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The train started with a clanking noise.
Finally, some fresh air flowed through the ventilation, making the smell much more bearable.
The carriage had heavy armor, and the speed wasn't fast, probably around 50-60 km/h. Jumping off the train shouldn't be fatal.
Currently, in Carriage No. 15, the atmosphere was lively.
For treasure hunters who risk their lives for money, there's no better entertainment than gambling and women.
"Come on, another face card, and I'll have twenty points!"
"Bust the dealer! Bust the dealer!"
...
A table was cleared, with dozens of hunters crowding around it, engrossed in a heated poker game. They were playing a card game somewhat similar to blackjack.
Among the gamblers was Ji Xun, wearing a half-face gas mask, placing bets along with the others. When he lost, he cursed loudly; when he won, he was so excited his face turned red.
It didn't matter if they knew each other or not, as long as there was money on the line, gamblers quickly became acquainted.
Ji Xun usually had no interest in such low-stakes gambling. He got involved not only to blend into the crowd but also to avoid drawing attention to his lack of a seat and companion.
While gambling, he observed his surroundings and set up some preventive measures.
...
The carriage was noisy. Besides lewd jokes, these hunters shared a lot of useful information, which Ji Xun found intriguing.
"Old Chen, I heard you guys discovered an abandoned warehouse on the east side of Demon's Cross and struck it rich."
"Oh, not really. Just enough to buy my kid a good breathing technique."
...
"Uncle Dong, did you find the material for your Enforcer class change?"
"Found one, and it's pretty decent. I'll be able to change class when I get back."
"Congratulations in advance for becoming a Curse Card Master. Take care of me in the future."
"It's still early. I need to fuse it without losing control to officially advance."
...
"Scarface, I heard your Iron Axe Group found a rare Black Iron demon mark in the interdimensional space in the east district yesterday?"
"Your information is quick. Yeah, it's the Ace of Hearts – Light Knight, with an additional 15% flesh growth attribute."
"Wow, an additional attribute? That's amazing."
"Not too amazing. We sold it to the manager of the Heisen Merchant Association for nearly a million as soon as we got back to the camp."
"Damn!"
"Hahaha…"
...
These hunters talked about their adventures in Demon's Cross, revealing a lot of information. Ji Xun silently listened, gaining a deeper understanding of this world.
...
"How the hell am I supposed to find them?"
Old Dog walked from Carriage No. 1 and kept grumbling as he searched. His demon mark was the [Spades 4 – Beast Walker], a contract with the Great Demon Ose, giving him beast transformation abilities.
Though his dog-headed beast form wasn't intimidating, it gave him a sense of smell far superior to humans. Because of this ability, he secured a steady-paying position in the Blackwater Mercenary Group despite his weak combat skills, usually doing scouting and tracking, which wasn't too dangerous.
Old Dog was content with this, but this task was giving him a headache. Finding a man and a woman among thousands of people on the train?
The more sensitive his nose was, the more he suffered on this train. Just searching eight carriages, he felt like he was about to faint from the stench.
Ordinary people could only smell the bad odor, but in his transformed state, he could distinguish a hundred different foul smells: decaying meat caught in teeth, unwashed body odor, feces on shoes, infected wounds, and more.
Besides the stench, there were other problems. No one in Sinless City was without secrets. There were plenty of tough characters, and even if the Blackwater Mercenary Group had some reputation, they would still get beaten if they messed with the wrong people.
Fortunately, the only accurate information was that their target was a card apprentice, which narrowed the search significantly. Old Dog felt like he was going to be choked to death. Searching eight carriages took two hours, encountering many suspicious individuals, but none were the targets.
There were still eight carriages left to search, and despite several teammates combing through the carriages, there was no progress, and the leader's urgency was increasing.
Cursing under his breath, Old Dog continued searching and finally reached Carriage No. 15.
...
Ji Xun was still deeply engaged in gambling. He noticed several groups of people passing through the carriages, seemingly looking for someone, but they all overlooked him amid the gambling crowd.
With thousands of people on the train and many traveling alone, finding him would not be easy as he blended in with the gamblers. This meant the searchers had limited information.
The train journey was ten hours long, and in a few more hours, getting off would be much safer. Ji Xun felt a bit relieved. He chose Carriage No. 15 because it was near the rear.
He had observed that if he could get the key from the train administrator, he could open the rear door of Carriage No. 16 and possibly jump off. The armored train was heavily fortified, but the lock was simpler than the ones in the 407 interdimensional space.
Ji Xun hadn't stolen the key but had memorized its structure with his "Deceiver" ability, which granted him an eidetic memory. During a bathroom break, he made a temporary key. With several preparations, he felt ready to handle any situation.
Ji Xun continued to observe his surroundings. The carriage was still noisy, but he caught an interesting story.
...
"Hey, did you hear? Something happened at the Old Silver Moon Altar interdimensional space camp a few days ago."
"How could I not? I heard the Smokers found an altar and ancient relics, and someone tried to steal it, killing all thirty-plus people in the camp. The Hunter's Guild even posted a 100,000 bounty for clues about the culprit."
"I heard a different version. They said the person who touched the ancient relic lost control and mutated into a monster, then killed everyone. The bodies were eaten. If it wasn't a mutation, who would kill people and eat them..."
"So, there was an ancient relic at the Silver Moon Altar?"
"Seems like it."
"Wow, even a level I relic is worth tens of thousands. If it's a high-level one, you're set for life. Why don't we ever have that luck…"
...
Ji Xun had heard several similar stories of teammates killing each other for loot or robbing others during his time on the train. Such stories happened daily, and hunters didn't find them surprising. Weakness and preying on the weak were the norms in Sinless City.
Compared to the number of people killed, they were more curious about the relic's value. Ji Xun began to understand why Governor Cao's mansion had such low authority; it wasn't a problem with the world's power but with the people of Sinless City.
...
Others were just curious about the relic, but Ji Xun caught onto a key word: loss of control?
After merging with the [JOKER] card, he gained a unique ability to sense uncontrolled curse power in living beings. Normally, curse power was like body heat, constant and usually invisible. But earlier, he noticed someone in Carriage No. 16 with curse power spilling out irregularly, like "octopus tentacles."
He paid more attention and confirmed the irregular outbursts were periodic, suggesting the person might be experiencing "curse power loss of control."
Typically, losing control meant mutating into a monster, but this person hadn't. This made Ji Xun more suspicious and attentive.
He initially thought his understanding of loss of control was wrong, but the story about the murderer made him reconsider. This person in Carriage No. 16 might be the culprit.
It made sense. To leave Demon's Cross camp, they'd need the train, which ran every two days, making it likely. If both were escaping, they'd end up in the rear carriages together.
Ji Xun found it strange.
Just as his mind started to wander, something unexpected happened.
A tall, thin figure with a hood covering his face appeared in his line of sight.
The person walked slowly, and the hood trembled slightly, as if his facial muscles were moving rhythmically.
Ji Xun immediately became vigilant.
Sniffing for scents?
An extraordinary individual with enhanced sense of smell?
However, he remained calm, continuing to blend in with the gambling crowd.
Even if this person was searching for someone, they might not notice him.
The hooded figure didn't seem to detect anything and walked past without incident.
...
Meanwhile, in car 13.
The four-person scouting team from the Blackwater Mercenaries, three of them now gathered, looked worried.
They had been searching for hours and found a few suspects, but after checking, none were the person they were looking for.
"Boss, could it be that the person isn't on the train?"
"Whether they're on the train or not, we have to keep looking. The captain just issued a death order—if we don't find them this time, we'll be in big trouble!"
"How big?"
"Bring your head to see him."
"Hiss... what's going on?"
"I think I'm starting to understand. It's not just the captain who's anxious; there's someone else behind this."
"Oh?"
"Who do you think is paying our salaries now?"
"Are you saying... the Cao family from the upper city?"
"..."
The more they discussed, the more they realized how serious the situation was.
At that moment, the man with the red nose returned.
The burly man asked, "How did it go, Old Dog? Any findings?"
Old Dog took off his hood, revealing a face gradually becoming more canine-like, and reported, "Boss, I found something! In car 15!"
The three immediately focused their attention.
Old Dog continued, "When I passed through, I detected a faint trace of demonic energy, the kind that only comes from a B-level disaster corpse. The scent was faint, likely due to recent use of a deodorizing potion. The smell was still irritating, indicating it was recently contaminated, probably just out of an extradimensional space. But there are many people in car 15, and the scents are mixed, so I couldn't pinpoint the exact person. I thought it best to report back first."
"Good job."
Hearing this, the three were delighted.
Their instincts told them they had found an important clue.
A regular hunter, even just out of an extradimensional space, wouldn't need a deodorizing potion.
Moreover, B-level disasters are rare in the wild, and it just so happens that one was in the 407 space!
The timing matches!
Someone in car 15 was highly suspicious!
Without delay, the burly man ordered, "Rose, go check if you can identify the person with your sixth sense."
The woman in the leather jacket nodded, "I'll try. With the car identified, the target range is small. If it's just an apprentice card master, it shouldn't be a problem."
The burly man said, "Good. Once confirmed, don't alarm them. Wait for my signal to act. If they managed to escape from the captain, they must have some skills. Don't underestimate them. Try to handle it quietly with hypnosis. If we cause a commotion, the Hunters' Guild might intervene."
The leather-clad woman nodded, "Understood."
With that, the burly man turned to the skinny man with the dagger and said, "Xiao Wu, head to car 16 and guard against any attempt to jump off the train. If necessary, cripple them. They only need the person alive."
The skinny man frowned, "But boss, is it really okay to draw blood on the train?"
The burly man sighed, "We have no choice. We need to capture the person first."
Then he added, "Old Dog, you bring up the rear. Don't show yourself yet to avoid alerting them."
Old Dog replied, "Got it."
The group immediately set their plan into motion.
...
Meanwhile, Ji Xun watched the hooded figure leave and initially didn't think much of it.
He figured it was just another group passing by without finding anything unusual.
However, not long after, Ji Xun noticed a lean man with a half-face gas mask walk past.
Although the man seemed to be merely passing through car 15 without any unusual stops, heading straight to car 16, Ji Xun sensed something was off.
With his photographic memory, Ji Xun recognized the man by the black leather dagger sheath at his waist, despite the disguise.
This guy had been here before!
Previously, this person had been looking around, clearly searching for someone, likely from the Blackwater Mercenaries.
Now he was back, in disguise, moving decisively, indicating a purpose.
"Have I been discovered...?"
Ji Xun's eyes narrowed, his mind quickly assessing the situation.
He knew better than to hold on to any false hopes.
The worst-case scenario was unfolding.