"Huh, the Empire had trains as well," Jin said.

"Does your world also have trains?" Lee Shin-Woo asked.

"I’m from a place called Earth. Unlike the Empire, there were several continents on the planet, and each continent was home to several nations... I came from a nation called the United Kingdom."

"I see. I'll remember that."

Jin carelessly disclosed where he was from. Lee Shin-Woo wasn't very surprised. He had figured out that they came from similar places during their conversations.

Now he knew their world shared the same name. Although it would be difficult to confirm if they were from the same planet “Earth”, it was highly likely that their planets only differed nominally. so Lee Shin-Woo couldn't add anything to the conversation. Jin didn’t seem to share his reservations, though.

"Were you born on Earth as well, by any chance?"

"Why's that important now?"

"Well, it’ll make me feel differently, you know?"

"There's no reason to focus on that. What we call our home planet doesn’t matter as much as the train right in front of us."

Lee Shin-Woo meticulously surveyed his surroundings rather than rushing to check the train. While the passageway had been filled to the brim with Golems, there was nothing in the vast clearing it led to.

Nothing save for the train with its opened door and the track it ran on, that was. It made them think that the clearing was set up for the single purpose of operating the train.

"Where does this lead to?” Lee Shin-Woo muttered. “I probably won't be able to tell."

"The only thing I'm sure of is that it's really long."

Jin leaned forward to examine the railway, and was astonished by the sheer scale of it. Meanwhile, Lee Shin-Woo exercised his rights as a general administrator again to access the train, but there wasn't really any information he could gain from doing so.

He did end up reactivating the train from its long slumber, though. It was entirely unintentional on his part.

[The train will depart in three minutes.]

The announcement came from the train itself. Lee Shin-Woo realized then that this lump of iron was also a Golem. He didn't know who had made it, but they must be damn smart!

"Try stopping it for now, Shin-Woo. Shouldn't we find out more about it before jumping on?'

"Well, I can turn this thing on, but I can't turn it off."

"What are you..."

"Let's board it. It feels like a waste to just let it go."

Jin gaped at Lee Shin-Woo's recklessness. However, it was true that there was nothing else they could gain from this space, and he was also curious about what lay at the end of the railway.

"Alright, let's go."

The train was enormous, and the door reflected the sheer size of the train. Lee Shin-Woo could easily make a guess about the reason why. This must be a freight train designed to transport Golems. Lee Shin-Woo's first speculation about this place was a bit off. This wasn't a production site for Golems, but their first destination!

"If that's the case, then the Golems our seniors found in other areas were..."

"We can assume there are trains like this in those areas as well,” Lee Shin-Woo said. “But that's not the important thing here."

If they were lucky, they might be able to ride the train to those areas! They could explore every nook and cranny of the Empire like this!

"But…” Lee Shin-Woo’s tone took a sudden turn. “If something goes wrong, we may get dumped in the wrong place and get ourselves killed."

"Could you not say something so ominous...?"

The pair entered the train and examined the interior, but the only thing they discovered was traces proving that this train was once used to transport Golems. Then again, it wasn't likely that the train would tell trespassers like them what the next stop was.

"Oh, it's departing," Jin said.

"Seems that... ugh!"

The moment the door closed, the train lurched into motion at a ridiculous speed. Lee Shin-Woo didn't know what kind of magic was set up along the railway, or what skill the Golem was using, but it was much faster than Jin when he was running at full speed!

"Kuhek!" Lee Shin-Woo yelped.

"Are you alright!?"

Jin was able to swiftly regain his balance and stuck to one side of the train with his high agility, but Lee Shin-Woo ended up flung around and crashed into the back wall. It was a relief that he had managed to harden himself with Rule of Bone before the collision.

"I would've died...!"

Lee Shin-Woo gritted his teeth to endure the pain shooting all over his body, keeping his balance by plastering himself on one of the walls. If he were not made of bone, he would've spilled his internal organs and then some.

"They should've made an announcement! Where are their manners?"

"Can you stand?" Jin asked.

"I can now... Somewhat."

How quickly was it running? Lee Shin-Woo was beginning to lose track, but then the train gradually slowed down.

"This is..."

"..."

One thing that set the train apart from those in their worlds was its lack of windows. Lee Shin-Woo and Jin caught their breaths and stayed absolutely still as the train slowly came to a halt.

[We have arrived at the manufacturing headquarters.]

The Golem said in its characteristic dry voice, notifying them that they'd arrived at the next stop. Lee Shin-Woo flinched again when he heard where they were.

He talked all big about how Jin shouldn't worry, but he couldn't help but be afraid since he was venturing into the unknown. However, he couldn't just turn around and leave. He carefully stepped away from the wall and walked up to the door.

"Let's first activate the seal," said Lee Shin-Woo.

"Should I absorb the core as well?"

"No. If you do that now, you’ll end up rolling on the floor grunting and groaning for thirty minutes or so. Let’s leave that for later."

"Seriously?"

The door opened. Lee Shin-Woo held the seal up as he slowly walked out of the train and surveyed his surroundings. The first thing he saw was another train on the platform right next to them.

A large train station often has several trains coming and going at the same time…

"Six, seven, eight... nine. Holy shit."

There were nine more trains at the station. If they included the train they rode on, there were ten trains total! Most of the trains were on standby. The platform on their right was the only one that was empty.

"I'm kind of getting scared here,” said Jin. “It's way bigger than I expected..."

"Oh, you didn’t expect it to be big? Even so, it's just a place that manufactures the Golems, and we’ve taken down several of them. We'll be okay."

Lee Shin-Woo used Acting to conceal his unease from his partner. Jin relied on Lee Shin-Woo; he would be dispirited if Lee Shin-Woo let on how tense he was. His bluff seemed to be effective, and Jin calmed down slightly.

[Ah, you actually came.]

"Gah!?"

Jin shrunk back in an embarrassing manner when he heard the voice of an unfamiliar man coming from nowhere. He knew they'd be discovered eventually, but he didn't think they'd be discovered as soon as they arrived!

Immediately, Lee Shin-Woo conjured a sword and got ready for a fight. However, he couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from.

[I'm not going to kill you, so don't be so tense. I would’ve killed you already if I wanted to. Are you really undead?]

Lee Shin-Woo was the one to respond, "Can't you tell? We're just bones."

[True. I only see bones.]

"Hm, so you can see us..."

Lee Shin-Woo realized at that very moment that the man’s voice was coming from all the trains around them simultaneously. That could mean only one thing: he had higher authority over the Golems than Lee Shin-Woo.

[If you were an undead spawned by the Emperor's curse, there's no way you'd be moving so freely. How strange. What exactly are you?]

"I have no reason to answer, but... If I were to tell you one thing, it would be that we weren't affected by the Emperor's curse."

[Seems that way. You two are truly strange. The skeleton horse, especially, has a will and can move on its own; this is the first time I've seen something like that.]

It was clear from the way the man talked that he had retained his consciousness and senses. Lee Shin-Woo wanted to ask him about why that was, but the man was silent for a long time.

Jin looked at Lee Shin-Woo like he wanted to immediately jump back on the train and get the hell out of there. The goblin fire acted as his eyes were shaking. It heartened Lee Shin-Woo that he was able to discern Jin’s feelings to this degree. Lee Shin-Woo thought about what he would have to do to secure their retreat if the need arose.

We can’t go that way since I don’t have the highest authority here.

Their best bet was to crush the Golems and run the opposite way by following the railway. No matter how much higher in level their enemies turned out to be, it would be difficult for them to catch up with Jin, who was reborn as a horse with the sole purpose of running.

It might be possible for their enemies to match Jin’s speed temporarily, but with the unlimited stamina granted by being an undead, Jin would outrun anything and everything!

[I told you there's no need to run away. More importantly, the General said he'd like to meet with you. We won't hurt you, so won't you come this way?]

"General...?" Lee Shin-Woo muttered. He didn’t quite understand why he was so caught up with the word. If he’s talking about one of the twelve generals in the Empire, could it be… The pieces in his head began to come together. It felt as though fireworks were going off in his head. Could it be General Seagald by any chance...!?

General Seagald was in charge of the Anti-Skull Project, which had attempted to stop the undead curse through researching several different methods. What if the general had been interested in Golems as well, which were artificial life forms immune to the undead curse? And if they had prepared for an emergency and created this facility to manufacture Golems, then...

"What are you going to do?" asked Jin.

"...I want to meet him at least once."

"I knew it.."

Lee Shin-Woo didn’t want to back down after he’d gone this far. Of course, he couldn’t just blindly walk into the unknown and take the man at his word when he promised to not harm them. Nonetheless, he had a strong hunch that if he backed out now, he wouldn't be able to come back again.

"I might die more than once if we’re unlucky, so stay here. If it seems like things are going south, break one of these trains and follow the tracks back to where we came from. I'll join you later."

"No, I’ll go with you,” Jin insisted. “You told me how you had gotten stronger, remember? And if we have to run away, it’ll be better for me to be there with you."

"Jin..."

It really was a response befitting an undead; Jin refused to stay out of it. Lee Shin-Woo nodded with a wry smile. If things didn't go as planned, at least he still had a skill to protect Jin with.

[Sacrifice Lv1 (Active)]

[You can activate this skill when someone else is about to die. You save the target's life in exchange for your own. The user will die without fail.]

It’s better if I don’t get to use it, though.

When he first received the Savior’s token and skill, he'd considered the package deal a half-assed karma and a useless skill. What kind of nonsense is this, he had thought. Why would anyone sacrifice their life to save someone else?

However, it wasn't actually a useless skill for Lee Shin-Woo. Why? Because he still had 97 lives left. He certainly shouldn’t use the skill recklessly, but he could use it for his partner, who more than doubled his strength in battles.

[Good. Come this way.]

They walked up to the stairway beyond the wide platform, and the door above opened automatically. Lee Shin-Woo wondered what he'd do if there were several Golems in there, but...there weren't several, but only one.

[Welcome, Undead. Please don’t attack me even if you go crazy.]

A colossal, burly Golem stood waiting.

[I’m not alive to begin with. Understand?]

With mana more powerful than anyone he'd ever met before.

[Lv7 Golem Ark Knight - Guillotine Steelworker]

A Golem.