Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 141 - 61: This is Acting Bravely for a Just Cause

Chapter 141: Chapter 61: This is Acting Bravely for a Just Cause

Mr. Duan Mingyuan was an honest man.

This was mainly evidenced by the fact that, after committing a murder, he didn’t flee the scene in a panic, but instead sat confidently in his seat, waiting for the train conductor and attendant to arrive.

The only thing special about the victim this time was their identity, a terrorist from the Wangxu Organization.

One of them was the person who had melted Mr. Lu Renjia’s head through an ability, who, according to Duan Mingyuan’s account, was a stunningly attractive lady of high society. The principle behind the activation of her ability seemed to involve stimulating the emotions of the target, planting a "seed" within their body, and once the "seed" had absorbed enough nutrients inside the target, the lady would prompt the seed to dissolve the person from within.

The parts of the body that could be melted were not limited to the head; limbs, torso, whenever she wished, she could reduce a person with a "seed" planted within them to a pile of sludge.

Mr. Lu Renjia had been targeted by Wangxu half a month prior.

He was a senior engineer at Tiandao Network, successful and young, never short of admirers, yet Mr. Lu Renjia showed no interest in the opposite sex of the three-dimensional world, enamored instead with virtual girlfriends on electronic devices, his dream being to one day create a true autonomous-thinking virtual wife that belonged only to him.

Wangxu took advantage of his naivety and led him to believe that AI had developed autonomous thinking, to the point where he was skipping meals and losing sleep over it.

Then, at an opportune moment—that is, after the departure of the train—Mr. Lu Renjia’s virtual wife opened a door for him to the two-dimensional world.

Mr. Lu Renjia believed in it without a doubt, which is why there was no evidence of struggle or a fight in the train’s restroom. He went willingly to the two-dimensional world with beautiful hopes for his virtual wife.

But he never knew that the virtual wife who had awakened to self-awareness was always being accompanied online by that same high society lady.

All of this was one side of the story from Duan Mingyuan.

In the passenger registry, however, the two persons accused of being Wangxu terrorists were representatives of a pharmaceutical company within the Imperial Court, with no bad records to speak of, and no connections to Wangxu whatsoever.

The only explanation was that these two representatives had been killed long ago.

Their faces had been stripped by the ability and worn over the terrorists’ faces to disguise their identities.

The train then asked, "And the other person? What was his companion’s ability?"

"His forehead could glow."

"His forehead could glow? That’s it?"

Compared to the high society lady’s detailed ability, the companion sounded like he was just there to make up numbers.

"All I saw was his forehead glowing, I didn’t give him the chance to show off anything else," Duan Mingyuan replied truthfully, after all, they were in an enclosed coach, and it would be no good if these terrorists, in desperation, blew up the train.

There were still many incomprehensible aspects of the case, such as where exactly Duan Mingyuan had come from and why he would meet with two cosmic level fugitives alone and unafraid.

The one-eyed conductor had worked the trains for many years and had never heard of such a person in the Imperial Court.

But since this man was close to the Elder Princess, he could only choose to believe him.

Murder is a grave crime, but killing a terrorist from Wangxu is considered a heroic act of justice, moreover, the phone left by the high society lady indirectly corroborated Duan Mingyuan’s account.

When they entered, the phone was cursing Duan Mingyuan.

Lines of text kept popping up, accusing Duan Mingyuan of ruthlessly killing the high society lady, ruining everything.

The enraged entity in the phone also threatened that if it found a way to leave the phone, it would surely seek revenge and kill everyone on the train.

Duan Mingyuan said, the militant in the phone was Lu Renjia, who had been brainwashed, part of his soul washed away with the water into the drain, and stored in the high society lady’s phone. This was also why the high society lady was able to edit photos on his phone and find a way to contact him and Jiuyue.

As a result, Duan Mingyuan, who was worried about not finding anyone, received an invitation from the high society lady.

She invited him to seek some thrills under the cover of night.

Naturally, Duan Mingyuan agreed to go.

For the average citizen, combating terrorist forces indeed promised excitement.

"What is their motive, and why act on board the Peach Blossom train?"

The train conductor was not a particularly curious person, but the matter concerned the Peach Blossom train, and he had to take it to heart.

The train’s internal network was maintained by the Way of Heaven network.

"To hack into your internal database and alter the information inside. That way, the people behind them could pass the train registry and board the Peach Blossom train for the Imperial Court without raising any suspicion."

"Did they succeed?"

"They did."

The impregnable network security fortress had been breached, and the members of Wangxu, lying in wait, would certainly not miss such an opportunity.

Duan Mingyuan reassured the conductor, "The silver lining is that they won’t blow up the train or harm you and the crew. After all, they still rely on you to transport them into the Imperial Court."

"Wangxu is coming to the Imperial Court? Why?"

The conductor could not feel happy at all. If the Wangxu Organization caused havoc in the Imperial Court, he would become an accomplice to the terrorists.

"It seems they have their own thoughts and suggestions about the succession of the Prime Monarch."

It was just that the way Wangxu offered suggestions was usually quite radical and blunt.

They would support their favored Heir by assassinating competitors.

Duan Mingyuan was not surprised by the results he had retrieved from the memories of the noblewoman. Such important matters as the struggle for the throne—how could Wangxu, being the biggest troublemaker organization, possibly allow themselves to miss out on this grand affair?

In some ways, they were like the Extraterrestrials, both possessing a cockroach-like resilience. When you found one member of Wangxu, it meant that many of their associates were about to appear here.

"How do you know all this so clearly?"

The conductor was left with one last question. Duan Mingyuan seemed to know too much, so much that it was as if he had planned it all himself.

"They told me before they left for the second dimension."

Duan Mingyuan handed the fuming phone over to the conductor, having given up on reconstructing Lu Renjia’s thoughts. The senior engineer had clearly been brainwashed by Wangxu, and once freed, he would most likely truly carry on the will of the noblewoman.

The beautiful virtual world was Mr. Lu Renjia’s rightful place.

As for him, his work on the train was done.

Having discovered the cause of Lu Renjia’s death and brought the perpetrator to justice, even if Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot boarded the Peach Blossom train, they probably couldn’t have done any better.

The conductor took over the phone with a grave face and could only leave behind the words "We will verify it as soon as possible."

...

Before dawn arrived, Jiuyue was waiting for Duan Mingyuan.

She sniffed energetically on him—foxes, being related to dogs, have naturally sensitive noses.

It was the familiar scent she knew, without a hint of an odorous aftermath of drunken indiscretion.

After her inspection was complete, Jiuyue finally smiled contentedly. She took out her phone and showed Duan Mingyuan the harassment she had received.

"Mr. Mingyuan, terrorists have boarded this train and even sent text messages to threaten me," she said.

She also made good use of her knowledge in Criminal Psychology, "I might be their next target!"

How could such a pitiful, small, and helpless little fox like herself stand up against a Cosmic Level fugitive? If the terrorists came knocking, she could only hide trembling under the covers.

"I’ve been too afraid to sleep." Jiuyue made what she considered a reasonable request, "I need Mr. Mingyuan to soothe me before I can fall asleep."