Chapter 92: Chapter 92: A Sentimental Goodbye

"What do you think?"

Bai Cheng’s expression deadpanned, her face explicitly asking, Do I look like an idiot to you?

Yu Nian chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Hehe... there was a minor tactical delay on the transit tracks."

At this point, she completely abandoned any mention of their racing wager. The moment her brakes locked, she leaped off her train and sprinted across the platform, throwing herself directly at Bai Cheng.

"Xiao Cheng! I missed you so much!"

The two girls hugged tightly, entirely immersed in the genuine joy of reuniting. More importantly, they both knew that after this moment, they would never have to navigate the freezing horrors of this world separated again.

"Xiao Cheng, should we execute the train merge first, or log into the station’s directory?" Yu Nian asked, her eyes scanning the sprawling concrete terminal, her expression filled with awe.

It was her first time entering a massive multi-track junction. She looked around curiously, her eyes eventually tracking down to where Bai Cheng’s train was securely berthed at the far edge of the platform.

Suddenly, Yu Nian’s pupils contracted, and she let out a sharp gasp. "Xiao Cheng... your... your train!"

Bai Cheng’s flagship didn’t just possess an entire extra carriage compared to her own; the overall footprint of the vehicle was vastly larger, wider, and taller. It was clad in heavy, interlocking steel armor plating, fitted with pristine glass windows, and boasted massive, high-powered headlights mounted on the nose. While it wasn’t a work of fine art, it looked lightyears ahead of the crude, wooden boxes everyone else was driving.

In comparison, Yu Nian felt like her own locomotive was a plastic children’s toy.

Didn’t everyone start their progression on the exact same day? She wasn’t surprised that Bai Cheng was developing faster than the average player, but the real mystery was the sheer logistics. Where on earth did that extra carriage even come from?

"What’s wrong?" Looking at her shell-shocked friend, Bai Cheng spoke in a perfectly casual, matter-of-fact tone. "Let’s get the merge out of the way first. This is a multi-user station, so it’ll be much easier to reorganize our logistical layout and prepare our supplies once the physical structures are unified."

With that, she stepped toward her cabin and pushed the heavy steel door open. "Come on up and take a look around. This train is going to be your home now, too."

Bai Cheng stood at the entrance, reaching inside to flick on the interior cabin lights. As the rows of clean luminescent bulbs flared to life, the high-tier facilities inside the vehicle were completely unveiled.

Stepping inside out of pure curiosity, Yu Nian was immediately greeted by the brilliant, distinct golden halos radiating from multiple high-grade structures. Because she was already well-acquainted with the nature of the Book of Cheng talent, she didn’t panic or lose her mind the way Leng Ningxue had. Still, she wandered through the space like a wide-eyed child in a museum, completely fascinated by items she had either never seen before or couldn’t begin to comprehend.

"Xiao Cheng, how do you have functional electrical lighting?"

"And why does your primary Furnace look completely different from mine?"

"Oh my god... you actually planted a full-scale agricultural nursery?!"

"Why are there so many storage crates... and why are they all capped out on inventory?!"

Yu Nian was entirely dumbfounded. Bai Cheng’s accumulated wealth easily surpassed her wildest estimates.

But as she spun around to look at her friend, she crossed her arms and offered a deeply serious, critical evaluation. "Xiao Cheng, I’m not trying to be a downer here, but... you have an absolute mountain of raw resources, yet you don’t have a dedicated food cellar in sub-zero weather? And that bed? It’s practically a wooden plank! It’s way too basic!"

Bai Cheng rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Let’s go. Let’s inspect your train and inventory ledger so I can figure out how to allocate our combined storage spaces."

The moment the words left her mouth, Yu Nian violently choked on her own saliva. "Cough... cough! You know, I really don’t think that’s strictly necessary, is it?"

Bai Cheng didn’t press the issue, turning her attention to their crew composition instead. "What’s the situation with your active employees?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Although this wasn’t their first conversation regarding their crews, it was the first time they were physically auditing each other’s trains. It was also Bai Cheng’s first time laying eyes on the two rather mysterious entities Yu Nian had recruited.

Yu Nian had previously explained that her first employee was a massive green ox used primarily to pull her starter cart during the novice phase, tied to a basic White-tier employee card. Her second recruit had been pulled from the system pool immediately after she cleared the Pioneer Trial.

Bai Cheng had originally intended to gift Yu Nian a spare Purple-tier employee card she had stockpiled, but because their trial completion times had drifted, her friend hadn’t waited and had rolled the system gacha directly.

This second employee was a bizarre, avian creature covered in deep green plumage. It stood roughly half the height of an adult human, bearing a striking resemblance to a mutated owl. Its exact combat parameters were unknown, but it possessed a solid Blue-tier rating.

Faced with a forced choice, Yu Nian had naturally opted to retain the statistically superior Blue-tier avian, leaving her starter White-tier ox behind.

"The system should let us finalize the transfer preferences during the formal merge sequence, right?" Yu Nian mused, her brow furrowing as she dropped her playful demeanor.

Bai Cheng wasn’t entirely certain of the UI behavior either. She was far more focused on the mechanical implications: would Yu Nian’s chosen employee receive an immediate statistical promotion upon entering the host train, or would the entity be temporarily reverted back into an item card state?

If it was the latter, she fully intended to hand over the Epic-grade purple card she had prepared. According to the system rules, train merges upgraded a transferred employee by one full tier, explicitly excluding Epic-grade and above. That meant if Yu Nian initiated the merge with an Epic-tier card in hand, the system force-multiplier would automatically elevate that card straight into a Legendary-grade powerhouse.

Right as Bai Cheng was about to outline this optimization strategy, Yu Nian turned to her, her voice soft. "Xiao Cheng, let’s initiate the merge."

She paused, her shoulders slumping slightly as her gaze drifted. "But before we hit confirm... I need to say goodbye to my crew."

Yu Nian had been deeply sentimental since childhood. Whether it was the dogs and cats she rescued back home or simple digital pets, parting ways with any companion always left her heartbroken for days. Even though her starter employees possessed very basic, limited cognitive intelligence, they had still stood by her side through harrowing nights in this brutal, unforgiving frozen wasteland.

Bai Cheng quietly nodded, swallowing the min-maxing advice she had been about to give. They both understood that consolidation was an absolute survival necessity.

Stepping back, Bai Cheng watched in silence as Yu Nian walked over to the massive green ox resting near her cargo bay.

"Xiao Qing... I’m so sorry," Yu Nian murmured, gently wrapping her arms around the massive beast’s neck and pressing her cheek against its thick, coarse fur. "I’m only doing this so we can survive. You didn’t do anything wrong... it’s just the nature of this world. The weak are consumed by the strong."

The green ox seemed to perceive the gravity of the shift, sensing the ambient energy converging around the platform. It slowly raised its massive head, letting out a low, mournful rumble.

"Moo—"

"I know. Don’t worry, you won’t have to suffer. You’ll be perfectly safe with my sister. You’ve seen how terrifyingly powerful her crew is..." Yu Nian’s voice cracked, tears finally brimming in her eyes. Fighting back a sob, she whispered, "Xiao Qing... thank you for keeping me safe for so long."

Whirling around, she sprinted directly back into her main cabin, her voice echoing out from the interior without her looking back. "Xiao Cheng! Trigger the system! Do it now!"

Bai Cheng let out a soft, sympathetic sigh. She mentally resolved that even if the system allowed them to swap crew cards post-merge, she would ensure Yu Nian’s second avian employee remained firmly by her side. With her own roster rapidly filling with Legendary-grade powerhouses, she had more than enough raw combat potential to carry their defensive metrics anyway.

Walking back into her command cockpit, she brought up the main interface and selected the flashing Faction sub-menu.

[System UI: Available Merges Detected]

-> Teammate Vanguard: Yu Nian

-> Pre-requisite Check: Locomotives aligned within the same terminal sector [VALID]

[Execute Train Structural Consolidation? [CONFIRM] / [CANCEL]]

Bai Cheng decisively tapped confirm.

When she stepped back out onto the concrete platform, Yu Nian had still not emerged from her cabin. However, Chi Yan was now standing directly beside the kneeling green ox, the fiery lion staring down at the beast in total silence.

"Moo!"

The green ox let out one final, resonant cry as its legs buckled, settling onto the concrete. The next instant, a violent, blinding torrent of systemic energy enveloped both trains. Under the intense light, the ox’s physical form turned completely ethereal, dissolving into millions of drifting, pale starlight particles that floated toward the ceiling before vanishing.

Bai Cheng quietly walked up to stand beside her fiery general. "What did it say to you?"

Chi Yan kept his gaze fixed on the empty space, his voice dropping to a low, respectful whisper. "He asked me to ensure we take absolute, flawless care of his Conductor."