Adonis hesitated for a long while before finally steeling his resolve. As their convoy hurtled toward the ambush site, he decided to voice his doubts to Captain Wales. He knew that raising questions at a time like this was practically equivalent to challenging his superior, but he had joined the military with grand ambitions and a clear set of principles. «Sir,» he began, «why are we sending Amelia on such a dangerous mission? If it's just about the curse, we could easily pull the video using our security clearance-even if it's currently sealed. The boys in this squad are tough; not a single one of them is afraid to die!»
Captain Wales caught himself off guard for a moment before realizing where Adonis was coming from. Adonis was a fresh transfer who had spent his entire career in the military. While the American armed forces were far from flawless, their internal culture still championed a code of chivalry. Against enemies, they were ruthless-ready to kill and burn without hesitation. But when it came to their own people, particularly women and children, they simply couldn't bring themselves to be cold-blooded. High command naturally favored this mindset: professional soldiers were tools, and the barrel of the gun should always point outward, never inward. In the army, that philosophy worked. In intelligence and law enforcement, however, it fell completely flat.
Domestic agencies like the FBI were rarely as squeaky-clean or noble as their public relations machine made them out to be. A specialized offshoot operating within the Bureau, like Wales's team, dealt almost exclusively in classified operations-more than half of which were dirty work. A soldier holding onto a high-minded moral code would only mess things up. «Adonis,» Captain Wales said, «I understand how you feel. But you don't grasp the unique nature of this operation.»
Noticing that Adonis's expression remained entirely unchanged, Wales knew that mere slogans wouldn't work. Veterans coming out of the military were seasoned men; if you didn't offer them cold, hard realities, you couldn't bluster your way through. «The 922 disappearance case involves paranormal phenomena. It's a massive, high-profile case with severe ramifications. By now, we've virtually confirmed that the perpetrator is the Train to Paradise. We know for certain that the train is evil-but does that make everyone else caught up in this case good?»
«Sir,» Adonis asked, «are you referring to Brook Lee?»
«Precisely,» Captain Wales replied. «I mean Brook Lee. Due to security protocol, none of you knew what case I was brought in to handle before we arrived in Los Angeles. To tell you the truth, I came here specifically for him. The 922 incident broke out right as I arrived, forcing me to prioritize the disappearances. Brook Lee might only play a supporting role in this whole mess, but the character he plays is anything but noble.»
Adonis actually agreed with that assessment. «Judging by his behavior during the investigation,» he admitted, «the man is a total bastard.»
Captain Wales nodded. «Exactly. He's a selfish, ruthless bastard. He holds critical secrets, yet he couldn't care less whether other people live or die. If Amelia hadn't warned her colleague over the phone, we wouldn't have identified the source of the anomaly so quickly. And I am willing to bet he hasn't told Amelia the whole truth, either.»
«Sir, are you saying we might have been played?»
«No,» Wales corrected him. «I'm saying Amelia was played. As far as the Train to Paradise is concerned, his intelligence seems reliable.» He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small container, showing it to Adonis. Inside were items that resembled specially manufactured adhesive bandages. «This is the real reason I came looking for Brook Lee. It's a miraculous drug that grants ordinary people a degree of resistance against anomalous forces. And the source of this medicine is Brook Lee himself.» Wales closed the box and tucked it away again.
«That son of a bitch!» Adonis spat out. «If he had brought this drug to light sooner, think of how many lives could have been saved!»
It was a textbook double standard-a piece of self-righteous logic that would have driven Li Yunlong to slap Adonis across the face had he been standing there. How much did Adonis actually know about Bitter Medicine? How could he be so sure it was a guaranteed cure for the cursed? Even setting that aside, how were they supposed to identify the cursed individuals in time and distribute the drug to them? Who would organize the logistics? Who would take responsibility when things went wrong? Who would foot the bill for the massive human and material resources required? Worst of all, throughout their entire conversation, neither Wales nor Adonis had given a single thought to Li Yunlong's own situation. If Li Yunlong were harmed or stripped of his rights in the process, who would take the fall?
Consider the pharmaceutical trade in the real world. A life-saving, patented cancer medication might be priced at thousands of dollars per box by the original pharmaceutical corporation. Meanwhile, generic versions produced elsewhere sell for a fraction of that price-yet those generics are branded illegal and banned across global markets, while the corporation retains exclusive rights to reap astronomical profits worldwide. The fundamental difference lies in absolute intellectual property rights, granting the owner the legal authority to command a fortune.
The Bitter Medicine in Li Yunlong's hands operated on the exact same logic. Strictly speaking, he held total, absolute ownership over his creation. Yet with a casual exchange of words, Captain Wales and Adonis had decided everything on his behalf, completely ignoring his personal interests while eagerly saddling him with all the moral burden. But had anyone asked if Li Yunlong agreed to their arrangement?
Captain Wales was thoroughly satisfied with Adonis's shared outrage toward their target. «Because of all this,» Wales continued, «we aren't just going to eliminate the evil Train to Paradise. We're not letting Brook Lee off the hook, either.»
Adonis nodded in agreement.
«Amelia sits at a crucial nexus in all this,» Captain Wales explained. «She's our sole bridge to Brook Lee. When dealing with a reckless individual who possesses unnatural powers and total disregard for the law, we must use every leverage point available to keep the situation under control. That means resorting to a few unsavory tactics.» He looked deeply at Adonis. «Amelia is the only contact we have who hasn't vanished after being cursed. Using her and her intelligence allows us to lock onto the Train to Paradise. Making her take the risk isn't strictly necessary-we could easily send our own agents, who are better trained and far more reliable. But risking her allows us to test Brook Lee's attitude toward her. That information will be invaluable when we move against him next. Even if the test fails, our intervention will keep her alive, while simultaneously forcing her to realize just how cold and ruthless Brook Lee truly is.»
Of course, Wales's rationale was nothing more than twisted sophistry. Amelia was a journalist, not a trained combatant; risking her life wasn't a professional duty she owed anyone. But in Wales's mind, brainwashing his subordinates was second nature-or rather, he saw it as cultivating proper operational discipline, teaching them to leave personal feelings out of the job. «Besides, Adonis… do you really believe Amelia is entirely innocent?» Captain Wales let out a cold, mocking smirk. «In all my years running investigations, I can tell you with absolute certainty that she's hiding something from us. And whatever she's holding back is directly linked to this train incident.» His grin turned self-satisfied. «She thinks she's fooling us, but her reactions give her away. She accepted our terms far too easily. To put it another way, whatever she's keeping secret gives her immense confidence-confidence that even if the curse takes hold and she ends up in the hands of the Train to Paradise, she'll still come out safe!»
Wales reached over and patted Adonis on the shoulder. «Adonis, don't forget that the work you're doing now is nothing like your days in the military. You don't have a clear enemy lined up in front of you to shoot. The scenarios you face here are far more bizarre and complex than anything you've ever imagined.» He tapped his own temple with a finger. «To get the job done, you have to control your emotions and discipline your mind. You must operate strictly from the perspective of the United States, not your personal feelings. That's the only way you'll succeed.»
Sincere or not, Adonis displayed complete agreement and understanding. «Understood, sir. I see it clearly now. What's our next move?»
«Focus our full force on destroying that cursed train and rescuing the victims,» Captain Wales said. «Once that's done, we deal with Brook Lee.»
Despite the tense conversation along the way, neither man was driving, and the convoy arrived at the ambush location right on schedule. The highly trained special operations squad had already prepared the perimeter, reinforced by a team of specialized technical officers. The moment Captain Wales arrived, he took control of the command post. Operations were proceeding smoothly for the most part, save for one unexpected glitch: Amelia's tracking device was experiencing severe signal interference. They knew for a fact that she had reached the abandoned railway station, but the technical specialists who had set up the containment zone could neither locate her visually nor pinpoint her coordinates. It was precisely this kind of unexplainable, uncanny phenomenon that made supernatural cases such a headache.
Captain Wales couldn't help but feel a flicker of gratitude for the intelligence Amelia had provided. Without it, the bizarre field generated when the curse triggered would have made it nearly impossible to track victims, let alone lay an ambush in advance to launch a targeted assault on the Train to Paradise.