Chapter 1697: Small Fry Scuffling
"Does this mean there's nothing for us to do tonight?" the guy named Yang up front said.
"They're even negotiating, doesn't sound like a robbery but more like doing business," the hat-wearing player said with a grin.
"No, he's pretty suspicious too." The little braid player suddenly pointed at Xu Huo. "If he hadn't said something about sticking cloth to the wall, I wouldn't have touched those water droplets. And he actually discussed it with that inflatable doll, and the doll even agreed!"
The fire-borrowing female player let out a snort. "Could be using this tactic to lull us into a false sense of security."
"Don't stir up trouble for nothing," the shirt-wearing woman interrupted them. "Can't you see? This isn't the hijackers showing mercy—it's that they don't have enough people."
"I reckon not many are genuinely willing to hand over items. Even if they destroy one carriage tonight to threaten the others, if no one gives anything tomorrow, can the hijackers blow up every single carriage every night?"
"We proposed paying items tomorrow, so tonight they can conveniently skip our carriage. By tomorrow, some will start thinking the delay worked."
"The only trick they have is destroying carriages at night to attract mutants."
So whether it's using items as substitutes, or extorting and threatening in advance, it all means one thing: the hijackers absolutely can't control this many players.
"Looks like there are no A-rank players on this train," the hat-wearing player said.
If there were an A-rank player, they could control the whole situation. Since there isn't, it means the hijackers are at most B-rank, more likely C-rank. Considering it's hard for them to tamper with the train's meals, they probably have to split up among different carriages. And since players in different carriages rarely move around, each carriage needs at least one person assigned.
"This train has seventeen carriages total. I doubt they have enough people to control all of them," the shirt-wearing woman continued. "Using the middle dining car as the boundary, the front and rear carriages probably aren't sharing information. To destroy a carriage, they could start from the dining car, which would affect several carriages behind it."
"We didn't go to the rear dining car, but that doesn't mean players from other carriages didn't. They could tamper with food and drink in the dining car too. I estimate the hijackers number no more than ten, and they'll be moving between different carriages."
"No one in our carriage has gone out, right?" the little braid player said.
"You forgot—some people have gone out more than once." The shirt-wearing woman pointed her finger at those who had visited the transition car.
"Does going to the transition car count?" the fire-borrowing female player said darkly. "Don't pick a fight for nothing. Going to the bathroom affects other people's food? You looking for something to eat in the toilet?"
The words were harsh, but the shirt-wearing woman suddenly walked past her to the rear door of the carriage, yanked it open, and pointed her chin at the empty transition car. "Take a look."
"The two dead bodies are gone!" the buzz-cut player said, raising his voice slightly.
"Could a cannibal player have stolen them?" the missing-finger player guessed.
"The people I meant who went out are those two dead bodies," the shirt-wearing woman said, confident in her judgment. "We watched them die, but no one carefully examined their bodies afterward. Whether they're really dead or faking it is hard to say. And that's also why I suspect you."
She pointed at the little braid player again. "You were the first one to rush over and move the bodies."
The little braid player pointed at himself. "Why is it me again? Can't you see my hand is injured? Aren't I afraid the water will keep rising and get more dangerous?"
"Save that excuse for yourself." The shirt-wearing woman returned to the center of the room and crossed her arms, looking at him. "If you want to prove your innocence, why not go to the transition car yourself? If nothing happens in this carriage tonight, you can come back then."
The little braid player was at a loss for words and finally said, "You accuse me, but aren't you suspicious? You've been sitting with those two dead people the whole time. You were standing right next to them when they died. I could just as easily say you did it. And now you're framing me—if nothing happens tonight, are you going to insist I'm the hijacker?"
The atmosphere in the carriage grew increasingly tense. To muddy the waters, the little braid player dragged in the fire-borrowing female player and the guys Yang and Big Ear who had been guarding the front door, claiming they had been near the door the longest and had the most contact with other players, and that the fire-borrowing female player had also moved the bodies.
Honestly, watching small fry scuffle wasn't very interesting. In this carriage, at least three people had already surfaced. One was the "dead" burly man. Unlike the vest-wearing woman, when the ice spikes appeared, his hands were covering his abdomen. Whether the ice spikes came from his abdomen or his hands was unclear. Other players, intimidated by the power of liquid freezing, didn't rush forward immediately, giving the little braid player the chance to toss the "body" out, with the fire-borrowing female player coordinating.
Whether the little braid player's alcohol was tampered with was uncertain, but the vest-wearing woman's drink had definitely been messed with. So even though she didn't drink the later alcohol, she still couldn't escape death. As for the bodies disappearing along with it, that was just a smokescreen. The only one who actually got up and left was the burly man. But by then, the lights had just gone out, and everyone's attention was on the other living people in the same carriage.
The shirt-wearing woman was right—the hijackers wouldn't be too many. Since this carriage had three people providing cover, they couldn't possibly cover all carriages. They must have selectively targeted a few carriages to set up, making sure those carriages could see the situation in neighboring ones.
And under threat, most people would choose to stay where they were to avoid falling into a more uncontrollable and dangerous situation. Take Xu Huo's carriage as an example—everyone saw the front and back were the same, so there was no need to move elsewhere.
Killing by altering liquid forms was indeed shocking, but as long as people stopped eating or ate safely, the problem was solved. The players who boarded were more wary of the hijackers' knowledge of the train's route. If this stretch had many mutants, the hijackers, failing to achieve their goal, might heavily damage the carriages—they wouldn't even have to pay a huge price; a few flashbangs might be enough to achieve a decent effect.
Two B-rank items, four C-rank items, plus a million white notes—compared to the potential consequences of mutants breaking the train, it was a huge bargain. This was essentially asking players to spend money to avoid disaster.
But tonight shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Xu Huo returned to his private room and left the door slightly ajar.
(Chapter End) Source: /txt/35960/32772767