"Mr. Bai, Captain Lin’s team has successfully repaired the maintenance robot. The estimated repair time for the climbing elevator has been reduced to within an hour."
The entire airport platform periphery is engaged in intense combat, resembling a large battlefield.
In each area, hundreds of thousands of zombies are climbing up in a frenzy, flames are reaching to the sky, explosions are continuous, and the barrels of the automated cannons are heated red, each blast illuminating the densely packed Corpse Tide Army surging on the city roads.
Various strange creatures, specter zombies, giant White Monsters, Black Insects, and others mixed among them are turned into sky-filled flesh and blood as Fireline 1130 sweeps across them, forcing the Iron Guard Brigade below responsible for supplying ammunition to deliver ammo chains from the airport’s military warehouse using trucks.
Inside the control tower, Bai Shuang is discussing evacuation plans with the emergency team. Hearing Wei Kexue’s voice over the intercom, his expression immediately sharpens.
"Good! Radar has detected the appearance of a huge Abnormal Body in the sky, likely the S-class Atmospheric Mica, which hasn’t yet made its appearance. You all need to ensure your safety!"
A brilliant blue light beam detonates, the electromagnetic railgun piercing the night sky and directly blasting through the heart of a drifting Sky Jellyfish, immediately causing its torn center to plummet, and a dozen jellyfish tentacles to fall in response.
A strange mournful sound arises, and many of the defending soldiers and survivors who see the massive shadow in the sky have their hairs standing on edge!
"Night Falcon 12 Air Defense Missile launch parameters are ready!"
The Iron Guard Brigade’s anti-air missile launcher slowly rises, and two small air-launched missiles shoot out, tracing a swift white vapor trail and explosively detonating on the umbrella edge of the Sky Jellyfish.
Clang clang clang, on the ground, an Iron Guard Brigade troop is advancing quickly, led by a middle-aged man in military uniform who looks to be in his forties, with a determined face and square features, exuding a battle-hardened aura.
"General, Mr. Bai just informed us that there is one more hour for the climbing elevator’s repair."
The aide-de-camp reports urgently at his side.
"Have the vehicles in the square retract into the harbor, the threat can already reach inside," Zhang Dingzhong continues walking without stopping, raising his hand to point at the rail platform. "Tell Bai Shuang to coordinate the evacuation, everyone moves to the rail platform."
Most of the survivors have taken up arms to help the Iron Guard Brigade in defense; among the thousands of vehicles owned by survivors, most of those remaining inside are now the elderly, women, and children.
"Where are the Guard Corps reinforcements, aren’t they coming to ?"
"The group from the Federation Investigation Team still hasn’t left, they’ve contacted us saying they won’t leave until we provide them with aerial escort."
"What, an escort?!" Snap, Zhang Dingzhong stops in his tracks, snorts coldly, "Ma Xiaotang, go tell that Taylor, I don’t care if her plane is carrying someone’s dad who used to be a senator or the son of a president, I’m only giving her 20 minutes to get the hell out, or else she will never leave!"
"Yes!" The aide-de-camp responds immediately.
"General, a small-scale seismic activity has been detected to the southwest, it may be related to the Abnormal Body." Another officer runs up to report urgently.
"How much time is left for the evacuation?"
"The emergency team estimates that after the climbing elevator is repaired, it will take about 5 hours to complete the relocation of all personnel at the current airport."
Zhang Dingzhong looked up at the sky, the dark night sky pressing down on the entire airport, suffocating it as if a massive net was gradually converging overhead.
Inside the port, more and more vehicles carrying survivors were being destroyed by the Abnormal Bodies, and many of the resisting survivors died. The wails of the dead and the cries of women constantly came through, leaving many survivors without vehicles and support.
Upon witnessing this scene, Zhang Dingzhong decisively ordered, "Listen to my command, unload the artillery battalion and the air defense battalion’s equipment, let the logistics group take charge of transporting the wounded in the port and those who are alone to the Iron Guard Brigade’s transport train! Notify all battalions and units, prepare for full defense, all remaining flying devices of airship squads one and three take off and patrol the high altitude to prevent aerial creatures from destroying the climbing elevator!"
"Yes!" the sergeants of Iron Guard 52 responded unanimously.
Elsewhere, within the climbing elevator’s maintenance area, one by one, maintenance robots began ascending under Lin Xian’s repair and joined the maintenance sequence under Wei Kexue’s operation, flying towards the climbing elevator channel above.
As system malfunctions were continuously resolved, Wei Kexue’s expression noticeably relaxed.
"Based on the current sequence, what’s the fastest time it would take to complete the entire climbing relocation if repairs are finished?" In the quiet maintenance area, free from the sound of gunfire and explosions, Lin Xian asked Wei Kexue while repairing a robot.
"The fastest?" Wei Kexue took a deep breath, "At least more than 5 hours, this is already the limit we can dispatch."
After saying that, he seemed to guess Lin Xian’s thoughts, lowering his head, "You’re from the train group, you want to use the Horizon Gate to go straight up, right?"
Lin Xian did not reply, instead, KIKI next to him asked, "Is that not feasible?"
"It’s very risky," Wei Kexue said, "Not just your train, in the past few days a total of 9 train groups have entered the climbing sequence. Without the traction platform, the current measures will have difficulty ensuring safety within the high-altitude corridor."
The traction platform Wei Kexue referred to is similar to a flatbed trailer, but more complex in terms of safety. This device, directly connected to the track, is like a ferry on the tracks and is dispatched and propelled electromagnetically by the system as a whole. So both cars and trains in the climbing process and later in the negative-pressure high-altitude corridor are accelerated on this platform without needing to be driven by themselves, allowing for extremely efficient transportation and automated scheduling.
Like ferries flying high in the sky, cars and trains don’t need to worry about driving, while directly applying electromagnetic acceleration technology to the most basic transportation means, achieving long-distance delivery of vehicles.
If the train were to use the Horizon Gate to ascend without the traction platform, it would drive directly on the tracks of the high-altitude corridor, unable to utilize electromagnetic acceleration and would have to advance at high altitudes on its own.
This was achievable in the early days of operation through track information scheduling and could reach speeds of around 500KM, surpassing the speed of most high-speed trains.
But the problem now is, if these Doomsday Trains were to rush up, followed by other transportation means with electromagnetic acceleration, and if an accident occurs within the high-altitude corridor, it would lead to a horrific chain reaction, the scale of the disaster unimaginable.
"Actually, we also considered increasing the number of one-time transports to improve the efficiency of the relocation, but there’s still that problem..."
"Lack of power?" Lin Xian answered.
Wei Kexue nodded, "Aside from the climbing elevator and electromagnetic acceleration system, we also need to ensure the high-altitude corridor’s air defense system, so the capacity of the climbing channel is affected."
"In the darkness of night, there might be fewer Abnormal Bodies above the sky, but they tend to be more terrifying. Since the Apocalypse Day, the majority of aircraft and even orbital satellites have been destroyed. The sky is not safe, our Sky City - Qingluan crashed into the depths of the Western Pacific two days ago, with one hundred and fifty thousand people onboard. Phoenix Society is still desperately trying to rescue them, and it’s said that something terrifying has emerged from the depths of the sea..."
"What?" KIKI frowned upon hearing this, "That’s odd, you were talking about the Abnormal Bodies above the sky, how did it change to something in the deep sea?"
"Is there a difference?" Wei Kexue lifted his glasses, pointing at the sky, "Some things that should be in the sea are also appearing above in the sky. Surely, in the depths of the ten-thousand-meter abyss, there are horrors that humanity currently cannot handle."