Chapter 469: The True Goal

Xie Youchen looked up to find that Jiang Qingli had pulled him in front of the large indoor screen.

The screen was playing surveillance footage from inside the train car. The video was paused, and the person Jiang Qingli was pointing to was one of the officers guarding Qin Yu.

Jiang Qingli analyzed seriously, "This person looks normal, but he glanced out the window over ten times more than the others. Also, when he was on shift at noon, he kicked the door with his heel several times, as if sending some kind of secret signal..."

"But there are two other people with similar behavior. Could there be several traitors?"

"I noticed two of them as well. They’re both S-Level," Xie Youchen said. "The last one... is only A Level. I didn’t notice him before."

He sent a message to Chen Mi and said, "Chen Mi will interrogate the three of them tonight. Once confirmed, they will be dealt with."

Chen Mi had a Spiritual Ability; his interrogation skills were top-notch.

Jiang Qingli nodded, then came back to her senses and asked, "Was there something you wanted to tell me earlier?"

Meeting her clear eyes, Xie Youchen’s finger pressed harder on his ring. His lips moved, but only two words came out: "It’s nothing."

Though that’s what he said, his brow was furrowed. He seemed a little... nervous?

’I must have been mistaken.’

’Xie Youchen had been in the military for so many years, faced death countless times, and risen to the position of Marshal. How could he be nervous about a simple escort mission?’

Sure enough, when she looked up at Xie Youchen again, the strange expression was gone from his face.

He even lifted the covers on the bed and lay down, his movements as natural as if he were in his own room.

She had no objection to him sleeping.

She turned off the projection and remembered the two people still at the door.

In her haste to have Xie Youchen come in and investigate with her, she seemed to have neglected the other two.

Jiang Qingli walked over and opened the door. She took the late-night snack from Baili Jing, wished him goodnight, and told Yi Nuo to get some rest soon.

With Xie Youchen here, this lounge would be the safest fortress on the entire train.

No matter how reluctant Yi Nuo and Baili Jing were, they had no excuse to stay and had to leave.

The lights went out. Jiang Qingli tossed and turned a few times in the darkness.

Xie Youchen asked, "Can’t sleep?"

"A little," Jiang Qingli said. "Around this time tomorrow, Jing will be fighting the Baili family. I’m a bit worried. And two hours after that, the people coming to abduct Qin Yu will arrive."

"Ah Li."

In the darkness, the young man’s warm, dry fingers gently stroked her hair, his voice carrying a reassuring strength.

"You’re nervous because you have a strong sense of responsibility. That’s something that makes your big brother very proud."

"In the future, you’ll grow into an adult who can stand on her own two feet."

"And I’ll always be here to back you up. I won’t let you be harmed in the slightest."

Outside the window, countless stars twinkled.

Jiang Qingli buried her face in Xie Youchen’s chest, her ear pressed against the spot with the engraved mark, listening to his heartbeat. "I’ll protect you, too," she said seriously.

A soft kiss landed on her forehead. Xie Youchen chuckled. "Alright. I’m looking forward to it."

-

After a night of interrogation by Chen Mi, the three confessed.

By the time the three were dealt with, it was nearly dusk.

But there were more than three traitors.

Two hours away from the station in the Ninth District, a server pushing a dining cart lured Baili Jing to the last car and then severed the connection between the cars.

The maglev train instantly derailed!

A large group of Assassins poured out, heading straight for Baili Jing.

Fortunately, a number of people had already been following Baili Jing, and they now vaulted out of the car to fight them.

Flashes of energy from clashing Superpowers flickered in mid-air. Jiang Qingli stood inside her train car, her brow furrowing as she watched the distance between them grow ever wider.

But before her worry could fully surface, the train car suddenly jolted violently, and a sense of weightlessness washed over them!

Xie Youchen was in a meeting with the train conductor in the first car. He immediately yelled to Jiang Qingli over the intercom, "Ah Li, we have intruders! I’m on my way!"

"Don’t be afraid, Miss."

Beside her, Yi Nuo dropped to one knee and placed a hand on Jiang Qingli’s ankle, stabilizing her.

But the next moment, a loud crash echoed from above.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

The train car trembled with each successive crash.

The officers who noticed this opened their windows and climbed onto the roof. They saw dozens of men in tight-fitting combat suits standing on top of the cars, hacking away at the links connecting the train to the rail!

The train plummeted, only to jerk to a halt halfway down. The front section of the train swayed precariously, barely held in place. Upon closer inspection, you could see the train’s body trembling violently.

"There’s someone with a Gravity Superpower on the train!" one of the men in a combat suit shouted. "Go down and stop them!"

Several of them nodded, but were blocked by the officers.

The officers didn’t dare use their Superpowers at this moment. An overly strong ability would cause the train cars to shake violently and break apart, endangering the lives of everyone inside, including the prisoners they were escorting.

The officers could only fight the intruders on the roof with their bodies and weapons. The sounds of gunfire and fighting rang out endlessly.

The intruders, however, had no such considerations.

They were all desperate fugitives who couldn’t care less about anyone else’s life or death.

There was no shortage of High Level Superpower users among the intruders. They unleashed their abilities wantonly on the roof, quickly overwhelming the defending officers in sheer force.

Many intruders took the opportunity to jump down into the cars and engage the people inside in a chaotic brawl.

Inside the car, Yi Nuo’s expression was grim. "My Superpower can’t hold out for much longer. Ten minutes at most..."

The train was simply too massive, and it carried so many people with Superpowers.

All the intel they had received indicated the intruders would try to board the train from the outside. They never expected them to dare to sever the cars directly!

The Ninth District is a vast expanse of swamps.

With the train’s weight, if it fell into the swamp, it would likely be swallowed whole.

’Their actions are so brutal and audacious. Aren’t they afraid of harming the prisoners, Qin Yu and Lü Xin—’

’Wait, Qin Yu!’

Startled, Jiang Qingli immediately rushed toward the car where Qin Yu was being held.

They had assigned twenty High Level officers to guard the car holding Qin Yu and Lü Xin.

Logically, that should have been enough to defend it.

But when Jiang Qingli entered, she saw a chaotic battle involving thirty to fifty intruders.

The door to the holding cell where Qin Yu was being kept stood wide open.

Jiang Qingli rushed over.

She saw someone grabbing Qin Yu by the neck, about to strangle her to death!

’The intel was wrong!’

’Their goal isn’t to abduct Qin Yu, but to kill her outright!’

’—As long as Qin Yu is dead, all the blame for the mastermind’s crimes can be pinned solely on her.’

’Even if this goes to a military tribunal, with the key witness dead, the Emperor won’t be able to convict them directly.’

’At that point, even if Baili Jing is still alive, what would his testimony alone be worth?’

’Even if the Baili family drained Baili Jing of his blood, it would just be considered a family matter.’