Chief Engineer Xia raised his head in surprise and looked toward Xu Qi, who had always stood at the very front, as though he had never panicked and had always remained calm and composed.
"Xia Ya did this not only to awaken this company and this society to the respect owed to life.
Perhaps he also wanted to change this Mode Capital Metro. Otherwise, if all he wanted was to kill a few people, wouldn't that have been incredibly easy? All he would have needed was for one train's traction to fail and another train's brakes to fail."
Chief Engineer Xia was momentarily speechless. It was true—even now, they did not have any chance to remedy the situation.
Xu Qi's gaze swept over the faces of those standing in high positions, one by one.
"This day is worth every metro worker remembering—but he isn't finished yet. If a company has truly rotted to the core, then it won't even need Xia Ya to do what he did today. It will collapse on its own.
"So Mode Capital Metro still has hope. It's just that the hope isn't here—and it isn't time to give up yet, Engineer Xia."
35, Professor Mobius, Prepare V2V
"The Track Group Three Exoskeleton Auxiliary Armor team has arrived at the location and is preparing to manually change the switch."
"Command center received. Track Group Three, begin operations."
At that moment, the large screen in the Meilong Base command center was displaying surveillance footage from inside the tunnel.
This was already the best answer the information security group could give them—the surveillance system was still usable. Otherwise, all of Mode Capital Metro would truly have become blind.
On the screen, two maintenance workers wearing pale blue Exoskeleton Auxiliary Armor were using the armor's tremendous output to help change the switch.
It was a manual push rod, but it required an enormous amount of force.
A normal human could never push it. Only by having two workers wearing Exoskeleton Auxiliary Armor work together could they pull the switch-changing push rod.
This was also a safety measure designed to prevent anyone from changing the switch manually.
"The switch change is complete. Awaiting the train's passage."
Everyone in the hall let out a long sigh of relief.
Since the switch problem could be solved, that meant they could cut the power. The hope of stopping 956 was steadily increasing.
However, Xu Qi alone... kept his brows tightly furrowed, and no one could tell what he was thinking.
"Power Group Two has arrived at Point A. Preparing to close the switch and cut off the grid power supply."
"Command center received. Begin operations!"
Perhaps because hope was right before them, the communications worker responsible for dispatch and command was exceptionally excited. After all, victory was right in front of them!
On the surveillance footage, the power worker began preparing to close the switch.
There were two people in each group, but his colleague suddenly turned his head toward the tunnel.
"What's wrong?"
"Uh... I just feel like something is watching us."
"Huh?" The worker preparing to close the switch paused, but after thinking it over, still decided to close it first and worry about the rest afterward.
"It's probably a rat. After all, there's all sorts of stuff in this tunnel..."
"Bang!"
A flash of fire lit up the pitch-black tunnel. A gunshot rang out as the firing pin ignited the powder, and the bullet tore through the barrel, piercing straight through the head of the worker preparing to close the switch.
As blood burst outward, his colleague had not even reacted. He simply stood there in a daze.
And was he the only one? Everyone in the vehicle command hall stood there with their mouths half open, staring blankly at what had just happened.
A gun...
Not just one...
On the surveillance footage, a massive mech nearly two people tall slowly walked into the area illuminated by the tunnel lights.
Its entire body was a vivid red, echoing the blood flowing across the ground. For a moment, the scene even possessed a strange artistic quality...
"What is that! Exoskeleton Armor!?"
"Heavy Exoskeleton Armor... Could it be military-grade!?"
The hall erupted into noise, and everyone's nerves nearly collapsed at that moment! How could this be... How could such a monster have been waiting there all along?
And furthermore—someone was dead...
He might not have been a passenger, but the person who had died there was a Metro Company employee!
Xu Qi seemed to realize something. He snatched the communications worker's radio and shouted into it.
"Xia Ya! Are you in there!?"
The voice suddenly coming from the radio hanging on the dead worker's body clearly caught Xia Ya's attention.
He did not even bother with the worker who had been frightened into collapsing on the ground and losing control of his bladder and bowels.
The dark-red Exoskeleton Armor slowly walked onto the tunnel platform. Its enormous body made even this tunnel, which was already huge to ordinary people, seem somewhat cramped.
"Xia Ya! Answer me! Is it you!?"
The red armor's faceplate slowly opened, revealing the face of the person inside.
Chief Engineer Xia abruptly stood up. His face was deathly pale, utterly drained of color.
Xia Ya...
"It really is you... Xia Ya!"
"Long time no see, Xu Qi. Your decisiveness and leadership have not disappointed me."
"Are you kidding me!? Xia Ya! The only person who has disappointed us from beginning to end is you!"
"I'm merely guiding Mode Capital Metro forward, guiding humanity forward. So don't stop me, Xu Qi! No..."
Xia Ya shook his head.
"I should say that you no longer have the ability to stop me, Xu Qi. You must have had someone change the switch at Guilin Road, right?"
Xu Qi's expression changed drastically!
"The train will enter the siding at Guilin Road. And the 956, which can never stop, will enter it as well. It will collide with the train ahead, and everyone aboard the entire train will die."
"You... What did you do to the manual switch equipment at Guilin Road!?"
"Just added a little latch."
"Why would you do something like this, Xia Ya!?"
"I think that after reading that letter, you should be able to understand me fully."
Xu Qi froze. Even the members of the Golden Courtyard still in the hall froze, especially Pardofelis, because she had been the one to find that letter.
"I'll awaken humanity again—awaken its respect and understanding for the lives of others."
"And the price is having the people of today be buried with them!?"
"That's right!" Xia Ya forcefully cut Xu Qi off. "If you want to change all this... then show me that you can give the entirety of Mode Capital Metro courage.
"Otherwise... you can't change anything. That's right. Nothing at all."
As soon as he finished speaking, an attack of unknown origin directly crushed the surveillance camera and the radio.
The surveillance screen went black. At the same time, a desperate report came from the maintenance department.
"Something's wrong! The push rod for manually changing the switch is malfunctioning! It seems someone added a latch mechanism, and the push rod can't return to its original position!"
Xu Qi lowered the communications device.
At the same time, news even worse than that reached Fu Hua's ears.
Her expression became extremely grim in an instant. After hesitating for a moment, she still decided to tell Xu Qi.
"Xu Qi... Kosma is on that 956 right now. At the very last moment before communications were cut off, he sent a message to the Golden Courtyard—a coded transmission.
"Professor Mobius has already translated it: 'Terrorists have hijacked the train. You must stop it.'"
"Chief Engineer Xia! Mr. Xu Qi! Look at the surveillance!"
The screen lit up again. This time, it showed the switch junction at Guilin Road, where countless people wearing Exoskeleton Armor had surrounded the two maintenance workers.
They brazenly sent out a signal.
"They're saying that these two are their hostages now. If anyone else dares come over and try to push the switch's push rod, they'll—execute these two."
At that moment, the despairing atmosphere nearly condensed the air in the hall into a solid mass—making it impossible to breathe or think.
It was as though no matter what response they came up with, the other side had a way to counter it.
The plans of the two sides... were on entirely different levels...
"Notify the Shanghai police. Terrorists on this scale are no longer something we can deal with."
Chief Engineer Xia froze, and so did the employees in the hall.
Everyone stared blankly at Xu Qi without saying a word.
"Is this... the end?"
Xu Qi turned and looked at one of the employees.
"Why... do we have to submit..."
"This is no longer something we can..."
"Don't say that crap! If you couldn't do it, then you shouldn't have given us hope in the first place! ...You shouldn't have given me... hope..."
Xu Qi frowned. At that moment, one of the vehicle department leaders walked up beside him and whispered,
"His wife and children are both on that 956."
"I... haven't submitted."
The choked voice faltered. The man slowly raised his head, tears already covering his cheeks.
Xu Qi, meanwhile, remained expressionless.
"Chief Engineer Xia, I'm leaving the on-site command to you. I'll personally go and end all this. Notifying the police is simply the correct decision I've made. Hope will not disappear."
"What are you going to... do?"
Xu Qi did not answer. He merely made a call.
"Professor Mobius... please prepare V2V for me."
36, Mei: Survive
"As expected... we've reached this point..."
The voice on the other end made Xu Qi's expression freeze. It wasn't Professor Mobius... It was Eden!?
"Eden!?"
Fu Hua and Pardofelis both froze. Yae also raised her head, unable to conceal her surprise—Eden? Had she returned?
"When you got into trouble last time, I had a bad feeling in my heart. I just got off the plane early this morning and rushed back to the Golden Courtyard, but unfortunately... it seems I was still a step too late."
"Eden..."
"Actually, I saw everything that happened in the command hall through Neko's pinhole camera. And I have no reason to stop a young man from doing what he wants to do..."
Xu Qi narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward Pardofelis.
Neko guiltily turned away at once, looking left and right.
"Kid." The voice changed. It was Professor Mobius. "Come outside and look above you."
Xu Qi's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran out of the hall! Seeing this, the Mode Capital Metro employees inside also hurried out. They wanted to see what Xu Qi had heard.
And as it turned out... what happened before their eyes was something that could only be seen in a movie...
A tremendous engine roar came from above them. A violent gale swept over every employee who rushed out of the command hall.
Before you continue