Bai Cheng couldn't be sure of the surroundings where she had parked.
But after the wolf's howl, rustling sounds began to come from all directions.
"Is it a forest around here?" Bai Cheng frowned.
The night was pitch black, so dark she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, which made it impossible for her to discern her surroundings.
Bai Cheng flicked on her lighter, but the blue flame didn't dispel much of the darkness.
She then stacked the remaining four pieces of wood from the train car and lit them beside the railcar. Warm, orange-red firelight spread out, and Bai Cheng could finally see her surroundings.
Trees, each as thick as a person, encircled her on all sides. Even the light was completely blocked by the staggered tree trunks in the distance, and the dense canopy overhead entirely obscured the sky, reflecting a bleak, eerie green.
At this moment, Bai Cheng felt as if she was trapped in a cage forged by a natural forest.
Deeper in the forest, shadows stirred, and pairs of crimson eyes constantly flickered, moving back and forth, rustling.
Seeing this sight, Bai Cheng was momentarily stunned.
Before dark, she had indeed seen a patch of forest not far ahead, but it was nowhere near this dense, and these trees certainly weren't this ridiculously thick!
Moreover, the entire journey had been an unobstructed plain; where was there any forest?
The only explanation could be… Bai Cheng's eyes darkened: "So, the arrival of Silent Night directly changed the environment?"
This was not good news.
Furthermore, at night, she had no way of gaining a clear understanding of the unfamiliar surroundings.
Exploring rashly would definitely be foolish and fatal.
Despite the wolves outside, having learned from the Hyena during the day, Bai Cheng was absolutely certain she was safe.
She had no immediate plans to explore outside; solving her hunger and thirst was the most important thing.
After all, the railcar didn't have much wood, and it wouldn't burn for long.
Bai Cheng directly used what was available, slicing a piece of hyena meat with her incredibly smooth dagger, then skewering it on a stone spear and roasting it over the fire.
She had estimated the weight; this portion of hyena meat was about one kilogram.
Based on her needs, one portion was enough for an entire day.
"Speaking of which, this Hyena must have weighed at least thirty to forty kilograms, so why did it only drop 6 kilograms of meat?"
But Bai Cheng immediately shook her head: "What am I doing, why bother trying to apply science to this messed-up world…"
Food was now sufficient, but water became a problem again.
Bai Cheng only had a little over one bottle of mineral water left, which wouldn't last long at all.
"Why isn't there a condenser, huh?!" She wailed with a resentful expression.
However, this hyena meat was still too much for Bai Cheng, and it couldn't be stored for too long, so she could completely trade it.
At least for now, supplies weren't so tight that she had to tighten her belt.
Soon, the rising flames roasted the hyena meat until it sizzled with oil, and waves of meaty aroma drifted out.
In the dark forest, the wild beasts also seemed to smell the scent and began to stir uneasily.
Bai Cheng ignored them, holding the roasted meat to her nose and sniffing deeply, "Hiss, so fragrant!"
She blew on it, then immediately tore into it, eating with great relish.
The meat was tough, very chewy, and lacked much flavor, with a faint hint of gaminess.
It tasted far less fragrant than it smelled.
"It's delicious, but it has no taste!" Bai Cheng tilted her head back, forcing herself to swallow with a compelled expression.
She kept coaxing herself, telling herself that no matter how bad it tasted, it was better than compressed biscuits… After chugging half a bottle of water to help her swallow, today's dinner was finally dealt with.
"I want to throw up… I hope I don't get diarrhea…" Bai Cheng looked as if she was about to cry.
At this moment, the bonfire lit beside the railcar was almost extinguished. Bai Cheng then picked up the employee card and infinite coins she had obtained earlier, flipping through the hints already provided on the screen to examine them.
There were no hints for the infinite coins. They were similar in size to a one-yuan coin, with the words and patterns of the Infinite Train printed on both sides.
Evidently, this should be some kind of currency.
To prevent losing it, Bai Cheng tossed it into the box, then turned her attention back to the screen.
【Name: Employee Card (Spotted Hyena)】
【Quality: Common】
【Introduction: Upon first killing a creature in the Infinite World, you will receive an employee card for that species. Using it will assign an employee to your train.】
【Rating: Who would like a Hyena?】
【Hint 1: Only one employee can be bound to each carriage. Once bound, they cannot be replaced or discarded. If an employee dies, your carriage will be damaged.】
【Hint 2: Without prior conditions, employees will be absolutely loyal to you, and their life and death will be linked to yours!】
【Hint 3: Employees will gain experience and become stronger as the Lieche Zhang (Train Conductor)'s strength increases.】
【Recommended Train Employee Configuration: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Purple...】
With such clear instructions, Bai Cheng understood instantly.
"Employees cannot be freely replaced, which means that in the future, adding carriages will also have similar restrictions; moreover, under certain conditions, employees can also betray you."
Bai Cheng stroked her chin. As for the recommended employee configuration, it also seemed to indirectly indicate that it would be absolutely impossible to obtain a green employee card in the early stages.
At least, without the help of employees, trying to deal with an Elite-grade beast would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
In short, the recommended configuration given by the system would definitely be correct and suitable for most people.
Bai Cheng examined the employee card in her hand. The front had a Hyena pattern, and the back read 'Infinite Train'.
It was about the size of a playing card and very hard.
"This thing, it doesn't have an upgrade path, does it?" Bai Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly, then immediately summoned her cheng book.
With just a thought, the item pattern on the first page of the cheng book instantly transformed into the appearance of an employee card.
【White Employee Card: 0/1】
"Requires employee cards of the same color to synthesize?" Bai Cheng was startled. This upgrade method was simple and brutal.
However, what surprised Bai Cheng even more was that she had originally thought the cheng book's 24-hour cooldown for changing items would also apply to upgraded items.
But now it seemed that upgraded items were not considered as changed items.
Although the cheng book was Bai Cheng's innate ability, she hadn't fully understood her own power yet, just as she still couldn't turn to the second page.
And her previous actions of killing the Hyena, moving supplies, and pushing the cart were all considered 'doing things,' so no prompts had been issued.
However, this was undoubtedly good news for Bai Cheng.
"In that case, couldn't I upgrade the quality of my first employee to gold?"
When everyone's first employee could only be of white quality, there would certainly be an excess of these employee cards.
And by simply acquiring these employee cards through trade, Bai Cheng would be able to upgrade the employee card she held.
But the problem was, what bargaining chips did she have to exchange?
Meat certainly wouldn't work. Survivors who could obtain employee cards must have also killed beasts, so they wouldn't be short on meat.
Bai Cheng shook her head, "Employee cards should still be very scarce right now. I'll wait a couple of days to trade; for now, I'll deal with the matters at hand."
As she was pondering, several white wolves with flashing crimson eyes had quietly approached the train in the dark forest.
Bai Cheng smiled: "Oh, employee cards coming right to me."