Impact

Behind the slope, Bao Yuan saw the train suddenly grind to a halt. Excitement surged through him, and he barked orders to his subordinates, "Squads Three and Four, hold this position! Squad Five, go harass the forward outpost! Squads Six through Ten, follow me down!" Shouts rose from the members of the resistance organization. Except for those stationed on the high ground, the rest eagerly followed him down the hillside. Yet these men had clearly been trained. Instead of swarming forward in a wild mob, they spread wide, advancing on the train in an encircling formation. As they moved, they paused periodically, covering one another's rears and flanks. On the opposite ridge, Ren Xiaotian, who had gone ahead to scout, hurried over. "Most of the resistance fighters are behind the northern slope. They brought around a hundred men this time. There's another group on the mountain opposite us; I didn't head over, but from their unit layout, there are no more than twenty of them. People are moving toward several high vantage points across both ridges right now..." As he spoke, he used a branch to sketch briefly on the ground, tapping various spots. "At the foot of the southern slope, there's a team of unknown strength, with several vehicles parked nearby—likely their extraction crew. To the north, men are lying in ambush, probably positioned to intercept any reinforcements arriving from that direction. Also, gunshots were heard in the distance to the east just now. They sent people ahead to raid the outpost there, though not many; it's mostly a diversion..." In just a few sentences, he laid out a clear picture of what he had scouted around the area. Earlier, Chen Chuan had also been in radio contact with the constabulary. Much of what Ren Xiaotian reported matched up, giving him a clear grasp of the situation. Just then, a scout from Wei Chang'an's team let out a low cry. "Look, they're moving." Chen Chuan looked down and saw scores of armed men emerging from the woods, sprinting toward the train in the full daylight. He said at once, "I'll handle the ones below. Senior Wei, please take your team to deal with those on the mountain opposite us and the high vantage points." Wei Chang'an replied, "Leave them to me." Chen Chuan turned to Ren Xiaotian. "Senior Brother Ren, please lead the rest to clear out the armed men on our high slope." With that, he snapped his fingers. The combat spider crawled slowly out from the undergrowth nearby. "I'll have the combat spider assist you," he said. The previous night, everyone had fed it a bit of blood so the spider would recognize them as allies, and they had learned several control gestures, allowing it to coordinate with their maneuvers now. Chen Chuan had originally considered keeping the spider with him, but considering it was a living creature, it was very likely to be affected by the ritual. It was better left up high. Ren Xiaotian and the others had already witnessed the spider's prowess the night before. It was an unrivaled ambusher, easily worth three squads—especially in mountainous, wooded terrain like this, where it could unleash its full potential. If the enemy lacked skilled martial artists, the spider alone might well slaughter everyone up there. "If no one has any objections," Chen Chuan concluded, "then let's begin." The others nodded and immediately split up to carry out their tasks. Left alone, Chen Chuan took out the mask patterned with esoteric ritual designs on both sides and slowly fastened it over his face. The intricate symbols were overwhelmingly complex up close, yet from a distance, they blurred into an indistinct haze, resembling a writhing plume of smoke. Thrusting the scabbard into the soil, he strode forward, drawing the blade smoothly from its sheath. Upon reaching the edge of the steep drop, he leaped, plunging downward at blinding speed. At the concealed outpost, Bureau Director Lei observed the position of the hot air balloon, checked where the train had stopped, pulled out a map and his esoteric instruments to cross-reference, and gave his instructions: "Team One, head to designated zone 093." "Yes, sir!" "Team Two, head to designated zone 034." "Yes, sir!" "Team Three..." Following his orders, the Examination Bureau operatives dispersed. Destruction was far easier than construction; so long as they reached the targeted coordinates, scattered their specialized ritual powders, and traced out disrupting patterns, they could tear the ritual apart. By this time, the resistance operatives had rushed to the front of the train. Yet just as they drew near, their vision blurred. The train seemed to vanish entirely from before their eyes, causing many to halt in their tracks. But in the next dazed blink, it sat right there, untouched. Shaking their heads vigorously and seeing Bao Yuan already boarding, they scrambled to catch up. Bao Yuan led the charge. He gestured for two men to head forward to deal with the engineer and secure the train crew, while he made his way into a car behind them. One of the men following him saw two passengers still chatting. Drawing his pistol, he fired point-blank at one of them, obliterating the passenger's head. Yet unnervingly, the passenger sitting opposite continued talking in a perfectly natural manner to the mangled figure whose neck supported only half a head. "Heh heh, interesting." As if finding an amusing new toy, the operative drew his pistol again and shot the other passenger as well. "Enough, stop fooling around," Bao Yuan snapped, his expression dark. "These people have value. Don't mess this up for me." The man chuckled. "Captain, what harm is there in losing a few?" Bao Yuan threw him a chilly glare, and the man clamped his mouth shut at once. Meanwhile, the resistance members swarming into the cars quickly took control of the entire train. Bao Yuan instructed his technician, "Send a telegram to headquarters. Tell them I have seized the Changshun train. There are three representatives from major foreign corporations aboard. Have them broadcast the news far and wide." The resistance operated its own radio station, boasting an extensive listenership at home and abroad, and various regulatory agencies monitored the frequency as well. Once broadcast, the impact would be colossal. He was certain that after this, his prestige within the resistance organization would soar to unprecedented heights. He then added, "Also, use the train's radio to transmit to the Yangzhi Municipal Administration. Tell them to accept the terms we laid out earlier. Give them half an hour to deliberate. After that, I will execute a batch of hostages every ten minutes. "To show them we keep our word—to prove we mean what we say—kill all the corporate security guards first! Then use their radios to message their parent companies and tell them to pressure the Yangzhi government!" "Yes, Captain!" The men eagerly rushed toward the various corporate delegations, opening fire on the security details. Yet no matter the ruckus they made, the guards showed no reaction whatsoever. Even as comrades dropped dead beside them, they stood idly by like practice targets. Perhaps having gotten carried away, when a fighter arrived at the car holding Bolun Company, he put a bullet through the assistant's head. A bloody hole tore through the side of the assistant's skull, and his body slumped sideways. Opposite him, Lindenberg remarked: "Is this the Yangzhi government's welcoming ceremony? They seem quite enthusiastic." Chen Chuan was now not far from the front of the train. He heard gunfire echoing from the ridges on either side, seemingly directed at him, but he paid it no mind. At such distance, and with his extraordinary speed, they could never hit him. And right then, what he saw—evaluating it through the method Bureau Director Lei had taught him, he recognized it as a mental assault. The inside of his outermost trench coat happened to bear patterns designed to ward off such rituals. He immediately rubbed away the superfluous stroke at the collar, activating the esoteric ritual in an instant. Esoteric rituals clashed by grinding away at each other. With such limited materials, the drawn patterns certainly could not hold out for long, so he quickened his pace. Two resistance members guarding the exterior saw what looked like a figure approaching and fired outward without hesitation. But their vision blurred—in the span of an instant, the silhouette vanished from their line of fire. The two fighters were seized with horror. Flustered, they scrambled to fish out stimulants and swallow them, but it was already too late. A gleam of blade-light swept past them, and a figure crashed straight into the train! With a thunderous crash, a man inside the car who was just raising his gun was slammed into the opposite wall. His chest caved in completely, his internal organs and spine smashed into a pulpy mess. Meanwhile, the upper halves of the two men at the car's doorway slid off in clean, neat slices. On the wall beside the doorway behind them was a long, diagonal slash mark. Chen Chuan slowly rose from a suspended half-kneel. Right then, someone rushed in from the car behind, but before the man could shoot, a bloody hole burst through his forehead. He staggered back two steps and collapsed backward onto the floor. Chen Chuan withdrew the hand that had flicked the stone pellet. Turning sideways, he slowly raised his blade, its tip aligning with his line of sight toward the depths of the cars. Taking a deep breath, he felt a surging heat ignite across his entire body. Lowering his stance slightly, he kicked off the floor with explosive force. With a loud blast, he surged forward. In his perception, everything around him—people and objects alike—seemed to grind to a crawl. Beneath his feet, wherever he stepped, the floorboards cracked, buckled, and shattered into splinters, rolling ahead like waves chasing his advance. Through the long ribbon of train windows, a single streak of blade-light tore from the front cars toward the rear. Everywhere it passed, it left behind shredded corpses. Like dominoes toppling in sequence, resistance fighters across car after car were hewn apart. Heads flew, severed limbs tumbled, and blood sprayed. Yet the passengers on either side, even when drenched in gore, maintained their smiling conversation, taking sips of blood that dripped into their teacups. Amidst the shattering of floorboards and the wet thuds of steel cleaving flesh, those in the rear who had taken their stimulants finally reacted. Two overlapping shields slammed together to block the passageway, clanging loudly as they parried the charging blade-light. Yet both shields shattered in an instant. The shield-bearers were thrown spinning to either side, hitting the ground lifeless. Chen Chuan planted his foot, arresting his momentum, and straightened up. From behind his mask, his eyes fixed on the array of firearms leveled at him ahead. He slowly raised his blade and held it horizontally across his chest. In the next breath, gunfire erupted violently through the car!