The Omega-7 jerked forward abruptly. Lio immediately lost his balance and crashed into a row of seats.
“Ouch!”
Keks flew across the wagon, bounced off a door, and lay still for a moment.
“Keks?!”
Slowly, a potato appeared again on his display.
“System message,” he beeped weakly. “Trains are dangerous.”
At the same moment, the first rocket exploded behind them.
The entire tunnel shook. Sparks rained from the ceiling as the Omega-7 sped up even more.
The old train conductor with the huge protective goggles grinned excitedly. “HAHA! Finally, a proper chase again!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY AGAIN?!” shouted Lio.
“Long story!”
Pix had meanwhile rolled forward to the driver’s cabin. “Increase speed!”
“Can hardly go faster!”
“Then do the hardly!”
The Omega-7 raced through the dark tunnels under New Stuttgart. Old lamps flew past like flashes of light.
Suddenly, the white glow of the Enforcer appeared behind them again.
Lio stared horrified out the rear window. “This can’t be…”
The Enforcer was actually chasing the train.
And it was getting faster.
“Why can this thing do EVERYTHING?!”
Mara remained surprisingly calm. “Because NexaCore doesn’t do things halfway.”
The refrigerator stood in the middle of the wagon, blinking frantically.
WARNING. ENFORCER WILL REACH THE TRAIN IN 43 SECONDS.
“That’s an extremely bad warning,” murmured Lio.
Suddenly, the Omega-7 began to jerk violently.
The conductor cursed loudly. “Not now!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Pix.
“The right magnetic rail is failing!”
Keks beeped panic-stricken. “Can a train run without a rail?”
The conductor thought for a moment. “Technically yes.”
“And practically?”
“More like exciting.”
Then the Omega-7 suddenly swerved dangerously to the left.
Everyone in the wagon was thrown against the sides.
A second rocket exploded close behind the train.
The shockwave shattered several lamps.
“It’s still shooting at us?!” shouted Lio.
Mara looked out the window to the rear. “No.”
“No what?”
“That wasn’t the Enforcer.”
Lio turned around startled.
Suddenly, more lights appeared in the tunnel behind the Enforcer.
Several black flying drones approached at high speed.
Pix went pale. “Oh perfect. Now we also have air support.”
Keks began to roll backward frantically. “I knew today would be bad. I already calculated that this morning.”
“You didn’t say anything!”
“I didn’t want to ruin the mood.”
The train suddenly sped out of the main tunnel and turned sharply to the right.
A gigantic underground cavity appeared before them.
Lio’s eyes widened.
Beneath the city lay a huge secret facility.
Rails led everywhere through the darkness. Old maintenance platforms hung on the walls, and in the middle stood a massive tower of metal and glass.
At the top, the NexaCore symbol glowed.
“What is that?” asked Lio quietly.
Mara answered seriously:
“The original control center.”
The refrigerator blinked immediately. DESTINATION RECOGNIZED.
But before anyone could say anything, a loud warning signal suddenly sounded in the train.
The conductor cursed again. “Oh no.”
“What now again?!”
The old man pointed forward.
The main rail ended abruptly.
Right in front of them.
“The track is destroyed!” shouted Pix.
The Omega-7 raced on unbraked.
Straight toward the end of the rails.