterior motives. What you really want is to find someone who can complete that engine, but this can only be a slow process.”
“Yeah. But how much longer must we wait?”
“Actually, there is someone who fits the bill. He’s right here in City 41. A pity, though—he belongs to the monster. Maybe in another hub town, someone there is already close to obtaining that Inert-Mind Engine.”
“You mean Ma Chao, the one who always sneaks in. He’s indeed a suitable candidate. Unfortunately, our manual can’t be used by him, and it’s not that simple—he’s not exactly easy to cooperate with.”
Right as they spoke, a man in a black wool coat rushed up the stairs, holding a document in his hand, and handed it to Zhu Yin, who was dressed in a red suit.
“The owner of the Nightmare Train has changed? Code names: New Ma Chao and Little Ma Chao? So it was him who took down the Defender. Oh, is that so? Suspected summoning card.”
“A summoning card?”
The man with the mustache and black round hat leaned in upon hearing this.
“Yes! New Ma Chao is one of us? Hey, if it’s him, isn’t he exactly the kind of person you’ve been looking for? Quickly contact someone in that city to reach him.”
“Thank goodness he didn’t leave this world through the card.”
Zhu Yin was about to dash downstairs when a model faintly materialized on his chest.
[The mayor informed me that a stowaway is about to arrive.]
“A stowaway? At this time…”
Zhu Yin looked up at the night outside the hall, a gleam of joy spreading across his face.
……
Meanwhile, at the other end of this hub town, inside a silent stone house.
The dim yellow light from the streetlamp outside filtered through frosted glass, pushing back the darkness shrouding the gravel road for a few meters. Ans, standing by the window with a wooden cigarette holder in his mouth, glanced at the wall clock. It would be less than ten minutes before the sky began to brighten.
That guy won’t show up, he thought.
“Brothers, looks like tonight’s a peaceful pass.”
With his chiseled features, he lit a match and lit the cigarette holder.
“That damn Ma Chao, shit. I’m going back tomorrow.”
“Ah damn, if only I hadn’t been greedy for that bit of sequence. Stowaways aren’t bound by the peace rule here.”
No sooner had he spoken than they sensed something amiss.
They looked up to see the figure standing before them by the window had fallen asleep on his feet!
The air was warping behind him, as if some distant presence was about to arrive!
“New Machao is coming!”
One of them sprang up in terror from the vintage wooden chair: “Ans, wake up!”
The group was thrown into chaos, but they dared not scatter and run apart; if they drifted off suddenly, they’d be done for.
“I hope this shelter can fend off psionic attacks—this town should be fine, right?” said one, his voice thick with tears.
He knew full well that stowaways could strike people inside the town, yet still clung to delusion.
“God, I have to get back to the city right now!”
After two minutes of panic, they found Ansi at the window had woken up, the airflow behind him returning to calm.
“Hmm, did I doze off?”
The group stared at him stiffly.
……
The train hovered outside a row of staggered rock-and-stone houses along the street.
Because it had stopped at a low speed, it didn’t draw much attention, especially since the early morning streets had few people.
Mori had already arrived, flanked by two doctors and a four-wheeled cart. It resembled the oldest carriages, with open seats like a horse-drawn cart, the rear wheels twice as large as the front ones.
Astonishingly, this was not a car manifested from nightmare entities.
As soon as the train door opened, the man carrying the young woman eagerly jumped out.
“I appreciate the effort, but my time is limited—can we hurry?”
[I sense unwelcome scrutiny.]
[The master of this city orders me to leave within an hour.]
A layer of energy rapidly spread across and covered his body.
Two well-dressed doctors standing beside Mori stepped forward.
“This is the young lady?”
“Yes, the injury is mild, but it requires a minor surgery. About forty minutes should do it—afterward, she’ll be as healthy as an ordinary person.”
“Truly divine physicians,” Yang Zicang sighed in relief as he praised them.
“Hoho, sir, we are all people who have legitimately arrived here through the Crimson Moon-level nexus. As physicians on Earth, with the boost from the corresponding model, it’s no exaggeration to call us miracle doctors. Rest assured, your princess will show up bouncing and lively.”