Charles certainly wasn't naive enough to think that Gertrude would let him go. But he couldn't kill her just yet. Gertrude's head was key to dealing with the Train Master.
The ghostly candle in his hand was nearly burned out.
The once concrete road had become increasingly viscous, and it even began to slowly ooze dark blood. The ground beneath Charles' feet churned up large chunks of decaying flesh.
In the distance, the walls also began to crumble, revealing a ghastly sight—layers of human bones! These buildings... they were actually constructed from human corpses!
This station...
Or rather, the root of this horror... was beginning to slowly awaken!
At that moment, a towering, furious specter appeared ahead, charging madly toward him.
It was the Ghost Security Guard!
His clothes were tattered, his ghostly face twisted in extreme rage.
Someone had dared to attack the control room during his brief absence!
His master was already dissatisfied with him. If he didn't quickly resolve this issue, he might face severe punishment once his master fully awoke!
He had no interest in anything else around him at the moment, and naturally, he didn't notice that Charles was holding a decaying human head.
The sprinting ghost and man brushed past each other.
The Ghost Security Guard looked back, tinged with a hint of doubt and an ominous premonition. He saw Charles also turn his head, his face adorned with a sinister smile.
For just a moment, the ghost actually shuddered.
A chill ran down his spine.
In the next moment, they disappeared from each other's sight, swallowed by the darkness.
Arriving quickly at the train entrance, Charles saw Zoe anxiously peering out the door.
The cart given to them by the Warehouse Ghost had been flung somewhere unknown, and everything around them was starting to melt. The once normal station was now gradually transforming into a decaying, fleshy abyss!
Charles knew that they didn't have much time left.
He immediately returned to the first car of the train, preparing to move the wooden table. On the table were three candles, each burned about halfway down—better than Charles had expected.
"You're finally back, you son of a—"
Tony, clad only in his underwear, looked visibly enraged upon seeing Charles. But when he saw the decaying ghost head that Charles was carrying, he quickly held his tongue.
"...I was about to thank you."
Charles didn't fuss over the issue and instead asked the other two who were waiting there, "Have you encountered anything unusual during this time?"
Richard and Lacy shook their heads.
"Other than the Ghost Security Guard, all the other ghosts in the station have been quite docile. They don't seem to have any hostility towards me."
The two quickly recounted the situation and asked about what was happening outside the train.
"Nothing much. Everything's normal," Charles said nonchalantly.
Just then, the darkness outside the train began to recede, and Tony could faintly see the station deteriorating—decaying, stinking, deforming...
Was this what Charles called 'normal'?
Richard and Lacy already knew that Charles was a bit unhinged, but at this point, they didn't dare to voice their concerns, only muttering complaints in their minds.
"Everyone, take out your weapons. It's time to get things moving!"
Charles pulled out a scalpel and headed towards the driver's cabin. Richard quickly grabbed Charles' arm, saying anxiously, "Didn't the clue say we can't enter the driver's cabin?"
Charles placed his hand on the doorknob of the driver's cabin and loudly declared:
"What did you say? "
"I didn't hear you!"
The next moment, he twisted open the large door to the driver's cabin.
The horrifying sight that met their eyes left everyone rooted to the spot, petrified.
Inside the driver's cabin appeared a ghost—no, ghosts—two robust figures grotesquely intertwined!
Their flesh was twisted and knotted together like plant roots growing into one another. One ghost had its hand embedded in the other's chest, while the other had its sharp penis piercing into the eye of the adjacent spirit!
The moment this eerie amalgamation of ghosts appeared, everyone's immediate instinct was to scramble for the ghost candles on the wooden table.
If they could just get ahold of those candles, even the most terrifying ghosts would be unable to harm them!
Richard, who was closest, was the first to move. But no sooner had he reached out than Charles severed his hand!
Blood gushed out!
Immediately, excruciating pain coursed through Richard's cerebral cortex, and he rolled on the ground, screaming until his eyes rolled back into his head.
Charles looked at the others in the room and smiled, "No one is allowed to touch the ghost candles on the table."
Lacy, her face a mask of madness, nervously eyed the ghost in the driver's cabin that could rush out at any moment. She pulled out a gun, aimed it at Charles's head, and hissed:
"Give me the ghost candle now, or I'll blow your head off!"
This old woman was clearly a force to be reckoned with.
She kept her gaze locked on Charles, ready to fire the instant he made any move against her.
However, she hadn't anticipated that Zoe would suddenly strike from behind. Landing a punch on her head and knocking her down before she could react, Zoe then brutally broke both of her arms.
Staring down at the old woman on the ground, her eyes bulging out and her face twisted in malevolence, Zoe panted and said:
"I'm sorry... but I choose to trust Charles."
Emerging slowly from the driver's cabin, the horrific ghost emanated an overwhelming sense of dread, causing everyone's legs to wobble. Its blood-red eyes were suffused with an aura of extreme brutality!
The terror radiating from this ghost was no less than that of the Ghost Security Guard.
"Who... gave you permission to open the cabin door?"
Two voices filled with resentment and coldness intermingled in a cacophonous, grating way.
Faced with this immensely powerful apparition, Charles showed no sign of fear. He took out the decapitated head of Train Master's mother and held a scalpel against her eye.
"Start the train. I'll say it only once."
His gaze met the ghost's eyes, his calm voice tinged with an irrefutable authority.
Upon seeing the trembling head, Train Master seemed to regain some clarity.
"Mom... mom?"
The ghost didn't respond.
Long corrupted by the station's malevolent ghosts, it had degenerated into a monster and had no recollection of its former life.
Charles looked at the partly lucid Train Master and spoke:
"Your mother has been controlled by 'it.' To bring her back to who she was, we have to leave this place. We're running out of time because 'it' is waking up."
"If you don't want to see your mother die again, then... start the train immediately!"