Chapter 12: Death Without Warning

  Leon Schmidt's proposal sparked whispered discussions among everyone.

  Cooperate? With a man of unknown origin, equipped with illegal monitoring devices, who'd just been attacked by death? The foundation of trust had already been ground to powder by successive deaths and lies.

  "Cooperate? How do we cooperate? Turn those toys of yours on us?" Pierre Chan was the first to object sharply, full of wariness and even fear toward Leon. "Who knows if you're not the thief crying 'stop thief'? Maybe the attack just now was your self-directed performance, just to gain our trust!"

  "What Mr. Chan says is not without reason." Kenneth Ryder spoke cautiously, his gaze moving between Leon and Samuel. "Your story is exciting, and evidence can be fabricated. We need more proof."

  Irina Petrova said nothing, but she shifted her feet, subtly forming a triangular encirclement of Leon with Kenneth and Samuel, her attitude unmistakable.

  Samuel Jones clutched his still-aching head, face pale but eyes firm: "Mr. Schmidt, your information is valuable, but trust requires foundation. Until we can fully confirm your identity and purpose, we cannot accept your leadership, nor can we let you fully access our... defenses." He glanced at Anya and Kenneth.

  A flash of anger and impatience crossed Leon Schmidt's face, but he seemed to have anticipated this result. He gritted his teeth: "Foolish! You don't understand what you're facing at all! They have unimaginable privileges at the system's underlying level! Time is running out!"

  "What do you mean time is running out?" Charles suddenly asked. He'd been silently observing Leon, trying to discern truth from his micro-expressions and body language.

  Leon looked sharply at him, his expression complex: "This 'train' isn't heading to Ottawa at all! Its final destination is a system trap marked as a 'buffer zone'! Once we arrive, all our consciousness packages will be forcibly deconstructed, analyzed, and then... eliminated! Just like deleting junk files! That's our cyber execution ground!"

  Another bombshell.

  System trap? Forced elimination? Cyber execution ground?

  "Nonsense!" Pierre Chan waved his arms excitedly. "The Stardroop system is absolutely safe! There's 'Stardroop PLUS' AI supervising! How could there be such a backdoor!"

  "Absolutely safe?" Leon sneered, pointing at the distorted data stream outside the windows. "Then what are these? What about Jacob Lee's and David Kim's deaths? Safe? That's just a fairy tale the railway company and certain people want you to believe!"

  "Enough!" Samuel interrupted the argument. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, aftereffects from the earlier attack still present. "Regardless of the destination, the immediate priority is finding the killers and staying alive! Mr. Schmidt, you can keep your equipment and monitoring, but we won't share information or accept your command for now. We'll each fight our own battles, but with the same goal—find the killers, stay alive. That's the bottom line."

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  This was a fragile balance, nearly equivalent to each fighting alone.

  Leon's face darkened. He glanced at the flickering screens in his compartment, then at the hostile crowd, finally snorting coldly and retreating a step, seemingly accepting this temporary "ceasefire agreement." But he didn't close his compartment door, as if silently demonstrating his value and refusal to compromise.

  The atmosphere deadlocked again. The chain of suspicion not only hadn't broken but had become even more complex and twisted with Leon's addition and the possibility of "two killers."

  Pierre Chan seemed very dissatisfied with Samuel's "compromise." He muttered words like "violation," "report," and "superiors," huffily turning to walk toward the other end of the observation car, apparently wanting to distance himself from Leon, this "dangerous element." He pulled out an electronic notebook and began forcefully tapping and clicking, as if recording something or venting his emotions.

  "Foolish... lunatic... all crazy..." he complained in a low voice, completely absorbed in his own anger and fear, not noticing that in the shadows, something seemed to move silently.

  Charles's gaze had been following Pierre, an ominous premonition rising in his heart. Though Pierre's attitude was unpleasant, his bureaucratic, almost stubborn adherence to rules now seemed somewhat... pitiful and conspicuous.

  Suddenly!

  Pierre Chan's finger tapping the electronic notebook abruptly froze!

  His eyes instantly bulged, filled with extreme terror and disbelief! His mouth opened but couldn't make any sound, only a slight "gurgling" from his throat.

  His body trembled violently as if struck by invisible current, then he lurched forward!

  "Bang!"

  The electronic notebook in his hand crashed to the ground, screen shattering.

  And he himself fell straight face-down onto the carpet, motionless.

  [Ding. Abnormal consciousness activity termination detected. Attempting to reconnect... Connection failed. Unit marked. Journey continues. Wishing all passengers a pleasant journey.]

  The system's announcement sounded for the third time.

  Cold, indifferent.

  Everyone was stunned by this sudden, completely unpredicted death!

  No darkness descended! No light flickering! Not even obvious attack signs! Right before everyone's eyes, in the relatively well-lit observation car at the other end, Pierre Chan—this Department of Transportation Technical Safety Bureau investigator—was instantly "dealt with"!

  "No—!" Lily Tang let out a short scream, tightly covering her mouth.

  Samuel Jones and Kenneth Ryder immediately rushed over. Irina and Carmen quickly secured the perimeter. Anya instantly checked her datapad, but there was no record of any abnormal energy fluctuation! Leon Schmidt also frowned, staring at his monitoring screen, shaking his head with an ugly expression—he also hadn't detected any attack signal!

  Kenneth turned Pierre's body over. His expression was frozen in extreme fear and shock, pupils dilated. Besides that, there were no wounds. The death state was identical to Jacob Lee's.

  But this time, the attack occurred even more eerily, even more... brazenly.

  The killers not only had accomplices, but their technical methods had become sophisticated enough to bypass Leon's and Anya's monitoring to a certain degree, even completing instant kills in the light!

  Were they punishing Pierre Chan's "talkativeness" and opposition? Or mocking Leon's so-called "cooperation" and "monitoring"?

  Or perhaps... simply because they could?

  Fear, like icy floodwater, completely submerged each remaining person.

  Trust? Cooperation? In the face of absolute technical crushing and hidden slaughter, they seemed so laughable and pale.

  Third victim: Pierre Chan.

  The bureaucrat's rules and complaints, forever silenced.

  The killers used the most direct method to proclaim their existence and power. Control of the game had never truly been in these passengers' hands.