But it was already too late. There wasn't enough time left for me to keep trying! Romieu's death made me realize that unless we dealt this world a heavy blow, people would never remember the pain!"
"Xia Ya, I'm not like you."
"How are you different? Your Mental Power is completely beyond that of an ordinary person. I can feel it—you're just like me. You're a New Type too, right? As a New Human, you must have already sensed it, right? The will belonging to Romieu that remains in this tunnel! He's already dead!"
"So we can't let more people end up like him, with their souls imprisoned in this pitch-black tunnel!"
"If I could do that, why would I have planned this operation?"
"Give it up, Xu Qi! You... shouldn't die here!"
"If I gave up here, then back then... Back then! Where would the meaning of being saved by Romieu be?!"
"What?"
Inside Sazabi, Xia Ya froze.
Saved by Romieu...
"Xu Qi! You're...!"
"That's right! I was a passenger on train 956 back then! So I know... exactly how desperate and how much pain I was in at that moment!"
Inside V2V, Xu Qi's gaze was firmer than ever.
"I won't let that pain happen again! Since Romieu chose to save us with his life last time, then this time! It's my turn!"
"Well said, young man!"
The sudden voice made Xia Ya and Xu Qi freeze at the same time!
When they looked behind them, they found that numerous Exoskeleton Armors had appeared, moving in the same direction as Xu Qi! Just as Xu Qi had done at first, they were gradually slowing down so that the train could catch up with them!
"You are... Iron Men? You're the special police!"
"We can't let you Mode Capital Metro people hog all the glory..." A brisk, mature female voice came from inside one of the flame-red armors.
"You can call me Lieutenant Himeko, young man. And—protecting the citizens is also the duty of our Mode Capital special police!"
The armors kept closing in on the train. Then...
"Bang!"
The sounds of impacts came one after another, accompanied by a series of screams.
Even Lieutenant Himeko was no exception. The terrible impact had been greatly weakened by V2V, but it was still more than their standard armors could withstand.
"I really did underestimate this job..."
She ultimately withstood it, but some of the special police failed to control their relative speed as they approached. They took too great an impact and were sent flying by the train!
"Ah!!"
"Tsk! Damn it..." Himeko knew that being knocked away and crushed beneath the train in a situation like this was basically certain death...
"Lieutenant Himeko! No... this is far too dangerous! You don't have to come die with me!"
"Then why do you think you're here?!"
Xu Qi was rendered speechless.
"Sorry..." Beside Xu Qi, Himeko said solemnly from within the crimson armor, "This should have been our special police's job from the start. Our dereliction of duty created this situation.
"Consider this our repayment, young man—all of you! Push the Solar Furnace with all your might! At a time like this, don't worry about whether we can stop the train before we run out of energy!"
The worst that could happen was that they would all die together!
"Understood, Lieutenant Himeko!"
Six or seven Exoskeleton Armors successfully connected with the train. At that moment, none of them were thinking about saving energy so they could escape. They had only one thought.
Stop...
"Stop!"
Xia Ya had clearly sensed what was happening outside. He closed his eyes regretfully, a trace of tears seeming to glimmer at their corners.
"Still, we couldn't carry out the plan perfectly? In the end, this sadness will spread sooner or later. Humanity must also atone for souls filled with such disregard for life. Why don't you understand, Xu Qi...?"
"Shut up! If you hadn't been so radical, how could humanity have become so desperate?"
"But I don't think things are quite that desperate yet."
A communication signal laced with electrical static sounded inside V2V. Xu Qi froze—Professor Mobius!?
"Professor Mobius!"
"That's right, Xu Qi. Although this crappy drive can't even filter out the static, we'll make do with it for now. Listen carefully. I need you to aim the signal-amplifying device on V2V at the train cars..."
Xu Qi's eyes lit up after hearing her out.
With his current Mental Power, he could basically control all of V2V's functions.
Without needing Mobius to teach him, a small mechanical arm extended from the expansion pack on his back and aimed at the inside of the train.
"Good! This way, we'll be able to obtain the situation inside car 956."
······
"Are you ready, young man?"
Inside the train car, the white-haired girl whose name was unknown made another hand signal to Kosma.
Kosma gave a slight nod. At the same time, he kept the armed man in the passageway locked in the corner of his eye. He would snatch away the man's assault rifle and throw it to the girl...
If that were all, he could certainly do it.
But what if the others reacted and began slaughtering the civilians?
Just as Kosma began hesitating again, he suddenly felt the watch on his wrist release electrical pulses that stimulated his skin.
The electrical signal lasted for varying lengths of time. Kosma immediately realized it—it was Morse code!
Translated from the Golden Courtyard's unique method of communication, it meant...
"Take control of the train car. I'll back you up."
Move!
"Lieutenant Himeko?"
Inside car 956, Kosma held his breath and focused. He was now closest to the terrorists in the passageway between the cars, so there was a good chance of success.
But he had only one opportunity...
Kosma suddenly raised his head!
To hell with it!
"Hm?"
One of the hooded men seemed to sense something. Just as he was about to turn toward Kosma, his vision had barely shifted when everything before his eyes went black.
His body sprang up like lightning, and long fingers drove precisely into the man's eyes.
The ferocity of the attack even made the white-haired girl with a single ponytail, who had been observing the situation, shudder. This kid... had some skill!
Of course, Kosma hadn't forgotten the key point of the operation. While the man screamed in agony, Kosma first used him as a shield, hiding in front of him.
Then he snatched the automatic rifle from the man's hands and threw it toward the girl!
At the same time, flames erupted at the front of the train!
Because of their size, the Exoskeleton Armors couldn't enter the cars. But with special police present, their armors were equipped with ranged weapons!
The gunfire at the front of the train immediately drew the attention of most of the terrorists. The girl also leaped into the air and caught the rifle Kosma had thrown.
The situation was now clear. The terrorists at the front of the train had been distracted by the police, while two terrorists guarded each passageway between the cars.
Kosma had only dealt with one. The other had already reacted and was about to attack.
Then...
"Shigure Kira! Snipe the target!"
Even in midair, Shigure Kira's hands remained unnervingly steady as she held the rifle.
"Bang!"
One clean shot! It struck the forehead of the man behind Kosma!
Kosma stared blankly—is she really that good?
Shigure Kira landed smoothly on the backs of the passengers who were still crouching in place with their hands over their heads.
There had been a brief commotion when she fired, but the citizens of Mode Capital seemed highly disciplined. No one got up and ran around. Instead, they crouched even more firmly on the ground with their hands over their heads.
That was exactly right.
Using the passengers' backs as stepping stones, Shigure Kira leaped up again! Fortunately, they were currently in the first car... Since the police were handling the front of the train, all she had to do was snipe every standing target in the rear cars!
Shigure Kira rushed to Kosma's side. Ignoring the shock on the boy's face, she raised her rifle—and fired!
"Bang!"
······
Inside the command center at Meilong Base, someone suddenly reported.
"Monitoring of car 956 has been restored!"
Chief Engineer Xia's spirits lifted.
"Project it onto the big screen!"
The giant screen split into four. The upper-left showed the scene outside the train, where everyone was pushing it together. The other three screens showed the monitoring footage inside the train.
"This is... huh?"
On the screen, a white-haired girl with a single ponytail held a rifle in an extremely steady stance, shooting down the terrorists in the other train cars one by one!
Not a single shot missed. Every bullet struck the center of an enemy's forehead!
Ten shots in total! She had killed every terrorist, including those at the rear of the train!
"What kind of monster is this?"
While the others were still marveling, Mei suddenly realized—Xu Qi could be saved!
······
Shigure Kira lowered her rifle and winked at Kosma. "Not bad, young man. You've got nerves of steel."
Kosma, however, grew tense instead.
He raised the terrorist whose eyes he had gouged out and whose breathing was already faint as a shield. Looking at Shigure Kira, he asked warily, "Who are you?"
A very sound judgment.
Even Mobius and the others aboard the helicopter narrowed their eyes solemnly. This girl was clearly no ordinary person. But now was not the time to dwell on that.
"Kosma!"
The watch vibrated. This time it wasn't an electric signal, but a direct call—it was Xu Qi.
"Don't worry about her for now. Immediately follow my instructions and lower all the train's pantographs! Once it loses its power source, we can stop the train!"
"Okay!"
Shigure Kira watched the watch in Kosma's hand with interest.
What attracted her wasn't the communication device itself, but the static coming from beside him during the call. It was obvious that the Exoskeleton Armors outside were pushing the train.
The earlier shaking of the train must also have meant that someone had successfully connected to the speeding train.
There really were people who weren't afraid of death... They even dared to do something like this?
Shigure Kira couldn't help curving her lips upward—interesting.
······
Outside the train, everyone still pushing it heard the good news.
Before you continue