"What are you going to do?" Zhao Yi looked up and asked.
"Naturally, to fulfill my duty as a judge."
"Duty?"
"Law enforcers led by Tan Ming and Zuo Tong have disregarded human life, carried out wanton slaughter, and plundered public property for their own use. As a judge, I have the authority to purge the law enforcement system of District Three." Chen Ling answered unhurriedly. "Of course, after that, I will also temporarily seize the train... Public property cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of criminals."
Zhao Yi was stunned for a long moment before he grasped the implication behind Chen Ling's words. "You're going to kill them and take the train?"
Chen Ling glanced at Zhao Yi but did not answer.
As if suddenly realizing something, Zhao Yi clenched his fists tightly.
"Chen Ling... Can I ask you for a favor?"
"What is it?"
Chen Ling looked at him. "Premeditated murder of a law enforcer is a serious crime. Do you dare?"
"To hell with serious crimes!" Zhao Yi cursed in a low, furious voice.
"If I can't even avenge my father, what's the point of living and entering Aurora City? I’ve been going against my dad’s wishes for years anyway. Worst case, I’ll just take another beating from him after I join him in the afterlife!"
Seeing the burning rage in Zhao Yi’s eyes, a trace of approval flashed across Chen Ling’s face. He gave a slight nod.
"Premeditated murder of a law enforcer is indeed a serious crime..."
"But as long as no witnesses are left... who can prove you killed anyone?"
Hearing the second half of the sentence, Zhao Yi froze. He stared at Chen Ling in shock—those slightly narrowed, smiling eyes resembled those of a venomous, ruthless serpent.
The raging flames burned beside them as Chen Ling turned his head calmly and looked at the gradually disappearing train.
"If you want to avenge your father, I won’t stop you... But the condition is, you have to catch up to that train first."
As soon as the words fell, Chen Ling’s figure turned into a blur as he dashed along the tracks at an astonishing speed!
With the enhancements of [Blood Robe] and [Dance of Slaughter], catching up to a steam train that had just left the station was no challenge for Chen Ling. But for Zhao Yi, it was a different story. His expression changed. He lowered his head one last time to look at Uncle Zhao’s corpse and murmured to himself, "Dad... I will definitely avenge you. I’ll live on, and live well... Don’t worry about me."
Zhao Yi had initially wanted to take the body with him, but doing so would make it impossible to catch up to the train. Besides, his father had always feared seeing him fight to the death. If he saw him seeking revenge, he probably wouldn’t rest easy even in the afterlife... Rather than that, it was better to leave him in their hometown.
The flames spread across the ground, gradually engulfing the bloodied corpse. Zhao Yi hesitated no longer. Summoning every ounce of strength in his body, he sprinted desperately toward the train!
[Audience Expectation +10]
---
A biting cold wind howled beside the train as a figure in black charged into one of the carriages.
"Chief Xi! You’ve finally arrived!" Zuo Tong’s face lit up with joy at the sight. "Now that you're here, all of us are—"
Before Zuo Tong could finish speaking, the black figure lunged forward. A hand seized his throat with crushing force, lifting his entire body and slamming him violently against the carriage wall with a heavy thud!
"Who was it?!" Xi Renjie’s eyes burned with fury as he choked Zuo Tong, his gaze sweeping across the carriage.
"Who gave the order to shoot civilians?!!"
The roar sent a shockwave through the carriage. The twenty-plus law enforcers crowded inside dared not meet Xi Renjie’s eyes, all lowering their heads in silence.
Clang—Clang—
The carriage fell deathly still, leaving only the howling wind outside.
"You are law enforcers!! Your duty is to protect the people! How dare you open fire on civilians?!" Xi Renjie's hand choked Zuo Tong's neck until it turned purple; the latter could barely breathe, his eyes filled with terror.
"...Chief Xi, we didn’t want to either!" Jing Ge couldn’t help but speak up. "But they were charging at us like madmen, throwing their lives away. If we’d let them all swarm onto the train, how could we have made it to Aurora City?"
"You wanted to go to Aurora City! So did they! They just wanted to survive! Tell me... what did they do wrong?!"
Xi Renjie released Zuo Tong with one hand and instantly drew the gun at his waist with the other, pressing the muzzle against Jing Ge as he roared in a low voice.
Jing Ge was left speechless.
Another law enforcer nearby hurriedly interjected, "The fall of District Three was inevitable—those people were doomed sooner or later... We can’t let their desperation rob us of our chance to survive..."
"Right, we were just acting in self-defense. We warned them, but they didn’t listen..."
"You—"
Xi Renjie’s eyes blazed with fury as he glared at them, wishing he could execute every last one of them on the spot.
"Brother Jie, calm down..." Tan Ming whispered nervously into his ear, beads of sweat covering his forehead. "Aurora City’s orders were to bring them back alive... If you kill them here, how will you explain it to the higher-ups?"
Hearing this, Xi Renjie’s pupils contracted slightly. After a long internal struggle, he slowly lowered his gun.
He took a deep breath and said:
"Once we reach Aurora City, I’ll settle this with you."
At these words, the other law enforcers in the carriage finally exhaled in relief... Unnoticed by them, their backs were already drenched in cold sweat.
As the train gradually picked up speed, the crowd that had been struggling to keep up along the tracks was left completely behind. The steel beast roared forward on steam power, its path stretching endlessly into the mist along the blackened rails.
For this carriage, thirty people wasn’t particularly crowded. The law enforcers settled into their seats, the space just right, their faces unable to conceal their excitement as they watched the passing landscape outside the window.
Their exhilaration came from the relief of having narrowly escaped death, from the anticipation of entering Aurora City. Before long, the oppressive atmosphere from the earlier incident had faded, and they began murmuring among themselves in low voices.
"I heard everyone in Aurora City lives in big houses—five or six stories tall. Is that true?"
"Of course it’s true. Aurora City has over three million people. The buildings are way taller than in District Three. I’ve heard some are even over ten stories high—incredibly grand."
"Ten stories? Wouldn’t people get tired climbing all those stairs every day?"
"Tired? They have elevators!"
"Elevators? What’s that?"
"It’s like a box that carries people up and down automatically. The doors open and close, and before you know it, you’re already on the tenth floor."
"That’s amazing!"
"That’s nothing. I’ve heard Aurora City has electric lights too—the streets are bright at night, much brighter than oil lamps, shining one after another like stars."
"And because there aren’t too many factories, they say the air in Aurora City is even sweet..."
"..."
They chattered back and forth, their eyes brimming with longing.
Xi Renjie sat alone on the bench at the very back. It wasn’t that he felt no anticipation at all, but as he gazed out the window at the streets engulfed in flames, his mood was indescribably complicated...