A flicker of surprise crossed Bai Cheng’s eyes.

When she arrived at Station One and saw that it was a solo station, she had guessed that multiplayer stations would exist.

But she hadn’t expected that after clearing just two stations, she would already be entering a multiplayer one.

Multiple survivors arriving at the same station... What will happen there?

Compared to worrying about supplies, the struggles between people would be the most dangerous.

"And this Pioneer Trial..." Bai Cheng suddenly realized that the flashy title the system had given to survivors like her wasn’t just for show.

It was almost certainly tied to what would come next.

[Pioneer Trial I: The Mark of a Pioneer]

[Introduction: The Pioneer title was initially granted to a total of 100 slots, awarded to the most outstanding survivors in the channel.

However, this alone is not enough to prove the capabilities of the Pioneers. Thus, the title is not permanent and can be seized.

The upcoming trial is a challenge designed to test the individual strength of every Pioneer!]

[Trial Summary: All Pioneers must clear the next station with a first-place ranking.]

[Reward: One train carriage.]

Bai Cheng understood that the contents of the Pioneer Trial were exclusively disclosed to Pioneers like her, and other survivors couldn’t see it.

What she didn’t know was that other survivors were shown an entirely different, far more lucrative challenge.

At this moment, the Pioneers in the channel were shrouded in silent tension, while the reactions of ordinary survivors resembled a frenzied celebration.

"Holy shit, what is this? Am I seeing things?"

"If I can get these rewards, won’t I skyrocket straight to the top?!"

"Hahaha, didn’t expect the system to play favorites, but I’m not complaining!"

"Brothers, let’s team up! Talent users only!"

"Any full teams looking to raid the station together? DM me!"

"Wait, what are you guys talking about? I don’t get it."

"Cowards should just drop dead! Stop fishing for attention!"

The survivors were all tight-lipped, not revealing a single word.

As for the silent Pioneers, after seeing the channel messages, they could at most guess that their treatment was different from the others.

Pioneers could only enter the multiplayer platform alone, while ordinary survivors didn’t seem to have that restriction.

Bai Cheng wasn’t paying attention to the channel chat. Instead, she was busy comforting Yu Nian.

Because after the Pioneer Trial was announced, one thing became painfully clear:

Pioneers had to enter the platform alone, which meant that as fellow Pioneers, Bai Cheng and Yu Nian wouldn’t be able to meet at the next station.

Even if they are teammates.

This left Yu Nian extremely dissatisfied.

"What the hell?! The system’s deliberately setting us against each other. I’m exposing this!"

"It’s fine. The trial only lasts for one station, and the reward is a whole carriage!"

There was no doubt that this reward was immensely valuable to every survivor.

An extra carriage didn’t just mean more space on the train. More importantly, it meant an additional employee summoning slot.

At this stage, as the environment grew harsher and stations became increasingly dangerous, any reward that could significantly boost strength was worth fighting for.

After reassuring Yu Nian, Bai Cheng finally turned her attention back to the screen.

"Public area... So we’ll be encountering other survivors on the next part of the journey?"

She wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Since there was still nearly an hour left before departure, Bai Cheng returned to the train but didn’t rush to set off.

First, she changed out of her summer clothes in the carriage.

Although they were temperature-regulating, they were like an air conditioner without a heating function. They could only provide coolness, not warmth.

Not to mention, most of her arms and legs would still be exposed. Even if they could retain warmth, it would be a torturous mix of extremes.

[Barely Adequate Winter Coat: 0/25]

Although the upgrade process for clothing required more steps now, at least it wasn’t complicated.

In the end, Bai Cheng successfully upgraded the coat to golden quality before the departure countdown ended.

[Top-Grade! A Versatile Winter Coat Capable of Resisting Extreme Cold!]

[You have obtained 1 distributable attribute point!]

The coat was already on her. With a thought, the upper half transformed into a white down jacket, while the lower half became nude tights paired with white knee-high socks.

Almost immediately, the overwhelming warmth made her feel uncomfortably hot.

"It’s so hot..."

The temperature on the station was still the same as the Muddy Swamp, which was a summer biome.

Bai Cheng quickly moved on, clicking on[Personal Information].

The winter outfit had given her 2 distributable attribute points in total. Combined with the two from the earlier hair tie and Yu Nian’s backpack, she now had 5 points to allocate.

She had originally planned to dump them into Strength and Constitution as usual. But then she remembered that the Armor Core could unleash skills and hesitated.

"Using skills must be tied to Spirit, right?"

Survivors fusing with Armor Cores would be an inevitable trend.

Bai Cheng had been raising her Constitution to compensate for her naturally frail body, making survival easier.

But now, with two overpowered employees and nearly 20 points in both Strength and Constitution, it was more than enough.

Her gaze sharpened. "For now, I’ll focus on boosting Spirit!"

All five points went into Spirit, finally balancing her three core attributes.

[Strength: 18]

[Constitution: 18]

[Spirit: 18]

The sudden surge in Spirit made her mind feel clearer, her senses sharper.

After assigning her points, Bai Cheng called out to her two employees: "Let’s move out!"

As Chi Yan closed the train door, Bai Cheng released the brake lever.

Woooo—

A long whistle sounded. The platform’s lights dimmed, and the giant triangular curtain ahead slowly disintegrated into ashes.

As the train drove out, a blinding white light engulfed everything. Before Bai Cheng could adjust, the howling wind outside screamed like tormented ghosts.

She immediately looked out the window.

In the pitch-black darkness, snowflakes as large as goose feathers poured onto the carriage. The icy wind sliced at her face like knives.

The world outside was desolate, as if the end of the world had arrived.

The train, too, seemed to be affected by the blizzard. Instead of picking up speed, it struggled as if fighting against some immense, unseen force.

Then, a warning flashed on the screen.

[Warning! Your train is being eroded by extreme cold!]