[First round mission complete. Confirming results…]
When Fu Songcheng and Brother Dao walked out of the carriage one after the other and stepped onto the platform reeking of coal ash and steam, the atmosphere in the café was stretched to its absolute limit.
Yu Huaiting was idly fiddling with a folding knife he’d pulled from somewhere, the blade leaping between his fingertips like a silver butterfly.
Until the system’s emotionless mechanical voice rang through the room:
[First round mission result: Success.]
[Mission record: 2 Approve, 0 Reject.]
[Current progress: 1/5. Good faction leading.]
“Hoo—”
Brother Dao let out a long breath, his previously taut shoulders visibly relaxing. “Brother, I really didn’t pick wrong.”
He still couldn’t be sure whether Fu Songcheng was Merlin or Morgana, but Fu Songcheng’s calm, composed reaction to Yu Huaiting’s rampage made him think that even if Fu Songcheng were evil, he’d definitely play it safe and choose [Mission Success] in the first round.
So he’d chosen Fu Songcheng.
Fu Songcheng gave a polite nod, his expression still cold, but out of the corner of his eye he locked onto the short-haired girl.
Sure enough, the moment she heard “mission success,” the short-haired girl’s expression turned subtle.
“Just good luck.”
Yu Huaiting scoffed, put away his folding knife, and stood up, his movements radiating an unsettling arrogance.
The system voice sounded again:
[First round mission ended.]
[Rotating captain transferred.]
[Second round captain: Yu Huaiting.]
[Players required to board this round: 3.]
The café’s lights flickered, as if preheating for the chaos to come.
Yu Huaiting stretched, his joints popping softly.
He didn’t look at the panel, nor did he think for long. Those eyes carrying a sick excitement swept the room directly and finally fixed on Fu Songcheng’s face.
“Three people, right?” Yu Huaiting licked his lips, his smile bright enough to make one’s hair stand on end. “The two heroes who won big in the first round—of course they should keep serving the people. I choose—Brother Dao, Fu Songcheng, and myself.”
The moment those words came out, the room fell silent.
Fu Songcheng’s hand beneath the table jolted, his heart skipping half a beat.
By the game’s logic, the first round’s successful lineup was usually considered “clean.”
As captain, Yu Huaiting inserting himself and bringing along two “confirmed good guys” looked like a very steady play on the surface.
But the problem was—Yu Huaiting was the Assassin, and Fu Songcheng was Morgana.
This train had three slots, and two of them were evil!
Fu Songcheng’s brain raced: if this round’s mission failed, the Good faction would immediately realize something dirty had slipped into these three.
Even the worst case—if both he and Yu Huaiting chose to fail the mission, the good guys would know that among Fu Songcheng, Brother Dao, and Yu Huaiting, at least two were evil.
But if the mission succeeded, the Good faction would gain two points.
One more win and the good guys would clear the game.
Fu Songcheng looked up at Yu Huaiting, trying to read some hint from the other’s flippant expression.
Would he make a move to sabotage this round?
Or did he want to use this round to whitewash both their identities, then strike back in the third or fourth round?
“I object.”
A crisp yet firm voice broke the dead silence.
It was the short-haired girl.
She stood up. “The captain can’t be this madman.”
Brother Dao frowned, clearly wavering.
He looked at Fu Songcheng, as if seeking “Merlin’s” opinion.
Fu Songcheng’s face was expressionless, but his heart was clouded.
He knew very well he had to act like a “cautious good guy” right now.
“I object too.”
Fu Songcheng spoke coldly, his voice carrying no warmth.
Yu Huaiting froze. He turned his head and looked at Fu Songcheng in disbelief, confusion and bewilderment in his eyes.
“Two of the three are faces from the first round. That makes the information we gather too one-dimensional.”
Fu Songcheng fabricated his lie with airtight logic. “For the missions ahead, we should bring in new variables to verify identities.”
“No. This is the steadiest way.” Yu Huaiting turned his head stubbornly, insisting on his own choice, and initiated a full-player vote.
[Captain’s nominated lineup: Brother Dao, Fu Songcheng, Yu Huaiting.]
[All players, please vote.]
Two seconds later, the result projected into midair.
[Voting result: 4 Approve, 2 Reject.]
[Lineup approved!]
Fu Songcheng glanced at the vote distribution.
There were only two reject votes: himself, and the short-haired girl.
Brother Dao, Yu Huaiting, the middle-aged man, and the other scrawny youth who’d been silent all along had all voted approve.
“Tsk, seems the masses have sharp eyes.”
Yu Huaiting clapped his hands, grinning irrepressibly, and winked at everyone. “See? I always make it onto the train.”
Stepping into the steam train again.
Three people, three separate compartments.
Fu Songcheng stood before the console, his breathing slightly heavy.
This was the critical gambit point.
If he were Yu Huaiting, what would he do?
That madman Yu Huaiting—that look just now…
Was he hinting that he’d vote “Fail”?
If Yu Huaiting voted “Fail,” and Fu Songcheng also voted “Fail,” then this round would produce two fail votes.
That would mean the Good faction instantly locked onto the fact that two of these three were evil.
Fu Songcheng closed his eyes, his finger hovering above the red button.
If this round Fu Songcheng voted “Success,” and Yu Huaiting voted “Fail,” the mission would still fail—but on the surface, only one of the three would be evil.
But what if…
What if he also voted “Success”?
Fu Songcheng’s lips curved in a self-mocking arc.
If that happened, the Evil faction would be personally handing the Good faction two victories.
Best of five—the good guys only needed one more win for the game to end.
For the remaining two rounds, the evil side would have to win both to turn it around.
“What are you thinking, Yu Huaiting…”
Fu Songcheng murmured softly.
He thought of Yu Huaiting’s strange smile before boarding.
Yu Huaiting had said “he always makes it onto the train”—was he hinting that he would vote to fail the mission?
Then Fu Songcheng should choose Success—to avoid exposing the existence of two evil players.
“Mission success.”
Fu Songcheng pressed the green button again.
…
Meanwhile, in the adjacent compartment, Yu Huaiting was staring at the red and green buttons, humming a tuneless little melody.
He touched the faint red ring on his neck—the mark left when Fu Songcheng had choked the doll earlier.
“Ruthless, Fu Songcheng.”
He chuckled softly, his eyes glittering with an unfathomable, fragmented light.
…
The carriage door opened again.
Cold wind poured in. Fu Songcheng stepped out of his compartment and ran right into Yu Huaiting, who was just coming out of his.
Yu Huaiting winked at him, his expression exactly like a child who’d just pulled off a prank.
The three returned to the café. The three who hadn’t boarded were already waiting anxiously.
The system panel’s light bloomed before everyone.
[Second round mission result: …]
Fu Songcheng held his breath, feeling his heart rate peak at this moment.
[Success!]
[Mission record: 3 Approve, 0 Reject.]
[Current progress: 2/5. Good faction reaches match point!]
The short-haired girl, the real Merlin, felt as if she’d been struck by lightning.
How was that possible?
There were clearly two evil players on that train!
Were they insane?
One more loss and the evil side would have no chance at all!
And now the situation was very bad for her. Among the good faction, only she knew that both Yu Huaiting and Fu Songcheng were evil. Now that both missions they’d been on had succeeded, it meant that in Percival’s eyes, their probability of being the real Merlin was higher than hers.
Fu Songcheng froze in place, his gaze shooting toward Yu Huaiting like a blade.
But Yu Huaiting seemed not to feel that killing intent at all. He plopped back into his chair, casually grabbed a sugar cube from the table and tossed it into his mouth, saying indistinctly, “Aiya, seems I’m not a bad captain after all.”
Fu Songcheng slowly sat down, the hand hidden beneath the table trembling slightly.
He’d miscalculated.
He had completely failed to anticipate that Yu Huaiting would vote Success.
By normal villain logic, at a time like this, one should at least create some chaos for the good guys.
But Yu Huaiting did the exact opposite, forcibly pushing the Good faction to the edge of victory.
But in the current situation, it wasn’t entirely impossible for Fu Songcheng to win. So far, the real Merlin hadn’t conveyed any effective information, while Fu Songcheng had been on two trains that both passed.
He could now impersonate Merlin without restraint.
In the upcoming third round, Fu Songcheng would not only be selected to board, but could also appropriately guide the good guys—as long as the captain didn’t randomly pick the real Merlin.
“Next round,” the bleached-hair youth began calculating the mission progress, “four people will board.”
“That means if the four we pick are all good, the Good faction wins outright.”
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