On the vast plains leading out of Mount Daluo, a heavy-duty train sat silently under the night sky.
Darkness loomed like ink, and snowflakes drifted down in a quiet storm.
Lin Xian was still missing.
The Infinite Train had ceased moving, and the two-hour window they had planned to wait during the day had quickly passed.
Now that night had fallen, the three of them could only gather inside the train, discussing their next steps while continuing to wait.
Chen Sixuan carried a few extra blankets, tucking one over the unconscious KIKI and handing another to Luo Ye.
Car No. 5 had been modified into a makeshift sleeping cabin, where Luo Ye resided. Most of the surrounding space was welded into tool racks, filled with steel and various equipment.
"Any updates?" Chen Sixuan asked.
"I don’t know why… but I still feel like it’s making noise."
Silence filled the air.
Chen Sixuan stood still, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she forced herself to stay rational.
Her logic told her not to dwell on incomprehensible things.
Someone was controlling the train.
And that someone had to be Lin Xian.
"It’s been hours with no sound… Lin Xian might have…"
Shasha’s face darkened. "Chen-jiejie…"
A person disappearing into thin air—no matter how you looked at it, there was no good explanation.
"It’s fine. He’ll figure something out."Chen Sixuan’s words sounded more like self-reassurance than an actual answer.
Chen Sixuan turned off the lights and heating, conserving the crucial power supply.
Meanwhile, she, Shasha, and Luo Ye divided their roles—
They kept constant watch, observing their surroundings for any changes.
Beyond the armored windows, the world was pitch-black.
The wilderness beyond the train was filled with eerie whispers, distant screeches echoing in the dark, making one’s skin crawl.
Inside the frigid cockpit, Chen Sixuan wrapped herself in a blanket, her gaze filled with unease as she stared into the black void beyond the window.
They were relatively safe inside the train—
The radar detection system was running in low-power mode, and earlier, Luo Ye had checked the exterior armor.
Everything was still intact.
Yesterday, they had narrowly escaped from Yu Chi Station, barely surviving the attack of the White Climbing Creature.
But no one knew what else lurked in the dark.
The crashes, the bites, the relentless attacks—it had been overwhelming.
How many other unknown horrors lay hidden in the black abyss?
Perhaps they had only scratched the surface.
But the fact that they had escaped unharmed meant that Lin Xian’s armor upgrades had worked.
If it had been the old train, the creatures would have torn through the roof, and their fate would have been sealed.
Yet, before they could even catch their breath—
The eerie radio signal had appeared.
Chen Sixuan let out a slow, careful breath.
Just thinking about that radio sent shivers down her spine.
Was it possible that some things couldn’t be blocked, even by steel armor?
Zombies, mutated creatures, eerie fog, nightmarish entities.
Each more terrifying than the last.
In just a short amount of time, Chen Sixuan had felt like she had lived through countless nightmares.
"Everything will be fine…"
She forced herself to believe it.
Currently, aside from the reserve energy in the Huanxing 7F Electric Locomotive, they also had over a thousand liters of gasoline scavenged from Tang Hai’s stash.
Some of it had been pumped into the gas turbine’s fuel tank, while the rest had been set aside as backup.
Their supplies were stable, and they were not in immediate danger—
But if they stayed in one place for too long, the Black Tides would consume the entire city of Yu Chi within a few days.
They would be at the mercy of fate.
In the distance, headlights flickered along a winding mountain road.
It looked like a convoy of fleeing vehicles.
Chen Sixuan immediately grew alert.
But after a while, the convoy veered off, heading toward Yubei City.
She let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Throughout the night, the sounds of various vehicles could be heard racing through the darkness.
However, the train was parked far from both the railway and the main roads, so no one seemed to notice their presence.
With the radio out of service, they had no external communication.
The Infinite Train felt like a lonely boat adrift in a dark, endless ocean.
An inescapable sense of despair slowly crept in.
Her watch alarm jolted her awake.
It was now 1:00 AM—the deepest part of the night.
She got up and headed to Car No. 1.
KIKI was still unconscious.
And there was still no sign of Lin Xian.
Not even the strange footsteps from before.
A sleepy voice broke the silence.
Shasha stirred on the sofa, the thick blanket sliding down to her waist.
She rubbed her drowsy eyes and looked at Chen Sixuan.
"Should we switch shifts? I can take the front watch."
Chen Sixuan waved her hand. "It’s okay. Get some more rest. I’ll monitor things for now."
Shasha mumbled, "Lin-gege hasn’t come back. I can’t relax."
Chen Sixuan forced a small smile.
She herself was nervous as hell, but she had to keep reassuring Shasha.
"Lin Xian is an Ability User. He’s stronger than us. He’ll find a way back."
Shasha nodded. "Mhm."
The lights inside the train remained off, and the blackout covers were shut, allowing only the faintest light to seep through.
Car No. 1 was the most fully equipped carriage—
Lin Xian had spent countless hours perfecting it.
A twenty-meter-long cabin with a living area, a sofa, a dining table, and a storage unit filled with food, water, and weapons.
Even the A33K Heavy Sniper Rifle was stored here.
A massive 1,557mm-long, 14.8kg black rifle capable of firing 12.7mm (.50 BMG) tungsten-core armor-piercing rounds.
KIKI had once called it a "true anti-materiel killer."
Lin Xian had originally intended to give it to Luo Ye, but—
He claimed his eyesight wasn’t great, and his hands were too rough—
He preferred something fast and heavy, like an assault machine gun.
So the sniper rifle had remained here.
"Shasha, can you teach me how to use this?"
Staring at the sniper rifle, a strange thought crossed Chen Sixuan’s mind.
"Huh?!" Shasha was stunned. "Chen-jiejie, that thing is heavy!"
Chen Sixuan took a deep breath. "I know."
"But if I can help provide cover… we’ll have an extra firepower point against monsters.
"And I can take some of the burden off you all."