Chapter 20: Murderous Intent in Dead Silence

  The train came to a complete standstill, like a dead giant metallic insect, drifting in an ocean of solidified data fragments. The emergency mode's lights left only dim red, barely illuminating the chaotic car, casting everyone's shadows into distorted, elongated shapes. Absolute silence oppressed eardrums, only the life support system's monotonous low hum making this deathly silence even more suffocating.

  Samuel Jones's gaze like substantive blades slowly scraped across each person's face. Irina Petrova remained cold, standing posture like a drawn bow; Carmen Ortiz's eyes were profound, emotions unreadable; Leon Schmidt leaned wearily against damaged equipment, breathing heavily; Sophia Rossi tilted her head, seemingly quite interested in Samuel's sudden transformation; Charles Du felt a chill—something in Samuel's eyes made him strange and vigilant.

  "We have plenty of time." Samuel repeated, voice echoing in the enclosed space. "Enough time. Enough for us to... get everything clear."

  He stepped forward, pressing closer to Leon Schmidt nearest him.

  "Mr. Schmidt, your story is touching. Independent security contractor? Protecting a specific client?" Samuel's tone was full of sarcasm. "But your illegal equipment, your familiarity with underlying system protocols—doesn't seem like an ordinary contractor. More like a rat who's mixed in system depths for a long time. Source A's clean, efficient style quite fits certain 'internal cleanup personnel' methods."

  Leon's face changed, forcefully straightening his body: "Jones! Are you crazy?! What do you want?!"

  "I want to survive!" Samuel roared, eyes fierce. "And the only way to survive is to eliminate all threats before becoming the next victim!" His hand suddenly reached toward his waist—though of course there was no service weapon, his action still carried a cop's instinct and intimidation.

  "So you're just going to start randomly identifying people? Like those stupid 'Werewolf' votes?" Sophia Rossi sneered. "Save it, Officer. The way you look now makes me think you're more like the one lashing out like a cornered rat."

  Samuel whirled toward her: "And you! Rossi! Commercial spy? Your little gadgets, your skills—not like an ordinary commercial spy! Source B's chaotic wild style, maybe precisely a lunatic like you! What exactly did you infiltrate here to do?!"

  "Oh?" Sophia not only wasn't afraid, but stepped forward to meet his gaze, face carrying a provocative smile. "Want to try?"

  The atmosphere instantly became tense! Irina and Carmen instinctively shifted positions, subtly blocking between Samuel and Sophia.

  "Samuel, calm down!" Charles couldn't help but speak. "Infighting plays right into the killers' hands!"

  "Shut up, Mr. Du!" Samuel suddenly glared at Charles. "You're not clean either! Everything started because of you and your boss! Who knows if you're acting? A ruse? Even... you yourself are Source B? An engineer who can design brain-computer interfaces, creating some crazy stuff wouldn't be strange, right?"

  Suspicion and pressure finally completely crushed Samuel Jones's rationality. Continuous deaths, Anya's sacrifice, desperate situation pressure transformed him from a police officer trying to maintain order into a dangerous element consumed by fear, attempting to control the situation through violence. His accusations madly pointed at one survivor after another present.

  "You're crazy, Jones." Leon said coldly, quietly moving his hand behind his back, seemingly fumbling for something.

  "I see very clearly!" Samuel roared, his attention completely drawn by Leon's small movement, suddenly lunging at Leon. "Let me drag you, this rat, out first!"

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  At this very moment!

  The change happened abruptly!

  Carmen Ortiz, who had been silently standing to the side-rear, suddenly flashed in her eyes a cold, inorganic gleam both similar to and different from an intelligence operative! Her movement was faster than humanly possible, right hand fingers together like a blade, in an absolutely non-combat technique, precise yet eerie angle, directly stabbing the virtual neural cluster node behind Samuel Jones's neck!

  Simultaneously, on the other side, Irina Petrova also moved! But she wasn't attacking Carmen—instead she forcefully slammed into Sophia Rossi beside her, interrupting any possible reaction, while her left hand lightning-fast flicked out an extremely thin, energy-glowing blade, slashing toward Samuel's wrist! Her target was actually to prevent Samuel from attacking Leon?!

  The two's attacks were coordinated to perfection, completely without warning!

  "Pfft!"

  Carmen's fingers precisely "pierced" Samuel's neck.

  Samuel Jones's body suddenly stiffened, his lunge toward Leon instantly frozen. The fury and madness on his face solidified, transforming into extreme shock and disbelief. He opened his mouth but couldn't make any sound.

  Irina's energy blade also simultaneously cut across Samuel's wrist, but didn't cause substantial damage—more like a symbolic obstruction.

  [Ding. Abnormal consciousness activity termination detected...]

  The system announcement sounded again, coldly pronouncing judgment.

  Samuel Jones's eyes completely dimmed, body like a puppet with cut strings, softly collapsing.

  Seventh victim.

  The killers had finally bared their fangs. And there were two!

  Carmen Ortiz slowly withdrew her hand, face without any expression, as if she'd merely done something insignificant. She looked at Irina Petrova, nodding slightly.

  Irina also retracted her energy blade, cold gaze sweeping over Charles and Sophia, who shocked beyond words.

  "Clearing obstacles. Mission continues." Carmen said expressionlessly.

  Source A! She was Source A! That precise, efficient, cold style perfectly matched Leon's description! She was a professional cleaner hiding behind an intelligence operative's exterior!

  And Irina Petrova... her action just now was coordinating with Carmen? Protecting Leon? Was she also a killer? Or...

  Irina didn't look at Carmen but looked at Leon Schmidt with complex eyes, saying something that made everyone even more confused:

  "Mission priority. But 'Mentor,' your test should end."

  Mentor?!

  Leon Schmidt, facing this sudden dramatic change and Irina's address, revealed an extremely strange expression on his face—no longer vigilance or fear, but a mixture of fervor, fatigue, and a trace of... sorrow.

  "Yes... should end." Leon said softly, his hand behind his back brought forward. What he held wasn't a weapon at all, but a small, green-light-flashing signal emitter.

  "Cognitive meme implantation test. Extreme pressure environment human reaction pattern collection. Very successful, wasn't it?" Leon's voice became calm yet terrifying. He looked at Samuel's corpse on the ground like viewing a scrapped experimental specimen. "Especially this officer's final breakdown... extremely valuable data."

  He raised his head, gaze sweeping over Charles and Sophia, finally settling on Irina and Carmen.

  "Source A, 'Cleaner' Carmen, well done. Source B controller, 'Beast Tamer' Irina... your performance was also excellent." Leon's mouth curved up. "Of course, there's my most proud creation—the true core of 'Source B,' that piece implanted in the system's underlying depths, constantly learning and evolving 'mad intelligence.' It mimics, it provokes, it creates fear... its data is invaluable treasure."

  Irina... was actually Source B's controller? And that mad intelligence was Leon's creation?

  Carmen was pure killer Source A.

  And Leon Schmidt... he wasn't here to protect Charles at all! He was the mastermind behind all this! The designer of this bloody experiment!

  The train trap, buffer zone, killers, mad intelligence... all were orchestrated by him!

  The purpose was to test his intelligent entity and collect human data under extreme conditions!

  Charles felt the world spin, nausea churning in his stomach. All the deaths, all the sacrifices, all the fear... were merely a cruel experiment?

  Sophia Rossi's face also turned unprecedentedly grim. She stared hard at Leon: "'Babel'... you're from 'Babel'?!" She seemed to know this organization's inside story.

  Leon smiled slightly, noncommittal: "Now, irrelevant personnel should exit." His gaze, like viewing livestock for slaughter, fell on the final two remaining experimental subjects—

  Charles Du and Sophia Rossi.

  The truth revealed itself in the most brutal manner.

  The hunters had always been hunters. And the prey never had a chance.