The carriage was much more spacious than Wang Yanfei had expected.
White light strips were attached along the seams between the walls and the ceiling, their brightness soft and not harsh at all.
He found a window seat and sat down.
Just as he settled, a faint notification sound came from his ear.
"Beep."
At first, Wang Yanfei did not think much of it, assuming it was a system broadcast.
Until—
The train gave a light tremor.
The white wall outside the window receded rapidly as if erased by a rubber, shrinking into a barely visible pale line.
Replacing it was a futuristic city.
Metallic skyscrapers rose like a dense forest, stabbing upward into the grayish white sky.
Their outer layers were covered in silver-white material that scattered the light into countless shimmering points.
Wang Yanfei unconsciously held his breath.
Of course, what truly drew the eye was the towering structure at the center of the city.
The surrounding buildings formed a ring, and the tower's smooth metal exterior reflected the entire city.
A massive metallic sphere hung over the top of the tower.
Circular rings embedded across its surface rotated slowly. Each rotation produced a subtle vibration.
As he stared at the tower, Wang Yanfei suddenly sensed something unusual.
Whether on the mountain, at the city gate outside the white wall, or even in the residential district, he had never once seen the silhouette of this tower.
With its height, it should have been visible from anywhere.
Realizing this sent a chill down his spine.
This city seemed to alter a person's perception without them knowing.
As they moved forward, he also noticed that the train's direction pointed straight toward the tower.
But the people inside the carriage remained completely calm.
He glanced at the expressionless faces around him, and for no reason, a scene rose in his mind:
Silent screws rolling along their tracks toward their designated positions.
No complaints, no thoughts, only empty and numb execution.
Wang Yanfei clicked his tongue inwardly.
For him, this was actually a good thing.
The less you talked in a place like this, the longer you stayed alive.
The train continued to approach.
The tower's smooth outer wall grew larger in his view, like an enormous polished metal sky.
Just when they were about to crash into it—
A seam silently split open on the tower's wall.
The metal slid apart like liquid, revealing blue light strips within.
As the train entered, sections of blue light lit up one after another along the tunnel.
A soft click sounded.
The train came to a steady stop.
The door opened automatically.
Wang Yanfei followed the others off.
It was several degrees cooler here, and the space was excessively large. Standing inside, he felt a faint pressure, as if something were weighing down on him.
But before he could look around much, a group of round robots rolled in from the other side.
They lined up neatly, glossy and polished, with multiple layers of identification lights embedded across their surfaces.
When they approached the crowd, projection screens lit up above their heads.
A faint hum sounded.
Several blue and white light screens appeared in midair, filled with rows of names.
Wang Yanfei was silent.
It seemed the robots were assigning people by following their names.
Sure enough, on one of the screens, he immediately spotted the name belonging to this body: Benjamin Roland.
The corresponding round robot stopped in front of him, its indicator lights shifting to light blue.
Its spherical body tilted backward slightly, as if "making way" for him.
Wang Yanfei found nothing strange about it. Assuming it was part of the preset program, he simply stood behind the robot.
He was just about to move when something caught his eye—everyone else was taking out their blue identity cards.
They held their cards against the robot, waited for the indicator lights to turn green, then continued forward.
Wang Yanfei froze for half a second, feeling something was wrong.
He quickly shifted his gaze away, pretending he already knew the process, stepped back into the line again, and blended in.
While the people before him were still going through their scans, he hurriedly took out his own card and quietly tapped it against the robot when no one was paying attention.
Beep.
A blue light flickered.
Only then did Wang Yanfei breathe out quietly.
But he did not notice that farther back in the line, a man with a gloomy expression was staring at him intently.
——————————
The rest of the process went smoothly.
The robot's projection screen flickered. The list of names slid away, replaced by a blue arrow pointing deeper into the passage.
The crowd immediately followed.
Staying in the middle of the group, neither ahead nor behind, Wang Yanfei listened as only footsteps echoed through the long corridor.
Total silence.
Everyone moved like programmed units, following the arrow in front.
A few minutes later, the corridor widened suddenly.
They arrived at an area filled with heavy machinery.
Massive rail-mounted robotic arms hung from overhead. Black insulated flooring covered the ground. The walls were full of pipes and flickering screens. Occasionally, a deep mechanical rumble sounded.
At this moment, the robot's projection screens flickered again. The interface jumped and showed new information.
[Task for today: Repair B-13 Electro-Fork Machine]
Wang Yanfei paused.
Wait.
Wasn't he an "engineer"? Why did it suddenly become a repair job?
But he dared not show confusion.
The crowd had automatically dispersed and headed toward a specific direction.
He could only follow.
Soon they stopped before a cylindrical machine taller than a person.
The thing jerked in irregular intervals, releasing bursts of sparks from its seams.
Sparks exploded in the air. A sharp electric smell filled the area.
If the people beside him had shown even a hint of panic, he would have thought the machine was about to blow at any moment.
The next second, the robot extended a mechanical arm and opened part of its body with a click.
Inside was a full tool kit.
The others moved smoothly, pulling out the tool kit together and unfolding it.
The box expanded layer by layer like a transforming device, finally forming a multi-armed mechanical platform.
Over a dozen mechanical arms stood upright, each tool at the tip glinting coldly.
The others took their positions naturally and expertly operated the control panels beside them.
Of course, Wang Yanfei had no idea how to handle it, but he still pretended nothing was wrong and stood in the direction where the most people were positioned, imitating their actions.
Throughout the process, the behavior of the group was unsettling.
Sparks brushed against their clothes, arms, and shoulders, and none of them even frowned.
As if they could not feel pain at all.
Or perhaps… they were not afraid of such things.
Or maybe… they did not care about their bodies in the first place.