Under the threat of gun barrels and blades, Pang Kedo finally calmed down.
The damaged inhibitor on his back returned to blue as he slumped into the chair with a dejected expression.
After confirming the man posed no real threat, Lin Yu even proactively untied the ropes binding him.
"So... I've lost several years of memories..."
Pang Kedo clutched his hair in agony, muttering to himself: "First promoted to team leader, then turned into expendable material exiled to this damned train - what exactly happened to me?"
Seeing Pang Kedo's distress, Li Nian offered comfort.
"Hey, don't dwell too much on the past. What matters most is seizing the present... though it seems the present isn't much better either."
Lin Yu pressed curiously: "Since you're an internal Truth Corporation personnel, you should know about this train, right? I still don't understand what's going on with this train."
"What do you mean by 'expendable materials'? What exactly is this train for?"
Hearing Lin Yu's questions, Pang Kedo reluctantly pulled himself together and began explaining."This is just what I've heard... initially, the Despair Train was truly designed and built as a 'public transportation' project."
"Its tracks circle the entire outer ring of Sleepless City, originally with six stations, claiming it could travel from one end of Sleepless City to the other within three minutes."
"It employed the 'Despair Furnace' which had already proven extremely efficient - a single-core furnace capable of simultaneously absorbing emotional energies like sorrow, pain, anger, while having demonstrated its upper limits when used as orbital strike weapons."
"The specially designed train routes could further share the entire Sleepless City's energy pressure."
"However, after actual operation, everyone discovered this furnace's design flaw - it's extremely difficult to stop."
"In other words, once the train starts, there's simply no concept of 'stations.' To make it stop, even after applying brakes and cutting off the furnace's energy supply, it would still run for at least another year."
"So the project failed - but not completely."
"Because the energy supply, originally just its 'byproduct,' was found to far exceed all energy sources Sleepless City was using at the time."
"Initially it was only expected to share energy pressure, but after actual operation... it could almost become the main daily energy supply."
"Thus, the corporate executives decided to convert it into a circular energy supplier - reinforcing the carriage exteriors and tracks with high-resistance materials while removing all stations."
"But for high-frequency energy output, the carriages must have 'passengers' - and lots of passengers containing 'despair-type' emotions."
"So the corporation decided to slightly adjust its original function as transportation... turning it into a 'prison.'"
"Those who made major mistakes within the company, those caught trying to infiltrate the company... in short, among the corporation's 'enemies,' anyone capable of producing such emotions would be thrown into this never-stopping train to squeeze out their despair."
"In my memory, this train has been operating and continuously powering Sleepless City for ten years... though actually, many more years have probably passed by now."
"In summary, this train gathers large numbers of scum, traitors, and dangerous elements, becoming the corporation's testing ground for various new and old weapons."
Here, Pang Kedo covered his face in agony: "Damn it, how did I end up here?! What exactly happened!"
He grew agitated again.
Lin Yu nodded in understanding.
"I see, so though called a 'train'... this is actually a prison built on a train - and the kind that abuses prisoners too."
He completely ignored Pang Kedo's distress, calmly analyzing.
Li Nian also stroked her chin: "So that's how it is."
Both "experts" rather coldly let Pang Kedo have his breakdown.
Only Chen Zhuo couldn't help but step forward to offer comfort.
"It's okay, uncle. Even though you lost your memory and got thrown into this place, it's not like you can't leave here!"
And Chen Zhuo's words reminded Lin Yu.
"True enough," Lin Yu picked up the thread, following up by inquiring about new information, "I heard you just need to get a 'Train Ticket' to leave, right? What exactly is that thing?"
Hearing Lin Yu's words, Pang Kedo looked up, his expression blank again.
"Train Ticket? I don't know... I've never heard of any way to leave this train!"
"Maybe my level wasn't high enough, or maybe the corporation developed something new during my memory loss period... in any case, if I could recover my memories from when I was team leader, I might be able to answer your questions."
Pang Kedo said apologetically.
Lin Yu waved his hand: "No matter. Though unclear on the specifics, at least we know roughly where to find that thing."
Pausing, Lin Yu looked at Li Nian, seemingly seeking her opinion.
Seeing Lin Yu's expression, Li Nian roughly understood what he wanted to do and directly said: "Though this guy isn't very stable... he's after all a skilled local - I second the motion."
She said indifferently.
Chen Zhuo looked confused: "Huh? What do you mean?"
Lin Yu didn't answer Chen Zhuo's question, choosing instead to explain through action.
He directly extended his hand toward Pang Kedo.
"Well, Mr. Pang Kedo, though we knocked you out earlier and you almost killed one of us, that was all while you were in a crazed state."
"Now, would you like to cooperate sincerely with us?"
"We can work together to find a way off this train."
Lin Yu extended an invitation to Pang Kedo.
Faced with the offer, Pang Kedo instead hesitated.
"Sorry, I still haven't quite figured out what's happening, and... I'm not clear about your identities either."
"I need some time alone to process things."
Pang Kedo said, politely declining Lin Yu.
But Lin Yu didn't withdraw his hand, instead offering new information.
"Alright, Mr. Pang Kedo. I originally planned to tell you this after you'd stabilized somewhat, but to gain your trust now, I'm afraid I'll have to shock you a bit more."
As he spoke, Lin Yu used his other hand to retrieve another ID card and black notebook from his chest.
"Do you know Vale Valetti? He and I were comrades who fought side by side."
"This identity card and notebook were given to me by him."
Just as Lin Yu anticipated.
Pang Kedo's pupils constricted sharply upon seeing the card in Lin Yu's hand.
However, the address that next came from Pang Kedo's mouth completely surprised Lin Yu.
"My heavens, how do you have my great-uncle's identity card and notebook?!"