Chapter Eighty-Eight: Scorlo's Identity

Brian, who had been sipping red wine and eating steak at his side all this time, suddenly broke into laughter.

“I never would have guessed it. Never. You little mice actually have a talent like this. I only meant to toy with you, but seeing how clever you are, I truly cannot let you go now.”

The moment he finished speaking, the two women behind him, each holding a submachine gun, raised their muzzles toward Fang Nian and the others. Aside from cold indifference, there was not a trace of feeling left in their eyes.

At the sight of this, everyone felt their hearts leap into their throats, and Jin Jinhui cried out in alarm.

“Grandpa Brian, how could you... you were so gentle just now.”

Xu Dong looked utterly bewildered.

“How is that possible? He wasn’t like this when we first arrived, was he? But now...”

Duan Rui suddenly said with a frosty expression,

“The more someone laughs, the more frightening they are. Think about it carefully. How could the great boss who rules this train possibly be a kind-hearted man?”

Hearing this, Brian’s smile turned even stranger.

“Hahahahaha. You realized it too late. To be honest, I was surprised as well. I never expected you to understand such bizarre code-cracking methods. The Raven code... After living so many years, I have never seen it before. Your horizons are truly broad, young lady.”

With that, Brian stood up and straightened his clothes, looking at Fang Nian and the others with eyes already cold as ice.

“All right, entertainment time is over. The train is about to pull into the station, and I have prey to harvest. There is still another performance to come.”

He waved a hand, signaling the gunwomen to open fire.

Fang Nian stared at Brian with a chill in his eyes, while the others wore expressions of shock, gazing solemnly at everything before them as though they were condemned prisoners awaiting death.

A burst of machine-gun fire rang out.

The few of them nearly all shut their eyes at once. Yet what no one expected was that the ones struck by the bullets were not Fang Nian and the others, but the two gunwomen.

Both of their guns had burst apart.

Xu Dong opened his eyes and stared at the two dead gunwomen, their eyes still wide open, utterly dumbfounded.

“What happened? What is going on?”

Jin Jinhui, equally bewildered, looked at the two women.

“Could it be... did we really get that lucky?”

Even Brian looked stunned. He did not understand why this had happened, why such a thing would occur.

He cast a cold eye at Fang Nian.

“Was that your doing?”

Fang Nian waved a hand and said calmly,

“No. I’m not nearly that skilled. However, we do happen to have an expert in this field.”

With that, Xiao Xueluan stepped out with a smile.

“That would be me.”

Xiao Xueluan was grinning from ear to ear, his eyes overflowing with delight. He truly adored this kind of glorious comeback after being looked down upon.

Seeing how excited he was, Fang Nian said,

“Go on, brother. Give Grandfather Brian a little lesson.”

At that, Xiao Xueluan launched into a detailed explanation.

“A burst barrel is a very serious firearm malfunction, mainly caused by the gun failing to lock properly, defects in manufacturing, or the use of poor-quality ammunition.”

“The main damage from a burst barrel is to the barrel and the bolt mechanism. Sometimes it can even endanger the shooter’s life, so to prevent it, one must use qualified firearms and ammunition and maintain them regularly to keep parts from rusting and failing.”

After explaining the principle behind the malfunction, Xiao Xueluan pointed at the two guns.

“As for why their guns burst when they fired, the reason is actually very simple: I secretly locked their safeties with a little movement.”

“The submachine gun in their hands is called the MAC-10, also known as the Ingram Model 10. It was designed in 1964 by an American named Gordon B. Ingram.”

“After the design was completed, it entered production in 1969 under Military Armament Corporation in the United States. Of course, the MAC-10 was also sold on the weapons market, and to achieve better sales, it was aimed at both military and civilian buyers, corresponding to its standard and civilian versions.”

“This submachine gun is fairly practical, but it has one flaw in use: the safety. So I took advantage of that just now.”

Xiao Xueluan could truly be called a firearms expert. Even Fang Nian admired his knowledge beyond measure, so earlier Fang Nian had asked him to tamper with the guns.

Brian’s gaze on Fang Nian grew even colder.

“You don’t seem simple. Looks like you know quite a lot. Fine, then tell me. What else do you know?”

Hearing this, Fang Nian smiled faintly.

“All right. Since we are laying things bare, I think just the few of us is not enough. Why not invite out your good brother, Xie Luo?”

Everyone was stunned at those words, even Xiao Xueluan and the others looked completely baffled.

“What is going on? His good brother? That’s taking the joke too far, isn’t it? Weren’t they sworn enemies?”

Fang Nian smiled, then suddenly flicked a dagger in his hand toward a wall.

To everyone’s shock, when the dagger struck the wall, it did not stop at all, but drove straight through into the hidden space behind it.

Jin Jinhui gasped.

“There’s a compartment inside the wall.”

A moment later, a man suddenly appeared before them, clutching his wounded arm. It was none other than Xie Luo, who had just moments ago been their ally.

“I truly did not expect you to be hiding even more deeply than I was. I underestimated you.”

Fang Nian smiled faintly and said,

“The Super Armed Alliance was originally founded by a wealthy American. In 1930, he established it as a professional mercenary organization on one of the Hawaiian Islands.”

“The man who founded it was a businessman named Michel, who at the time made his fortune through real estate, drugs, smuggling, and other dealings in the gray zone between light and shadow.”

“The Super Armed Alliance is made up of a large number of retired generals, officers, and noncommissioned officers from the army, navy, air force, and special forces. Its corporate archives hold information on more than two thousand discharged military personnel, and its upper ranks are crowded with generals. Reports have even said that the density of generals in the Super Armed Alliance exceeds that of the Pentagon.”

“And Xie Luo is one of the Super Armed Alliance’s senior generals, with enormous influence within the company. But you still did not know when to be satisfied. Not only did you betray your country, you also joined another organization. And that organization is this man before us, Brian, whose mind is even more meticulous than Xie Luo’s.”

Everyone was stunned. They had truly never imagined there would be such a hidden game aboard this train. They knew Xie Luo was strong, but they had never expected him to be this strong.

After hearing Fang Nian’s words, Xie Luo could no longer sit still. Those dark secrets that no one knew had been dragged into the light. If word got out, he would be dead for certain.