The answer to the question had already emerged the moment they fell into that brief silence.
Heinrich's face flushed red, and he looked as uncomfortable as a boiled shrimp.
"I, I... I am Lord Heinz's loyal hound!
I must follow everything Lord Heinz does!
I...
But I... I don't want to, I...
Damn it! Altos! I'll kill you!
This is the power of Bewitchment from the Demon Card! Don't listen to his lies! Attack together! Kill him."
Heinrich charged into the sky.
The brass knuckles on his hand flashed, and he threw a powerful, heavy punch.
The cloud patterns of the Hunt manifested, and the gear damage-control teams spread out a Cloud Pattern Barrier to block Heinrich's punch.
"What are you looking at? Don't just stand there!"
Heinrich turned his head in shame and anger, looking at the people who had remained where they were without attacking.
"Are you trying to betray Mr. Heinz!?"
One of them sighed, raised his head, and looked at Ye Qiyan, voicing what might have been their shared feelings.
"As a Train Conductor, I don't want Mr. Heinz to become that so-called apex.
Because if that happens...
Unless someone kills him, then... no matter how strong I become in the future, I'll still have to find a way to surpass Lord Heinz, the apex of 'humanity.'
Of course, there must be a way, but...
It really is a hassle..."
Another person continued:
"We're humans too, after all. After all these years, who doesn't want to grow stronger?
Instead of just being a perfectly good Train Conductor, he insists on becoming some True God...
Perhaps I can't understand Lord Heinz's ambition.
I... can't accept it."
The paths Train Conductors followed were always different.
But once Heinz became a so-called True God, the so-called apex of humanity...