"The supplies are limited. Once everyone has secured basic resources, no further progress is possible."
Bai Cheng's gaze sharpened. Combined with what Tang Yan had told her earlier, she had deduced the fundamental rule of this world.
"The five-day safe period is merely for everyone to gather supplies for upgrading their trains."
"And the later you arrive at a station, the greater the danger you'll face."
In other words, the previous macho man's strategy of rushing ahead was actually correct?
No matter what, reaching the station was the sole task of all survivors.
Bai Cheng had already realized this. She glanced at the remaining distance on the odometer and sighed. "Looks like I need to hurry."
But before that, she needed to gather enough wood.
Bai Cheng picked up her axe and prepared to step off the train.
The moment her small leather shoes touched the soft grass, a rustling sound echoed.
The next second, a dark figure with blood-red eyes suddenly charged at her!
Thwack!
The curved tusks, driven by immense force, collided with the indestructible safety barrier and instantly snapped.
Then, the black boar's head slammed heavily against the barrier, leaving it dazed and wobbling before collapsing to the ground.
Bai Cheng was startled, but she was no longer a newcomer to this world.
Her reaction was fast. She immediately grabbed the stone spear from the cart behind her. Its tip was wrapped tightly with a stocking and rubber bands, securing the Fatal Edge.
The blade sliced through the boar's rough, black hide, and blood seeped out. Within moments, the beast before her stopped moving.
[Congratulations! You have slain the Beast-Class Silent Night Boar. Obtained 1 EXP, Employee Card ×1!]
Bai Cheng leaned against the rail cart, heart still pounding. She hadn't sensed the boar's approach at all.
If not for the safety barrier, her stomach would likely have been pierced by now.
As she watched the boar's corpse slowly dissolve into a pool of pus, its thick blood oozing toward her feet, she froze.
I'm less than three meters from the corpse, and I'm right next to the rail cart…
"The barrier is shrinking!"
Bai Cheng reached a startling conclusion, one that confirmed the system's earlier warning.
With the boar's corpse so close, she didn't even need to measure to estimate the train's current safe radius—two meters.
This meant that even if there were plenty of trees at night, the number within the safety zone would drastically decrease.
"Gathering wood just got harder… but it should still be enough."
Picking up her lantern, Bai Cheng cautiously scanned her surroundings.
Although the deeper darkness made it hard to see anything, she couldn't shake the eerie feeling of countless eyes watching her from the shadows.
This was something she hadn't experienced the previous night.
"If I step outside the safe zone now, I'll probably be torn to pieces."
She raised an eyebrow, refocused, and began chopping wood.
Compared to the stone axe from the first night, which took nearly twenty minutes to cut down a tree, the silver axe in her hands now required only two swings to cut down a tree as thick as a person.
The efficiency had improved several times over, but…
"The durability hasn't decreased?" Bai Cheng was stunned.
This meant that she probably couldn't upgrade the silver axe further.
Shaking it off, she quickly cut down all three trees within the train's two-meter radius.
After gathering the wood, she prepared to move forward and repeat the process.
"It's a bit tedious, but still manageable." She frowned. Despite her exhaustion, she had to meet her goal.
If the barrier shrank again tomorrow, failing to complete her task today would mean losing her chance entirely.
For the remaining three days of the safety period, Bai Cheng planned to focus solely on traveling and reaching Station One as fast as possible.
"I'm just not sure if scrap iron can be smelted into iron ingots…"
Munching on a chocolate bar, she pondered ways to obtain iron ingots.
But less than a hundred meters later, the dim glow of her lantern revealed a thick, black, viscous mass ahead.
It was about half a person's height. Its form was indistinct, yet it sprawled directly over the tracks in front of her.
At the same time, a message flashed on her screen:
[Warning! Unknown obstruction detected on the tracks. Please clear it immediately!]
Bai Cheng frowned. The obstruction was outside the safety barrier. She didn't dare, nor did she intend to take the risk.
"This Lady refuse to believe that you can crawl inside the barrier!"
She knew that this was another hazard that arose from prolonged stays outside.
But she didn't stop. Instead, she tried to ram straight through the slimy mass.
However, when the safety barrier collided with the black substance, it deformed under the pressure, slowly oozing to either side.
The movement was sluggish, a sign of its extreme viscosity.
At the same time, Bai Cheng's rail cart lurched as if stuck in quicksand. After a few futile attempts, it could no longer move forward.
The rail cart's speed was too slow to force its way through.
Fortunately, the mass was now pressed right against the barrier. Bai Cheng had no choice but to stop, pick up her lantern, and inspect it.
"What the hell is this?" She raised an eyebrow. There was no foul smell.
"But the system said to clear it…"
So far, she hadn't unlocked any tools like shovels. The only method she could think of was burning it.
Kneeling, she adjusted her lighter to its highest setting and flicked it on.
Sss!
A blue flame shot out like a needle, stabbing into the black slime.
The next moment—
WHOOSH!
The entire mass erupted into flames.
Orange-red fire surged upward, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
The bright blaze dispelled the surrounding darkness, startling the hidden beasts in the forest and causing them to flee.
Bai Cheng's face glowed red in the firelight as she retreated to the rail cart.
But no kill notification appeared on the screen, meaning that the thing wasn't considered a living creature.
"I don't know where this roadblock came from, but if it burns this easily, it shouldn't hinder survivors for long, right?"
But she soon realized that she was wrong.
After cutting down and collecting wood from two nearby trees, the black mass was still burning.
Bai Cheng's lips twitched. "You've got to be kidding me…"
Judging by the flames, which had only just begun to die down, it would keep burning for a while longer.
Sitting cross-legged, she glanced at her silver axe, then summoned the Book of Cheng.
"I want to switch my upgrade item!"