The screeches of the train tracks and zombies echoed through the sky, and countless zombies quickly converged from all directions, surrounding the "Infinity." However, everyone’s attention was captivated by the sight ahead, their gazes piercing through the layers of zombies, focused on the astonishing mega-structure in front of them.
With astounding horsepower, the Infinity, like a giant steel beast, mercilessly plowed through the obstacles including both cars and zombies along its path, finally smoothly turning onto the exclusive track that led to the inner part of the Underground City, slowly approaching the towering outer walls. In the middle of the track, a massive gate stood, behind which was a large loading platform with several freight train cars quietly docked.
However, looking around, the platform was utterly deserted, and various pieces of construction equipment, cranes, and watchtowers were already buried under the snow. This mega-structure, still under construction, seemed to have been frozen in time at the press of a pause button.
"Is there no one left in this Underground City?" KIKI exclaimed in surprise.
"It might have already fallen," Lin Xian said somberly. "No wonder we haven’t heard any Survivor Caravans mention this place—it’s already a hell."
With zombies everywhere and the silent Underground City, aside from those like Lin Xian driving a heavy fortress train to try their luck, normal caravans couldn’t get in at all, let alone in this hellish scene. If not for considering Lin Xian’s Mechanical Superpower, who would risk coming here for supplies?
"Should we go in?" Sha Sha asked.
Lin Xian looked at KIKI and decided, "I’ll go open that gate. Teacher Chen, you’ll drive the vehicle in after me. Everyone else, cover me."
The moment the cockpit door opened, zombies surged forward like a tide. KIKI waved her hand, and an invisible Telekinesis Barrier instantly sent dozens of the foremost zombies flying. Lin Xian did not hesitate to rush out, gun in hand, with a flurry of gunfire following him, bullets pouring out like raindrops, clearing a bloody path for his advance.
Firepower poured out.
Building and Sha Sha also got down from the vehicle, continuously firing to cover Lin Xian.
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Xian ran straight to the giant gate, placed his hand on the icy surface where the Mechanical Heart operated, quickly connecting the hydraulic mechanism of the gate, and with a loud buzzing sound, the gate shook the snow and slowly opened to both sides.
Subsequently, Chen Sixuan decisively pushed the driving lever, driving the "Infinity" into the platform.
While the others kept firing as they retreated towards the interior of the wall.
Once everyone was safely inside the platform, Lin Xian again controlled the gate to close.
The swarming zombies entering gradually decreased in number and were soon completely eliminated by Building and Sha Sha.
Tens of thousands of zombies were blocked outside the wall gate, screeching and reaching their hands through the gaps, creating an incredibly terrifying scene.
"Let’s retreat quickly, be careful inside there, there might still be some."
Lin Xian firmly reminded, not believing that the Underground City was completely deserted. If the entire city was shut down, there’s a high chance that it had been overcome from the inside; otherwise, the previous Federation Government would not have abandoned this trillion-dollar project.
The "Infinity" slowly stopped at one of the platforms, surrounded by emptiness, eerily silent.
The massive entrance to the Underground City resembled a deep pit on the earth’s surface, where rising air currents continuously collided with the howling cold air, generating clouds of mist above the pit.
What the few people hadn’t noticed was that as soon as "Infinity" entered the internal loading dock, several hidden surveillance cameras quietly rotated and aimed in the direction of the train.
"There really isn’t a single person here..."
KIKI looked at the platform outside and frowned, "It can’t be, how are we supposed to search in such a huge Underground City?"
Lin Xian spoke in a somber tone, "We should have anticipated this situation. The survivors nearby have never received any radio communications from this Underground City, which means it has long been silent. But that’s fine, if there are no people, we can freely search for useful things."
"But the problem is, if there’s no power here, we can’t possibly jump down. Plus, without electricity, the main control system of the Underground City must have already shut down. Even if I want to hack the system, it’s impossible," KIKI bit her silver teeth, despite her ample preparation and fantasies the night before, when they arrived, there was no electricity, and even the strongest hacker couldn’t solve the problem of a server outage.
"Then we take whatever we can get."
Lin Xian wasn’t too discouraged, having no people actually simplified matters considerably. The place contained many large mechanical devices, perfect for nourishing his Mechanical Heart. If everything went as expected, it would certainly elevate to level 3.
Thinking this way, it didn’t seem too bad.
"Teacher Chen," Lin Xian pondered briefly and then decided, speaking to Chen Sixuan, "KIKI and I will check the entrance. To avoid a wasted trip, the three of you search for any usable items around this platform and load them onto the vehicle. We need to hurry, looking at the road conditions we might have to back out soon. It’s not easy to turn the vehicle around outside, so we might have to return using the original route through Yuchi Section and then take the north line."
"Alright," Building nodded.
Sha Sha pointed to the flatbed trailer behind them, "Brother Lin, why don’t we just use the forklift on the platform to move things to the back? We still have gasoline on our vehicle; we could carry quite a lot of stuff..."
Lin Xian nodded, "Right, prioritize mechanical equipment, and if there are household items or anything useful, move them onto the vehicle. There are definitely plenty of good things here that we’ll need on the road, little girl, come with me."
"Alright, let’s go take a look first, maybe we’ll find something useful," KIKI pulled the hood of her down jacket over her head, rubbed her hands together, and also picked up a gun, ready to disembark with Lin Xian.
Chen Sixuan voiced her concern, "Then be careful, though it’s quiet here, I’m still a bit uneasy."
Just as Lin Xian was about to open the cockpit door to disembark, a series of beeping sounds suddenly rang out in the cockpit.
Chen Sixuan turned towards the sound, and to her surprise, saw that the train’s response system was flashing.
"Lin Xian... it’s the responder!"
"How could this thing ring?" KIKI looked puzzled, "Without the red bead, can the signal connect?"
Lin Xian quickly walked over, his expression slightly solemn, "Unless it’s an internal call."
Approaching the responder, Lin Xian paused with a complex expression, then decisively pressed the response button.
The air seemed to quiet down.
"Who is it?" Lin Xian broke the silence, speaking directly.
From the responder, a mature woman’s voice came through.
"Hello survivors, this is the Scientific Research Center on floor -52 of Underground City No. 9, can you hear this call?"
At these words, everyone was shocked.
There were still people in the Underground City!