"What's in that box?" Ince had never felt his heartbeat race this fast, bang bang bang, each beat like the thunderclaps of spring, as if it would leap out of his chest.
The man grinned with a peculiar smile, "Tactical micro battlefield destruction bomb, model Phoenix Fire."
Ince's mind went blank for a mont.
As a film set director, he had naturally dabbled in war-thed films and was inford about military products from Cosmic Heavy Industries. Just one of these battlefield destruction bombs could level the entire station.
How could soone from the Ascetic Sect get their hands on this kind of military-grade explosive?
Suddenly, he felt a bit dazed again. If so, could it an that the Ascetic Sect had long infiltrated their society unknowingly and developed into a giant entity?
From military industries to civilian sectors, the thought that the Ascetic Sect might be lurking behind every aspect of their lives birthed an unknown terror in Ince's heart.
This incident could not simply be a terrorist attack, there had to be multiple forces mixed in the background; he couldn't believe a madman on a whim could get this kind of bomb.
Ince let out a bitter laugh. He was only trying to save his career and ended up following a man with a flair for espionage. Who knew it would turn into him being caught in a multi-party preditated terrorist attack?
[Countdown to Heart's Desire OE3605 Train arrival, 00:01:30.]
Only one and a half minutes left. Once the train enters the station, all the travelers from around the world, along with him and the station, would be blown sky-high.
He had to find a way to save himself.
Cold sweat ran down his back, and Ince looked above the steps of Platform 1, his eyes lighting up slightly as he saw the Tuner following them.
It seed this city's security enforcer had also keenly sensed the brewing crisis in the air and realized the man's abnormality.
Ince's heart was instantly squashed by the man's following words, turning his montary glee ice cold:
"You hope to rely on that Tuner? Foolish child, he's one of us too."
"How is that possible, even the Tuner..." Ince suddenly felt his mouth go dry.
He felt like a drowning fish, the oppressive feeling nearly suffocating him.
"Who else but these city heroes could carry such a bomb past stringent security checks and into the platform?" The man exhaled smoke, extinguishing the cigarette on Ince's shoulder.
After patting his shoulder, the man spoke calmly, "Rest assured, my friend. Dying in the grand cause of art is your honor; the Stars' Supre Society will bless your soul."
With that, the man gave him a aningful look, lifted the briefcase, and approached the crescent platform's yellow caution line. After checking the ti on his watch against the electronic board, he squatted, fiddling with the briefcase handle.
Ince stood as if soulless, knowing that the bomb, enough to level the whole station, was now tid. In the instant the train arrived, his brief, embarrassing, and sowhat comical life would end.
Like most ordinary people under the Star of Art, he had been exposed to the artistic atmosphere since childhood. Erging from the Foster Ho, he struggled to survive in society, striving hard not to be dumped into the Piano Key District. Yet he was one of those who lacked the edge, failing to get into Starry Arts Academy. As investors often told him, his life, much like the movies he racked his brains to film, was a ss.
The train's piercing whistle sounded from afar.
Ince let out one last bitter laugh, thinking he should let go with ease, like the protagonist of last year's best film "Traveling Sea Bird," feeling the sea breeze before a sparkling ocean, watching the clouds, listening to the seagulls' cries, and spreading his arms wide in the receding surf, embracing the world in tranquility as he departed.
Soon, the train erged from the tunnel, its headlight glowing red, its silver-white streamlined body like a heavily breathing tallic beast, grinding onto the tracks and sparking flaming screeches, emitting a roaring hum.
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
The train quickly stopped at the station, its body slightly vibrating, the screeches from the friction and the engine's halting dull sound fading away together.
Under the snow's cover, this tallic beast lay dormant on the tracks, like in hibernation.
Life was like drama, and today's events seed like a cody. As the curtain fell, such a codic actor as himself, a plaything for the audience, should leave the stage aptly.
Ince thought, slowly lifting his head.
It was also his first ti seeing the Heart's Desire Train, which was indeed as rumored, appearing like magic before them and having only one carriage attached to the engine.
He wondered what kind of dramatic expressions those travelers from around the world would show upon finding out about their imminent death the mont they arrived at the platform?
With anticipation, Ince watched the train door open and then froze.
There was only one passenger in this carriage.
The silver-haired girl, much like a baby opening its eyes for the first ti in Ice and Snow World, showed confusion in her dim eyes, slowly stepping out of the carriage to observe this world unfamiliar to her.
The girl was breathtakingly beautiful, as pure and heart-stopping as the only flower blooming in this Ice and Snow World. Pure white flowers sprouted where she stepped, crowding around her boot edge, vying to bloom.
These pale, sickly flowers gave Ince an intense unease, their whiteness too sinister, as if if he stared at them any longer, his eyes would decay, and blood would flow from his orifices.
"Why is there only one person?" The man clicked his tongue.
This disappointed him. He had imagined a spectacular artistic performance with most Heart's Desire Train passengers being aristocrats or elite from around the world.
But this silver-haired girl, he had never seen such an expression on a living person before—dim, dead, confused. What could one have experienced to be left with such eyes?
Suddenly, his eyes widened, seeing blood flowers bloom on his arm!
His pupils nearly split, his vision crimson like blood; before his sight was his entire arm lying on the ground.
"Ahhh!"
The intense pain made the man scream in agony. Before he could draw his gun, his chest, arm, and shoulder exploded with blood flowers, his body torn apart by several feet wide terrifying blood holes, white flowers blooming at the wound.
The man fell with a heavy thud, silent within monts.
Ince took several steps back abruptly, fear flickering in his gaze toward the girl.
The girl, previously bewildered, had her eyes now dyed with the coldest stillness. At so point, a lance engraved with patterns appeared in her hand. Where the lance tip swept, the aura of decay and death spread like rampant plague, growing and expanding.
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