Underground City No. 9, Level 65, Tier-4 Freight Rail Terminal
On the Infinite Train, Chen Sixuan and Shasha anxiously waited for news from Lin Xian and KIKI.
Deep underground, after experiencing the earthquake earlier, the oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe.
They had initially believed this underground city to be a final bastion of civilization, a place where survivors had gathered. With KIKI's identity, they had hoped to gain something from this expedition. But what they found instead... was a tomb of the apocalypse.
Even from Zhao Yan and Xu Wen, the two survivors they rescued, they could feel an overwhelming sense of despair—as if the ghosts of the 370,000 people who perished here still haunted the depths.
Sitting at a table, Shasha curiously observed the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum inside a plant incubation chamber, her eyes full of fascination.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yan and Xu Wen, after crying their hearts out and eating something, had finally calmed down. They sat in a corner, carefully inspecting the steel-armored interior of the train.
"You guys… where did you come from? Are you heading to Yubei?"
Seeing this, Zhao Yan stopped trying to start a conversation and quietly spoke with Xu Wen instead.
Not far away, Luo Ye stood guard with his gun, his attention split between the passengers and the situation outside the train.
In the cockpit, Chen Sixuan waited by the Responder, while Ding Junyi, having just eaten, stood beside her.
"Miss Ding," Chen Sixuan looked at the cold and composed woman, asking, "Where did all the survivors from this underground city relocate to?"
Ding Junyi’s gaze flickered slightly before she answered matter-of-factly,
"The migration plan was to transfer people to another underground city. But which one? We were never informed. And honestly, I don’t even know if they made it there safely."
"Aside from you, are there any other survivors left here?"
Ding Junyi nodded. "Statistically speaking, perhaps. But the odds of survival are low. Right now, the city's main energy core and two backup cores are all destroyed. The only one still functioning is Backup Core No. 3 on Level 75. After the underground city was sealed, we connected to this backup core for power. As for other survivors… we haven’t detected any unmutated individuals in the system, nor have we found any via surveillance."
Chen Sixuan fell silent, feeling a chill run down her spine.
This vast underground city, once a beacon of hope for countless people, had turned into a horrific tomb overnight, burying 370,000 souls in despair.
Not to mention, on their way here, they saw countless refugees fleeing across the snowy wastelands...
At that moment, a mechanical alert sounded.
At first, Ding Junyi thought it was the Responder, but before she could react, Chen Sixuan suddenly grabbed her wrist, motioning for her to stay quiet.
Chen Sixuan pointed at the train’s radar display.
Something… was moving in the darkness ahead.
Since the Infinite Train had entered from the surface, its front faced the exit while the cockpit pointed toward the lower tunnels.
For a moment, Chen Sixuan wondered if it was Lin Xian and KIKI returning via the tracks. But she quickly dismissed the thought—they had just descended from the Level 89 tunnel. There was no way they could have reached Level 65 so soon.
Her sudden movements put Ding Junyi on high alert.
Not only her—Shasha and Luo Ye in Car 1 also noticed something was wrong and tensed up.
Zhao Yan and Xu Wen looked at them nervously, their fear growing. "W-What's happening? Are they back?"
Shasha gestured for them to be silent.
Just as she stood up to open the blackout panels, a massive impact suddenly struck the train’s side—
Something had slammed into them from the darkness!
The sudden noise sent Zhao Yan and Xu Wen screaming in terror.
Shasha yanked open the blackout panels—
The orange interior lights spilled out into the darkness, illuminating a blood-red desiccated corpse standing in the beam.
It sprinted forward and slammed into the train’s armored hull—
A deafening impact echoed through the entire freight terminal, painfully loud.
"What the hell is that?!"
"It’s a Human Eerie!" Luo Ye’s face darkened.
He had just fought one of these creatures not long ago. Although this one looked different, it was clearly not a regular zombie. It had to be one of the mutated horrors Ding Junyi had mentioned.
In the cockpit, Chen Sixuan saw the commotion in Car 1 and was about to rush over when—
A faint noise came from the roof of the train's engine.
Something had climbed up top.
Ding Junyi’s expression darkened. She and Chen Sixuan instinctively stepped back.
A deep, grotesque growl echoed through the air.
In the dim light, several eerie tentacles slowly came into view.
They slithered across the cockpit’s armored windshield, leaving behind brownish-red mucus.
A human hand was fused into the tentacles.
In the center of the mass, they could vaguely see a ring of fanged teeth and a grotesque mouth.
“This one’s a Human Eerie too,” Ding Junyi murmured, eyebrows furrowed.
She turned to Chen Sixuan. “Do we activate any defense systems? Or fight back?”
Chen Sixuan stared at the nightmarish creatures outside, taking a deep breath before saying—
"No need. They can’t get inside."
The train shuddered as more impacts echoed across its hull.
Strange creatures were crawling over the sides and roof.
The sounds drew even more horrors from the depths of the dark freight terminal.
Zombies. Human Eeries. They were surrounding the train.
In Car 1, screams filled the air.
Shasha stomped over to Zhao Yan and Xu Wen, furious.
"I told you to shut up! If you scream one more time, I’ll throw you both out!"
Zhao Yan flinched, shocked by how ruthless the young girl sounded.
When she looked up, she saw Luo Ye approaching with murderous intent.
For a moment, she thought they were actually going to throw her out.
Panicked, she and Xu Wen clung to each other, covering their mouths, too afraid to make another sound.
"Chen-jiejie! Any word from Lin-gege?"
Shasha called toward the cockpit.
Chen Sixuan shook her head.
By now, the train was under relentless attack.
Above them, black centipede-like creatures crawled across the windows.
A Female Eerie suddenly shrieked, sprinting toward the cockpit doors.
Her bloodied claws raked at the reinforced metal, desperately trying to tear her way inside.
The horrors swarmed the train, their eerie cries echoing inside the carriages.
Ding Junyi watched in shock.
She had known this train was heavily armored—but she hadn’t expected it to withstand such a relentless assault.
Even the Human Eeries, which had killed Professor Han in an instant, seemed unable to breach its defenses.
This thing was practically as tough as a military tank.
The Responder crackled to life.
Chen Sixuan quickly answered.
Finally, Lin Xian’s voice came through—
"Chen-laoshi, we found the locomotive."
"That’s amazing! What’s your status?"
"Uh… it’s complicated. What’s happening over there?"
"We’re surrounded by zombies and Human Eeries. Not sure if there are Eerie Entities among them."
Chen Sixuan forced herself to stay calm, glancing at the roof and carriages.
"But don’t worry," she added.