The scenery outside was enchanting. The velocity of the steamliner swayed the leaves of the surrounding trees- upon which fell the glittering silver light of the full moon.

It was already a whole lunar month since that fateful encounter.

But neither Xavier, nor Eulene had the time or mind to enjoy the scenery outside or reminisce about that fateful night.

They were in a pinch.

Both Xavier and Eulene could feel the piercing gaze of the blonde officer, and the kinetic sense she had locked onto them.

Xavier took out his golden pocket watch and pressed it open.historical

11:10

Ten minutes had already passed since the train left the station. And Chrysa, the officer escorting them, did not move her eyes away for even a second.

[Hurry up!] Eulene urged. [Or do you want me to put another scar on the blonde's mind]

[Patience] Xavier replied. [And you know it won't help us in any. She's not here to stop us, but look over us. She only needs to report we escaped, and we will be in trouble]

[Tsk]

Xavier shut the watch's lid off before pocketing it.

Another five minutes passed. It was time.

Xavier turned to Eulene. "I will be back from the washroom." [You remember the plan, right]

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." Eulene mockingly shook her head. "Already eager to show 'it' to her I see." [Don't worry]

Even the professional Chrysa could not help but blush. But she composed herself in a moment.

Xavier did not say anything else and left the cabin. He walked through the corridor to its end and entered the washroom.

Xavier had already noticed that they were the only passengers in the entire coach. It was definitely a move by Detective Ashdown. After all, it was risky to have a third party in such operations. Nevertheless, Xavier cared little.

He could detect two senses locked onto him. But he paid them no mind and opened the window on the wall.

The washroom was small- with a ceramic washbasin and a wooden high-commode. Xavier closed the commode's lid and snapped his fingers. All the filth and germs in the room was gone and was as clean as new.

He sat on the now closed chair-like commode and brought out two seeds from his coat. They looked like ordinary apple seeds. But anyone who was aware of what they really were would agree to pay unimaginable sums to obtain them.

The seeds lay on his palms. And soon, they began to germinate. Xavier was constantly, feeding it water through Hydromancy, nutrients through Geomancy, light through Lumomancy. And he further amplified the plants' growth through Xylomancy.

Soil from outside the train constantly entered through the window and merged with the now growing plants.

Once they grew to the size of apples, Xavier took back his hand and they levitated in the air- still growing.

In less than a minute, the plants grew to the size of humans. Oddly enough, the shapes of the plants were that of humans. This is the thing that made the plants so special and valuable.

Xavier had made it such with his Xylomancy that the structure and figure of the two plants were those of Xavier and Eulene. The entireties had smooth bark for skin, leaves for hair, and they had no facial features. Both of the plants had holes on their chests.

Xavier unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his hair chest. A slit appeared out of nowhere and opened, revealing his beating chest. Oddly, no blood came out. Xavier indifferently grabbed his heart. The Aorta and Vena cava detached, but the heart kept beating.

He pulled out the red beating heart from his chest without any expressions of pain and inserted it into the gap on the taller plant's chest. He snapped his finger and a small orb of lightning appeared beside the heart, constantly sending electric signals into the heart to keep it beating at a steady pace.

A new heart formed inside Xavier's chest at a visible speed. But it had the same fate. Xavier pulled it out and put it inside the shorter plant's aperture, and just like the previous case- added an orb of lightning.

With another snap of Xavier's fingers, the gaps closed- including the one on his own chest.

He then sliced off a piece of his own skin from his forearm and applied it on the taller plant's bark. The skin began to expand and soon covered the entire entity. He took out a set of identical clothes from his hat and donned them on the plant.

Next step- hair. The leaves on the taller plant's head suddenly fell off and flew outside the window. Xavier cut off a few of his own silver hair and grafted them on the plant's head. In a matter of moments, the hairs amplified and filled the clone's head.

What was only left now was the facial features. The mouth and nose were easy- done in a second. As for the eyes, he pulled out two intact eyes from his hat.

As for why he had spare eyes in his collection, it was.. confidential.

His clone was complete. It looked exactly like him, and even had the exact heartbeat. It was also 'breathing'- expanding and contracting its chest while inhaling and exhaling. It was a little trick Xavier pulled off.

Now, it was the other- the shorter- plant's turn.

He plucked out a few items from his hat- a piece of Eulene's skin, a strand of her hair, a dress identical to the one she wore today, and a pair of black eyes. The former two- he borrowed from Eulene, and as for the other two- they originated from him; at least he created the dress.

In a minute, Eulene's clone was complete as well. Like the gentleman he was, Xavier had made sure to dress the plant before merging the skin.

Throughout the whole process, Xavier made it so that the air flow in the washroom look like that he was the only one in the room. With his proficiency in Aeromancy exceeding Chrysa's, it was not that difficult.

Xavier took in a deep breath. The easy part of the escape process was done.

Now, came the true test-

Replacing themselves with the clones before the officer's eyes.