He activated his Spiritual Vision, but the observer's gaze merely swept past, not lingering on him for long.
'The gaze came from the train?'
Sensing the general direction it came from, Lin Qi saw the Red and Green Train.
The entire train was encased in high-strength armor and even outfitted with numerous weapons.
It was less a vehicle for transportation and more a war machine.
Traveling by train was clearly safer than by air, which was likely why the company had made these arrangements.
'But danger has already infiltrated the train.'
The first two cars of the train were occupied solely by Liu's Heavy Industries personnel. The cars behind them, however, carried a considerable number of employees from other corporations.
Although Red Fruit City was the territory of Liu's Heavy Industries, the major corporations were deeply intertwined, and other companies had branch offices there as well.
Given the way major corporations operated, Greenfield City activating its Iron Curtain was bound to attract attention.
The sixteen nearly-full cars of the Red and Green Train were enough to reveal the major corporations' intentions.
With personnel from major corporations across nearly half the Asian Administrative Region gathered here, would the Mercenaries really make a move on the train?
Lin Qi didn't know, nor could he escape.
...
At the entrance to Car Two, Lin Qi had his identity verified and entered.
"Who is he?"
"Don't know him."
"I've never seen him among the A-level Researchers."
The entire car was filled with A-level Researchers from Liu's Heavy Industries, along with a few mid- to high-level managers.
Not one of them was under thirty-five.
Lin Qi's youthful face drew a great deal of attention as he entered the car.
The car was nearly full. The seats were arranged in rows of four, two on each side of a central aisle. Only a few scattered window seats were still empty.
The company's smart system hadn't assigned specific seats, only cars. But surely the system had taken the number of available seats into account.
'There can't be standing room only, can there?'
Walking up to the nearest available spot, Lin Qi asked an A-level Researcher in the aisle seat, "Excuse me, is this window seat taken?"
He maintained a veneer of basic politeness, a habit he'd kept since childhood.
"It's taken." The man shook his head.
Lin Qi glanced around. Everyone was already in their seats. He had arrived right on time, so it was unlikely anyone would be later than him.
'So who was it taken for?'
He moved to the next potential seat, but before he could even speak, the A-level Researcher in that aisle seat said, "It's taken."
'Taken again?'
The car gradually fell silent.
Lin Qi was beginning to understand the problem.
'Are these company old-timers trying to exclude me?'
His gaze shifted to the front row, landing on several "elites" in white shirts.
Those men were company managers, not researchers.
Their career track was separate from the researchers', but their presence in this car meant their status was not low. At the very least, their authority Level was higher than Wei Wei's.
The men didn't move, not even glancing back.
Lin Qi's age suggested his rank in the company wasn't very high. He clearly wasn't senior management, so he was most likely a researcher.
But his participation in this cross-city transfer meant he had to be A-Class, perhaps having just been promoted in the last couple of days.
Judging by his age, he might even be a priority candidate for development.
The old-timers hated people like that.
They weren't social, yet they got promoted faster.
But A-level Researchers were the backbone of the company. Even if minor conflicts arose, the company generally wouldn't take action against them.
In his year since joining the company, this was the first time Lin Qi had witnessed workplace bullying.
"This car seems to be full. Why don't you go ask in the car ahead, or the one behind?"
It was impossible to tell who had spoken, but the voice was dripping with schadenfreude. Whoever it was, they meant no good.
The car ahead was Car One. Its accommodations were far superior to the others, as it was the exclusive car for the company's truly high-ranking executives.
As for the cars behind, those belonged to the other companies.
"Alright."
Lin Qi nodded and headed forward down the aisle.
Every eye in the car instantly fell upon Lin Qi, including those of the men in white shirts in the first row.
They sat closest to Car One, but it was a place they would almost certainly never get into in their entire lives.
All eyes panned to follow Lin Qi until he reached the very front of the car.
Lin Qi stepped out of Car Two and into the vestibule connecting the cars.
[Access Denied. Submit Application?]
An access-controlled partition separated the cars, preventing free passage between them.
However, one could request access through the train's system, pending approval from authorized personnel.
"Submit application. Requesting review by Liu Xuan."
[Confirming Authorization... Application Submitted.]
The area was completely soundproof. Although the people in Car Two could see Lin Qi's movements, they couldn't hear a thing.
...
「In Car Two.」
"Is that guy an idiot? He didn't actually go and apply for access, did he?"
"You people are terrible. He might be one of the company's priority candidates. Are you trying to ruin his career?"
"Tch. He's just an idiot. Does he really think being part of the priority development program gives him the right to request access?"
"Haha..."
Laughter erupted throughout the car.
...
"Lin Qi?"
Liu Xuan's voice came through. She had just entered Car One when she received the access request from the train's system.
Lin Qi freely admitted he was someone who got in through connections. After all, without Liu Xuan, he never would have been able to work directly at the Weapon Research Institute.
'If you have connections, you have to use them!'
Lin Qi didn't embellish the story, simply recounting what had just happened in Car Two.
Beside Liu Xuan, Liu Li leaned in and barged into the conversation. "Who told you to always show up at the last minute? If you'd gotten on the train earlier, none of this would've happened!"
"Sis, don't mind him! Let him go back to Car Two and be embarrassed!"
Hearing Liu Li's voice, Lin Qi thought to himself what a vicious little sister she was.
'Little sisters really are the worst, no matter where you are in the world.'
Liu Xuan pushed Liu Li away. "Stop it."
She turned back to Lin Qi. "Come to Car One. It's quite empty here."
With that, she used her authority to grant Lin Qi access.
On the entire train, it seemed Liu Xuan's authority was of the highest tier.
The heavy metal door between Car One and Car Two, a door that seemed to separate two different worlds, slowly slid open.
The light in Car One seemed a little brighter than in Car Two. Lin Qi stepped inside.
After Lin Qi entered, the heavy metal door slowly shut behind him.
The fleeting flash of light drew the eyes of everyone in Car Two.
Even after the metal door closed and the vestibule returned to darkness, their gazes remained fixed on it.
"He... he got in?"
"How did he get access?"
Before they could even process what had happened, an email, sent via the corporate system to everyone in Car Two, plunged the car into a deathly silence.
[Violation of company policy has been confirmed. By order of senior management, this month's salary will be docked as punishment, and 20 points will be deducted from your annual performance review.]