Terrorist Attack (Seeking Follow-ups, Seeking Votes)

Soon, ticket inspection began.

Yang Fan followed the queue forward.

Passengers ahead were checked one by one, and it was almost his turn.

"Please show your ticket."

The ticket inspector was a stranger to Yang Fan. She looked to be in her early twenties; her features were not exactly beautiful, but she carried a certain air of authority.

Yang Fan reached into his pocket, took out the ticket Na'er had bought for him, and handed it over.

"Here."

After a careful verification, the inspector let Yang Fan through to board the train.

This train bound for Shrek City filled up quickly.

Yang Fan peered out the window and noticed that many people had failed to board. That was not a major issue, however; he had been taking this route for months and was well-acquainted with the train's frequency and the staff on duty.

The train started slowly, heading straight for Shrek City.

"Tsk."

As Yang Fan habitually practiced the mental meditation technique passed down by Leng Yaozhu, he unexpectedly discovered that a few rats had snuck onto this Soul Guidance Train.

Seeing the ticket inspector passing by, Yang Fan waved his hand.

She noticed him and trotted over.

"Little brother, is something the matter?"

Mo Lan had a strong impression of the young man before her.

He was the cutest and most handsome boy she had seen on her first day of work. At one meter seventy, his youthful face clearly marked him as a young genius.

Such were the traits of a genius soul master; the youthfulness was due to his age, while his height was a result of soul power promoting his development.

Now that he had broken through to the third ring, Yang Fan finally looked a bit more like an adult.

"Does this train provide boxed meals?"

Is there a more private area on this train? I have something important to say.

As Mo Lan heard the two voices—one in her ears and one in her mind—her pupils dilated slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Yes, sir, please follow me."

Perhaps out of fear, Mo Lan tightly linked her arm with Yang Fan's.

Mo Lan possessed no soul power and was of average height for a woman. Wearing high heels, she was only slightly taller than Yang Fan.

Consequently, this movement made Yang Fan feel his arm brush against an astonishing softness, as if sinking into a warm cloud, causing his heart to skip a beat.

The two arrived at the restroom between the carriages and closed the door.

Just then, the Soul Guidance Communicator at Mo Lan's waist suddenly rang.

Mo Lan blushed, only then realizing how abrupt her actions had been.

"Miss Mo Lan, Miss Mo Lan, you must stay away from Carriage Five! There are criminals attempting to hijack our train; it is very dangerous!"

Mo Lan was immediately shocked. A hijacking? For a Soul Guidance Train, this was an absolute disaster!

"Miss Mo Lan, it seems you already know about the trouble I wanted to mention."

Standing to the side, Yang Fan had heard the device in Mo Lan's hand and confirmed her identity.

She was that extraordinary woman who had ended the tens of thousands of years of conflict between humans and soul beasts.

Most importantly, she had truly achieved it as a human, for she possessed not even a shred of soul power.

"A few months ago, there was a hijacking incident in the west that caused a Soul Guidance Train to explode, resulting in over five hundred casualties. This is likely the work of the same perpetrators. It's dangerous here; as a soul master, you should be able to jump from the train safely."

The more nervous Mo Lan became, the calmer she grew. It was truly bad luck to encounter such a thing on her first day of work!

Her first thought was to let the talented boy beside her find a chance to escape; children were the future of the Federation.

"Conductor, the number of criminals is high. I don't know how they managed to bring Soul Guidance Ray Guns on board. They have many weapons, including Soul Guidance Cluster Bombs already attached to the carriages."

"Our staff is in position and currently in a standoff with them. Bomb disposal is proceeding methodically from the rear of the train toward the carriage where the criminals are located."

Mo Lan watched the messages flooding the group chat, her expression growing increasingly grim.

She made a split-second decision and spoke in a low voice into the group: "Tell the driver's cabin: once I enter the vicinity of Carriage Five, immediately detach carriages six through sixteen. Let the first five carriages operate independently. Has the distress signal been sent to headquarters?"

"Are you planning to use yourself to draw their attention and sacrifice the people in the first five carriages?"

Yang Fan raised an eyebrow, asking curiously.

"This is merely a safety measure to prevent them from acting out of desperation. My identity is special; perhaps I can trade it for the lives of those people. Even if the negotiation fails, this will minimize the losses."

Mo Lan kicked off her high heels and opened the restroom door.

"You are a soul master, perhaps even one with great talent, but those are vicious criminals on the other side. You should leave quickly... if you can, try to look after the other ordinary people."

Mo Lan strode toward the fifth carriage.

"You can leave right now, and no one will blame you."

Listening to the final words transmitted by Mo Lan, Yang Fan smiled and lowered his head.

I've really been underestimated.

With great power comes great responsibility.

If he hadn't wanted to deal with this troublesome matter, why would Yang Fan have bothered finding an opportunity to notify Mo Lan in the first place?

Yang Fan summoned his martial soul. His first soul ring flickered; although his appearance didn't change, his overall presence diminished significantly, and his face became somewhat blurred.

This was the effect brought about by his soul ring breaking through the ten-thousand-year threshold. It compensated for the previous flaw where optical-psychological stealth was ineffective against technology, evolving it into a change at a higher dimension, such as quantum mechanics.

As long as the opponent's spiritual power wasn't far superior to Yang Fan's, even electronic devices couldn't see through him now. If he had evolved earlier, perhaps Xu Chengxing wouldn't have been able to find a trace of him even if he had dug three feet into the ground.

He stopped less than a meter away from Mo Lan, watching her negotiate in silence.

"Stop wasting your breath. What is a low-level staff member like you doing standing there? Call the train conductor over.

Our conditions are simple: tell the Federation government to release the group they captured twenty days ago. Once our people are safe, I will naturally let the hostages here go.

I know you can detach the rear carriages. But let me tell you, we have installed Soul Guidance Cluster Bombs in every single carriage..."

Yang Fan frowned. Why did this feel so much like the plot Tang Wulin encountered years later in the original work? Why was it so far ahead of schedule?

Back then, Mo Lan had already become the train conductor, but based on his careful observation of her martial soul, today might just be her first day on the job.

Mo Lan shouted toward the fifth carriage: "Don't be impulsive. The conditions have already been submitted, and I will do my best to mediate and help you achieve your goals. But please, promise me you won't harm the hostages."

The two sides haggled for a while longer until the criminal inside finally hesitated, speaking after a long silence:

"Fine, we'll trust you once. The bomb timer can be adjusted to one hour, but if you lie to me, then in one hour, everyone dies together."

Mo Lan took a deep breath and said, "Then let's discuss the terms now. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Mo Lan, a normal person with no soul power. My father is the Deputy Administrator of Heaven Dou City and a Federation Councilor, Mo Wu. So, I would like to negotiate with you. Please release the elderly, women, and children in the first five carriages first. In exchange, I will become your hostage."

Knowing the criminals might not believe her, Mo Lan produced more convincing proof.

"You can search for my image on the Soul Net. Combine that with my name and my father's, and I believe confirming my identity won't be difficult."

Yang Fan couldn't understand Mo Lan's train of thought at all.

Stupid woman. Revealing your identity in public like this—even if you can save people this time, what about the next?

In the original story, ever since her identity was exposed, Evil Soul Masters seemed to haunt wherever she went.

Because of this, someone even summarized the appearance patterns of Evil Soul Masters in Legend of the Dragon King:

1. If Mo Lan appears, there is a 50% chance of refreshing an Evil Soul Master.

2. If Tang Wulin appears, there is a 50% chance of refreshing an Evil Soul Master.

3. If both appear together, there is guaranteed to be an Evil Soul Master nearby. If there isn't, it only means the Evil Soul Master is brewing something big!