The interior of Car One wasn't as luxurious as Lin Qi had imagined.
There were twelve seats in the car, two to a row. It was considerably more spacious than Car Two, but that was about it.
The train was only used in emergencies, and its interior hadn't been designed for comfort.
Liu Xuan and Liu Li sat in the front row. Lin Qi had wanted to go say hello, but a bodyguard stopped him.
The bodyguard, whose entire body had been fitted with A-level cybernetics, pointed to a seat in the back. "Sit there."
At least there was a seat. It wasn't as if Lin Qi had to chat with Liu Xuan.
He took the seat the bodyguard had indicated. Car One still had three empty seats.
There were four bodyguards in the car.
Everyone else besides Lin Qi was a member of the Liu Family.
Liu Xuan, Liu Li, and two young men Lin Qi didn't recognize.
Under Psychic Vision, Lin Qi was surprised to discover that, of the four Liu Family members, only Liu Xuan had a cybernetic left eye. The other three had no cybernetic implants at all.
"The Liu Family built its fortune on cybernetics, yet most of its members have no implants?"
Lin Qi now knew of two groups that resisted cybernetic implants.
One was Wizards, and the other was the Assassin's League. Could the Liu Family be connected to either of them?
Unable to reach a conclusion for now, Lin Qi kept Psychic Vision open and surveyed the cars behind him.
Each train car was about thirty meters long. From the rear of Car One, Lin Qi's Psychic Vision could reach Cars Two, Three, and Four, as well as part of Car Five.
Within range of his Psychic Vision, Lin Qi didn't spot anyone who looked like a mercenary.
But they might simply be good at disguising themselves. Unless they looked directly at Lin Qi, he couldn't identify them with certainty.
Everything seemed normal. The train began to move slowly, and the armor outside slid into place, covering the windows. No one inside could see what was happening outside.
The armor was made of high-grade material, all of it A-level—the same strength as Lin Qi's Short Tang Dao.
That gave him an idea of the train's strategic importance to the two cities of Redfruit and Greenland.
If the mercenaries' target was this train, attacking it from the outside would be pointless.
Even a legendary T0 Mercenary Group would struggle to get high-powered weapons near the train under the strict surveillance of the two corporations.
As long as the people planning the operation had any brains, they'd choose to strike from within.
"The Liu Family isn't stupid. Why would they let anyone in so easily?"
"Even if someone were mixed in with employees from other companies, they couldn't just board the train without a problem."
"Unless there's a mole in the Liu Family—or this is... bait."
Once he'd figured out the crucial point, Lin Qi's nerves began to relax.
If the sky fell, the Liu Family would hold it up. Four bodyguards with full-body A-level implants were in plain sight. Who knew whether there was an S-level operative hidden in the shadows?
Lin Qi's job was to play the role of someone with connections to Liu Xuan, stay quiet, and wait for the train to reach Greenland City.
He withdrew Psychic Vision, closed his eyes, and rested, but didn't meditate.
Meditation would draw Spiritual Energy Particles together. Even Extraordinary Professionals without Psychic Vision could sense something was wrong if they were close enough.
The train rolled steadily onward. As far as Lin Qi knew, traveling between the two cities by Flying Vehicle took only about two hours.
The train was slower, taking nearly five.
By his calculations, they were now exactly halfway through the journey.
If a Mercenary Group was going to make a move, this was the best time.
The train was halfway between the two cities, and reinforcements from either side would take nearly an hour to arrive.
Lin Qi opened Psychic Vision again to see what was happening.
The moment he did, he almost sprang out of his seat.
Inside Car Two, the Liu Family employees lay dead or wounded. Even those who were still alive had been left unable to move and were barely conscious.
Cars Three, Four, and Five were perfectly peaceful, as if no one had noticed anything amiss.
A mercenary team was setting up directional explosive charges at the junction between Cars One and Two.
"Damn it. This isn't bait. There's a mole!"
Lin Qi couldn't waste a second. He was within the blast radius, and if the charges went off, he'd at least be seriously injured.
Should he tell Liu Xuan what was happening in Car Two?
No!
That would most likely expose his identity as a Wizard.
The mercenaries weren't giving Lin Qi a moment to hesitate.
He had to stop them!
Psychic Vision spread out. All four mercenaries had A-level cybernetic implants, but none had full-body implants.
Full-body implants were too conspicuous for an infiltration mission like this.
With their strength, could they really take out the four bodyguards if they got into Car One?
"Fuck! What is the Liu Family, S.H.I.E.L.D.? The bodyguards have a mole too!"
He couldn't let them enter Car One and cause a commotion. Otherwise, the threat posed by the mole with full-body A-level implants among the bodyguards would become unimaginably dangerous.
Wizard ability: Blood Manipulation. Activate!
Inside Car Two.
"Move. The override will last another three minutes."
"Demolition Dog, hurry up!"
The mercenary being rushed, code-named Demolition Dog, was fixing the explosive device in place.
Demolition Dog worked as he spoke. "Don't rush me. This door's made of A-level material. The charges have to be positioned precisely."
As he spoke, Demolition Dog suddenly felt terribly unwell.
His hands slowed.
[Warning: insufficient blood flow to the heart]
[Medical protocol initiating. Diagnosing]
[Diagnosis complete: acute myocardial infarction]
His Brain gave him the results.
He gasped for breath. "Whistle, medical help! Save me!"
His body had failed him at the worst possible moment?
Damn it!
He'd always known there was no point keeping those few pounds of human flesh. He should've replaced it with cybernetic implants sooner.
Demolition Dog's vision went dark, but no medical help came.
He turned to look at his teammates. Whistle, Breakthrough Rabbit, and Collector Mouse were all clutching their chests and slowly collapsing to the floor.
Demolition Dog's eyes widened. He cursed with his dying breath. "Damn it, there's an Extraordinary Professional on the train..."
Extraordinary Professionals—aside from common professions like Martial Artists—each had their own bizarre, unnatural methods.
The extraordinary and science were natural enemies.
But even a battle-hardened mercenary like Demolition Dog had never heard of anyone causing heart attacks like this.
In just three minutes, four battle-hardened mercenaries were dead.
They'd died without a sound, as if the Reaper had happened to pass by, swung his scythe, and taken their lives.
[Warning: emergency detected in Car Two] [Car Two has been sealed off]
Three minutes later, the override expired, and the train's smart system issued an alert.
The four bodyguards immediately stood up.
As Lin Qi watched closely, Psychic Vision revealed that two of the bodyguards frowned slightly as they rose.
"Fuck! The Liu Family really is S.H.I.E.L.D. The bodyguards have a mole—and there are two of them!"
Lin Qi felt like his head was splitting.
What now?
Did he have to use his ability again and kill two more bodyguards?
Before you continue