The piercing sound of the whistle shattered the tranquility of the glacial mountains, disrupting the silence that enveloped the region.
The out-of-control train hurtled forward, billowing thick smoke, and its speed on the tracks kept increasing without any sign of slowing down.
“Did Steve mess up?” Kyle raised an eyebrow and was about to climb onto the roof of the train to reach the front. However, when he saw that the train was about to enter a tunnel that could only accommodate the body of the train, he quickly retreated back into the carriage and closed the door behind him.
As the train entered the tunnel, the lighting inside the carriage dimmed, leaving only faint illumination from the lights.
Kyle looked down the aisle of the train carriage. Each section of the passageway had automatic mechanical doors installed at both ends, and they were now completely locked from the main control room.
There was no time to waste.
With that in mind, Kyle extended his two fingers, revealing a translucent Blue Item Card. In the next moment, a Laser Gun materialized in his hand through the Card Recovery process.
He aimed the barrel of the gun at the tightly closed door and pulled the trigger!
“Chhh!”
The locked mechanical door shattered under the intense blast of the laser, and Kyle, holding the Laser Gun, crossed the threshold and quickly made his way toward the front of the train.
“Chhh, chhh, chhh!”
Every closed door along the train carriage corridor was forcefully blasted open by Kyle’s Laser Gun, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.
“I should be getting close.” Kyle looked at the fifth door, aimed the Laser Gun at it, and fired. The automatic door disintegrated under the laser, and the explosion dispersed the smoke in the front cabin.
“What is this…” As the horrific scene in the front cabin came into view, even Kyle couldn’t help but widen his eyes in astonishment.
On both sides of the cabin, there were massive holes blasted through the exterior of the train, revealing the tunnel walls and sparks generated by the rolling wheels flying by outside.
The floor of the cabin was covered in shattered bones stained with crimson blood and it was as if someone had caused it through a suicide bombing. The smoke and fire originated from the control console of the train.
Steve sat wearily on the floor of the cabin, and beside him was an unconscious bald professor, whom Kyle recognized as the target of their mission.
“Kyle, you’re here.” Steve looked up at Kyle, his clenched fists audibly creaking, as if enduring immense pain.
“What happened here? How did it end up like this? Are you injured?” Kyle threw away the Laser Gun in his hand as he quickly approached Steve, and helped him up, sensing that something was amiss. He asked, “Where’s Bucky?”
“It’s all my fault. I underestimated them.” Steve sighed, unable to contain his sadness. He said, “Bucky. He saved me but was thrown out of the train by the explosion and fell into a snow-covered valley hundreds of meters deep.”
‘The same fate again? The Fate of Winter Soldier.’ Kyle remained expressionless, knowing that although Bucky hadn’t died, his future would be even more painful than death, having been controlled by foreign governments as a war machine for over half a century, with his humanity eroded.
Kyle wasn’t good at comforting people, so all he could do was pat Steve’s shoulder and say, “Stay strong. Sacrifices on the battlefield are common for soldiers. Don’t let this affect the mission.”
“I know.” Steve took a deep breath, lifted the unconscious bald professor from the ground, and stood firm. He said, “But the mission is complete. This target tried to bite down on a poisoned capsule for suicide, but I knocked him out.”
“It seems the intelligence was correct. The members of the Hydra organization have a tendency to carry poison capsules and use them for suicide.” Kyle nodded, pondering, and said, “Now, all we need to do is safely evacuate with the target.”
“And that’s the problem here.” Steve’s resolute face revealed a bitter smile as he pointed to the smoke-filled and fiery control panel. “That explosion not only blasted through the exterior on both sides of this carriage but also damaged the train’s control console. The train is currently in an uncontrollable state, and is speeding up.”
“Indeed, the train’s speed should have already exceeded 150 kilometers per hour, and it’s still accelerating. It’s impossible to stop it now,” Kyle said as his eyes fixed on the sparks flying from the train wheels as he quickly devised a plan.
At such a high speed, even jumping off the train would pose a life-threatening risk, not to mention the fact that on both sides of the train were either steep cliffs or snow-filled valleys.
If it were just him, he could simply use the Forced Teleportation of his Stealth ability. However, with Steve and the hostage in tow, that was not feasible.
Steve offered his suggestion, his face filled with concern. “It seems we can only make our way to the rear carriage of the train and disconnect the connection between the locomotive and the rear carriages. Hopefully, this will bring the train to a halt.”
Kyle shook his head and vetoed the idea. “You’re thinking too much. If I remember correctly from the glacial map of this area, once the train exits this long and straight mountain tunnel, it will immediately make a turn. At this speed, even if the locomotive and carriages separate, the carriages won’t have enough time to stop and will derail and fall.”
Steve asked with a serious expression, “So what do we do then? Are we just going to do nothing and wait for the train to derail and fall?”
Kyle fell silent for a moment, then suddenly stared directly at Steve and asked, “Do you trust me?”
Steve was momentarily taken aback, then without hesitation, he replied, “Of course! If I can’t trust you in this world, then whom can I trust?”
“Then let’s do nothing,” Kyle said with a mysterious smile. Making the decision seemed to ease his mind, and his face relaxed, devoid of any sense of danger.
He said with confidence, “When the train bursts out of the tunnel and is about to derail and fall, I’ll tell you to jump, and you’ll take the hostage and jump towards the cliff in the valley.”
“Jump off a cliff?” Steve looked at Kyle in astonishment, still puzzled. The bottom of the cliff wasn’t a deep river but a frozen, solid riverbed.
“Don’t you trust me?” Kyle shrugged.
“Alright, if you tell me to jump, I’ll jump,” Steve replied without further questioning. He held the hostage securely on his shoulders, prepared himself, and faced the tunnel wall.
Within a matter of seconds, as the train, traveling at a speed exceeding 200 kilometers per hour, swiftly reached the end of the tunnel, the darkness was instantly dispelled by the bright daylight outside.
The dazzling white light made Steve squint his eyes involuntarily. Simultaneously, the train they were on began to shake violently, and the wheels completely disintegrated, causing sparks to fly.
“Crack!” The roaring train was supposed to follow the tracks as it turned, but due to the excessive speed, it suddenly derailed at the bend and charged straight toward the empty space above the cliff.
The frigid wind, carrying snowflakes, rushed into the carriage, and the sense of weightlessness, signaling the imminent fall of the train, emerged.
“Steve, jump!” Before Kyle could finish his sentence, he had already leaped out of the carriage, taking the lead.
Without hesitation, Steve, carrying the hostage, followed closely behind Kyle, jumping from the train and plummeting down several hundred meters of the cliff.
(End of Chapter)
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