A rumbling, engine-like roar echoed from the end of the tracks, and a damp wind gusted out of the dark, narrow tunnel.

A few seconds later, the wind shifted from damp to dry, as if it had been blasted by a giant blower.

The lights on the platform signs swayed in the gale, and bursts of boisterous chatter erupted from the crowd.

Baron tightened his grip on his briefcase. To avoid being followed, he blended into the bustling crowd, moving from one line to another.

A few more seconds passed. A fiery glow spewed from the long, dark tunnel, followed by scalding water vapor. Great clouds of mist billowed out, obscuring a long, narrow shadow that shot out from within, accompanied by a thunderous, dragon-like roar.

As the steam billowed out, massive awnings extended over the platform, sheltering the crowd below.

Baron had assumed the platform signs were made so large to keep passengers from getting lost. It turned out that the support poles housed large sheets of folded, compressed waterproof canvas.

Billowing clouds of steam struck the awnings and condensed into water. Once the white mist and the deafening roar had dissipated, the awnings tipped, dumping the water onto the tracks. Only then did Baron get a clear look at the subway train.

’A "dragon-like roar"? That *was* a dragon!’

To be precise, it was a Bone Flood Dragon, its white skeleton laid bare.

It was about three hundred feet long, stretching out of sight.

The earlier roar and gale must have been the dragon’s breath, while the fire and steam were cooling measures for both the giant dragon and the station to handle the high temperatures.

The train cars were fashioned from its scale armor. Windows had been neatly cut into the scales and fitted with glass. Protruding bone spurs along the cars had been ground down, leaving uniform notches where various advertisements were posted.

Baron glanced at them. They were mostly ads for Magic Staffs and Magic Potions, with purported effects similar to the academic performance supplements from his past life.

The only difference was that instead of improving academic performance, they claimed to increase the activation of one’s Spiritual Power.

Baron stared at the behemoth before him. Even though he had been mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

’A Dragon Subway... To think something that should only exist in fantasy could appear so vividly right before my eyes.’

The doors slid open, and passengers boarded in an orderly fashion.

A station employee stepped forward to stop Baron. Baron’s breath hitched, but the employee simply walked past and went behind him.

"No smoking on the Dragon Subway. Even though the Dragon Bone has been treated with a protective coating, open flames are still a fire hazard."

The man who had been singled out sullenly extinguished his cigarette.

"The fine is One Ounce of Gold," the employee said politely.

The man looked utterly dejected.

Seeing this, other men in the crowd who had intended to light up quickly shoved their cigarette packs back into their pockets and, as if on cue, glanced at their watches and pretended to be in a hurry.

Baron followed at the tail end of the crowd onto the train. Inside the car, he discreetly made his way to the side of the lady from before. She glanced at him, and he offered a silent smile.

The lady lowered her head, ignoring him.

When she had been cut in front of earlier, their eyes had met briefly, but Baron had chosen not to get involved.

Although she hadn’t been expecting anyone to help her, she still had every right to be angry and annoyed.

Listening to the in-car announcement counting down the door closure, Baron squeezed further inside until he stopped behind Bill, who was brazenly showing off his Bronze Demon Hunter Medal to the lady beside him.

"Doors closing in 10 seconds... 9, 8... 3, 2, 1... BANG! HSSSSSS!"

The instant the doors began to close, Baron kicked Bill clean off the train.

The hissing was the sound of the pneumatic doors. As Bill fell, his trench coat got caught and was ripped by the force of his momentum.

The lady stared at Baron, an astonished expression on her face.

Baron raised a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. He then unfolded a newspaper and, like a traveler in a hurry, began moving toward the next car, against the flow of people.

Under the astonished gaze of the station employee, Bill lay sprawled on the terrazzo floor, looking equally stunned, as if he hadn’t yet processed what had just happened.

By the time he scrambled to his feet, it was too late. The Dragon Subway was already roaring as it rounded the bend of the platform.

In the instant a car brushed past him, he saw the culprit through the translucent window, pulling up his collar and using a newspaper to hide his face as he vanished into the crowd.

The Gentiana Pattern Ring on his index finger flashed once, then dimmed.

"Westminster..." Bill gritted his teeth. "It must be the Westminster Commissioner from Birmingham."

...

Car number thirteen, the last on the train, was nearly empty. The in-car broadcast was on, recounting a recent bank robbery in Birmingham.

Ordinarily, the Inner Side wouldn’t pay much attention to a case from the Outer Side, but the broadcast mentioned that the robbers were apparently Bloodless.

Though from what Baron understood, the Bloodless were to the Inner Side what the Shudras were to the caste system in India, they were still ultimately considered one of the Old Races. And all Old Races fell under the jurisdiction of the Inner Side.

Baron found a seat, put away the ring he had used for the frame-up, and opened his copy of the *Mercury Times* to read the article that had caught his interest.

Thanks to his years of experience writing and reading scripts in his past life, it only took Baron a moment to finish the article. He folded the paper, feeling a little disappointed.

The Blood Biter was a serial killer on the Inner Side. The official term for such a person was a Lawbreaker, meaning one who has betrayed the Law.

The newspaper said he was a follower of the Blood Race, believing that blood possessed supreme Magic Power, which led him to hunt down and sacrifice unfortunate victims.

Hunted by the Law Enforcers, he could no longer remain on the Inner Side and had fled to the Outer Side.

This time, he had surfaced in Birmingham and killed three people. How unfortunate.

Even more unfortunate was the fact that those three people were not Lady Eleanor’s family members.

In other words, the Blood Biter was not the killer Baron was looking for.

"The Bloodless?"

Baron had just relaxed for a moment, but a single word from beside him made his nerves instantly tighten again.

He looked over to see a beautiful, blonde-haired girl. She wore a pale violet silk dress, had a slender figure, and her eyes shimmered. Her face seemed to glow, and her wavy bangs were held in place by a pair of twin rose hairclips.

Seeing Baron look her way, the girl gave a slight dip of her chin, rather like a proud swan. "I don’t mean anything by it," she said. "It’s just that you seem a bit confused."

’No way. Do I really look like such a country bumpkin that I’m that easy to spot?’

Just as Baron was complaining to himself, the girl suddenly stood up, pulled a ticket-like object from her dress, and held it forward.

Baron glanced over, froze, and had the immediate urge to flee.

The conductor was coming to check tickets!

’Damn it! With all the chaos of the day and my mental fatigue, I actually forgot the most important detail!’

’Fare-dodging... the most important part of fare-dodging is the ticket you’re supposed to have!’

But the train was already moving, rumbling along the tracks to the sound of a dragon’s roar.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide!

The conductor checked the girl’s ticket, then stopped in front of Baron. "Your ticket, sir."

Baron pretended to search his pockets, but in reality, he was already looking for a chance to get away.

’Including the conductor, there are twelve people in this car. The next car is ten meters away. The five people near the door could block my way...’

"Sir?"

The conductor sensed something was off from Baron’s hesitant demeanor.

’Could he be trying to dodge the fare?’

He took out a Communication Magic Card and his Magic Staff, about to notify the other train crew to check on the situation, when he heard a dull thud from nearby.

He turned to see the other ticket-checking conductor clutching his stomach, curled up on the floor like a shrimp. His pained gasps were visible as chilled breaths.

The conductor and the other passengers in the car stared wide-eyed, their gazes fixed in one direction.

There, the five men Baron had thought might block his escape now stood silently, each holding a briefcase. In their other hands, they held iron rods and Long Sabers at the ready.

’Looks like the Dragon Subway’s security checks aren’t up to snuff.’

Baron breathed a silent sigh of relief. ’A robbery... thank god it’s just a robbery.’

He shot the five men a grateful glance and, taking advantage of the conductor’s distraction, retreated behind the rest of the crowd.

The path to the next car was now blocked by the five bank robbers; the safest option was to back away.

Baron recalled noticing when he first entered the car that three of the five men were holding the latest Birmingham daily from the Outer Side, their eyes lingering on the section about the "bank robbers."

’Thinking about it now, they must be those wanted Bloodless robbers.’

"Nobody move!" the lead robber shouted. "I’m not going to kill you. Just cooperate, and I’ll let you all go when we reach Inner London."

Baron saw the conductor make a subtle movement. A moment later, the overhead speaker crackled to life with a piercing broadcast.

"G12 Dragon Subway, route Birmingham to Edinburgh... 245 mph... Kerry Mountain Range..."

’Why announce the route at a time like this?’

"Coordinates received..."

A woman’s voice suddenly replied over the speaker.

Baron sensed something was wrong and whipped his head around to look out the window.

Outside, there was nothing but seamless darkness. The wind slammed futilely against the window panes. The old pendant lights inside the car swayed, and a chilling sensation, cold enough to turn the blood to ice, swept in from all sides.

"What did you do!?"

The robbers also realized something was wrong from the broadcast. One of them grabbed the conductor and roared, but it was already too late.

"Holy Mechanism Inquisition, Battle Sister Lian on approach. May God grant us glory. Over."

With that reply, the static from the speaker abruptly cut out. The commotion in the car died down with it, leaving only the sound of breathing.

The sound of the moving train became so quiet it was like a soothing requiem.

All that was left was the wind, the rain, the Dragon’s roar... and footsteps.

’Footsteps?’

Baron quickly looked up toward the ceiling, which was decorated with birch wood and red lacquer, its exterior wrapped in scales.

Noticing Baron’s sudden movement, everyone else—including the five robbers—looked up as well. Their initial confusion gave way to expressions of utter disbelief, as if the horrifying implication had just dawned on them.

’But is that even possible!?’

This was a Dragon Subway traveling at 245 mph—the equivalent of four hundred kilometers per hour!

The wind speed and upward suction on the roof must be equivalent to a Category 5-plus hurricane! That was the same as the wind resistance from a ten-thousand-meter freefall! Even if one wasn’t blown away, the wind pressure alone would tear human tissue to shreds!

What kind of insane arrogance and confidence would it take for someone to walk through a Category 5-plus hurricane, their feet still planted firmly on the surface?!

SCREEECH!

A loud crash echoed from the roof!

A figure descended from above!!!

Baron’s brow twitched.

’The arrogance!’

’The sheer arrogance of a blade piercing through steel!’

It was a girl who moved like a ninja but was dressed in a nun’s habit!

’And her legs and waist are incredibly thin!’

’And that sword!’