Chapter 390: High-Speed Rail Launch

Chapter 390: Chapter 390: High-Speed Rail Launch

Lily Hart thought it was incredible, too. Everything appeared out of thin air—it couldn’t get any better than this!

Roman Rowe ventured a guess. "Does this mean if we just board the high-speed train, we can go anywhere we want?"

"No way," Lily Hart said with a laugh. "The base has to have its own high-speed rail station, and the tracks have to be connected."

Kenseng Base was the very first base in all of Cathaya to have a high-speed rail station, even though it wasn’t connected to any other bases yet.

’But that’s just a matter of time!’

The thought made Lily Hart eager to try the train. She’d ridden high-speed trains many times before, but this would be a first in the post-apocalyptic world.

Lily Hart immediately installed another high-speed rail station just outside Central Command.

The moment the station was in place, the tracks detected it and extended to the platform. Lily Hart checked her Light Brain and saw that the two stations were now connected and ready for service.

Thrilled, Lily Hart pulled Roman Rowe into the ticket hall. There were no ticket windows, only automated kiosks.

’That’s good, too. It saves on labor.’

The process was incredibly simple: just select the destination station and pay with the required number of Crystal Cores.

Of course, since there were only two stations for now, they could only travel between each other. There were no stops in between—it was a non-stop, direct route.

Lily Hart bought two tickets for a total of forty Crystal Cores, which meant a single ticket cost twenty Crystal Cores.

’Wow, that’s so cheap!’ After all, a filling meal at the hot pot restaurant cost five or six Crystal Cores.

She recalled how high-speed trains used to have business, first, and second-class seats. Here, there was no such distinction. Everyone was treated equally, and the prices were identical.

After Lily Hart bought the tickets, the high-speed rail station started operations.

The electronic screens in the waiting hall displayed the train number, departure and arrival times, origin and destination stations, waiting area, and platform number.

It was all simple and easy to understand at a glance; anyone who could read would get it.

Since there was currently only one route serving just these two bases, the train ran very frequently.

A train departed almost every thirty minutes. The trip from Kenseng Base to Central Command took about three and a half hours, which was pretty fast.

Without giving it much more thought, Lily Hart pulled Roman Rowe through the ticket gate and back onto the platform.

A high-speed train was already at the platform, poised to depart at the scheduled time.

The train had a total of eight cars. Roman Rowe’s jaw dropped in amazement. It looked almost exactly as he remembered, only even shinier and newer.

"Come on, let’s get on and take a look," Lily Hart said.

The two found their seats according to the information on their tickets.

Seats 3D and 3F in Car 7.

There were five seats in a row—A, B, C, D, and F—with the aisle separating C and D.

Once seated, they curiously scanned their surroundings. There were luggage racks overhead, and each car had restrooms and a large luggage storage area at both ends.

Car 5 even had a dining area with boxed meals, bottled water, drinks, instant noodles, and other things for sale.

’For a price, of course.’

At 11:10, the high-speed train began to move.

For a while, they were content to just sit and watch the scenery blur past. The train was moving incredibly fast.

Not that there was much to see—just dilapidated, desolate cityscapes and desolate, uninhabited wastelands.

Roman Rowe even asked, "How come we haven’t seen any zombies? Aren’t they curious about this?"

"The train’s probably too fast for them to catch up," Lily Hart guessed.

’Then again,’ she mused, ’maybe the train has some kind of protective measure. Something that repels zombies or makes it invisible to them. Or maybe it’s just so fast that even if they see it, there’s nothing they can do.’

After a while longer, they both started to get restless. It was also time for lunch.

Roman Rowe suggested, "Want to go check out the dining car?"

Lily Hart was already on her feet. "Let’s go," she urged.

Since he was on the aisle, Lily Hart, in her haste, accidentally kicked the seat in front of her and stumbled forward uncontrollably.

Roman Rowe reacted instantly, catching her. He reached out, one hand steadying her shoulder and the other gripping her wrist.

A smirk played on his lips as he said teasingly, "Well, well, what’s the big rush?"

’Even if you wanted to throw yourself at me, you didn’t have to do it right here,’ Roman Rowe thought to himself, quickly helping her regain her balance.

Lily Hart shot him a dirty look and promptly pinned all the blame on him. "It’s your fault! I told you to go, but you just sat there. Now look!"

’It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, just blame someone else. Never get caught up in your own head!’

"Huh? How was I supposed to know you were in such a rush..." Roman Rowe’s voice trailed off into a mumble he only dared to say to himself.

Under her stare, Roman Rowe backed down. He took her by the wrist and said, "Alright, alright, let’s go! We’re going to the dining car right now!"

"Hmph!" ’That’s more like it.’

The two of them walked from Car 7 to Car 5. To be honest, there wasn’t another soul on the train.

The feeling was actually a little creepy.

The scenery outside was bleak, making it feel as if she and Roman Rowe were the only two people left in the world, riding some kind of death train.

Lily Hart’s morbid train of thought was interrupted by Roman Rowe’s gasp.

"Wow! They have everything!" Roman Rowe exclaimed in delight.

’He really is a guy who provides a ton of emotional validation,’ she thought. Ever since she’d gotten on his motorcycle, his exclamations of praise and surprise hadn’t stopped.

Even if sometimes it was just a quiet, "Wow!"

But hearing it was always incredibly refreshing.

Lily Hart glanced around. Half of the car had been converted into a dining area.

Two rows of shelves lined the wall, reaching all the way to the ceiling. They had seven or eight levels, all divided into small cubbies.

Each cubby held a product: bottled water, instant noodles, drinks, bread, boxed meals, snacks, and so on...

You had to scan a code to pay before you could retrieve the item.

The boxed meals heated automatically when you opened the lid. And you didn’t have to worry about the instant noodles, either—there was hot water and a trash can available.

They each bought a boxed meal and a few snacks, then sat down right there to eat.

As soon as an item was taken from a cubby, an identical one would immediately replace it. The journey wasn’t that long anyway; this was just to satisfy a craving.

Seeing this, Roman Rowe went and bought two bottles of water. He opened one and handed it to her.

As they ate, Roman Rowe remarked, "This boxed meal tastes almost the same as the ones from the factory."

Lily Hart took a bite and agreed. She glanced at the lid: Seth’s Production Factory.

’Well, I’ll be. It really is supplied by the factory. They got connected that fast. Does that mean... these instant noodles are supplied by the convenience store?’

’Wow, just as you’d expect from a high-speed train, it upholds one principle: be expensive!’

The boxed meals that sold for 188 points outside were nearly double the price on the train—300 points, rounded up.

The other items were no different, with their prices nearly doubled as well.

’No matter,’ she thought. ’It all ends up in my pocket anyway.’

After a leisurely meal, the two returned to their seats with nothing to do.

At 2:40 PM, the high-speed train arrived at Central Command.

Roman Rowe stood up and stretched. Lily Hart, looking sleepy, got to her feet as well.

As they walked out of the station, they were surprised to find a crowd of residents gathered at the exit, all curious about the new building but too intimidated to go inside.

They were all guessing it was something new developed by Boss Hart.