The twilight at Silver Ridge Station was far from gentle.
Lin Zhiwan carried the newly reclaimed shotgun, walking along the gravel path beside the tracks toward the center of town. Deputy Supervisor Parsons followed her like a frightened quail, his eyes darting nervously between the shotgun and his own pair of expensive leather shoes.
Before she even reached the street corner, a pungent smell of acrid ash drifted through the air, carried by the crosswind.
"It's a fire! It's the Lin family shop!" a group of vagrants in the distance shouted, their voices laced with malicious glee.
Lin Zhiwan turned the corner, her pupils shrinking slightly.
It was a two-story wooden building situated in a prime location at the end of the street. At this moment, billowing black smoke was pouring out of the second-floor windows. Five or six sturdy men stood below the building, led by Old Man De. Holding an empty oil drum, his fleshy face twitched as he laughed wildly at the flames.
"That bitch Lin Zhiwan probably died in the tunnel! This territory is mine for the taking today. Burn it clean, boys! Tomorrow, I'm building an opium den right here!"
Parsons huddled in the shadows and whispered, "Miss Lin, Old Man De is very powerful in this town. He has connections to the Governor's inner circle... should we head back to the Railway Administration Office first?"
"Back to the Administration?" Lin Zhiwan let out a cold laugh, tossing the shotgun casually to Parsons. "That is an escape pod for the weak."
She began to run in the opposite direction. Her target wasn't the burning shop, but the massive, rusted steam water tower standing beside the station platform. It was used to refill the old-fashioned steam locomotives, its heavy cast-iron pipes glinting with a cold, hard light in the sunset.
Lin Zhiwan vaulted onto the water platform, her movements as swift and sharp as a bolt of black lightning.
"What are you doing? That's property of the Railway Bureau!" Old Man De finally spotted her and roared in terror.
Lin Zhiwan ignored him. She scanned the complex array of mechanical valves. Modern fluid mechanics modeled themselves instantly in her mind; she pinpointed the exact lever controlling the high-pressure main valve.
"Old man, since you like playing with fire, let me teach you the meaning of 'physical cooling'."
She snapped the hairpin from her hair and jammed it into the gap of the pressure-relief valve, throwing her entire body weight onto the main lever.
Crank!
The heavy cast-iron gears let out a tooth-grinding screech. Immediately after, the massive water pipe—a full thirty centimeters in diameter—emitted a beast-like roar as the immense water pressure blasted through the rusted nozzle.
BOOM!
A near-violent column of white water erupted, like a lunging water dragon. It spanned a distance of twenty meters and slammed with pinpoint accuracy into Old Man De's chest.
"Pfft—!"
Old Man De didn't even have time to scream. He was sent flying as if hit by a high-speed locomotive, soaring five meters back before crashing heavily into the mud.
Lin Zhiwan adjusted the angle of the nozzle with a deadpan expression. The high-pressure stream acted like a giant scythe, not only instantly suppressing the flames on the second floor but also washing the arsonists away, leaving them crawling in the dirt for their teeth. In an era without fire hydrants, this sudden burst of hundreds of pounds of pressure was nothing short of a miracle.
Two minutes later, Lin Zhiwan twisted the valve shut.
The entire street fell into a deathly silence, save for the hissing of the dying embers.
Lin Zhiwan jumped down from the water tower, stepping through the mud and soot as she walked toward the half-dead Old Man De.
She pulled the soot-stained deed to the shop from her pocket and slapped it directly against Old Man De's drenched face.
"First: You started the fire. You pay for the repairs."
"Second: From this day on, I take seventy percent of the freight commissions in this district."
Old Man De spat out a mouthful of bloody mud, staring at the woman in horror. "You... you're insane. The Railway Department won't let you get away with this..."
"Mr. Parsons," Lin Zhiwan called out without looking back.
Parsons, clutching the shotgun, came scurrying over with a fawning smile. "Miss Lin, your orders?"
"Tell him. What is my status now?"
Parsons wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, straightened his back, and barked at Old Man De: "Look closely! This is Miss Lin. She just saved Locomotive No. 19. She is a 'Senior Consultant' specially appointed by the Railway Administration. If you cross her, you cross the British Empire's Railway Bureau!"
Old Man De collapsed completely into the mud.
Lin Zhiwan stepped over his body and pushed open the trembling doors of her shop. She surveyed the wreckage inside, a cruel and excited smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
"Ludwig, stop hiding at the back door," she said toward the shadows. "Come out. Calculate how many tons of steel I'll need to turn this place into the largest logistics distribution center at Silver Ridge Station."
In the shadows, a grease-stained technician emerged, looking utterly dumbfounded. The wrench in his hand clattered to the floor.
Lin Zhiwan turned around and gazed at the tracks stretching into the unknown.
"This era may be dilapidated, but its rules... they are so very easy to rewrite."