The Infinite Train quietly departed Beiwang Station under the cover of night, heading east.
Kiki glanced at Lin Xian and asked, “Why the rush? There were still so many places we hadn’t searched.”
“Supplies are endless, but greed can cost us dearly,” Lin Xian replied flatly. “Besides, Tang Hai might not be dead. I’m worried he could cause more trouble.”
“Not dead?!” Kiki’s brow furrowed. “I thought you killed him.”
“I didn’t…” Lin Xian exhaled deeply and recounted what he had witnessed earlier. “I suspect Tang Hai has some kind of Ability, and what we saw might have been a mutation of it.”
Turning to Luo Shasha and Luo Ye, Lin Xian asked, “How much do you two know about Abilities?”
Luo Ye looked startled and shook his head earnestly. “Not much… I only know that one day I suddenly became much stronger.”
“Brother, don’t you remember?” Shasha interjected, providing a key piece of information. “When Feng Yuming turned into that bug to attack you, he said you were low-level. He also mentioned something about Abilities evolving when you kill an Eerie Entity or another Ability User.”
Luo Ye scratched his head. “Now that you mention it, he did say that.”
“They should be able to,” Lin Xian said thoughtfully. “If there’s a hierarchy, Feng Yuming likely wasn’t at the lowest level. He was incredibly strong and didn’t fear the three of us, even knowing we were Ability Users. That suggests he was confident in his power.”
Noticing Kiki uncharacteristically silent, Lin Xian raised his eyes to find her smiling slyly at him, her expression strange. “If you know something, spit it out!” he demanded, recognizing that her grin often preceded some shocking revelation.
“If I told you I know how Abilities evolve and that there are many categories of them, would you want to hear it?” Kiki teased, her voice light.
The room went silent, and all eyes turned to Kiki in surprise.
Lin Xian frowned. “What’s the catch?”
Kiki smirked, leaned in, and whispered something in his ear. Lin Xian immediately massaged his temple in exasperation. “Fine, I agree.”
“Good! Remember, you promised~” Kiki said gleefully, before launching into her explanation.
“First,” she began, raising a finger, “after the first Polar Night, over ten thousand cases of mutated humans were documented globally—though that’s only a fraction of the post-disaster data. After Apocalypse Day, the Federal Government urgently established a special research bureau called the Angel Project. Its purpose was to study these mutations and possibly use their powers to uncover the secrets of the Abyss and save the world.”
“How do you know this?” Chen Sixuan asked, astonished.
Kiki shrugged smugly. “Hacking into the Federal Government’s intranet isn’t that hard. Besides, it’s the apocalypse—who’s going to stop me?”
“Continue,” Lin Xian said, his sharp gaze fixed on her. He suspected that Kiki’s background was extraordinary—whether or not she was the heiress of the Linglong Corporation, her ability to secure a rescue helicopter after the Polar Night was no coincidence.
Kiki cleared her throat.
“The Angel Project gathered surviving top scientists. Their research found that all survivors who didn’t mutate into zombies during the Polar Night shared a common type of energy that repelled external influences. They named this energy Soul Wave Value. Even the weakest survivors—frail women or children—had a Soul Wave Value of at least 1. In contrast, zombies and Eerie Entities had negative values below zero.”
“At first, they thought it was a selection mechanism. But without any discernible pattern, it was simply labeled as the survivors’ ‘Life Energy.’
“What’s interesting,” Kiki continued, “is that Ability Users and physically robust individuals all had significantly higher values. The Angel Project classified 34 similar Ability Categories and evaluated them based on functionality and destructive power. They correlated these metrics with Soul Wave Values and found a positive match.”
“In essence, Soul Wave Value represents life force or the ability to resist the night’s invasions. The stronger a person is, the higher their value.”
“That’s the first point,” Kiki said, raising a second finger. “The second critical discovery was that Abilities are capable of evolution. Some records even showed individuals with values exceeding Level 3 or even Level 4 from the start.”
“Level 3, Level 4?” Lin Xian frowned. “Are you leaving something out?”
Kiki shrugged. “I skimmed the data, but basically, the researchers used metrics like Soul Wave Value, physical strength, energy output, destructive capacity, and biological lethality to create a weighted grading system. Here’s the gist:
The room was silent as Kiki finished. Everyone was digesting the information, the scale of the revelations sinking in.
“The Fourth Level – Berserk Level is considered a massive regional threat. It requires substantial military forces, heavy tanks, and various armored weapons to suppress. Its Soul Wave Value ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 units of combat power,” Kiki explained. “As for anything above Destruction Level, there’s no detailed data yet. They only have theoretical projections based on exponential growth.”
Luo Shasha, eyes wide with curiosity, asked, “Kiki Jie, how exactly do Abilities evolve?”
“Well… it might not be what everyone expects.”
Kiki’s expression grew complicated. “From what I’ve seen in the classified reports, it does suggest that Ability Users at Evolution Level 2 or above can increase their Soul Wave Value through combat, especially by defeating Eerie Entities or other Ability Users. However, since this comes from early-stage reports, the details are sparse.”
“Level 2 and beyond?” Lin Xian’s gaze sharpened. “What about Level 1?”
“Ah!” Kiki looked at him with amusement. “Now you’re asking the right question.”
With a serious expression, she paced the floor. “Here’s the strangest part. The research bureau discovered that Source-Level Abilities are inherently unstable. Ability Users at this stage seem to require a trigger—an event, ritual, or emotional shift—to evolve. The Angel Project theorized that true transformation or full evolution begins only at Level 2. That’s why they call it the Evolution Level or Breakthrough Level.”
“Ritual?” The group reacted in unison, their voices laced with disbelief. The term carried an almost mystical or religious connotation.
“Exactly,” Kiki continued. “Take Feng Yuming, for example. I suspect he belongs to either Type-16 Limb Mimicry or Type-21 Aberration Proliferation. In both cases, evolution occurs when they kill an Eerie Entity or an Ability User and absorb flesh and blood through mutated limbs or bodies. This process has a chance to trigger evolution.”
She paused and turned to Luo Ye. “But for someone like you, Luo Big Guy, it’s different. Based on your description, you should be a Type-3 Body Enhancement Ability User—a common type. However, this type requires an entirely different method to evolve to Level 2. The Angel Project reports multiple inconclusive evaluations for this pathway. Methods like Feng Yuming’s are completely ineffective for you. They’re considered Alternate Evolution Pathways.”
“Really?!” Luo Shasha exclaimed, visibly unsettled. “That sounds terrifying!”
“Who knows,” Kiki shrugged. “From the perspectives of biology or physics—well, scratch that. Those fields are practically extinct now. Let’s just treat it as theology.”
“There’s one more thing,” Kiki added. “The research bureau determined that Ability evolution is a double-edged sword. In other words, Ability Users share vulnerabilities similar to zombie infections. Without specific conditions, they can succumb to the power’s corruption, leading to Evolution Errors or becoming zombies themselves. When someone’s Soul Wave Value drops below 1, they termed this state as Corruption.”
“What about Tang Hai?” Lin Xian asked. “That situation I just witnessed—have you seen anything like it in the data?”
Kiki nodded, her expression serious. “Not only have I seen it, but I’m sure Tang Hai fits into Type-32: Uncertain Infection. It’s fascinating.”
Frowning, she elaborated, “This type is almost undetectable at the Source Level because there are no noticeable physical or mental changes. The only distinguishing characteristic is…”
“Not being easily detected by zombies?” Lin Xian interjected, recalling the earlier scene. His face darkened.
“Exactly!” Kiki confirmed. “But here’s the catch—this type of Ability is one of the easiest to evolve.”
“Does that mean being bitten by a zombie guarantees evolution?” Lin Xian pressed.
Kiki tilted her head, her expression clouded. “Based on the limited cases, evolution isn’t guaranteed or tied to a specific outcome. It’s also possible to experience… Evolution Errors.”