A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1430 - 969: The Survivors

Chapter 1430: Chapter 969: The Survivors

"Boom!"

A massive shadow descended from the sky, and upon seeing the looming figure before them, everyone was taken aback. They saw in front of them a warrior, nearly three meters tall, clad in bizarre and terrifyingly heavy armor, wielding a massive War Hammer, and was staring coldly at them. The skull-like helmet gleamed with a sinister, icy crimson light that was enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine just by looking at it!

What is this? Could it be a new type of zombie?

Faced with this horrific presence, even those who had been fighting zombies lost all courage. This fearsome warrior seemed to embody the end of everything, as if it were the incarnation of Death itself. When it arrived, they had no idea how to fight back...

"Whooosh—————!"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the gigantic warrior suddenly swung his War Hammer, instantly sending all the zombies that were surrounding them flying away. Watching the zombies being swept away as easily as baseballs, people were scared and backed away, only able to watch helplessly as this colossus approached...

"Mr. Duanmu, if you keep this up, you’re going to scare them to death."

Luckily, just when everyone was at a loss, a voice suddenly appeared, and then they saw two young girls peeking out from either side of the warrior’s shoulders———seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although they didn’t know what was going on, at least it seemed that it probably wasn’t a zombie?

It probably wasn’t.

"May I ask, who exactly are you...?"

"We come from the train, we saw your signal, so we came here to check things out."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai removed his helmet, and upon seeing his face, everyone couldn’t help but gasp again... Well, as long as they weren’t zombies, it was a relief.

Following that, the local survivors introduced themselves.

First was a group of four, declaring they had come here for a school trip from another place, only to encounter the zombie outbreak, with only the four of them surviving. The group consisted of one male and three females: Komuro Takashi, Miyamoto Rei, Tall City Saya, and their lead teacher Marikawa Shizuka.

In addition, they had saved a girl named Hillary Alice, who, according to them, had been holding out in a shopping mall since the initial outbreak of zombies.

After that, other people joined them in succession.

The later joiner, Aiden Cradwell, was a local who claimed to be a rover—a rover being someone who traverses the abandoned Continent alone, transporting goods and passing messages between human strongholds.

Besides them were Joel and Ellie, with Joel being an older man and Ellie a fourteen-year-old girl. Joel did not elaborate on their purpose, only mentioning that he needed to get Ellie to a certain place and they were delayed here for some reason.

Hm, Duanmu Huai swears in the name of Grandpa Kindaichi that the main mission is among them!

It should be.

I hope so, no more curveballs, please.

While many were tempted by Duanmu Huai’s invitation to board the train, someone soon raised a question.

"While I understand trains are definitely more reliable than cars in terms of mobility, but..."

The twin-tailed girl named Tall City Saya reached out and pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.

"How do you plan to withstand the Blood Moon?"

"...The Blood Moon?"

"What is that?"

"What? You don’t know?"

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s puzzled reply, everyone was shocked, but very soon, Tall City Saya explained to them—The so-called Blood Moon is a very special mechanism of this world. Simply put, every seven days, the moon in the sky will turn red, and at the same time, the normally sluggish zombies spurting out like mushrooms will become frenzied, and even some potent zombies never seen on normal days will emerge, rampaging through the entire city and killing everything they see.

Actually, when the zombie virus first broke out, human casualties were not particularly heavy, and by banding together, they could defeat most zombies. However, the emergence of the Blood Moon dealt a heavy blow to these survivors, which is why humans suffered such heavy casualties.

The reason Aiden and Joel were willing to temporarily hide in the mall was because they were timing the approach of the Blood Moon. To keep wandering the streets during such times would be suicidal, so they planned to stay here until the Blood Moon was over, then move on.

"Hey, I thought it was something big. Just this trivial matter."

After hearing Tall City Saye’s explanation, Duanmu Huai suddenly calmed down and waved his hand vigorously.

"No need to worry, just some zombies. No matter how many come, they’re just cannon fodder!"

"........."

To be honest, seeing Duanmu Huai’s unreasonably confident demeanor made everyone a bit uneasy, but no matter what, it was already impossible to stay in this city any longer. Moreover, as things stood, the train did seem to be a relatively good mode of transportation compared to ships and planes. Of course, the best option would be a plane, but... as things stood, it was impossible to find a usable plane.

Joel and Aiden had already planned to push forward, and now with a mode of transportation available, they certainly wouldn’t object. The others also felt that staying here was meaningless, so after discussing for a moment, they agreed to Duanmu Huai’s invitation and set off toward the train station together.

Along the way, the group also learned about the origins of Duanmu Huai and his people.

"The Tribunal?"

"An organization we’ve never heard of..."

"That’s quite normal."

Aiden seemed very calm about it.

"After that disaster, the remaining people have indeed formed a variety of organizations with all sorts of names. Of course, as for the nature of these organizations, that’s hard to say, but to tell the truth, acting with a train as a base, this really is the first."

Perhaps because of a rover’s professional spirit, Aiden was very interested in organizations like the Tribunal that relied on trains for movement. This was quite normal. Rovers moving from one outpost to another mostly had to rely on walking, which made them easy prey for danger and mistakes. If they couldn’t find the next outpost within seven days, they had to hope to find a good shelter, or simply resign themselves to dying outside.

Conversely, with a train, transport via rails would be much more convenient, and the cargo capacity greater, right?

After everyone boarded the train, accompanied by the whistle, the train set off again, heading forward.

"I never imagined there was such an organization..."

Sitting on the soft and comfortable sofa, Miyamoto Rei couldn’t help expressing her surprise while stretching her body. The whole train consisted of the engine, a VIP room, women’s carriages, men’s carriages, followed by the dining car and cargo carriages. Of course, from the outside, this train didn’t appear to be modified in any way and looked no different from a regular one. But as the people sat on the train watching the dilapidated city fade away, they all felt a complex emotion inside.

"I wonder how the other cities are... I hope our journey from here on will be a bit smoother."

"I don’t think so."

Aiden shook his head.

"Most of the major cities have basically been leveled by nuclear strikes. Our city was spared because it was remote, but the situation in the central cities is probably quite different."

As he spoke, Aiden touched his backpack. This time he was on his way to one of the cities to deliver a letter—whether the recipient was still alive was another matter.

"More than that, I’m worried about the Blood Moon two days from now."

Watching the setting sun slowly sink, Komuro Takashi’s expression became extraordinarily stiff and serious.

"Although Mr. Duanmu said there would be no problem, no matter how you look at it, this is just an ordinary train, right? Are we really safe?"

"........."

Hearing Komuro Takashi’s question, everyone fell into silence. They were all well aware of how terrifying the Blood Moon was. Every time the Blood Moon came, they would lock themselves in the soundproof projection booth of the mall’s cinema because only there could hide their sound from the zombies. On Blood Moon nights, the sensitivity of the zombies’ hearing increased more than twofold, and even the slightest breath could be detected, let alone a speeding train.

Though they didn’t know what creatures lurked on Blood Moon nights, no one wanted to find out, especially since merely seeing the aftermath outside the next day was enough to send chills down their spines.

As for what exactly happened on Blood Moon nights, no one wanted to witness it firsthand—after all, almost all those who faced it directly died.

Looking at the map, it would take about two days to reach the next station along their current route. It was uncertain what the situation would be by then. If they were fast enough, they might reach the next human settlement before the Blood Moon arrived, but if they were unlucky... that would be a different story altogether.

"I hope that gentleman has a plan, and isn’t foolishly leading us to our deaths—well, in any case, his Armor does provide a real sense of security."

Aiden made a light joke, and everyone nodded in agreement. After all, in this world, the scariest thing was to be bitten by a zombie. And if one had Armor like Duanmu Huai’s, that would surely not be a fear—but it was obvious at a glance that not just anyone could don such armor.

What the group didn’t expect, however, was that the surprising aspects they encountered were just the beginning.