147: Chapter 147 Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free!

A voice rang out from the crowd of onlookers. Grace.

That woman with Western features was standing in the middle of the corridor with her chin tilted up, her face full of righteous indignation.

"Why do we need to isolate them?"

She spoke in slightly stiff Chinese; her voice wasn't shrill, but her tone and body language were highly exaggerated.

"Everyone on this train is family. Are we just going to send people to the roof to blow in the cold wind based on mere speculation? What if the vomiting is just because the fish wasn't cooked properly, or they're just not used to the environment? What should we do then?"

Some people nodded in agreement.

Those who had accidentally eaten a small amount of fish and were terrified a moment ago now seemed to have found a lifeline and chimed in one after another.

"That's right, what if it's just an upset stomach?"

"Throwing people out directly is just too inhumane..."

Facing the chorus of agreement, Grace spread her hands with a compassionate expression.

Seeing this, Zhou Jun immediately asked in a loud voice, "That sounds great, but aren't you afraid that your mutated teammate might take a bite out of you?"

"Why should I be afraid?" Grace tilted her head and shrugged. "My teammates didn't eat any fish from the sea. Of course, even if they had, I wouldn't drive them away. That would be an immoral act!"

Zhou Jun was about to retort, but was stopped by Lin Xiao.

"Then send Ms. Grace to the roof as well," Lin Xiao said, glancing sideways with a flat tone. "Let her look after those passengers herself and practice her so-called moral behavior!"

Hearing this, Grace's expression froze instantly.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Lin, that's not what I meant..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she realized that Lin Xiao had already taken Wen Yiran by the hand and turned to leave.

...

The roof of the dining car 09.

The howling sea wind blew in their faces, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Lin Xiao brought Wen Yiran up the stairs, but the sight before him made him pause.

Accompanied by the sound of snoring rising and falling.

Fan Sinian lay splayed out on a blanket, snoring thunderously.

Xu Shan was lying right next to him, the two of them singing in harmony with a perfect rhythm.

Xiao He was holding an empty mineral water bottle, sitting cross-legged by the campfire, looking up at the giant blue moon, reciting flowery poetry.

As for Fang Yuan, the kid was standing at the edge of the roof, waving his horse-slaying saber, striking an offensive pose while shouting out incredibly chuunibyou move names: "Wave-Breaking Slash, Heavenly Soaring Dragon Flash... Flash, flash for me!"

"Just how much did they drink?" Wen Yiran looked around, surprised.

Lin Xiao covered his forehead, unable to bear looking, "Quite a lot."

However, seeing Fan Sinian sleeping soundly, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fan Sinian had eaten a fair amount of grilled fish earlier, but he wasn't showing any symptoms of vomiting right now, which was a good thing.

On the other side.

Zhou Jun had already gathered all the elite forces from Carriage 8 to Carriage 2.

They first checked each other to confirm no one was showing symptoms of vomiting before splitting into groups and proceeding to check the situation in every carriage.

Jiang Wanwan led her people to Carriage 06.

On the way, Pei Qingzhao, who claimed to be the administrator, still wouldn't give up and even took out her red-tasseled spear to try and stop them.

But the moment she took a step forward, she stopped dead in her tracks.

The Jiang Wanwan before her, who looked gentle as water and should have been easy to talk to, was now radiating a bone-chilling cold.

This wasn't just an adjective; it was a genuine, physical cold.

The moisture in the air was condensing into tiny ice crystals, swirling around her.

Pei Qingzhao gripped her spear shaft tightly, but in the end, she didn't take that step.

However, the inspection of Carriage 06 was not as difficult as imagined.

"The people in the compartment next to me ate fish!"

First, someone reported it, and then every compartment started reporting on each other.

"The ones in Compartment 05 ate it too, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Big sister, is there a reward for reporting? I have a lead here too!"

Mutual accusations, mutual exposure, everyone scrambling to be first.

The brilliance of human nature shone blindingly at this moment.

Jiang Wanwan didn't even waste a word; she finished the entire screening using only a few pieces of Level 2 equipment.

Seventeen people.

Carriage 6, a full seventeen people had eaten the sea fish!

...

Not long after, people were successively sent to the roofs of their respective carriages.

Carriage 8, Carriage 7, Carriage 10, Carriage 11...

Each roof had five or six isolated passengers. Carriage 6 had the most.

When the number reached Lin Xiao's ears, he simply nodded.

If the two second-class carriages at the front and back were included, the number of people suspected of being parasitized by the Black Tide across the entire train was estimated to exceed one hundred.

One hundred people.

If they all mutated, the train would lose at least one-fifth of its combat power, a devastating loss.

Just then, a commotion came from the roof of Carriage 6 in the distance.

Lin Xiao settled the few drunken captains and immediately took Wen Yiran along the roof to rush over.

Jiang Wanwan was guarding the stairwell with her people. Seeing Lin Xiao arrive, she immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"The inspection is complete. Many people in Carriage 6 ate sea fish; the situation is very serious!"

She didn't lower her voice, so Pei Qingzhao, who was not far away, heard it clearly.

"I told them to hand over their fish catch to be exchanged for supplies, but they all hid it secretly!" Pei Qingzhao explained, anxious and angry.

Lin Xiao replied expressionlessly, "Making a big fuss to set up an all-female carriage, only to be unable to manage it in the end—how ridiculous!"

Hearing this, the usually proud and conceited Pei Qingzhao didn't dare to retort this time, and hid to the side, blushing.

At the same time, the ponytail girl who had been the first to vomit had stopped convulsing and was lying quietly on the roof, motionless.

Jiang Wanwan squatted down and pressed her fingers against the girl's neck.

A few seconds later, she looked up, her expression grave, and said, "There's still a pulse, but it's very weak. I'm afraid she won't hold on much longer."

"It's all your fault!"

Grace's voice came from the side.

After being forcibly taken to the roof, she had been squatting nearby. Now she suddenly stood up, pointing at Lin Xiao and Jiang Wanwan, her face full of grief and indignation.

"It's all because you wouldn't provide rescue and threw her here to wait for death! You will be punished by God for doing this!"

Lin Xiao turned around and looked at this woman with Western features.

There was no anger, no mockery, not even any emotional fluctuation in his eyes.

"The rules of this train are set by me," he said slowly. "If I tell her to go to the roof, she must go to the roof. Even Jesus can't keep her here!"

Grace's face turned pale, her lips trembling; she couldn't say a single word.

Just then, a private message notification sounded.

Lin Xiao opened it.

[02-04 Zhou Jun: Brother Lin, we've run into trouble in Carriage 13. They refuse to let us check, no matter what.]

Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly, informed Jiang Wanwan of the matter, and immediately turned to walk toward Carriage 13.

"Keep people on guard here," his voice came through the wind. "If there's any mutation, strike directly!"

Wen Yiran trotted to keep up.

...

Carriage 13.

Before the two even entered, they could hear the commotion coming from inside.

Just as Zhou Jun said, a group of people was blocking the carriage, not only refusing the inspection but also constantly protesting loudly:

"What do you mean vomiting leads to mutation? Where's the evidence?"

"What a joke, you say whatever you want, is there no reasoning anymore!"

"Damn it, before you blocked us and made us pay to exchange resources, and now you're controlling the people who ate fish. Anyone can figure out what you're really up to."

Zhou Jun and his men were blocking the carriage connection, unable to advance or retreat.

Seeing Lin Xiao's figure, his eyes lit up, and he hurried to meet him.

"Brother Lin, that guy in the black jacket..." He pointed to the passenger at the front of the crowd who was shouting the loudest.

"That bastard is the one inciting everyone. He's got some skill; even when a few of us went up together, we were no match for him!"

Lin Xiao looked in the direction of Zhou Jun's finger.

Black jacket, crew cut, half his body covered in Level 3 protective gear, and he was holding a Level 3 weapon.

Looking at the entire train, his combat power was indeed in the upper-middle range. Pity.

Lin Xiao stepped forward, flipped his right hand, and the [calamity bane - debt collector] appeared out of thin air.

The man in the black jacket saw the top supporter big shot take out his weapon and walk over aggressively, his expression changing abruptly.

"Lin Xiao, I don't object to you isolating my teammates, but can you give us some compensation first?"

"Because you started charging for resource exchanges before, and we didn't have any money, we had no choice but to eat this sea fish to fill our stomachs. We were all forced to do it..."

But Lin Xiao didn't respond at all and continued walking forward.

The man in the black jacket retreated repeatedly, finally hiding behind the sliding door of his territory, poking half his head out, his voice cracking:

"Li-Lin Xiao, before things are cleared up, you can't just act recklessly!"

"We're all civilized people, we can sit down and discuss this, there's no need to use..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a red light flashed through the corridor.

The man in the black jacket didn't even have time to scream before his body slumped down limply.

Blood sprayed, splattering the walls of the compartment.

The rest flowed slowly onto the corridor floor.

The carriage was dead silent.

Lin Xiao turned his head to look at Zhou Jun: "Are there people with symptoms of vomiting in this compartment?"

Zhou Jun swallowed hard: "Yes, yes there are, but we were blocked by this guy just now, so we haven't determined the exact number..."

Lin Xiao nodded.

He stepped into the compartment.

Soon, three shrill screams rang through the entire carriage.

The people in the corridor, who had just been protesting loudly and righteously indignant, were now all pale-faced, legs trembling, not daring to let out a breath.

When Lin Xiao walked out, the battle axe was still dripping with blood.

He raised his hand, wiped a drop of blood that had splattered onto the corner of his mouth with his thumb, and his gaze swept over the terrified faces in the corridor.

"Two of them were not parasitized by the Black Tide."

Lin Xiao's voice was very soft, so soft it sounded like he was talking to himself.

Then, he looked up at the people blocking the corridor.

The corners of his mouth lifted.

"But..." he said, enunciating each word clearly,

"Better to kill the innocent by mistake than to let one slip through!"