Chapter 1903 - 978: Temporary Worker

Cold, trembling.

In the darkness, Ji Jue opened his eyes.

Who am I? Where am I? What the hell am I doing?

"Not bad, you're the one with the best potential among the newbies this time."

A contemplative voice spoke up, jolting him awake from his daze, making him look around in shock.

Bench, platform, lights, and a portrait hanging opposite the tracks. In it, an old man holding a signal lamp and wearing a station uniform was winking at him, seemingly overstretched with joy.

Before Ji Jue could react, he heard the lantern carrier in the painting ask him, "Do you remember what happened before you came in?"

"..."

Ji Jue instinctively opened his mouth but couldn't produce a sound.

Stuck.

At this moment, a flood of reminiscences returned to him; he only remembered holding the youngest child, taking two steps towards Du Bin, and then shadows overtook him like a frenzy, opening their jaws and swallowing him whole.

Then... then...

Then what happened?

Vague, fragmented images arose from his consciousness, but he couldn't piece them together, couldn't recall, and even the residual impressions were rapidly dissipating.

It was like waking from a fragmented dream, where everything vanished into smoke.

Damn, the youngest!

He bolted upright, ready to speak, when he heard the painting of the lantern carrier say, "The child has been sent to the ward already, it's no big deal, no need to worry."

The lantern carrier shook his head with a sigh: "It's really freaking strange, I've been here all these years, but it's the first time I've seen a living [Temporary Worker], and a Ember at that, hey...

Do you think I should say it like that, Ji Jue?"

"Ah?"

Ji Jue hesitated to speak, feeling the lightness and ease in his body but unsure what had happened. Regaining composure, he suddenly got tense, wondering how long Mrs. Lu and the others had been waiting while he was unconscious and comatose.

"I..."

"Three minutes."

Without waiting for him to ask, the lantern carrier straightforwardly answered: "Because you were pulled into a time segment that doesn't belong to you, your body's jet lag needs adjustment and cleaning.

Otherwise, if the bug is left unchecked, using your words, it will cause delays, you'd become a high ping warrior, with potential frame drops.

Fortunately, the downtime is short, the defense department has taken good care of you, and the pollution has been dealt with.

It's that little brat you brought that's more troublesome, with high potential but tainted by Shadow Sun's Erosion, without as high resistance as you, it takes some effort to handle. Letting them loose like this, they'll end up being chased by bugs sooner or later.

But now that they're in the station, with the maintenance of the [Jiedi Law], there's no need to worry about random issues anymore."

Before Ji Jue could speak, the lantern carrier rambled on without pause, although all of his questions were answered, he felt increasingly confused.

"You..."

"Right." The lantern carrier slowly nodded: "Even though it's not Mind Reading, I know what you want to ask, ah yes, I turned it on, never shut it off."

"..."

Ji Jue's expression twitched once, then again, scrutinizing the lantern carrier's seemingly overly familiar demeanor, suspicion arose in his mind: "Perhaps..."

"Yes, let's say we know each other, anyway, there will be more encounters in the future."

The lantern carrier shrugged casually, waved a hand: "Now, you should leave, [Temporary Worker], the job interview has been delayed for so long, don't put it off any longer."

He said, "Some 'people' are waiting for you."

Finally raising a hand, pointing at Ji Jue's exit behind him, the lantern carrier turned and walked into the deepest part of the painting, disappearing into the darkness.

Leaving Ji Jue alone, looking around.

It's like a platform at some station, all he could see beyond the platform were tracks.

Hard to imagine what the peak of Sky Rail looked like, just the platforms Ji Jue could see numbered over a dozen, and there were countless tracks...

Even if the Sky Rail could mimic the bug's fabricated station, the number of tracks and platforms would be irrelevant, they could be mirrored, replicated, and expanded at any time.

Like a traveler who has reached the station, he walked along the platform, stepped onto the stairs.

As if entering a desolate ruin.

Even under careful maintenance, without dust covering everything, the antique and forlorn emptiness wrought by time permeated every corner.

On the panel at his wrist, a new place name appeared in the station record of the Doomsday Special Train.

——[Present World Pivot·Heavenly Rail Central Dispatch Center]

And just as he stepped onto the stairs, several paths appeared before him, identical corridors, but with different names written on the signs erected in the middle.

[Central Dispatch Room], [Arrival Hall], [Well], [Border Hell Layer], [Operation Center], [Vehicle Storage]...

However, the only one still flickering was [Arrival Hall], the rest were shrouded in a thin mist, not yet opened to him.

When Ji Jue stepped onto the corridor towards the Arrival Hall, he felt a slight tremor on his wrist, as if passing a recognition device, a dizzy spell and the earth seemed to spin.

Only after walking a few steps, past a corner, did suddenly behold a grand hall, wide open on all sides, seemingly leading to entirely different places, but the revolving doors remained closed, only vague unknown sights could be seen through the mist, continuously changing.

In the temple-like hall, a massive central column composed of many elevators stood, extending upwards endlessly, offering no glimpse of the top, nor any measure of the floors.

The giant flipping panels on the four sides bore empty train schedules, all blank, covered in dust.

What surprised Ji Jue was that the hall didn't seem bleak, rather figures bustled back and forth.

Dogs, dogs, dogs, dogs...

Long-haired, short-haired, fat, thin, red, white, yellow flower black, small, medium, large, extra large, at first glance, it's almost overwhelming.

There's even one with tangled long hair all over its body, like it's a mop come to life, lazily panting on the ground.

"Second Brother! Second Brother!!!"

The excited shout rang out, on a long bench, the child sitting among the dogs raised his head and waved at him.

"Are you awake already?"

Ji Jue was surprised, not expecting it to happen so quickly, he reached out and pressed down, realizing Lu Xing's aura had stabilized, with no sign of mutation.

It's as if the previous great evil erosion never happened, completely cured.

More importantly, the usual floating and dispersing spiritual quality of a newly awakened Chosen One had vanished, and the integration and coordination between the body and soul were complete.

The current Lu Xing could already be called an origin stone Chosen One of the Gate of Eternity.

And it's not relying on upper-level summoning, but an explosive potential self-awakening!

"Second Brother, look, there are so many dogs here, big dogs!"

He laboriously and excitedly picked up a Saint Bernard with a red cross hanging on its dog tag, playing with it in his arms, causing the big fat dog to show a resigned expression, but not resisting, instead it twisted twice, changed to a comfortable position, and lay down on the bench.

Go ahead, pet away.

"Ahem, it's not..." Ji Jue hesitated, looking at the excited youngster, not knowing how to tell him there's a big chance he's hugging and harassing his attending physician.

But the attending physician seemed not to resist, and perhaps even seemed to enjoy it.

Let them be.

After instructing the youngster to be polite and say thank you, Ji Jue then repaired his phone and connected it to the Doomsday Special Train's WiFi, first letting him report peace to Mrs. Lu.

"Excuse me, this... uh, ahem, 'Chief Medical Officer'."

Ji Jue bent down, scrutinizing the title on the Saint Bernard's chest dog tag, his expression twitched slightly, earnestly asking, "May I ask about the one who brought me here..."

The Saint Bernard grinned and panted, as if laughing, nudged his arm with its nose, skillfully moved his hand to its head, signaling him to continue petting, don't stop.

Only after it was satisfied did it suddenly howl.

Following that, there was a fluctuation behind Ji Jue, a shadowy door silently opened, and in the darkness beyond, Du Bin's silhouette faintly appeared.

As if returning from a long journey, it shook off the unknown liquid clinging to it, stepped in confidently, leaving a few shallow bloody footprints on the ground.

Like blood.

But soon, the remaining footprints were wiped away by the dog that looked very much like a mop... leaving Ji Jue gaping, at a loss for words.

Really, just using it as a mop?

Your company's corporate culture is somewhat…

He hesitated, looking at Du Bin.

Du Bin also looked at him.

Indifferent and distant.

"...Hello?" Ji Jue tentatively greeted, "This, uh, friend, um, former, uh, brother, ahem... This, how should I address you?"

Du Bin glanced at him, puffed out its chest and flipped its dog tag, revealing its position—[Defense Department · Minister]

"Oh, Minister!"

Ji Jue suddenly understood, clapped his palm, said, "A high-ranking official, then it must be my..."

"Nothing, at all."

In that instant, from a device that looked like an ornament on Du Bin's neck, a monotonous electronic voice sounded:

"This has nothing to do with you, human."

It glanced at Ji Jue, got up and turned around: "Come with me, the president will see you."

"Alright then."

Ji Jue sighed, failing to get close.

Brother Du Bin is pretty impressive, entering the labyrinth seven times and exiting seven times, and almost easily killing a bug, not to mention crudely pulling out him and the youngster.

Possibly the top master of Sky Rail Group. If we could become friends, wouldn't that mean dominance in reality?

Unfortunately, no face is given, and it seems to have a grievance against me.

To be fair, it's understandable.

If there's a newbie in my company who does nothing all day, never shows up, yet hasn't missed a paycheck, I wouldn't have so much nonsense, just grab and optimize on the spot!

In this situation, Brother Du Bin could still rescue me, without biting me to death, it can only be said he's extremely generous.

What more could one ask for?

Ding, the elevator opened.

On the halfway to the[Central Dispatch Room], a short-legged corgi wearing a vest stuffed with tools wiggled its butt and walked in.

It circled Ji Jue several times before leaning on his leg, looking up at him with a wide grinned smile.

Inviting, waiting.

Ji Jue subconsciously reached out, but halfway extended, noticed Du Bin's sidelong glance.

Even bared its teeth!

No, does this also need to be controlled!