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墨書 Inktalez
At the train station, inside the Hard Sleeper Compartment of a steam locomotive, Yinuo tried to shift her body. Unfortunately, the cramped space of the lower bunk restricted her movements, and with her hands cuffed to the bed railing, any attempt to move only pulled at the gun barrel pressed against her, sending a sharp pain through her. She had no choice but to remain in an uncomfortable position. Her pants had been cut open, and a bandage was wrapped around the base of her left leg, with a hint of crimson seeping through. Her feet were also shackled together, further limiting her already restricted range of motion.
The compartment seemed empty. Turning sideways to peek out from the narrow doorway, she saw the dimly lit corridor. The glass door connecting the compartments was closed, and she could vaguely make out a man in military attire standing with his back turned, seemingly smoking. Yinuo sighed and gave up on any futile struggles; with an injury on her leg and her hands and feet restrained, escaping was impossible—she could hardly even turn over.
It had been nearly an hour since her capture. Xiao Wei should have noticed something was off by now, but Yinuo did not wish for Xiao Wei to come rushing to her rescue. She knew that it would be useless; not only would he be unable to save her, but he might also end up in danger himself. The initial panic had gradually faded, replaced by a long-lost sense of crisis. The last time zombies breached the city gates and Foreigner and Gaoyang joined forces to attack Roundabout, Yinuo had never felt this kind of heart-pounding anxiety.
"It's bad," Yinuo kept repeating in her mind. Her thoughts raced as she considered various ways to escape; however, confinement was the simplest and most effective form of oppression. No matter how clever or resourceful one might be, being trapped here rendered all abilities useless. Yinuo regretted not leaving decisively when she saw Old Tian get stabbed. But then again, given that they had set an ambush, even if she hadn’t taken a chance to grab a medical kit, she likely wouldn’t have escaped from the Blonde Woman’s bullets.
"What should I do? Brother Ming and the others haven’t returned yet. The Blonde Woman came too quickly; given Roundabout's current strength, we are no match for them."
The more she thought about it, the colder her heart felt; the more anxious she became. Yinuo even contemplated severing her own limbs to escape, but that was merely a momentary madness in her mind—she had nothing on hand to use for such drastic measures. Moreover, when she was captured and thrown into the vehicle, she hadn’t had time to observe the situation around the Blonde Woman and her gang. They were familiar with their surroundings; before throwing her into the compartment, they blindfolded her and ignored any attempts at communication, leaving her unable to gather any information. The Blonde Woman had someone tend to her gunshot wound—it wasn’t severe; the bullet hadn’t penetrated deeply. This was likely intentional; on one hand, Yinuo’s sweet appearance matched what she liked; on the other hand, as someone within Roundabout's ranks, she could lead them straight to their lair. The Blonde Woman hadn’t rushed to interrogate her but instead ordered her subordinates to cuff Yinuo before leaving the compartment with a sway of her hips. She still hadn’t returned.
Perhaps sensing Yinuo's inner turmoil, footsteps echoed outside the compartment. The connecting door swung open as several people strode in without any pretense.
Yinuo felt a flicker of anxiety in her heart as she took a deep breath to maintain her composure. She struggled to sit up straight and turned coldly to glance back—only to be taken aback.
"Glad to see you’re well." The man at the front entered first and casually sat on the bunk opposite Yinuo, smirking as he greeted her with a cold laugh.
Yinuo's lips trembled slightly as surprise flickered in her eyes before she regained her composure. She huffed dismissively and turned away from him.
"What goes around comes around—how does it feel?" Gaoyang’s voice was laced with barely concealed glee; this opportunity had come too suddenly. He had thought revenge would take some time but never expected his enemy would deliver themselves right into his hands.
"You’re celebrating too soon." Yinuo looked at him with disdain while sizing up this man who had infiltrated Zombie Squad; her brow furrowed as her gaze landed on his left hand.
Noticing her confusion, Gaoyang grinned widely and raised his left hand in front of her face. Where once there was a human hand now lay a metallic sleeve fixed around his wrist, protruding from which was a slender triangular blade that shimmered blue under the light.
"Thanks to you all," Gaoyang twisted the sleeve off, revealing what remained below—a severed limb where his hand once was. The flesh around it appeared freshly healed and smooth as if it had never grown another limb there.
Yinuo felt nauseated at the sight and turned away from him. She hadn’t been present during the Strawberry Farm incident; she only heard Song Yao recount what happened but didn’t know any specifics. In reality, this injury had nothing to do with Ming Junwei or his group—the one who attacked was Song Jiu, who had stabbed him twice directly into his heart without hesitation; it was Old Five who had devoured his hand completely afterward. Gaoyang wouldn’t clarify these details; old grudges mixed with new ones naturally led him to place all blame on Ming Junwei.
"Let’s get down to business," Gaoyang said lightly while absently rubbing his severed wrist as if discussing mundane matters. "E sent me to ask you where Roundabout has its defenses set up and where your armed forces are concentrated."
Yinuo ignored him completely, staring blankly out of the window as if she hadn’t heard anything.
Gaoyang chuckled softly; he hadn’t expected Yinuo would cooperate willingly anyway—his presence here wasn’t even E’s directive but purely personal motivation. He simply wanted to provoke her directly and flaunt his new life while informing her that Roundabout was about to face impending doom.
"I know you won't tell me." Gaoyang, unfazed by Yinuo's attitude, busied himself with adjusting his prosthetic limb, tapping on the bed railing with a cold smirk. "Yesterday, Roundabout sent off two groups of people, right? Tsk tsk, seems like quite a few left. That should be all your armed forces, huh?"
Yinuo's expression shifted slightly, but she still remained silent.
"Are you curious how I know this so clearly?" Gaoyang's face lit up as he pointed his thumb at himself, boasting arrogantly. "What you can do, I can do too. That's right, I've been monitoring you all along, but unfortunately, you didn't notice."
"Do you really think that just because you've latched onto someone powerful, you can soar like a wild goose?" Yinuo scoffed at his bragging. She didn't believe a word of it. The outer defenses of Roundabout were managed by Xiao Wei and Wu Wentao's subordinates together. If someone like Gaoyang could penetrate their blockade to spy on them, Roundabout wouldn't have stood strong in the city center for so long. Xiao Wei and those professional Field Duty members might as well go home and raise pigs.
"Don't believe me?" Gaoyang said, somewhat displeased. He could sense the mockery and disdain in Yinuo's eyes, just like that Cyclops dragon—always so arrogant.
Gaoyang moved to sit beside Yinuo. With her hands and feet restrained, she couldn't dodge and had to let him sit down.
"What do you have to be so proud of?" Gaoyang reached out and grasped Yinuo's chin, forcibly turning her to face him. He hissed angrily, "Who saved your lives back on Century Avenue? You don't even show gratitude and instead want to wipe us out. Do you know how much I hate that?"
"Self-inflicted wounds deserve no pity." Yinuo showed no fear as she broke free from his grip and mocked him. "So you came here just to show off? Go ahead and kill me if you want; after all, a pathetic worm like you wouldn't dare cause trouble at Roundabout. You can only hide behind a woman and use someone else's strength to gnash your teeth at an injured captive. How pitiful! No wonder even Old Five ended up betraying you."
Gaoyang's face turned pale with anger; the pride of being a victor was shattered by Yinuo's words. In a fit of rage, he grabbed her delicate neck tightly and gritted his teeth. "Let me tell you, you're all going to die. You're finished! Ming Junwei thinks he's so great for winning against me? Dream on!"
With her neck in his grip, Yinuo's pretty face flushed red as her breathing became labored. Despite this, the girl showed no sign of fear; if anything, the mockery in her eyes intensified as she struggled to reply, "Try... try it... loser."
"Let her go." A cold voice interrupted abruptly as E strode into the compartment with an air of authority, her sapphire eyes flashing with anger. "Who allowed you to come here?"
The madness in Gaoyang's eyes vanished instantly; he released his grip in panic and stood up hastily, accidentally bumping his head—a far cry from his earlier image of wanting to devour Yinuo whole.
"Get out." E spat out a curse in annoyance. Gaoyang shot a fierce glare at the still-breathing Yinuo before leaving the compartment begrudgingly.
E watched Gaoyang's retreating figure with disappointment before changing her demeanor and sitting back down on the bunk.
"No matter what you want to ask, the only answer you'll get is cough cough." Yinuo coughed violently for a moment; the suffocating pain brought tears to her eyes as she struggled to breathe. Finally managing to speak through gritted teeth, she stubbornly replied with three words: "I don't know."
E paid no mind to her defiance and sat quietly for a moment until Yinuo's breathing steadied. Then she got straight to the point: "I've checked that medical kit; it's filled with viral solution. What are you planning to do with it? Whose vehicle is this?"
Yinuo turned her head away in silence.
"Honestly, it doesn't matter whether you tell me or not because it won't be long before your camp turns into a sea of flames. I'm just curious why you're all so stubborn. Do you really think you can fight against fate?"
Yinuo glanced at her, a teasing tone in her voice. "You think you can represent fate?"
"Of course," she replied with an air of certainty, reaching into her waist bag to pull out an object. She waved something that looked like a lump of dough in front of Yinuo and asked, "Do you know what this is?" Seeing Yinuo's silence, the Blonde Woman continued on her own. "This is C4 plastic explosive, also known as Cruel Gum. I brought a lot of these to erase people like you who refuse to bow to fate. Want to know what I’m going to do with it?"
Yinuo's heart raced. No matter how convoluted the prefix was, she certainly understood the word "explosive." She had always known that these foreigners possessed overwhelming power; seeing it firsthand confirmed the rumors were not unfounded.
The Blonde Woman was pleased with Yinuo's reaction. Her tone remained calm, as if she were a teacher explaining a lesson to a student. "I will attach this to various corners of the train. There will also be detonators underneath, just like the ones you use to blow up reservoirs. Your people will notice you're missing and will trace your whereabouts here. I've dealt with them before; I know they are very alert and not weak in combat, but this time they have nowhere to escape. Do you understand?"
"Look over there." A strand of her dazzling golden hair fell over her temple, glimmering softly in the sunlight streaming through the window, complementing her snow-white skin and exuding the efficient beauty typical of Europeans.
Yinuo involuntarily forgot the past; outside the window was the waiting hall she had passed through with Old Tian.
"In order to get in here, they must pass through that building. I've already sealed off both the entrance and exit. At the same time, I will place enough explosives inside the building." The Blonde Woman spoke patiently, gesturing with her hands as if recounting an amusing story. "Your people will leave some guards inside the building while the rest might split into two groups and come through the broken walls and entrance passage. They will consider that there might be an ambush on the train, so they must approach cautiously and find other ways to infiltrate."
"When they are ready or think they have succeeded," she smiled slightly, pulling out a small device about the size of a car key with only two buttons on it—unremarkable at first glance. Noticing Yinuo's growing fear, the Blonde Woman smiled with satisfaction, pointed one slender finger at one of the buttons, clasped her hands around it, then suddenly pressed it down while mimicking an explosion sound: "Boom!"
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