The three of them switched on their tactical flashlights, illuminating their path as they moved through the platform. Apart from the flickering fluorescent lights overhead, everything else was shrouded in darkness.
KIKI swung her flashlight around, scanning the surroundings. “Looks like it was just built not long ago.”
“This underground city isn’t even finished yet. I’d say not even one-fifth of it is done.” Lin Xian spoke in a low voice. “Built with the combined effort of the Federation, yet it can’t even save a million people…”
“Well, it’s not the only underground city. Even though the Federation has collapsed, there must be larger ones out there. The question is—what’s their situation like?”
Lin Xian, leading at the front, suddenly halted.
Both Daluo and KIKI immediately tensed up.
The sudden illumination caught the man’s attention. Slowly, he turned around. The moment his face became visible, all three of them felt their expressions shift.
His face had completely rotted and mutated beyond recognition. From the center of his head sprouted writhing, fleshy tendrils, filled with razor-sharp teeth, all a grotesque crimson hue. The sight was utterly horrifying.
“What… what the hell is that? A zombie?” KIKI gasped.
“Whatever it is, it’s not human.”
The humanoid creature let out an eerie chittering sound, its grotesque facial tendrils quivering. The moment it locked eyes on Lin Xian and the others, it suddenly shrieked—
Then, it bolted straight for them at an inhuman speed.
Its movements were nothing like the sluggish zombies they had encountered before—it was as fast as an elite athlete, charging forward with an overwhelming sense of pressure.
“Open fire!” Lin Xian shouted.
Uncertain about what they were dealing with, Lin Xian didn’t dare to hold back. The three of them fired simultaneously, unleashing a barrage of bullets.
Rounds tore into the creature’s flesh, sending sprays of blood and tissue flying. The force knocked it back slightly, but instead of collapsing, it accelerated, moving even faster toward them.
Sensing the abnormality, they immediately concentrated their fire, aiming for the writhing tendrils and its horrific mouth. The bullets shredded its twisted head apart, finally bringing it down. Even after hitting the ground, the flesh tendrils continued to twitch and writhe for several seconds before finally going still.
“This thing isn’t right… it’s nothing like a normal zombie. Stay alert.”
Lin Xian was unnerved. All three of them were ability users, armed with firearms, yet this mutated zombie displayed a level of resilience far beyond anything they had encountered before. Its speed and endurance were terrifying.
“Ugh, that was disgusting. Why was it so hard to kill?” KIKI wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“Could it be an Eerie Entity?” Daluo speculated.
Lin Xian directed his flashlight toward the corpse, scanning for any traces of black mist. Finding none, he frowned. “Doesn’t seem like it…”
He checked the time—it was only 18:02. Even though night hadn’t fallen yet, after what they experienced at Beiwang, he knew that dangers weren’t necessarily restricted to the dark. Some horrors lurked in specific locations regardless of the time.
Inside an underground city, where daylight never reached, who knew how bad things could get?
“Stay on guard. Let’s move.”
Lin Xian kept his nerves taut as they quickened their pace, following a conveyor belt deeper into the complex. Soon, they reached a massive elevator entrance—a freight lift several meters in length.
Before they could approach, the control panel beside it suddenly lit up.
On the screen, the face of a woman appeared. She wore a lab coat and glasses, exuding a sharp, professional air. She looked to be in her early thirties.
“Mr. Lin, I’m opening the elevator for you now.”
“You’re Ding Junyi, the one I was just speaking to?” Lin Xian asked.
Lin Xian nodded. In the background of the video feed, he could see two women and a man, all dressed like scientists. The sight eased his nerves slightly.
Ding Junyi’s expression turned serious. “Be careful. Surveillance shows there’s standing water inside the elevator, and there may be unidentified creatures within. Step back.”
“What kind of ‘unidentified creatures’?” KIKI asked, retreating a couple of steps in curiosity.
Lin Xian gestured for them to move further back.
“Stand clear to the sides.”
A deep mechanical hum resonated as the elevator began descending.
They instinctively stepped back, guns at the ready, watching the numbers on the screen.
[Elevator arrived: Level 65 – Level 4 Freight Rail Terminal]
A mechanical female voice announced its arrival.
The massive elevator doors slowly split apart, revealing the dim interior.
A flood of murky, yellowish water, more than a meter deep, surged outward with a violent rush.
Lin Xian’s eyes sharpened as he immediately caught sight of movement within the swirling filth. He shouted a warning to the others—
"Something’s in the water!"
Bang! Bang! BOOM! BOOM!
All three opened fire, their bullets tearing into the dark, writhing masses in the water. Flesh and blackened blood splattered everywhere as the unknown creatures were blasted apart.
As the water drained away, the creatures became fully visible—black, multi-legged abominations clinging to bloated, decaying corpses.
“Disgusting!” KIKI exclaimed.
“Don’t let your guard down—kill them all!” Lin Xian ordered.
Thanks to Ding Junyi’s warning, they had been prepared. The second the creatures were flushed out, they unleashed a storm of bullets, reducing them to pulp.
The gunfire echoed through the massive terminal, likely attracting more unwanted attention. Lin Xian grimaced.
“Get on the elevator, now!”
KIKI and Daluo immediately dashed inside. Lin Xian followed, and the doors swiftly sealed shut behind them.
“Damn, there are way more monsters here than we thought. What about Chen-jie and the others?” KIKI asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
“They’re fine.” Lin Xian’s tone was firm.
The Infinite Train was an impenetrable fortress, strong enough to withstand the tentacles of that monstrous atmospheric jellyfish. Plus, Chen Sixuan and Shasha had plenty of weapons onboard. He was confident they would be safe.
The elevator began its ascent, a powerful force lifting them upward.
Ding Junyi’s voice came through the speaker.
“You’ll be arriving in Sector K2. There are a lot of creatures outside the passage. The ground between K2 and D23 is partially flooded. Here’s the route map.”
A schematic appeared on their handheld displays.
“The layout is complicated, with multiple paths. Some areas have damaged communication systems, so I won’t be able to guide you the entire way.
“Also—be extremely cautious when passing F5-D6. That’s where the floor’s main elevator and staircase are located. It’s the most overrun area. Originally, it was an emergency escape route, but it’s definitely completely blocked now. Both power and surveillance systems are down there.”