Train Master jolted awake at Charles's words, casting a glance at the nightmarish, flesh-and-blood hell that was taking form outside the station. He promptly headed for the driver's cabin.
However, just as he was about to enter, the ghostly hand that had been embedded in his chest retracted and viciously clamped onto the doorframe.
The malevolent spirit entwined with Train Master sneered, "Leaving?"
"Years ago, I told you to leave, but you wouldn't. You insisted on waiting for your damn mother, forcing everyone on this train to die with that wretched old woman."
"Fine! Today, no one leaves! Everyone will go down with me!"
This wicked ghost was evidently the thug who had killed Train Master's mother in the past. The passengers had once had a chance to leave, but because the thug had killed Train Master's mother, Train Master had refused to move the train.
As a result, all the passengers had perished at the station. Among the dead was this very thug. His spirit, burdened with resentment, lingered and became a malevolent entity like Train Master, their hatreds tangling them together.
Now, Train Master sought to escape with his mother, but this thug had other plans. Though he, too, wanted to escape this wretched place, he found greater satisfaction in witnessing Train Master's impotent rage.
"I want to make you taste the despair I felt in my dying moments," he taunted.
"Tony, shoot!" Charles bellowed.
Tony swiftly raised his gun and aimed at the Thug ghost's head.
Bang!
The bullet hit its mark, splattering a shower of blood, yet it did no substantial damage. This act, however, completely unleashed the Thug ghost's wrath.
With an agonizing wail, he became even more deranged, a new arm bizarrely sprouting from his chest.
"I'll kill all of you!"
"Everyone... will die!"
A newly born malevolent spirit began to slowly emerge from the Thug ghost's body, its blood-red eyes brimming with boundless hatred.
The sheer intensity of its malevolent aura left everyone present in no doubt: this was an entity far beyond their capacity to handle.
Thug Ghost's Malevolent Spirit: Extremely Dangerous!
Weakness: Unknown
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Abilities: Dual-Edged Ghost Claws
Notes: Killing you would be as easy as crushing an ant.
...
Data appeared before his eyes, and Charles' pupils began to turn a dark red.
"Hold it back!" Charles yelled. "Fight for your life, or there won't be another chance!"
The Thug Ghost's physical form battled Train Master, by lingering resentment. But its malevolent spirit rushed viciously towards the crowd.
With a swipe aimed at Charles, he dodged just in time. The razor-sharp ghost claws cleaved through the sturdy train seats like butter, leaving the crowd in utter terror. A single touch from this malevolent spirit could maim or even kill.
Tony fired two more shots at the Thug Ghost. The bullets did create a splash of blood but seemed to have no significant effect on the malevolent spirit at this point.
The malevolent spirit turned, its mouth stretched grotesquely into an ear-to-ear grin, a laugh that made Tony wish he had adult diapers on. But there was no time for that; instinctively he fired several more shots, all proving ineffectual.
Whoosh!
The malevolent spirit lunged, and Tony was too slow to dodge. His hand was severed, blood splattering in all directions.
"Ah!"
While Tony screamed and clutched his bleeding arm, the malevolent spirit prepared to deliver the killing blow. But Charles was swift; he stabbed it precisely with his surgical scalpel... right in its rear.
This stab was far more damaging than any bullet could be. Chaos damage penetrated the malevolent spirit's toughest defense, targeting its... buuts.
Immediately, something like thick, long vines burst from within the spirit's buuts, causing its belly to bulge. The malevolent spirit howled in pain, converting its ghostly energy into fire to burn around the affected area, barely managing to contain the growth of the vines.
"Damn vermin... I will kill you!" The malevolent spirit roared, its eyes ablaze.
Just then, Train Master tossed a blood-red syringe to Charles. "If you want to live, use this now!"
Catching the syringe, Charles jabbed it into his neck without hesitation.
...
Item: Juwel-002
Quality: Consumable
Description: A project created by a mysterious doctor who invested great risks and costs into it, yet in the end, only completed 10% of it.
Effect: Materializes the Dark Personality for a duration of 5 minutes.
Note: Perhaps you've never really known what's inside you. Do you know how terrifying the real you is?
...
Seeing Charles inject himself with the mysterious liquid, the once fearsome malevolent spirit couldn't help but take two steps back.
Vaguely, it felt a twinge of unease. What in the world had he injected?
Three seconds later, an ominous aura began to envelope the entire train.
Anger, envy, paranoia, tyranny, bloodlust...
All these vile emotions surged like a storm of darkness, wreaking havoc in the train compartment. The train lights flickered, filling the space with an eerie and terrifying atmosphere. Even the malevolent spirit felt an unprecedented sense of fear.
Charles's voice turned deep and menacing, as though emanating from the abyss of Hell itself.
"Are you ready to face real fear?"
The dark force raged throughout the compartment, shattering all the windows. A howling, icy wind ushered in the scent of death.
In the face of Charles's power, the malevolent spirit appeared utterly weak and pitiful. It screamed and struggled in the darkness but couldn't escape Charles's control.
Five minutes may be brief, but it felt like an eternity to everyone—like they'd lived through five centuries.
The Thug Ghost and its malevolent spirit seemed to have vanished.
As Charles regained his clarity, the blood mist inside the train receded like a retreating tide. Outside, the tracks were awash in flowing blood, occasionally revealing bones and fragments of corpses!
"What just happened? Why are you all looking at me with such strange eyes? Also, why are only a few of you left? Where did Richard and Lacy go?" Charles asked with an innocent smile, and upon that grin were faint traces of fresh blood and flesh.