Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Shocking Spatial Awakening! The Descent of Phase Two of the Pioneer Trial!

But the counter-attack was launched a fraction of a second too late; the sudden, paralyzing numbness of the system’s ambient electric current instantly rippled through both of their frames, rendering their limbs completely powerless.

"As expected... your baseline high school diploma stats are quite watery," Yu Nian’s face was fully flushed pink, her panting breath coming out heavy as if she were enduring an unusual, suffocating heat wave.

Damn it! This young miss will absolutely not be the one on the receiving end of an audit!

Bai Cheng’s eyes flared. With a sudden, explosive burst of remaining energy, she violently turned her body against the tiled wall. In a flash, offense and defense completely inverted. Yu Nian’s eyes widened as she tried to frantically resist the sudden reversal, her fingers gripping the edge of the marble trim.

At this extreme juncture, the only mechanical metric the two top-tier survivors could compete with was their pure, raw hand speed.

However, this kind of involuntary, adrenaline-fueled physical struggle was not something the conscious human brain could easily control. Under the intense, mounting pressure of the system’s numbing field, one side was bound to give in and collapse first.

Time ticked past, minute by minute, stretching through the thick white fog. Finally, a sudden, breathy cry burst forth through the ambient noise of the bathroom.

No—if one were to listen with absolute tracking precision, it was actually two distinct, trembling voices overlapping perfectly in the air.

Seconds later, the two girls leaned heavily against the wet tiled wall, completely drained of every single shred of physical strength. The heavy, rushing streams of hot water cascading from the showerheads steadily washed away the fine beads of perspiration clinging to their pale skin.

Yu Nian offered a weak, exhausted smile, her fingers twitching slightly. "Xiao Cheng... you’ve seriously gotten way too strong."

Bai Cheng curled her lips into a smug grin, desperately feigning remaining dominance despite her trembling knees. "I’m just completely out of form today, that’s all."

But deep within their inner monologues, both girls were secretly grinding their teeth, fiercely vowing that they absolutely could not afford to lose the exchange next time!

After resting inside the premium suite for a while longer to let their stamina bars recover, the two finally pulled on their dry gear, laced up their boots, and stepped out of the accommodation wing.

Bai Cheng glanced down at the countdown timer on her UI. Although there was still plenty of block time remaining, she no longer planned to waste their momentum lingering at the platform.

Because keeping the train stationary here had officially yielded zero remaining value.

The moment they arrived back at the main terminal concourse, the three elite retainers were still standing like iron statues at the entrance, maintaining a flawless perimeter. Although these system-summoned entities possessed absolutely no programmed interest in strange human behaviors, Bai Cheng still felt a sudden, lingering wave of awkwardness wash over her as she walked past them.

Perhaps she simply wasn’t fully accustomed to navigating this type of casual lifestyle transition yet.

Wait, why in the world am I even analyzing my thoughts like this?

Bai Cheng shook her head vigorously, feeling that her internal operational logic was becoming increasingly strange since merging their tracks. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Right then, Lü Duo stepped forward, smoothly activating her wood-element talent once more. Several thick, enormous thorny vines erupted from the stone, completely bricking up and burying the entire hotel corridor behind them.

Now, the entire structural layout of Station #3 was completely and thoroughly Abandoned. To any outside observer, the hub looked exactly like a ancient, long-forgotten ruin that had finally been overrun and reclaimed by wild, chaotic biological vegetation.

As for whichever unfortunate second-place conductor was currently tracking behind them on the regional rails, destined to face this impenetrable green blockade... no one in Bai Cheng’s party cared in the slightest.

Bai Cheng and her crew marched back across the tracks and boarded the heavy armored locomotive. However, she didn’t immediately pull the primary ignition throttle to depart.

Since they still commanded a comfortable buffer on the terminal clock, they needed to systematically organize their massive haul of convenience store supplies first. Furthermore, if a few more rival survivors happened to stumble into their trap during this sorting window, it would provide an excellent opportunity for some extra faction farming.

Outside the secure carriage doors, the golden-eyed Qing Niao quickly exchanged a series of sharp, low clicks with Chi Yan. After a short brief, the massive fiery general stepped into the conductor cabin to report.

"Young Miss, Qing Niao reports that a scouting entity previously attempted to breach the station’s proxy perimeter," Chi Yan stated in a deep, rumbling tone. "According to the structural description of the target’s elemental signature... it matches perfectly with that slippery rogue your subordinate encountered back at the Promotion Station."

Bai Cheng’s hands paused mid-air over her inventory screen, her eyes narrowing. "Tang Yan’s subordinate? That faction is moving along the rails that quickly?"

"The tracking projection was violently torn apart by Qing Niao’s arrow feathers," Chi Yan added, his face expressionless. "Since that counter-strike, no further mechanical anomalies or scouting pulses have manifested within the entire station sector."

Hearing the tactical update, Yu Nian looked over from her storage crates, her brow furrowed. "This terminal doesn’t feature any hidden secondary entrance vectors, right? So that means that scout was hovering completely outside the station walls?"

"A scouting talent like that is actually quite dangerous," Bai Cheng murmured.

That was the only logical explanation. She was genuinely surprised by the fact that Tang Yan’s faction possessed an asset capable of actively peeking into a locked station and manifesting high-tier clones inside the zone.

But a cold, arrogant light flashed across her eyes, and she shrugged unbothered. "Don’t waste focus on him."

In the brutal mechanics of the Infinite Train system, locomotives entering a station could only lock their gears forward. Retreating along the iron tracks was physically impossible. Even if the enemy was hovering outside the terminal and actively auditing their movements, as long as Bai Cheng’s direct combat parameters remained overwhelmingly superior, there was absolutely nothing the opposition could do to alter their fate.

"Mm," Yu Nian nodded in firm agreement, tossing a bag of chips into a secure storage bin. "Exactly. At the end of the day, he’s just a small-time fry waiting to be crushed."

Leaving her vice-captain to finalize the logistics organization, Bai Cheng marched straight into the primary control cockpit. She pulled the brilliant, milky-white Space-attribute Elemental Core from her inventory slot and brought out her custom, heavy-duty Armored Core module.

The two high-tier cores, serving entirely different systemic functions, were completely distinct in both structural size and geometric shape.

Deepening her breath, Bai Cheng gently brought the two crystals together. The moment their edges touched, the spatial core dissolved, seamlessly fusing into the central matrix of the Armored Core.

Instantly, the primary cockpit monitor flared to life, rolling out rows of dense, glowing text tracking the newly unlocked spatial attributes.

[System UI: Custom Armored Core Fusion Successful!]

[Unlocked Active Ability: Spatial Matrix (Train-Wide Node)]

-> Effect: When manually triggered by the Conductor, the raw spatial energy coating the entire locomotive will converge into an absolute phase barrier, temporarily granting full invincibility frames to evade all incoming attacks. Simultaneously, the train enters a high-grade stealth state, and its primary track velocity is multiplied fivefold.

-> Duration: 30 Minutes.

[Unlocked Personal Ability: Spatial Warp (Train Conductor Exclusive Title Skill)]

-> Effect: Upon integrating this specialized Armored Core into your profile, you permanently master the laws of Spatial Warp. Granting an instantaneous, zero-trajectory teleportation mechanic with a maximum baseline range of 100 meters.

-> Passive Synergy: When operating within the active grid radius of your personal train, you can project the [Spatial Matrix] invincibility frame onto your own body.

[System Note: Armored Core modifications are devoid of standard quality tiers. All mastered skills will systematically scale and strengthen in tandem with the Conductor’s personal combat level.]

[Current Functional Stage: Elite-Grade]

[Do you choose to finalize the soul-fuse sequence?]

Bai Cheng stood entirely frozen in front of the console, her breath catching. "Holy crap... this kit is absolutely insane."

She had already witnessed a baseline variant of this title skill when fighting the convenience store proprietor. The instant, seamless teleportation loops he executed had operated with practically zero cooldown frames. If they hadn’t encountered a massive, map-altering crowd-control specialist like Lü Duo who could systematically rewrite the terrain geometry, a normal survivor squad would have been picked apart effortlessly.

Analyzing the data points, this Space core’s mechanical kit could already be classified as an absolute cheat code in a standard one-on-one deathmatch.

However, what the hardcore grinder valued above all else was the ability to utilize that instantaneous 100-meter displacement as an absolute escape vector. With this trait online, her personal safety parameters were thoroughly locked down, leaving her with zero tactical anxieties regarding sudden ambushes.

"This is an absolute must-have core," Bai Cheng muttered, rubbing her chin with an excited grin. She trusted the system-curated abilities dropped by regional bosses, and she could firmly confirm that a Space-attribute node was a legendary, ultra-rare commodity.

Without a single shred of further hesitation, Bai Cheng decisively slammed her palm against the confirmation interface.

The moment her input registered, the Armored Core in her hand dissolved into a blinding torrent of pure white energy, snaking down through the control console to embed itself into the train’s primary engine core.

Hum—!

Simultaneously, a rich, incredibly dense wave of spatial energy erupted outward, washing over Bai Cheng’s physical frame. The complex execution sequences for the two new spatial skills were automatically burned into her mind, instantly mastering the inputs as if she had practiced them for a thousand lifetimes.

With a simple stir of her consciousness, Bai Cheng tested the input.

Flicker—!

Her physical form vanished from the cockpit out of thin air, instantly materializing steadily atop the high iron roof of her moving train car.

Feeling the cold wind hit her white hair, her expression shifted from shock to an absolute, glowing look of pure joy. "This mechanical speed..."

Flicker—!

Her silhouette dissolved again, instantly reappearing at the absolute rear coupling of the last cargo carriage.

Driven by the thrill of the new mechanic, Bai Cheng executed several consecutive flashes in rapid succession, her form transforming into a flashing ghost that constantly shifted and re-manifested across the entire length of the train deck.

Finally, after her seventh consecutive teleportation loop, she abruptly stopped. Her body stumbled violently, her balance shattering as she almost pitched forward onto the steel plating.

Bai Cheng tightly held her throbbing forehead, her breathing suddenly turned incredibly shallow and rapid. "Ugh... damn it, my head hurts like hell... This mechanic doesn’t just drain physical stamina; it aggressively burns through mental energy reserves with every input."

She rubbed her temples to soothe the splitting migraine. The spatial ability was undeniably broken, but the resource consumption was terrifyingly steep. Fortunately, during her previous level-up cycles, she had strictly optimized her stat allocation by dumping a significant portion of her attribute points into her primary Mental Power pool. Otherwise, those consecutive blinks would have instantly turned her brain to mush.

Still, for resolving high-tier emergency crises, this trump card was more than sufficient.

"Now that the spatial Armored Core is fully integrated, I need to systematically push the forging schedule for my Destiny Weapon to the absolute front of the queue."

Bai Cheng’s eyes hardened with resolve. In a world this ruthless, the earlier she scaled her raw personal combat potential, the greater her compounding advantage would be on the high-tier tracks. Once they cleared out of this blockaded terminal, she decided to set her navigation coordinates directly toward the specialized hidden station dedicated to Destiny Weapon crafting.

As for the legendary fusion components required to forge a peak-tier artifact, her massive hoarded inventory was practically overflowing with materials.

At this stage, Bai Cheng abandoned any passive concepts of lingering inside the ruined station just to wait for late-coming survivors to bite her bait; she wanted to ignite the engine and claim the next sector early.

But just as her hand reached out to grasp the main ignition throttle of the train, the primary cockpit monitor suddenly flashed violently, and a series of massive, blood-red regional system announcements popped up across the screen, accompanied by a deafening klaxon.

[System Announcement: Global Alert!]

[Congratulations to all remaining Pioneers for successfully conquering and completing the Pioneer Trial (Phase One)!]

[Warning! The regional server metrics have reached the designated threshold...]

[Pioneer Trial (Phase Two) officially commences NOW!]