The environment in Car No. 1 wasn't as luxurious as Lin Qi had imagined.
The car had twelve seats in total, two to a row, making it much more spacious than Car No. 2, but that was the only difference.
This train was only meant to be used in emergencies; its interior wasn't designed for comfort.
Liu Xuan and Liu Li were sitting in the frontmost seats. Lin Qi considered going over to say hello but was stopped by a bodyguard.
The bodyguard, fully implanted with an A-Class Prosthetic Body, pointed to a seat in the back. "You sit there."
As long as he had a seat, he was fine. Lin Qi didn't particularly need to exchange a few words with Liu Xuan.
After he sat down in the designated seat, there were still three empty spots in Car No. 1.
There were four bodyguards in the car.
Besides Lin Qi, the rest of the passengers were all members of the Liu Clan.
Liu Xuan, Liu Li, and two young men whom Lin Qi didn't recognize.
Under the blanket of his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi was surprised to find that among the four Liu Clan members, aside from Liu Xuan's prosthetic left eye, the other three had no Prosthetic Body implants whatsoever.
'Liu's Heavy Industries made its name with Prosthetic Bodies, yet most of the clan members don't have any implants?'
Lin Qi knew of two groups that resisted Prosthetic Body implantation.
One was the Wizard community, and the other was the Assassin Alliance. 'Could the Liu Clan be involved with either of them?'
It was impossible to tell for now. Lin Qi kept his Spiritual Vision active, checking the situation in the cars behind them.
The train cars were about thirty meters long. From his position at the rear of Car No. 1, Lin Qi's Spiritual Vision could only cover Cars No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, as well as a small part of Car No. 5.
Within the range of his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi didn't spot anyone who looked like a Mercenary.
However, he couldn't rule out the possibility that their disguises were simply too good. As long as they didn't look directly at him, he wouldn't be able to detect them with certainty.
Everything seemed normal. The train started to move slowly. Outside, armor plates slid shut, sealing the windows and blocking the view of the world outside.
The armor was made of high-grade, solid A-Class Materials—the same level of durability as Lin Qi's Short-Handled Tang Blade.
This spoke to the train's strategic importance to the two cities of Red Fruit and Greenfield.
If the Mercenaries' target was indeed on this train, attacking from the outside would be meaningless.
Even a legendary T0 Mercenary Corps would struggle to get heavy weaponry anywhere near the train, given the tight security maintained by the two major corporations.
Any planner with half a brain would choose to strike from within.
'The Liu Clan aren't fools. How could they just let someone sneak aboard?'
'Even if they hid among another company's employees, they couldn't have boarded the train that easily.'
'Unless the Liu Clan has a mole... or this is... bait.'
Realizing this key point, Lin Qi's taut nerves eased slightly.
If the sky came crashing down, the Liu Clan would be there to prop it up. There were four bodyguards with full-body A-Class implants out in the open, and who knew if there was an S-Class Professional lurking in the shadows.
All Lin Qi had to do was play the part of someone riding on Liu Xuan's coattails, keep quiet, and wait for the train to arrive at Greenfield City.
He retracted his Spiritual Vision, closed his eyes, and rested his mind, but he didn't enter a state of Meditation.
Meditation would cause Spiritual Particles to converge, and at close range, even other Extraordinary Professionals without Spiritual Vision could sense the anomaly.
The train ran smoothly. As far as Lin Qi knew, a flight between the two cities would only take about two hours.
The train wasn't as fast; this journey would take nearly five hours.
By his calculations, they were just about halfway through the trip.
If a Mercenary Corps was going to make a move, this would be the perfect time.
The train was halfway between the two cities. Reinforcements from either side would take about an hour to arrive.
Lin Qi extended his Spiritual Vision again, wanting to see what was really going on.
The moment he activated his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi nearly shot up from his seat.
Inside Car No. 2, the Liu Clan employees were either dead or dying. The few survivors were incapacitated and barely conscious.
Meanwhile, Cars No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 were completely peaceful, seemingly unaware that anything was wrong.
A Mercenary Squad was at the junction between Car No. 1 and No. 2, planting a directed-charge explosive.
'Shit, this isn't bait. There's a mole!'
Lin Qi couldn't afford to hesitate. His seat was within the blast radius; if that thing went off, he'd be severely injured at the very least.
'Tell Liu Xuan what's happening in Car No. 2?'
'No!'
'My identity as a Wizard would almost certainly be exposed.'
The mercenaries' movements left Lin Qi no time for hesitation.
'I have to stop them!'
His Spiritual Vision swept over them. All four Mercenaries were A-Class Implanters, but none had undergone full-body conversion.
'Full-body implants are too conspicuous, making them unsuitable for this kind of infiltration mission.'
'With their level of power, even if they get into Car No. 1, can they really take out those four bodyguards?'
'Fuck! What kind of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the Liu Clan running? There are moles among the bodyguards too!'
'I can't let them get into Car No. 1 and cause a panic. If they do, the threat level of the mole—the full-body A-Class Implanter hiding among the bodyguards—will go through the roof.'
Wizard Ability: Blood Manipulation. Activate!
...
Inside Car No. 2.
"Move it! The security override only lasts for another three minutes."
"Blast Dog, hurry up!"
The mercenary being hurried, codenamed Blast Dog, was securing the explosive device.
Blast Dog spoke as he worked. "Don't rush me. This Door is made of A-Class Materials. The charge placement has to be perfect."
As he spoke, Blast Dog suddenly felt a wave of intense discomfort.
His hands slowed.
[ALERT: INSUFFICIENT CARDIAC BLOOD SUPPLY]
[MEDICAL PROGRAM INITIATING. DIAGNOSING...]
[DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE: ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION]
The feedback came from Blast Dog's Intelligent Brain.
Gasping for breath, he cried, "Whistle! Medic! Help me!"
'My body is failing at a critical moment like this?'
'Damn it!'
'I knew this pathetic bit of flesh was useless. I should've replaced it with a Prosthetic Body implant ages ago.'
By the time his vision went black, Blast Dog still hadn't received any medical aid.
He turned his head to look at his squadmates. Whistle, Breach Rabbit, and Collection Rat—all three were clutching their chests as they slowly collapsed to the floor.
Blast Dog's eyes widened in a final, dying curse. "Damn it... there's an Extraordinary Professional on this train..."
Aside from common roles like the Martial Artist, every single Extraordinary Professional had methods that were sinister and defied all logic.
The Extraordinary and science were fundamentally incompatible.
But a method that could literally give someone a heart attack? Even a battle-hardened Mercenary like Blast Dog had never heard of such a thing.
In just three minutes, four battle-hardened Mercenaries were dead.
They died in silence, as if the Grim Reaper himself had passed by, casually swinging his scythe to claim their lives.
...
[ALERT: DANGER DETECTED IN CAR NO. 2]
[CAR NO. 2 HAS BEEN INDEPENDENTLY SEALED]
Three minutes passed. The security override expired, and the train's automated intelligence system sounded the alarm.
The four bodyguards immediately rose to their feet.
With Lin Qi deliberately watching them through his Spiritual Vision, he saw two of the bodyguards frown slightly as they stood up.
'Fuck! The Liu Clan really is S.H.I.E.L.D.! There are moles among the bodyguards, and there are two of them!'
This gave Lin Qi a massive headache.
'What do I do now?'
'Am I supposed to use my Ability again and kill two of the bodyguards?'