Lin Xian didn’t dare to be careless and led a few people out of the elevator with a flashlight to explore the way, quickly arriving at the position of the Infinity.
The door to the cockpit opened, and after the perilous journey just now, the group of six finally returned to the train.
With the heavy cockpit door closing, Lin Xian turned on the interior lights, and a long-lost sense of security washed over them.
After boarding, Zhao Yan and Xu Wen, along with three others, were led by Lin Xian to the empty area of Carriage 1. The group, sweating profusely and paralyzed with fear, was gasping for air.
Seeing Lin Xian return, Chen Sixuan and Sha Sha immediately relaxed and ran over with concern.
"One is dead," Lin Xian said breathlessly, in a soft voice.
Chen Sixuan covered her mouth, glanced at Zhao Yan and Xu Wen who were paralyzed on the ground from fright, and then quickly turned her attention to Ding Junyi.
"Is she the person who contacted us?"
"Ding Junyi." Ding Junyi looked at Chen Sixuan and introduced herself directly.
At this moment, Zhao Yan regained a bit of composure from her shock. While panting, she looked at the train’s carriage and asked.
"For now, we won’t die."
"Teacher Chen," Lin Xian’s gaze swept over Zhao Yan and Xu Wen, calling out to Chen Sixuan, "Get them something to eat first, and we’ll rest for a while."
"Ah! Really, thank you so much!!!" Zhao Yan’s survival instincts kicked in upon hearing Lin Xian offer food, snapping her out of her recent terror. Realizing she was almost starving, she had no time to mourn for Professor Han.
"Thank you, thank you, Mr. Lin..."
"Wuuu... Teacher Zhao, we’re saved!"
At this moment, Xu Wen was both scared and overjoyed. After suffering through such an extended period of despair, their spirits had broken down countless times.
Now arriving at the Infinity, which compared to a safehouse fortress, and hearing that Lin Xian was going to give them food, they could no longer control their emotions and burst into tears again.
On the contrary, Ding Junyi, the deputy director of the Biological Research Department, just seemed to have a tense expression, her gaze attentively observing Lin Xian’s teammates and the interior of the train, deep in thought.
Lin Xian didn’t bother with them and instructed Mr. Lin to bring the culture tank back and place it on the table.
"Wow, what’s this, a flower?"
Sha Sha was surprised as she ran over when she saw what her brother had brought back in the glass culture tank.
"What’s it called..." KIKI scratched her head.
"Number 1 Blood Calamity Disaster Plant, if you like, you can also call it Hell Black Chrysanthemum..." Ding Junyi said coldly to KIKI, "It’s not an official name, just what we’ve all been calling it."
"Hell Black Chrysanthemum, it sounds quite unusual," Chen Sixuan frowned as she looked at the black pistil with a surprised face. In her eyes, this strange flower possessed an exotic beauty, especially the red part in the middle, which had an enchanting allure.
"This thing..." Lin Xian looked and said, "Let’s put it away for now. The Federation Phoenix Association should have relevant information later on, and then we’ll decide how to deal with it."
Before understanding it, Lin Xian decided not to indulge his curiosity. If it really was an item related to superpowers, it might truly be of immense value.
Night fell, and the blizzard intensified.
On the vast plains to the south of Daluo Mountain, the cold wind howled, and the snow continually buried tens of kilometers of abandoned vehicles and thousands of corpses under thick layers of snow.
The zombies wandering the snowfields, stepping in knee-deep snow, made creaking noises. Many zombies had completely frozen and turned into dark, statue-like figures.
On the silent 65th floor freight terminal of the Underground City 9, the "Infinity" was quietly docked, its interior lights emitting warmth, continuously dispelling the fear of its passengers.
After resting for about an hour, and having eaten a little, the emotions of Zhao Yan and Xu Wen finally stabilized somewhat.
Lin Xian didn’t have time to worry about them as he was at the information center of Carriage 2, studying the internal situation of the Underground City with KIKI.
Because Ding Junyi was quite familiar with the internal situation, Lin Xian had also called her over.
"This GF4 platform does indeed have two carriages; judging by the paint, they should be assets of the former Federation." KIKI turned on the surveillance and switched to the ground’s Platform 4.
Lin Xian looked at the two carriages and immediately felt that the trip had not been in vain.
And Ding Junyi had not lied. From this point of view, his decision to risk entering the rescue so far seemed successful.
"After we get up there, we’ll redeploy the carriages within this platform, then set out for Yu Bei City."
"Then what’s our next step?" KIKI was continuously searching for usable information within the Underground City, but since most areas had already lost contact, only a very small portion of areas were still connected to the subsystem.
"Of course, we’ll conquer that Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive. Now that it’s dark, there could be human ghosts everywhere, so we prioritize getting that handled. As for the rest, it depends on the situation."
"How do we get down there?"
KIKI opened the schematic of the Underground City, continuously analyzing it.
At this moment, Ding Junyi approached and said, "If you want to go down, there are two plans. The first is to directly drive the train down, which is the fastest, but if there is a rail break or other blockages, it won’t work. The second is to take the elevator to the 89th floor, then go down the stairs. However, if the rail is broken, even if we find that electric locomotive, it won’t help."
"That’s not necessarily the case."
KIKI stood up confidently, patted Lin Xian on the shoulder, and said, "We have a secret weapon."
Ding Junyi looked at Lin Xian with a surprised expression and did not speak.
Lin Xian, pointing at the structural diagram of the Underground City, pondered,
"It’s simple. We take the elevator to the 89th floor, then enter the tunnel through this safety passage, and follow the tunnel all the way down to the platform on the 95th floor."
Since the track section from the 65th to the 89th floor could be confirmed as usable, Lin Xian thought of tracing along the 89th-floor tracks downwards. If there was rail damage or any other problem, he and KIKI could deal with it directly. He didn’t plan to drive the Infinity further down because if it couldn’t dock at the platform, it would mean the train would have to stop on a railway slope with a gradient of 59.5‰, which was not only risky but also caused a significant amount of noise. If the brakes failed, the whole party could be buried alive.
So to be safe, it was better to first figure out the condition of the tracks below and confirm the status of the target locomotive. Lin Xian didn’t want to rashly drive the whole train to the bottom floor under the unclear conditions below.
If the condition of the tracks could be confirmed as good, then he and KIKI would directly control the Gemini 11R nuclear power electric locomotive and connect it with the Infinity to leave the Underground City.
"Eh, that could work!" KIKI agreed.
"Let’s do that, then."
Without delay, Lin Xian decided to set off immediately. "Building, stay on the train."
"Brother Xian, let me go with you," Building said with some surprise, wondering why he wasn’t being brought along at such a dangerous time.
Lin Xian simply shook his head, "You and Sha Sha stay and protect the train."
With three strangers on the train, plus the eerie human ghosts in the Underground City, Lin Xian was somewhat uneasy. He felt that leaving Building, a superpower user, behind was a more reliable choice.
Moreover, his and KIKI’s superpowers were more flexible. Whether it was facing a zombie tide or dealing with rail problems, they could come in handy.
"Building, keep a close watch on them."
Upon hearing this, Building understood Lin Xian’s intentions and nodded, "Don’t worry, Brother Xian, I’ve got this."
As Lin Xian was about to depart, he saw Ding Junyi approaching him.
"If you follow your plan, I can navigate for you."
Ding Junyi pointed to the mobile terminal in KIKI’s hand. "The walkie-talkie won’t work, but you can use the information transmission of the Underground City’s subsystem to communicate."
Lin Xian looked at her deeply, not refusing, as he knew this woman could be of help.
Afterward, Lin Xian and KIKI put on their anti-toxic masks and Lin Xian took the Geiger counter with him, setting off once again in the dark night.