Black Sail
Chapter 176: CLXXVI. Devoted

Chapter 176: CLXXVI. Devoted

Surrounded by the town near Yunxi City, inside a farmhouse villa.

Fen had finished studying the newspaper.

In the past few days of field investigations, he had learned that freight trains and passenger trains did not share tracks, the Alan Royal Court had a big-picture perspective; the railway tracks from the Imperial City to Chenxi Port were complex, and the layout had been well established from the beginning of construction.

Once published in the newspaper, that meant it was fully mature and reliable.

However, this issue of the newspaper, aside from mentioning the trial operation time, did not specify any other details, not even the speed; instead, it introduced irrelevant things such as appearance and living amenities.

For example, each compartment had a separate space, allowing passengers not to disturb each other, each compartment’s accommodation and hygiene conditions were equivalent to Duguli’s luxury hotels.

There were also compartments specifically designed for tea parties, dining, dances, even a separate bar compartment.

Fen was speechless — could there be any useful news?

In short, completely useless.

Considering the round-trip cycle of the freight trains, a one-way trip took two days, with speeds of about 160 miles per hour, which was already very fast, given the distance between the Imperial City and Chenxi Port.

With the huge weight of goods removed, passenger trains could be much faster, and the truth would be known within ten days.

"You really are... madmen, those nobles’ entourages are no easy opponents."

As an adventurer, Gawain naturally had experience as an escort, not to mention such modern innovations as trains; there would certainly be "escorts" on the train, forces from the Aran Army, and perhaps even magic-powered mechanical dolls.

He strenuously advised these people not to do anything foolish, and now he himself was also coerced by Liszt to join this absurd operation — it was laughable.

"Once you understand, they are just small fries, lacking the strength to even chop someone down, just kill them easily. Also, do you know what General Fen means? My hair, my left eye to kill you, my right eye to revive you — kill you, revive you, they all call him KING."

As the door was locked from the inside, Rein vaulted in from the window.

Fen remained silent; his perception of Archer was even better compared to Rein, who was too maniacal.

"Unintelligible."

Gawain had no idea what Rein was talking about; this three-thousand-gold dragon magician’s strategy was too insane — blow up tunnels, kill the train conductor, rob the nobles, then take hostages. It was indeed very lucrative, unimaginably so, but what about the cost?

Meredith had a standpoint opposite to Gawain’s; she was distracted during the recent discussion, only persistently verifying the matter about Goria.

With so many people’s responses and finding no loopholes, it was indeed as Liszt said — she was doing well.

At that moment, some dust on the ceiling was shaken loose, falling on Meredith’s shoulder; fine dust entered her nose, and she couldn’t resist sneezing.

Something was going on upstairs, but she didn’t care.

"So for now, let everything proceed as planned; there are still things to do in the coming days, try to visit the adventurer’s guild more subtly, find out which passengers are taking which train — the more information, the better; what remains are just specifics about the speed and security strength."

Fen had said all he was going to say; there shouldn’t be any problems.

The ceiling shook several more times, and some cobwebs and dust fell down, landing on Fen’s hair; he quickly brushed his head, suddenly looking stern.

Upstairs in the room.

Sharon, clutching her blanket, hardly dared to believe it, as if in a dream, besides that traitor and Lostra’s senior, she could meet other people.

In a dreamy haze, Sharon knew there were many people downstairs, doing her best not to sob.

Indeed, some people were different.

Doing it herself... was just like playing a solo.

Whereas just now, it was an entire orchestra.

After settling down slowly, Liszt straightened his clothes.

"Your current situation is very dangerous, if Mu Ran’s power grows stronger, and though you are a High Order Clergy, they might bypass the Church’s influence and target you directly."

In Sage Mode, Liszt remembered the important matters and recalled what Sharon had mentioned. Mu Ran and four others, in pursuit of a technological monopoly, were voluntarily hunting down schoolmates of magicians and killing them.

He did not understand why Mu Ran would go to such lengths.

Mu Ran... was a ruthless character.

Ten years ago, in the Northern Prison, he had also participated in strangling a magician’s apprentice.

Liszt had heard the name during his time at the California School, as an exchange student like himself, but that man held himself in high regard and was rarely seen around the school.

Originally, Liszt had not intended to let Sharon go to Heaven Port, a truly unwelcoming place, and with the bloodbath expected after the New Year, it would have actually harmed her.

But after the incident with the Minotaur Dragon Lord, Liszt’s mindset had changed, perhaps staying by his side was the safest option.

"What? Are you taking me back to Pirate Nest?"

Sharon hugged Liszt from behind, a completely different person, no longer playing her old tricks. Before, at school, he used to wear some perfume to entice people, but now... the scent was questionable.

"I haven’t yet told you what I’m here for, right? Of course, it’s dangerous there, and I wouldn’t want you to go. I’m here to rob a train, Mu Ran and his group might be on it, including ABC, Mo Yutong, William, that despicable couple. I will chop them all to pieces."

Liszt lit a cigarette and started smoking.

Sharon’s mind went blank for a moment, then she realized why they were in Yunxi City, on the way from Imperial City to Chenxi Port, relatively more isolated and besides its tourism, its value was negligible.

Liszt never engaged in single-line business dealings. Robbing a casino also meant collecting debts; extortion had to simultaneously support a pawn; robbing a train was no different.

Hostages must be taken, but not tearing the tickets if the money doesn’t arrive on time or if there’s a delay—selling them at a low price to Pedan Kingdom, Gion Kingdom, what will you do next, sir?

The Western Continent had the concept of espionage; each country would place spies in enemy territories to gather intelligence.

It was almost exactly like a Cold War scenario.

Exchanging spies was possible; I give you so many, calculate the value, and you release so many in return.

This was an unwritten rule, not because the spy business was too risky and without security no one dared to do it. There were plenty of anti-Aran, anti-Pedan madmen around.

The problem was, if your spies got caught, and you as their support did not react, what would other spies think? No one wants to feel purely used; losing their heart in it was the real danger.

High-level games involved ideologies.

If this operation succeeded, to avoid damaging the state’s dignity, Aran Royal Court might suppress the news.

And these captured nobles would become excellent propaganda tools for other countries.

One could also make real connections with the actual players at the Western Continent’s table.

But what Liszt had not anticipated was.

This time there was an additional surprise.

Because from Sharon’s perspective, robbing a train for money was ridiculous, and with Liszt bringing so many people to make a huge commotion.

It was worth pondering.

Liszt’s shirt was quite thin, he could feel Sharon clinging tightly, her back slightly damp with a warmth still carrying a faint sob.

Huh?

Liszt found it strange, how had he made this Emiriken sweetheart cry?

Then it dawned on him.

He suddenly felt somewhat ashamed because in doing so, Sharon was utterly devoted to him. Though they had never confirmed their relationship beyond frequent visits, now, it had clearly escalated to a higher level.

Thus, it became an art.