After a brief rest at the station, the desert arrow train set off again. As the steam engine at the front of the train started, thick smoke billowed out of the chimney. The entire train moved forward with a hum, heading into the vast night.
The train sped through the night, aiming to reach its estimated destination by morning. On the entire train, apart from the driver's cabin and power room at the front, almost everyone else was in deep slumber, except for a few individuals with intentions.
In the train during the early morning hours, the door of an empty carriage was suddenly opened. From outside the door, a man wearing a conductor's uniform walked in. After entering the empty carriage, he looked around and then turned back to close the carriage door behind him.
After closing the carriage door, the conductor looked up at the carriage ceiling. Then, he reached out and searched his body, first pulling out a mask to wear on his face, then a small piece of solid incense-like object, and finally a small box of matches and a screwdriver.
After finding these items, the conductor first threw the solid incense and matches onto the table inside the carriage. Then, holding the screwdriver, he lifted his foot and stepped onto a nearby chair to stand up. Next, he looked up at the corner of the carriage ceiling, where he found the carriage's ventilation outlet. Upon seeing the outlet, the conductor reached out his hand and used the screwdriver to dismantle the iron grille of the ventilation outlet. His movements were extremely light; the conductor removed the grille from the ventilation outlet with almost no sound and gently placed it on the table.
Next, the conductor picked up the solid incense and matchbox that were already prepared on the table. After placing the solid incense into the ventilation duct through the outlet, he took out a match from the matchbox and struck it. He then used this burning match to light the solid incense inside the ventilation duct, allowing light smoke to drift out.
After seeing the smoke drifting from the solid incense, the conductor immediately bent down again and picked up the grille from the table. He reinstalled it onto the ventilation outlet, then searched his clothes again, finding a small silver coin and a talisman.
By consuming the Spirituality stored within the silver coin, the conductor activated the talisman in his hand, successfully creating a subtle breeze. The conductor blew this breeze into the ventilation outlet, pushing the light smoke burning from the lit solid incense further inwards.
Carried by this subtle breeze, the light smoke traveled along the ventilation duct and was then sent out through other ventilation outlets along the way. Among the rooms connected to these outlets was the room of the train's most "distinguished" guest, Sister Vanya.
Invisible, subtly flavored light smoke silently seeped out from the ventilation duct outlet in Vanya's carriage. Vanya, who was in a dream, inhaled this faint smoke without any awareness. After pulling her blanket tighter, she fell into an even deeper sleep.
After completing all of this, the conductor got down from the chair. After dealing with the traces at the scene, he adjusted his hat, opened the carriage door, turned around, and left the scene.
Just like that, the desert arrow train continued to travel forward in the darkness, as if nothing had happened, heading towards the final destination of its journey.
...
The moon set, the stars sank, and dawn gradually rose. One night quickly passed, and with the rising sun in the east, Kankdar Port welcomed a new day.
In the morning, Kankdar's train station was bustling with activity. Unimportant personnel were cleared out, and the police and city guards occupied all important corners. Beside the wide platform, a large group of people stood. Among them were a ready orchestra and expectant reporters, but even more were spectators from all walks of life in Kankdar.
This was the scene of the welcome ceremony prepared for the return of the special envoy delegation. The ceremony was personally planned and hosted by Robert, the Mayor of Kankdar. It was a significant event, with a scale of over a thousand people in total, and most areas of the entire platform were almost filled with people. Robert not only attended the welcome ceremony himself but also invited important figures from various fields of Kankdar's upper class to participate. Early this morning, these important figures arrived one after another, and some of their appearances were slightly surprising.
"Ugh... why aren't they here yet?" On the platform, at the front of the crowd, where some nobles and celebrities stood, a portly young man, wearing a traditional North Wu noble robe, adorned with various Golden ornaments, and a turban on his head, yawned and complained towards the empty railway in the distance. Hearing his words, a servant in servant's clothes standing beside the man spoke.
"Please wait a moment, Prince Mazhaler. According to the time, the train should enter the station in about twenty minutes..."
"Twenty minutes... still so long. Why don't we come out and stand when they arrive instead of just waiting here idly?" Hearing the words of the servant beside him, the man referred to as Mazhar said with dissatisfaction, and the servant immediately added.
"Your Highness, we are waiting for Sister Vanya's special train. She is an important figure appointed by the Church to handle our country's problems. We must show sufficient respect. When Sister Vanya went to Adis, Prince Ma'ad also personally came to see her off..."
"Sister Vanya... that little Sister, apart from looking pretty good, isn't much else... People at the banquet said she's just a vase... This time she went to Adus and came back without achieving anything, looking dejected. Uncle Ma'ad is also something else, why is he taking this vase so seriously? He insisted I come as a representative to welcome her... If it weren't for this damn event this morning, I'd still be in Swallow's Dream at the Nightingale Theater... *hic*..."
As he spoke, Mazhar let out a drunken hiccup, exhaling a puff of alcohol fumes. Hearing Mazhar's words, the servant beside him was startled and immediately spoke.
"Shh... Prince, please watch your words. This is a public place. You are the Prince of Baruk, you shouldn't speak carelessly..." While looking at the city nobles who were casting glances from not far away, the servant anxiously reminded Mazhar, who continued to speak carelessly.
"Prince of Baruk? What the hell kind of prince am I... Didn't our Baruk perish long ago? What's the point of being a prince? It's just Uncle Ma'ad and his group who keep thinking about restoring the country. The things we brought out are enough for us to live comfortably for generations, so why bother restoring a country? I think Adus should just be given to that kid Shadi, and we can just live here in Kankdar in wealth and luxury every day. Anyway, after these few months, I feel Kankdar is much more fun than Adis. I can play with girls from various countries, so staying here is actually quite nice. Why keep wanting to go back?"
Mazhar spoke without restraint, his words attracting strange glances from some spectators who understood North Wu language, while his servant tried his best to dissuade him but was helpless.
As time passed minute by minute, finally, after nearly twenty minutes, a long whistle sounded from the end of the railway in the distance. Everyone who heard the sound turned to look and saw a plume of smoke in the distance slowly approaching. Beneath the smoke plume was a train engine that was gradually slowing down.
At this moment, outside the station, on the roof of a building, a female figure wearing a common North Wu robe, a turban, and a veil stood there, gazing at the gradually slowing train on the railway not far away. Her gaze was fixed on a certain carriage of the long train.
As the train was about to enter the station, the woman on the rooftop slowly sat down and closed her eyes. Then, under a strange power, a wisp of spirit body, identical to the woman, which ordinary people could not see, drilled out from her body and quickly floated towards the distant train. Although the station was mainly guarded by the City Guard with extraordinary defensive capabilities, no one detected this soul. Just like that, this spirit body unconsciously drilled into the train, penetrated the carriage body, and entered one of the carriages.
After drilling into the carriage, what the spirit body saw was Vanya, who was still lying on the bed sound asleep. At this moment, there was a knocking sound on the door of Vanya's carriage, and an anxious voice was shouting outside.
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"Sister Vanya! Sister Vanya! Are Captain in there? Please come out quickly to prepare! We are about to arrive at the station, and there is a welcome ceremony outside! Please open the door quickly!"
The knocking and shouting outside were quite urgent, but Vanya on the bed was completely unmoved by these shouts, continuing to lie on the bed sound asleep, as if she had not heard the knocking and shouting at all.
Seeing the current situation, the spirit body that had sneaked into Vanya's carriage smiled slightly, then leaned over and drilled into Vanya's body. Afterwards, Vanya, who was sleeping on the bed, opened her eyes. After sitting up from the bed, she looked towards the carriage door. At this moment, her eyes showed an indifferent expression she had never had before.
Then, "Vanya" immediately got up. After searching around for a while, she found the folded white Sister's habit. After taking off her pajamas, she quickly put on the Sister's habit. After tidying herself up slightly in front of the mirror, she walked to the carriage door, opened the door, and saw an anxious-looking attendant. He was slightly startled when he saw Vanya, then spoke.
"Uh... Sister Vanya, Captain are finally awake. Please prepare quickly. We are already entering the station. There is a welcome ceremony waiting for Captain at the station." Saying this, the attendant looked out the carriage window in the corridor behind him. At this time, many people were already standing on the platform outside, and the band on it had already started playing music, and the festive atmosphere had begun to spread.
"Got it, Captain go down first. I'll be there after I prepare a little more."
"Vanya" replied to the attendant. Hearing "Vanya"'s reply, the attendant immediately nodded. After a slight pause, he casually spoke again.
"Oh, then I'll wait for Captain on the side of carriage number seven. By the way, do Captain need me to prepare anything for Captain?"
Listening to the attendant's words, "Vanya" paused slightly, then continued to speak.
"Then... please help me prepare some toiletries."
"Okay... Sister Vanya." The attendant replied. Saying this, he handed a box labeled "Toiletries" to "Vanya", and then quickly left. After the attendant left, "Vanya" opened the box after receiving it and found that it contained a handgun.
...
On the desert arrow in the early morning, inside a certain carriage, Dorothy, who was originally sleeping soundly on the bed, suddenly heard a loud, festive musical sound coming from outside. Woken up by the music, she sat up from the bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes, her disheveled long hair draped behind her, looking sleepy.
'Ugh... it's so noisy outside. What are these sounds?'
Inside the carriage, the disheveled Dorothy turned her eyes to the window beside her. After pulling the curtain open a crack, she saw the scene outside. What met her eyes was a crowded platform and a large band on the platform. The sound she heard was played by this band.
'This is... a station? Is this Kankdar Station? Is this band a welcome ceremony band? Have we already arrived at Kankdar?'
Looking at the scene outside, Dorothy immediately knew what was going on. She had arrived at the station. This was the scene of the Kankdar welcome ceremony.
Although she knew she should arrive at Kankdar this morning, Dorothy couldn't help but scratch her messy hair in confusion at the situation before her.
'Why did we arrive at Kankdar so quickly? Weren't we supposed to arrive at 8:30 AM? Did I sleep that late?'
Dorothy thought confusedly. Then she took out her pocket watch and checked the time, confirming that it was indeed 8:30 AM. She had really overslept.
'Damn... I really overslept, how could this happen? I shouldn't usually sleep this late?'
Seeing the current situation, Dorothy was immediately confused. Since maintaining lucid dreams consumes mental energy, always having lucid dreams without entering complete sleep would lead to a sharp decline in mental state the next day. Therefore, she had entered complete sleep in the latter half of the night and did not stay up completely, so she was not clear about the situation outside the train. But even so, she shouldn't have woken up at this time.
'Hmm... I remember that every day I should wake up for a while earlier in the morning. That's right... This is because Vanya has morning prayer at 7 o'clock sharp every day. I usually wake up after hearing it, and if I need to get up early, I get up early. If there's nothing, I block it out and continue to sleep... And today... Vanya doesn't seem to have had morning prayer?'
Dorothy thought to herself. Unlike her, Vanya, as a believer, was an extremely disciplined person. When to eat, when to pray, when to sleep, and when to get up were all fixed every day. She didn't even need an alarm clock to wake up early. Dorothy often relied on the content of Vanya's prayers to confirm the time of day, and today she woke up late because Vanya did not have morning prayer.
Realizing that Vanya's prayer was abnormal, Dorothy immediately became alert, and all her sleepiness vanished. Although missing one prayer a day was a small matter, after the contact with the Black Dream Church in Navaja, Dorothy could not underestimate this small matter. This was likely a sign that Vanya's self-control ability had been interfered with by some kind of power!
Realizing this, Dorothy immediately used the information channel to link to Vanya's senses to see if she was in deep sleep like last time.
After linking to Vanya's senses, Dorothy began to see through Vanya's current vision. She saw that Vanya was currently standing in front of the carriage door. Outside the window in front of her, the platform scene was slowly passing by. Many people who had come to participate in the welcome ceremony were standing on the platform.
The current Vanya seemed to be preparing to get off the train after it stopped and formally participate in the welcome ceremony. There was no sign of her being in deep sleep. It seemed that she had come here to prepare to get off after waking up normally, and perhaps she had just forgotten her morning prayer.
In Vanya's vision, Dorothy did not see any obvious abnormal situation, but she still found some points that were not right. For example, Vanya was surrounded by train attendants at the moment, and there were no special envoy guards accompanying her. Although almost all of those special envoy guards were seriously injured, some of them were still able to walk. It was very strange that none of them came to participate in this ceremony.
Seeing the strange points, Dorothy immediately realized that something was wrong, so she immediately used other miniature Corpse Puppets hidden on the train, attempting to observe Vanya from other angles.