Tracking Squad

Ji Xun's acting skills, honed by his experience as a professional actor, allowed him to easily evade the searching gazes.

However, he didn't rush to board. Instead, he deliberately walked around the train cars.

He wanted to get a better look at the train.

Just in case something unexpected happened, he needed to know how he could escape if he were on board.

After circling around, Ji Xun realized this train was quite unusual.

It was a sixteen-car steam train, and the cars were much wider than those of trains in his previous life, resembling plump armored beetles.

Even more exaggerated was the demon-head metal ramming horn at the front of the engine. Each car was reinforced with thick steel plates fastened by large rivets. There were no windows, only ventilation grilles covered with sheet metal. He estimated that even the tanks from his previous life wouldn't have such formidable defense.

Judging by its appearance, it was clearly designed to defend against monsters.

After all, the armored plates of the cars still bore scratch marks and dried, blackened bloodstains left by unknown monsters.

While it was safe, it wasn't ideal for Ji Xun.

Once he was on board, it would be like being trapped in a metal box with no apparent escape route.

For a moment, Ji Xun hesitated, wondering if the risk of leaving by train now was too great.

"Huh? Was that an Extraordinary Trait surging from that guy just now? Living people have that too?"

Ji Xun wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. While observing the train, he thought he saw a surge of an irregularly shaped Extraordinary Trait from someone boarding amidst the crowd.

It looked like it was out of control?

But it vanished in an instant.

He wasn't sure if he had seen it correctly.

As fate would have it, while Ji Xun was observing the train, he happened to overhear two people arguing about something.

One seemed to be a station administrator, while the other, a man in a trench coat and hat, was trying to persuade him earnestly.

"Halt the train's departure? For what reason?"

"An order from Upper City? Well, it seems a big shot has arrived at our Demon Cross camp."

"Heh, if your Blackwater Mercenary Group wants to sell your asses to those nobles in Upper City, our Hunter's Guild has no interest. Just tell me what's going on, don't be so damn evasive. And 'big shot'? That act won't fly here! Unless monsters are attacking the camp, no one can stop this train from running!"

"..."

Although Ji Xun only caught snippets of the conversation, he understood.

The man in the hat wanted the train conductor to halt the departure, but he was met with mockery from the conductor.

Listening to the exchange, Ji Xun found it strange: "Didn't the Cao family govern Sinless City? Why don't they even have the authority to stop a train?"

This was his biggest worry before.

He was afraid that the young master of the Cao family would use his power to blockade the entire camp, and then conduct a thorough search, leaving him trapped like a turtle in a jar.

But now, it seemed the governor's influence wasn't as great as he thought?

These hunters from Sinless City were something else.

No wonder Chu Jiu had told him to take the train before; she must have known that the Cao family wouldn't be able to halt the train.

"Wuwu... wuwu..."

Just then, the train's whistle blew.

"Hurry up and board, we're about to depart."

The hunters, who had been smoking, chatting, and idling beneath the cars, heard the whistle and began calling out to each other to get on board.

Seeing this, Ji Xun no longer hesitated and squeezed onto the train, blending in with the crowd.

As soon as he entered the car, Ji Xun's brow furrowed.

Without windows, the smell inside the train was overwhelming.

It was difficult for hunters to bathe often, so the stench of sweat, foot odor, smoke, the metallic smell of blood from corpses, and various other strange odors mingled together. The heat radiated, making the car as stuffy and pungent as a sauna.

However, the hunters inside seemed accustomed to it. Some wore gas masks for their adventures to filter the smell, while others ate and drank as usual, appearing completely unfazed.

But seeing this, Ji Xun actually felt this environment was advantageous.

Chu Jiu had used the Odor-Removing Potion earlier because she was afraid of being tracked.

This meant that there must be Extraordinary abilities related to enhanced senses in this world.

Therefore, in Ji Xun's opinion, the [Odor-Removing Potion] itself was a flaw.

Using it before was fine.

But now, if someone was actually tracking him, and they found someone among a crowd of smelly people who had a very clean scent, it would immediately arouse suspicion.

The pungent smell inside the carriage perfectly concealed this flaw.

Each car was packed with about two to three hundred people, and there were no seats, so the odors had already mixed together.

More people were still boarding behind him, and Ji Xun followed the crowd further into the carriage.

As Ji Xun boarded, several groups of people had to rush onto the train.

The Cao family's influence wasn't enough to stop the Hunter's Guild from departing, so the Blackwater Mercenary Group members had no choice but to board as well, hoping to find the person they were looking for.

Just as Ji Xun had predicted, the eldest young master of the Cao family wouldn't publicize the fact that the "T-Class Cataclysm Source" in the alternate dimension had been taken.

After all, if only one person knew, they could still find a way to get it back slowly even if it was lost.

But if the news were to spread, there would be many others coveting the item.

No matter who it fell into the hands of, it would be even harder to retrieve.

Therefore, he could only send people to search in secret.

In carriage number 1, an elite reconnaissance team of four also hurried over and boarded the train.

There was a burly man with a buzz cut wearing a military green vest, a charming woman with brown hair in a black leather jacket, a scrawny man fiddling with a dagger, and finally, a sleazy man with a bulbous nose.

"Hey boss, what kind of mission is this? We were summoned so urgently?"

"It's an urgent mission assigned by higher-ups. We need to find two people on this train."

"Who?"

"They said a man and a woman."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Holy crap, everyone on this train is either a man or a woman. We can't just arrest them all, can we?"

After discussing it, they all felt a headache coming on.

But the intelligence from their group leader was precisely this.

"I might have a clue. Someone from the group just sent a message saying that dimension 407 has disappeared."

"What dimension?"

"407."

"That's impossible. Was that dimension cleared? I heard some people in the group talk about that dimension. Even a few B-Class Calamities wouldn't be easy to deal with in there, and it even had restrictions on entry levels. A Card Master Apprentice wouldn't be able to break through it!"

"The news hasn't spread yet. But that's the reality."

"Oh, wasn't that alternate dimension being guarded by our group? In that case, the group leader was outsmarted. It wasn't one of ours who broke through?"

"..."

At this, all four knew roughly who they were looking for.

The [Anomaly 407 Containment Facility] was first discovered by their Blackwater Mercenary Group, making it almost their private property.

In their opinion, outsiders had taken a treasure that rightfully belonged to their group, so they couldn't let it go.

"The group leader gave a strict order that we must find those two people. I estimate they might have lost something very important."

"That alternate dimension produced quite a few rare materials and even yielded Silver Cards. If it was truly cleared, maybe it could even produce a Golden-quality Demon Mark. We really can't let those people go."

"Yeah. Our stuff was stolen, and the group leader is probably furious. No wonder the mission is so urgent. I was just hunting mutated monsters in the ruins, and I was urgently recalled."

"The situation might be worse than we anticipated. The group leader's intention is to spare no expense! This concerns the life and death of our Blackwater Group!"

"What? Life and death? Is it that exaggerated?"

"..."

The four immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and vaguely guessed what was happening.

But urgent or not, with thousands of people on the train, finding a man and a woman sounded like a complete fantasy.

"But with just this little information, how the hell are we supposed to find them?"

"Old Dog, stop complaining. Besides, it's not like we have no clues at all. First, the alternate dimension was cleared just half an hour ago. They might still have a special scent on them. They boarded within the last half hour, so pay close attention to those without seats. Second, Card Master Apprentices. Third, height. Fourth, they might be alone or in pairs. Be thorough, and it should be enough to find them."

"Boss, you're asking too much of me. The smell in this carriage is already making my nose go numb, and you want me to find someone?"

"The higher-ups gave a strict order. Use that Ultimate Card."

"Really use it? If I use it, I won't be able to use my nose for months. Plus, that card was hard-earned..."

"Use it!"

Hearing his captain say that, the man with the bulbous nose reluctantly took out a card with a hunting dog pattern drawn on it.

He pouted and softly uttered, "Release!"

Then, the six-pointed star formation on the back of the card lit up with blue light, and the contained extraordinary power merged into his body. The man with the bulbous nose's body immediately underwent a change.

With a series of "crackling" bone growth sounds, the man with the bulbous nose grew a foot taller on the spot. Even more bizarrely, his face slowly protruded, transforming into a dog's face with a long snout?

Looking at him as a whole, the man with the bulbous nose had clearly become a slender hunting dog standing on its hind legs.

Old Dog reluctantly pulled his hood over his face and mumbled, "Boss, I'll go take a stroll through the carriages then."

Meanwhile, Ji Xun was playing poker with the hunters in his carriage.

Thanks to 'Whispering Gale' for 1000, 'Anno Domini 1', 'Blood-Soaked Solitude', and 'GT Ten Thousand Miles of Red' for their reward support~