Pei Ran took a few quick steps to the window and looked outside.
The ghostly green orb was drifting along the direction of the train, slowly floating farther away. In the pitch-black darkness—so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face—only that eerie light pierced the gloom, casting its glow onto the wall beside them.
The gray-white wall was surprisingly long.
The green light floated a little farther, then suddenly changed direction and rose upward, disappearing somewhere above.
Pei Ran stared at the tall wall, pondering.
"W, could this be the Tangu Dam? Did you notice earlier—when we passed it—that it was this close?"
This was the stretch of track they'd just traveled through. Pei Ran had been asleep, but W had remained fully alert. He would know.
W answered immediately: "The Tangu Dam is built across the Yala River. A portion of its structure does extend out onto both banks. But the Night Sea Train No. 7 runs at a minimum distance of 170 meters from those extensions."
A hundred and seventy meters—there's no way it would appear this close.
W added, "When we passed the Tangu Dam earlier, I didn't see any wall like this."
If W said he didn't, then he didn't.
Pei Ran thought back to the map and suddenly realized something even stranger.
"The Night Sea No. 7 runs along the south bank of the Yala River."
W replied, "Correct. Which is why this doesn't make sense."
The Yala River cuts across the East Manyan continent, running roughly from northwest to southeast. The Night Sea No. 7 track runs along the river's southern bank, almost parallel to the river itself.
Which means both the river and the dam should be on the north side of the train.
Right now, the train was heading northwest, so the left side of the train faced southwest.
That southwest side should've been nothing but endless plains—
And yet now, it was occupied by a vast stretch of wet concrete wall.
Pei Ran and W had the same thought. They turned together and looked out the windows on the right side of the train.
To the right of the train—where the Yala River and the Tangu Dam should be.
Suddenly, whoosh—the train lights flicked back on.
Whether it was due to the power being restored after an unexpected outage, or because Engineer Jiang had reactivated the lights, they didn't know.
This time, Pei Ran could see clearly. Just outside the right-side windows, only a few meters away, stood another damp, cracked, gray-white concrete wall.
Walls on both sides.
The train was now like a needle threaded into a tunnel barely wider than the carriage itself.
W said, "The Night Sea No. 7 doesn't pass through any tunnels from the departure station to its final stop."
This uncanny tunnel had simply… appeared.
With the lights on in the carriage, and Green Light No. 1 still standing by in her mind's eye—alert and eager—Pei Ran stepped toward the rear of the train.
W asked, "You're going after Yulianka first?"
Pei Ran replied, "Yeah. Kill him first."
As strange as this tunnel was, there was still a more immediate danger onboard: Yulianka—already exposed, with powers, and likely to strike at any moment.
It was better to eliminate him first than leave a threat at her back.
W said, "I had a clear view just now. Yulianka made his way through the cars—he went to the dining car."
Pei Ran headed straight for the dining car at the rear.
Yulianka's companions were still in Car No. 4, staring wide-eyed at the unnatural sight outside the windows—just as terrified as everyone else.
The dining car was empty.
Not a single soul in sight—only the white tablecloths reflecting the overhead lights.
Pei Ran quickly walked to the end of the car. The door near the rear was wide open.
W: "Slipped away?"
That was possible.
Pei Ran leaned out and looked around outside.
No sign of Yulianka. No twisted creature lurking.
Only two narrow concrete walls.
The walls flanked the track on both sides, gradually converging behind the train.
Eventually, they joined together directly over the rails—
As if the tracks had always grown out of this massive structure.
Pei Ran tilted her head up and looked higher.
What she saw made her realize—this wasn't really a tunnel.
Tunnels usually had arched ceilings. This place didn't.
The walls on either side rose straight up, disappearing into the darkness above.
But both walls slanted slightly inward. If they continued that way, they would eventually meet somewhere high above, out of sight.
Far, far above the Night Sea No. 7—on its roof—the green light appeared again.
It wavered slightly, glowed for a second, then vanished, melting into the concrete wall beside it.
A strange thought crossed Pei Ran's mind.
"W, I'm wondering… is it possible we're inside the dam right now?"
Her wristband buzzed—W had sent her an image.
"Pei Ran, I found the structural diagram of the Tangu Dam. The dam itself is a solid concrete gravity dam—but the sections extending onto the riverbanks are hollow inside."
Pei Ran opened the image.
The Tangu Dam straddled the Yala River.
Its extensions on both banks were trapezoidal hollow structures.
All the marked numbers on the diagram had been erased by W.
Pei Ran asked, "How tall is this hollow trapezoidal structure?"
W replied, "The dam itself is 960 meters long and 167 meters high. The height of these two trapezoidal segments is between 90 and 110 meters. Based on what we can currently see, and estimating proportionally, it's roughly within that range."
So even though Night Sea No. 7 was clearly reversing along the track, it had somehow retreated into the interior of the Tangu Dam.
Pei Ran suddenly realized what the thunderous rumble she'd heard earlier really was.
The Tangu Dam—a colossal structure nearly a kilometer long—had shifted.
Just like the buildings in that small town on the outskirts of Night Sea, the dam had come alive.
W's usual lazy drawl had completely disappeared; now his voice held an unmistakable note of concern.
"Tangu Dam is holding back the Tangu Reservoir, the largest on the East Manya Continent. It has a total capacity of fifteen billion tons of water. If something goes wrong with the dam and it bursts, the resulting flood will swallow many cities across the Xipu Plain downstream of the Yala River."
He continued, "That downstream area is the most economically developed and densely populated region on the East Manya Continent. It's full of cities, towns, and villages. If the dam breaks, the death toll will be unimaginable—especially now, with all government functions paralyzed and no possibility of rescue."
Pei Ran understood exactly what he meant.
Those cities and towns they had seen from the train—glimpsed from a distance—weren't just burning anymore.
If the flood came, it would mean complete annihilation for the survivors who had only just clung to life these past couple of days.
Pei Ran: Okay, bro, but maybe worry about what's right in front of us first?
Right now, one person, one floating metal ball, and one train were all sitting inside the belly of a giant fusion creature, with no clue what was going to happen next—and a psychic like Yulianka was still lurking in some dark corner, waiting to strike.
Someone approached from the front car—it was Aisha.
She was in a rush, rapidly tapping with her fingers.
She had become more fluent with her finger-tap code, tapping fast. W automatically translated for Pei Ran.
"She says the girl with the parrot is still unconscious. The college students were told to keep watch over her with wrenches. When Engineer Jiang hit the brakes and reversed, Aisha noticed something huge blocking the track behind them. She braked immediately, but the stopping distance wasn't enough—it felt like they were about to crash."
"But they didn't. What happened was, right before the impact, a gap opened in that thing—whatever it was—and the train drove straight into it. During the emergency maneuver, Jiang accidentally tore the lighting circuit, which was just now repaired."
Pei Ran nodded and replied using finger code: [Yes. We got swallowed by the Tangu Dam.]
Aisha stared wide-eyed: Huh?!
She reacted quickly and tapped: [The dam turned into a fusion creature, like the high-rises in that small town?]
[Yes.] Pei Ran confirmed.
Then she asked: [Can the train back out?]
Aisha replied: [Grandma says the moment Night Sea No. 7 entered, the opening sealed itself. If we try to force our way back out, we might hit something. That's why she sent me to ask you what to do.]
She formed a hand sign quickly and looked to Pei Ran, silently asking: Should we blow it open?
Blowing it open was a viable option.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, Pei Ran saw something move.
She turned her head and looked out the window.
By the light shining out from the train car, Pei Ran saw the dam's pale-gray wall ripple.
Then came a wave of cracking sounds, continuous and ominous.
The once-solid concrete wall now seemed to possess some strange new quality—it undulated, alive, as if it were flesh. The tiny fractures across its surface widened and multiplied.
And from the back of the train, a deep rumbling echoed faintly.
Pei Ran leaned out from the dining car door and saw that the two walls which had closed behind the train were now parting, like giant double doors.
A massive surge of murky, yellowish water came roaring out from the gap, high and fast, churning wildly like a beast hungry to devour.
Pei Ran panicked and pointed toward the front of the train.
Aisha needed no second prompt. She turned and sprinted toward the front.
Pei Ran slammed the dining car door shut, grabbed the metal sphere, and ran forward.
Some windows in the front cars were still wide open. Pei Ran dashed to the nearest one and slammed it shut.
The elderly couple had been peeking outside—when they saw the onrushing floodwater, they hurriedly shut their window too, then rushed to the opposite side and shut another.
The train had stopped between two concrete walls—a strange enough situation already. Now, seeing people rushing to shut the windows in a panic, everyone knew something terrible was happening. A flurry of slamming windows followed.
Pei Ran ran on, shutting any open window she saw. Passengers in the front cars had already heard the ominous sounds from the rear.
The water was coming fast.
And not just outside—this antique train was far from watertight. Even with doors shut, murky water gushed in through cracks, rising to ankle height in moments.
The flood was a muddy yellow streaked with thin trails of red—almost like it was mixed with blood.
Outside the train, water levels rose rapidly. The track was sloped—cars at the rear sat lower. Water soon surpassed the height of the windows.
Under the pressure, the train became a leaky tank, water spraying in from every seam, splashing everywhere.
Passengers in the back fled forward, but the front wasn't much better—water reached their knees.
People scrambled onto the seats, helping others up behind them.
A father holding his daughter dashed forward from the rear cars and hoisted her onto the seat.
Sheng Mingxi and Tang Dao lifted the unconscious Yinnaya out of the flooded floor and laid her on a seat, then pulled the elderly couple up too.
Climbing higher only helped for now.
Water outside was still rising. At this rate, the entire train would be submerged. Everyone would drown—unless they abandoned the train and somehow swam out.
Pei Ran unstrapped the metal ball, peeled off her coat while running through the spray.
"W, you're afraid of water, right?"
"Yes," W replied calmly. "My outer shell was originally waterproof and could withstand deep pressure—but not anymore."
His casing was cracked like a split pomegranate. If water reached his glowing blue processor core, he'd be done for.
Pei Ran wrapped him tightly in her coat and held him close.
From within the bundle, W's voice still reached her ears: "Pei Ran, thank you for trying to save my life."
"No need for thanks," she said. "I'm trying to save mine."
That busted sphere was her leverage—the hostage she could use to barter for precious medicine from the Federation.
Pei Ran burst into the control room.
It was slightly elevated, less flooded than the rest. The front window was still above water, not fully submerged.
Aisha had arrived before her.
Standing beside Engineer Jiang, she swiftly formed a complex hand sign, her index fingers pointed straight ahead.
The train's headlights lit up a concrete wall ahead—gray and intact, half-submerged. It was as if the opening they had entered through had never existed.
Aisha fixed her gaze on the wall, then slightly shifted her fingers.
A massive invisible force struck forward—BOOM.
The wall exploded into rubble, debris shooting outward, smashing against the surrounding walls, clattering onto the train roof.
A huge gap was blasted open.
But behind it was… another wall, just like the first.
Even Aisha hadn't expected that. She turned toward Pei Ran, wide-eyed in disbelief.
And concern—she had already used her hand sign once. The second time wouldn't be nearly as powerful.
She bit her lip and began forming another.
Just then, a face suddenly appeared against the train's front windshield.
Pale, wet, and upside down.
A scorched hole had been blasted through its forehead. The face dangled limp and eerie from the roof.
Even mangled like that, Pei Ran recognized him: Yulianka.