Lin Xian took a deep breath and continued to focus on devouring the heavy-duty TFV600 twin-barrel tank.
The night wind was desolate, and he couldn’t help shivering.
"It’s getting colder."
Hurry up with the devouring!
[Devouring Progress 50%]
[Devouring Progress 80%]
[Devouring Complete, Mechanical Source Point +60, Mechanical Devouring Skill proficiency +30, Extra Reward: Strength 4, Speed 1, Defense 1!]
There was no expected flash of golden light; this damaged tank did not acquire any skills.
So far, Lin Xian’s three skills had come from intact mechanical devices; he almost thought that only undamaged equipment could grant skills until he obtained a new skill from that shabby Mecha.
[Current Mechanical Heart Level LV.2 (170/1000)]
[Notice: Upgrading Mechanical Heart can get special skill rewards, Mechanical Heart reaching LV3, LV6, LV9 levels can achieve Mysterious Awakening]
Strength Level: 2 [23%] (Burst 200kg)
Speed Level: 1 [64%] (Limit 10m/s)
Defense Level: 1 [23%] (Tough skin and strong bones)
[Mechanical Awakening]: Unawakened
Mechanical Devouring: 2 (278/500) Improve devouring efficiency
Mechanical Manufacturing: 1 (112/300) Improve construction efficiency
Mechanical Passive: Scan/Repair/Decomposition
Wind Cannon (Common) (Level 2, 6%)
Ice Shield (Common) (Level 1, 22%)
Backflash (Rare) (Level 1, 0%)
The massive tank instantly turned to ash in his hands, Lin Xian breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally having such an opportunity to slowly devour these big fellows, he looked at the freight electrical locomotive dragging behind, feeling good with teammates around, allowing him to focus on significant tasks.
He estimated that devouring this big guy would probably take longer than the time spent on that generator set.
Lin Xian breathed deeply "This thing will take at least 10 hours, I should check out that mutual aid bonfire first, then deal with this..."
The train moved forward slowly, Lin Xian walked from carriage 5 towards the cockpit.
"Lin Xian, that person just now mentioned something about the Electrical System or some kind of co-state Superpower, seems like he wasn’t particularly surprised about us running a train," Chen Sixuan’s keen nature picked up on some details from the way the other person spoke.
"That person must also be a superpower user."
Lin Xian seriously said, "Maybe we’re not the first train he’s seen; he mentioned that the authorities and the interstellar army are still conducting large-scale dispatching. This indicates that some major cities might still be maintaining basic operations, resisting and researching continuously; maybe it’s just that we, being close to Star Abyss 3, have our information blocked."
"Yes!" Hearing Lin Xian’s analysis, Chen Sixuan’s eyes sparkled with a bit of hope, "I don’t know why, but hearing that there are survivors helping each other and the government is still making efforts, suddenly makes me feel less oppressed."
Lin Xian sighed heavily, "What concerns me is whether the main tracks are still usable..."
Major track sections involve large-scale logistics and military transport and unless they are targeted for destruction, they should typically be protected.
Lin Xian had also speculated about track issues, and as long as there are no significant breakages, he could use the Mechanical Superpower to forge steel tracks or have KIKI lay tracks using her superpower. As long as he further developed his Mechanical Superpower, mere track issues shouldn’t be too troublesome.
The night deepened, and all around was silent. ’Infinity’ slowly entered a small station with multiple intersecting tracks. The five onboard heightened their vigilance; just as they stopped, they saw a young man poking his head from behind a station pillar, waving at them.
"Are you here for the bonfire trade?" the young man asked cautiously.
Lin Xian slightly frowned, opening the cockpit door. "Were you waiting for us?"
The young man nodded, "I’m from the Wind Chasing Team. Brother Yun asked me to stay here and watch out. He said if a train with people arrives, I should ask if you are here to join the bonfire. If you are, I can take you there."
"We’re going, just a moment," Lin Xian nodded in response.
After speaking, he closed the door of the cockpit.
"How many of us are going?" Chen Sixuan asked.
Lin Xian walked towards the rear carriage, "Let’s first load some supplies. Kiki and the Building are coming with me, Teacher Chen and Sha Sha, you stay and guard the car. If something happens, contact us through the walkie-talkie."
"Alright, then take extra care," Teacher Chen replied.
The group reached the trailer at the rear, where Lin Xian loaded some supplies and weapons into the jeep, then unlatched the hinge, and the Building drove the vehicle onto the platform.
The Building and Kiki’s superpowers were very strong. Lin Xian was somewhat uneasy about their first time attending such a meeting of survivors, so he plainly brought them along to boost their presence, while Sha Sha and Chen Sixuan were in charge of guarding the car. With the weapons now, security was somewhat assured.
The young man was astonished at the sight of this fully armed heavy train, his eyeballs nearly popping out. At this moment, he saw a jeep drive down, and quickly pushed a small mountain bike from behind the platform.
"Follow me, and keep it quiet. There are quite a few zombies in the city. We’re stationed in an abandoned factory in the suburbs, about ten or so kilometers away."
Lin Xian nodded and said to the young man, "Let’s go."
The motorcycle’s lights turned on, leading the way.
Meanwhile, the Building was driving the vehicle with Lin Xian and Kiki following behind.
"I suspect there are more than a couple of superpower users at this gathering. If there’s any situation, just follow my cues," Lin Xian instructed.
The Building nodded silently.
Kiki said smilingly, "Gathering together means those teams must have those red beads to modify the radios; none of them are simple folks. We should also get some of these little beads. Maybe besides the radios, they could even connect to satellites."
Lin Xian sighed deeply,
"That thing seems to resonate with some kind of energy from the Dark Tide. This also shows that the Dark Tide has indeed caused us a lot of informational interference. However, retrieving such a thing from those monsters, it must be quite valuable."
"Yeah," Kiki nodded, "Let’s just see first, if worse comes to worst, we’ll just kill those bugs again!"
The vehicles wound along a path, bypassing the city, instead speeding through a forest. Soon, the vast view opened up, and the silhouette of an abandoned factory appeared in the distance.
There were about a dozen different-sized teams stationed around the factory, totaling over a hundred vehicles.
Lights flickered dimly within these vehicles, and figures loomed, each camp keeping to itself. Some had people standing guard with guns on the vehicles.
The distant Quan Pass city was shrouded in shadows, utterly lifeless.
Lin Xian scanned the remnants of license plates on some survivor vehicles, noticing that most weren’t from the same place.
As their vehicle drew near, it also attracted quite a bit of attention, with gazes from groups of two or three shooting their way.
What Lin Xian found strange was that these teams kept quite a distance from the abandoned factory. There was faint firelight swirling inside the factory, apparently the bonfire Jiang Yun had previously mentioned.
The young man in front stopped the car, pointing to an open space around them, "Everyone’s teams don’t drive over; usually only the captains or the bosses go inside to communicate. Don’t bring weapons, but you’d better leave someone to guard the car."
"Yo, quite the rules."
Kiki looked surprised, "Feels like a gangster transaction."
The young man sheepishly smiled, "Everyone comes from all over, not familiar with each other. To sit down peacefully, it’s best not to bring weapons, otherwise, it would be just like those apocalypse thugs."
Lin Xian’s eyes slightly hardened, "Building, you guard the car. Kiki and I will go."
"Sure thing, Brother Xian," the Building nodded.
Then Lin Xian and Kiki got off the vehicle and followed the young man inside.
"Actually, if it’s a superpower user, having weapons or not doesn’t make much difference," the young man chatted along the way. "But this is a gesture to show friendliness."
He pointed at the distant vehicles,
"Look, many vehicles are either painted red or orange, or have corresponding flags hanging. This was originally a method used by seafaring vessels passing through pirate areas, indicating protection or capability of armed retaliation. Now many teams see this as a neutral symbol, indicating they aren’t thugs to avoid wrongful attacks."