Xu Huo ordered his food calmly, paying no mind to the stares from the other people in the dining car. When it arrived, he ate at an unhurried pace.
The people in matching uniforms were clearly wary of him. Three of them studied him discreetly, then, at a middle-aged man's signal, returned to the car behind them.
The door between the First Passenger Car and the dining car was solid, with no windows. The moment it opened, Xu Huo caught sight of a good number of black briefcases on the floor, along with some metal components he'd never seen before, scattered across the tables and floor.
After his meal, he asked a staff member whether he could enter the lounge. The staff member told him that the lounge was expensive and, like the dining car, closed to passengers after lights-out. So even if he paid, he'd still have to return to his passenger car before then.
The kitchen up front wasn't open to visitors, so Xu Huo followed the staff member back to the Third Car through a restricted passage. On the way, he tried to get access to the staff-only passage from the other man, but the man skillfully dodged his request.
However, the staff member did remind him of something else. "D009C Rift Zone is prone to thunderstorms. You may want to buy a pair of Train Crew Headphones to protect your hearing, sir."
"An area prone to thunderstorms?" Xu Huo paid without hesitation and asked, "Will they affect the train?"
"Please don't worry. The train has the most advanced lightning protection systems and won't be struck. You only need to protect yourself during the storm," the staff member replied with a smile.
Xu Huo returned to his car and soon received a neatly packaged square box. Inside