'The Engineman must not die!'

Leon thought as he charged towards the door of this Coach of the Train, ignoring the hysterical passengers who were screaming in horror around him.

This maglev train was a 15-Coach train.

Apart from the 15 passenger Coaches, the Engineman stays in the electromagnetic engine chamber itself which pulls the coaches through the guideway.

All this information went through Leon's head as he ran.

'I'm in Coach 7 and the Engineman is 6 coaches away before I get to the electromagnetic engine'.

To him, the Engineman was the most important element of this resistance against the terrorists.

Evident from how some of the terrorists were directly squashed into bloody goo by trying to jump into the train, Leon knew that keeping the train moving was extremely important to the goal of surviving this encounter.

And in this case, it directly translated to keeping the Engineman alive.

As he ran, he stared at the sleek-looking double door separating the 7th Coach from the 6th Coach and immediately the image of the E Rank enemy struggling to break the window flashed through his mind.

Leon dipped his hand into his bag and brought out what seemed like a toy gun but in actual fact was his Terra Nova 71, an Electromagnetic Pulse Gun.

Miniaturization!

His grayish white ADE flared, wrapping around the Rifle as it instantly elongated, returning to its original state.

He pointed the Rifle at the door's lock and with his index finger pushed the regulator of the Rifle to slot 2.

Enhance!

He aimed, then he pulled the trigger.

WHOOM!

What came out was not a physical projectile but instead a tyrannical blueish white electromagnetic pulse that was focused entirely on the sleek-looking advanced, reinforced, and electronic door.

When the electromagnetic pulse went through the door, a groaning metallic sound visibly sounded as all electronics inside the door were directly scrambled, rendering it vulnerable for Leon's next attack.

Leon kept the muzzle of the Rifle trained on the door's lock, then his index finger pushed the regulator back to slot 1 before pulling the trigger again.

BAM!

This time, what came out of the muzzle was a tyrannical pulse plasma beam that tore through the door, directly melting its way through the lock!

There were 2 double doors separating Coach 7 from Coach 6, one at the entrance to Coach 7 and the other at the exit from Coach 6 after a short corridor.

Leon's double-layered attack affected both doors at the same time though the effect was weaker by the time it got to the second door, but that was all Leon needed as he charged in like a wrecking ball.

When he arrived in front of the first door, he simply relied on his superhuman strength and threw a devastating front kick at it, finishing the job that his Rifle already laid the foundation for and instantly, the door crumbled.

Leon charged forward again, then jumped, rolling in mid-air even as he coiled his body for maximum impact before crashing against the second door with the full force of his superhuman body and weight.

The second door groaned but it was also blasted open by the impact.

Thud!

Leon landed in Coach 6 with a roll.

"Argghhh…!" The already panicking passengers screamed when they saw him but Leon didn't even pay attention to them as he charged past them, his focus now on the 2 new double doors blocking his path.

He repeated the same action and tore through both doors like a Bull.

He was bulldozing his way to the front.

…

Lieutenant Johnmark was in a state of distress but he didn't let it show in front of his subordinates to project strength and confidence to them.

The moment he knew that the enemy were terrorists from the Extremist Movement, he knew that unless they escaped immediately at the first opportunity, this was going to be one of the most intense battles of his life.

He also knew that there was a high chance of him dying today.

The media portrayed the leader of the Extremist Movement as a Demon, an idiotic terrorist who attacked and killed wantonly like a madman.

Yes, the Demon of Ozempic attacked and killed like a madman but as an insider in the army, Lieutenant Johnmark knew that the Demon was anything but reckless.

There was a reason why the terrorists enjoyed so much success when they attacked since he became the leader.

This Lieutenant knew that who the media portrayed as an idiotic Demon was actually an intelligent, ruthless, and cunning strategist.

The Demon always studied his targets before attacking.

He always did his homework, learning their preferences, their style, their strengths and weaknesses. He always learned everything he needed to know about his targets before attacking to increase his chances of success.

This was why Lieutenant Johnmark knew that the enemy leader leading this attack likely knew him like a book: his class, his rank, his combat style, everything.

For them to attack, they likely believed that they had a high chance of succeeding, this was why he was also not surprised that the train failed to escape.

Afterall, they must have accounted for that reaction from them.

'Dammit!' This Lieutenant felt the pressure.

The moment the leader of the terrorists jumped and lashed into the train, surviving the impact, he immediately confirmed that he was an E Rank Ascended, likely a Gene Augur or a Cyber Gladiator.

And when he saw him smashing the window with his knee to break it open, he knew that he couldn't stay idle anymore.

There was no avoiding this battle, it already started.

And as the leader of the security in this train today, he was obligated to defend the Train till death.

In normal circumstances, it was very very hard for him to die due to his Class but at this moment, this Lieutenant already accepted that possibility as he grabbed his War Axe and charged towards the second Coach.

The moment he moved, his subordinates followed him.

As the head of security, he was stationed in Coach 3 where he was close to the locomotive engine to protect the Engineman and where he could also quickly react to any danger targeting Coaches 3 to 7 and 8.

His 2 subordinates who were both F Rank Ascended were stationed in Coaches 9 and 11, and their job was to protect the later Coaches at the back.

At this moment, this Lieutenant only had mundane soldiers around him but that didn't make him stop because he knew that the Engineman's life had more priority than a lot of passengers combined.

So, he charged towards Coach 1 immediately without fear.

With his clearance level in the train, he quickly opened the Coach doors and by the time he and his shoulders arrived in Coach 1, the terrorist already entered.

CRKSH!

The reinforced window shattered.

The Lieutenant saw and heard it as the window shattered, he saw it as the lean terrorist with a half-face mask like a reptile jumped into the Coach with his sword scabbard on his right hand, causing chaos and panic everywhere.

"Arggghh…!" The passengers in Coach 1 screamed in horror and ran around like headless chickens in panic, causing a great commotion.

Their panic caused a literal stampede inside the Coach.

The chaos in the Coach made the Lieutenant distressed, then he saw the eerie brown eyes of the terrorist gleam. His heart skipped a beat, then…

Spurt!

A massacre started inside the Coach as the terrorist went berserk!

All the Lieutenant saw was the rising and falling of the black blade, then it was quickly followed by blood sprinkling like rain as the terrorist performed a dance of death among the screaming passengers.

He diced them to death like vegetables amid horrifying screams of pain!

The moment the massacre started, the Coach became even more hysterical as the passengers who were yet to be victims lost it completely in horror.

"…" Lieutenant Johnmark was forced to watch it happen.

Seeing the passengers that he swore to protect dying in front of his eyes, the Lieutenant became agitated as his eyes reddened in rage but there was nothing he could do.

The passengers in their panic already blocked his path forward!

His eyes darted left and right in desperation, scanning, his brain thinking hard as he looked for a way forward but the passengers were too hysterical, even fighting to push him backward.

Unlike the terrorist, his hands were tied.

He couldn't cut through them like the terrorist was doing. The only reason why he stayed calm at this moment was because he knew just how sturdy the double doors of each Coach was.

Even though the terrorist was an E Rank Ascended just like him, there was no way that he was going to be able to break it quickly to get to the Engineman.

But then, amid the shower of blood inside the Coach, his enhanced senses made him pick up a faintly ticking sound.

As a veteran soldier, he recognized that sound immediately.

'A timed bomb?' His eyes widened in shock, rage, and desperation.

He knew exactly what the terrorist wanted to do, he wanted to bomb the doors open, enter the electromagnetic engine chamber, kill the Engineman and turn the train into a sitting duck for the slaughter that he was about to perpetrate.

"NO!" He growled as his eyes darted left and right, desperate, then he got an idea, a crazy idea that his honor would never let him accept in normal times.

Without caring about the damage that he would deal to the panicking passengers in the process, this giant of a man leaned forward and bent his shoulders down, and then he charged through the passengers in front of him like a battering ram!

He bulldozed through the tide of panicking passengers.

His sheer power enabled him to smash into them, throwing them aside like paper, injuring many of them in the process but he no longer cared.

He needed to get to the terrorist ASAP.

Within a few seconds, he closed the distance to the door but on getting there, all he saw was the bomb attached to the double door of the Coach that was beeping, it's countdown reducing.

As for the terrorist, he was nowhere to be found!

'Huh? Where did he go?'

And then, his hair suddenly stood on end as his danger instincts tingled.

Pulse Dash!

Impact Surge!

He felt a violent pulse of purple ADE him behind him but there was no time to react, Lieutenant Johnmark couldn't react.

Before he knew it, the terrorist who previously hid among the panicking passengers took a single step and in that step arrived behind him with lightning speed, crossing the distance of 3 meters instantly as the blade of the katana was plunged straight into his heart!

BAM!

It was a lethal strike.

The attack directly pulverized his heart!

Lieutenant Johnmark groaned and coughed out blood in pain.

His subordinates watched in horror as the Lieutenant's heart was directly destroyed, directly signing his death warrant, but then…

BADUMP!

A new heart suddenly started beating!

Lieutenant Johnmark bloody lips curled into a grin. He was an E Rank Gene Augur and just like any other Neo Augur, he could create a secondary organ system fed by ADE.

In essence, he was very very hard to kill.

'But he should know this too,' he thought after finally realizing his enemy's Class, the terrorist was an E Rank Cyber Gladiator. 'The terrorists don't attack without studying their targets'.

He was right, the terrorist knew.

This was why before the Lieutenant could retaliate against him, he suddenly pushed him towards the bomb whose countdown now showed…

[03:00]

[02:00]

'Oh,' Johnmark finally understood. 'This was his plan from the beginning'.

He didn't panic though.

[01:00]

[00:00]

Just before the bomb detonated, Lieutenant Johnmark triggered the shield generator installed in his brown military attire, but it didn't work.

'What?' His eyes widened. 'Is it a virus…? He has a NetRunner ally!'

BOOM!

The bomb detonated!

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