Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train
Chapter 346: High-altitude interception!

In the underground refuge hall of Looking Sun City’s rail station, the air seemed to have completely solidified.

Zzzzz!

The lighting system set up by Lin Xian flickered ominously, and crimson light began to spread throughout the entire space.

Lin Xian, Chen Sixuan, KIKI, Fire Bro, and Shiori stood side by side, all on high alert—ready for battle.

Countless scarlet tendrils slowly extended in all directions, growing from the center—a faintly glowing cocoon-like pod covered in blood-red veins. It looked like it was filled with some sort of liquid, swelling steadily. Finally, when the crimson mass expanded to cover an entire wall, it stopped growing. But those smooth red tentacles kept swaying, making for a creepy and terrifying sight.

“Lin Xian, do we strike now?” KIKI asked softly.

Lu Xingchen watched closely, ready to act with the fire weapon in his hand.

Lin Xian got into position. It was currently high tide—if they got marked, hiding in this sealed underground chamber would be suicidal. They’d be swarmed by endless eerie entities. That’s why he was prepared to use the gravity lens immediately, regardless of cost, to destroy this strange thing.

But oddly, after the crimson growth appeared, it didn’t make another move. The Soul Wave Detector hadn’t picked up any Dark Marks. Aside from the horrifying visual, there was nothing else abnormal.

Everyone just stared as the countless tendrils swayed slowly.

Shiori, standing beside Lin Xian, spoke quietly into the communicator, “There’s a strong dark aura... and it’s outside too.”

By “outside,” she meant the passenger station lobby and the rail station above.

Thud, thud, thud...

Even through thick concrete floors, Lin Xian could hear swarming creatures crawling through the parking lot and the upper station. The sound seeped through the building, sending chills down everyone’s spines.

The signal was also heavily affected by the tide. Just then, Chen Sixuan suddenly said, “Lin Xian, something’s coming down!”

Lin Xian frowned and looked at the crimson mass. “But we weren’t marked. Could this thing be attracting them?”

“KIKI, Fire Bro...”

“Lin!”

Just as Lin Xian was about to rally everyone to destroy the crimson object, a voice came through his earpiece—Moonlight Shinji. The delay in the signal had finally caught up, and he had just received the footage Shiori had sent back. He told Lin Xian:

“That’s a Blood Scourge Flora. Uproot it now before it attracts more eerie entities. Its allure is on par with a prey mark!”

Everyone’s expression changed—Blood Scourge Flora?

That didn’t look like a plant at all!

Shiori’s face lit up in realization. “Right! We saw one like this on the third night in the Abyss. It grew in the bunker’s passage. Ran pulled it up for collection. We still don’t know its exact properties, but it was definitely a Blood Scourge Flora.”

She pointed at the glowing crimson cocoon. “Uproot it now, or it’ll attract a small wave of eerie entities.”

“KIKI!” At her words, Lin Xian activated his psychic ability and prompted KIKI to act.

KIKI nodded firmly, bit down on her lip, and darted forward. She summoned Ning Jing’s power to grab the scarlet mass clinging to the wall and, with a forceful tug—

RIP!

The sound of wall skin and bio-organic tissue being torn echoed through the hall. Under KIKI’s psychic control, the crimson thing convulsed, tendrils twitching in fear. Then, in one brutal motion, she tore the entire thing off the wall. Red fluid splattered everywhere. Chunks of wall fell away. In the flickering lights, the twisted tendril shadows danced violently, creating a horrific scene.

With a shout, KIKI yanked back, pulling the massive, anemone-like mass off completely. It crashed to the ground, splattering blood-like fluid across half the hall. The flickering lights abruptly shut off. The tendrils, once detached, fell still.

The group instinctively backed away. The scurrying noise above them faded, and the deep underground crawling sounds abruptly ceased.

Chen Sixuan glanced around, holding her breath. The tendrils were visibly fading, shriveling, and dissolving into a pool of brownish-red fluid on the ground. The glowing cocoon twitched, its inner light dimming until it finally split open, spilling its contents. In the center, a scarlet vine sprouted, dotted with a few small leaves—like a seedling.

“It really is a Blood Scourge Flora!”

Chen Sixuan was stunned. This was their first time seeing one in the process of growing. But it didn’t resemble a plant—it seemed more like a parasitic mutation born from an eerie creature.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes. He summoned a plant cultivation pod like the one they’d used for the Hell Black Chrysanthemum. Playing it safe, he asked KIKI to pull the vine in with her telekinesis.

With a flick of her finger, the finger-thick, 10cm-long vine twisted in the air and flew toward Lin Xian, who sealed it in the pod. On closer inspection, the vine’s surface resembled the smooth skin of those earlier crimson tendrils. Without the leaves, it wouldn’t even look like a plant.

The refuge hall fell into complete silence. Their fully enclosed armor suits helped them withstand the contaminated air.

They retreated to a clean corner and waited quietly for the tide to recede. Lin Xian had Grace patrol the refuge perimeter for signs of movement. With no attacks detected, everyone finally relaxed a little.

“You’re very lucky.”

Moonlight Shinji’s voice came through. Watching the footage of the vine from the control room, he said:

“Blood Scourge Flora, Forbidden Items, and human Ability Users all share similar traits. They’re mutations caused by dark power on Blue Planet. But mutated plants are rare, and most non-human creatures are extinct. In my view, humans haven’t truly seen what lurks in the darkness.”

Lin Xian replied, “You mean those S-class eerie entities too?”

Shinji smiled slightly and said something thought-provoking.

“As intelligent beings, we can’t describe something that doesn't exist at all. Everything we can describe has a blueprint in human cognition, doesn’t it?”

Lin Xian froze in thought. That comment struck at a lingering doubt he’d had for a long time.

The white giants, crimson dragonflies, three-headed spiders, atmospheric mica, Black Thorn in the Clouds—all seemed like natural creatures twisted into horrifying forms. After encountering the Hive Mother, Lin Xian had begun to form a new understanding of eerie entities. Moonlight Shinji’s words now rang true.

Looking at the blood vine in the pod, Lin Xian figured Director Ding could probably identify what kind of plant it once was.

This led him to suspect that humanity’s understanding of dark creatures might have been flawed from the start—maybe even nonexistent.

“Oh, by the way,” Moonlight Shinji added, turning calmly to Lin Xian, “I believe that dark energy, including Abilities, Forbidden Items, and Blood Scourge Flora, deconstructs our world. That deconstructive force both destroyed and ‘blessed’ us. But honestly, we don’t need those ‘blessings.’ Except, of course, for those fanatics trying to build a new civilization.”

“So the more these things concentrate—Abilities, Flora, Items—the stronger the deconstruction gets. Maybe I’m being overly philosophical, but my point is: dark power doesn’t belong to us. It’s a double-edged sword. Unlike the Phoenix Society, which bets on both dark energy and human technology to preserve civilization, I only study the dark. I don’t support the development of Abilities. Humans are just... human.”

“Very profound.” Lin Xian didn’t offer a direct opinion.

At that moment, a delayed message finally came in from the Infinite Train.

“...It should be... from the genus 刺藤属... if it matures, I can... understand its properties...”

“Lin Xian, the Silver Dragon Tenfold Thorn... has produced a second inflorescence.”

The message was from Ding Junyi. Far away at the United Train Defense Line near the Dark Forest by Bottomless Lake, she was in Car No. 3 of the Infinite Train. She focused her Ability, linking with the Silver Dragon Tenfold Thorn. Her control over her powers had improved significantly, and her research into the Blood Scourge Flora was finally bearing fruit.

It seemed the flora’s growth accelerated inside the Abyss, but it wasn’t quite “growth” in the traditional sense. More like...

She had a lot to say, but due to massive delays, much of her message broke up, even Lin Xian’s reply came back garbled.

“...I’ll explain when we meet.”

Back in the underground refuge, Lin Xian caught only one key point from her message: the Silver Dragon Tenfold Thorn had grown a second inflorescence. That was great news—another chance for a purge.

Still, while the Blood Scourge Flora was powerful, Lin Xian hoped not to need it. Once outside the Abyss, its growth slowed, and keeping it could mean another life-saving trump card.

He handed the blood vine pod to Chen Sixuan.

“Ms. Chen, same plan. We’ll move out five minutes after the tide recedes. You take position atop the clock tower.”

“Got it.”

“KIKI, Fire Bro, you take east and west defense. I’ll build the docking setup at the station. Before the next tide, we fall back here five minutes early.”

“Shiori, stick close to me.”

Shiori nodded. KIKI asked, “Doesn’t this thing attract eerie entities? Is it really okay to carry it around?”

“What, you want to toss it?” Lin Xian chuckled. “We’re fine now, right? That means the influence fades once it’s picked. Remember back in Rain Town? That Replicant only detected the Hell Black Chrysanthemum after boarding the Infinite Train. That’s why I gave it to Ms. Chen.”

Chen Sixuan, in her Black Hawk Armor and with sharp scouting abilities, was the best choice. If anything approached, she’d be the first to react.

“Don’t worry. Leave it to me,” Chen Sixuan said, inspecting the tiny pod. “This one looks even stranger than the two previous Blood Scourge Flora. Who knows what it’s capable of.”

“As long as it doesn’t backfire,” Lin Xian replied calmly.

He’d taken Moonlight Shinji’s words to heart. Right now, the Infinite Train held three Blood Scourge Flora, three Forbidden Items, and eleven Ability Users—not to mention top-tier Evolvers like Chen Sixuan, Shu Qin, Lü Chang, Miao Lu, and Shasha. Add to that Lin Xian’s high-powered weaponry and unlimited ammunition—its combat power was immense.

But as Shinji implied, gathering all that dark energy might not be such a good thing after all.

However, Moonlight Shinji had no idea that Lin Xian’s Blood Scourge Flora and Forbidden Item were powerful artifacts like the Hell Black Chrysanthemum and the Eerie Cube. These served as protective relics, effectively neutralizing most of the damage that the Dark Invasion could have inflicted on the entire group.

At this moment, Lin Xian was staring grimly at several surveillance screens he'd left running at the rail station, silently awaiting the ebb tide.

From the entrance of the passenger hall to the outskirts of the rail station and the plaza beyond, all the cameras were filled with black-green static snow, distorted by dark energy. In the blurry footage, bizarre creatures could be seen lurking. Further out in the streets, hordes of Eerie Entities surged toward the outskirts of the city. Baicheng was boiling in the darkness.

13:35.

The Dark Tides began to recede, and the boiling chaos seemed to vanish in an instant. As Moonlight Shinji had speculated, the Eerie Entities stitched from the mother hive were constantly being pulled across space with each rise and fall of the tide—stretched toward the dark fringes of the Abyss.

Maybe they were thrown to the Abyssal Periphery, or the Polar Night Zone, or perhaps some other hidden shadow beyond the reach of the Polar Night. Eerie whispers slithered in these corners, waiting to strike, hunting down fleeing human survivors.

Lin Xian and the others could feel a massive weight lifting from them. Checking the time, they reopened the blast doors of the underground bunker and returned to the eerily quiet Baicheng Rail Station.

“Split up!” Lin Xian ordered immediately.

He hurried to a previously marked location: a rail segment at the eastern exit of Baicheng, near Wangshankou. The terrain here was wide open—ideal for a rendezvous if the Infinite Train jumped in from higher ground.

But “ideal” was relative. The tracks here had severely decayed, and Lin Xian had to partially dismantle and rebuild them. Otherwise, even with the Electromagnetic Buffer Array, a high-speed train weighing tons would shatter the rails on impact.

Two mechanical arms carrying the Electromagnetic Buffer Arrays were airlifted into place by drones and began precision installation. Lin Xian activated his Mechanical Heart, launching the manufacturing process. Materials shot out, and the two new arms began to take shape.

To ensure precise calibration, Lin Xian had Grace assist him. Meanwhile, KIKI, Fire Bro, and Chen Sixuan stood guard.

That girl named Shiori occasionally helped purify the surrounding Dark Invasion, and also restored Lin Xian’s energy a little.

Lin Xian knew she was transmitting footage of his mechanical work to Moonlight Shinji, but he didn’t mind. Her psychic ability was genuinely helpful. On the Infinite Train, he’d been able to pull off overnight builds thanks to the protection of the Eerie Cube and Hell Black Chrysanthemum. Now, deep inside the Abyssal Space, KIKI and Fire Bro could focus on staying sane, but he had to split his attention—fully engaging the Mechanical Heart. Without Shiori’s help, the pressure would’ve been overwhelming.

Buzz!

Every so often, Shiori would cast a green light screen over him, instantly refreshing his mind and focus.

Glancing at the team’s biometric signals on the holo-panel, Lin Xian noticed that each time she used her ability, Shiori’s heart rate spiked sharply. She always had to pause and rest before using it again. Clearly, the ability took a toll on her too.

“Thanks,” Lin Xian said to her.

“Ah…” Shiori was caught off guard by the sudden gratitude. She quickly composed herself and replied politely, “You’re welcome. We’re teammates. It’s what I should do.”

In the main control room of the underground bunker, Moonlight Shinji watched Lin Xian’s mechanical construction footage intently. His nano-mechanical irises shrank and expanded as he muttered:

“This is the most fascinating display of creativity I’ve seen since Apocalypse Day.”

“Looks like that annoying merchant was right… there really is something new worth my attention in this world…”

With Shinji’s intel and technical backing, everything at Lin Xian’s end—aside from the initial encounter at the rail station—was going surprisingly smoothly. Senju Shun and Ning Jing had some trouble with Eerie Entities, but quickly resolved it. This level of precision explained how the Silent City’s core squad had managed to stay hidden here for two whole months.

But the real issue was the Dark Invasion. Even with Shinji’s intellect, survival beyond this timeframe was impossible. That’s why he had planned to evacuate within two weeks.

But Lin Xian’s arrival not only disrupted that plan—it might just solve Shinji’s biggest problem. Thousands aboard the Infinite Train couldn’t afford to wait two weeks. The escape plan had to be accelerated!

19:05.

As the Inner Tides began again, Lin Xian and the team retreated into the underground bunker.

“The connection module is complete. From here on, we wait for the Crimson World’s transport ships to appear.”

A flash of green light washed over them, and everyone exhaled in relief. KIKI gasped and said to Shiori:

“This place is so oppressive. Can’t imagine how you’ve lasted here so long.”

Fire Bro nodded. “This bro can’t stand days without sunlight.”

Shiori answered, “We stored a lot of supplies. Most of the time we stayed inside the bunker. Besides the protection of Blood Orchid, we drink vegetable juice every day…”

Lin Xian looked at her. “The few hundred people in the bunker—they’re Silent City’s ops and armed personnel, right?”

“Just a small portion,” Shiori clarified. “Our main force already evacuated through City No. 2 and is now stationed in the Luling Forest.”

“Waiting in place?” Chen Sixuan asked. “Feeding 100,000 people is no small feat.”

“With so many, and your core team not present… can they hold out?” KIKI followed up.

“Uh…” The girl clearly didn’t have an answer.

Lin Xian didn’t press further. With the device installed, he had Grace send the path data back to the Infinite Train. Once Shinji triggered the Superconducting Magnetic Anchor Array remotely, the train could speed along the track into the magnetic field.

There were risks—like carriages tearing apart or those with mechanical prosthetics getting injured by strong magnetism.

Even with Grace’s precision simulations, a 15-km-long train made up of hundreds of survivor-modded cars wasn’t risk-free. But if they could just bring the train out of the Dark Forest and onto Baicheng’s tracks, half the battle would be won.

19:20.

Crackle!

Just halfway through the tide, everyone’s communicator suddenly erupted. The message came from Ning Jing’s squad at Baicheng Hospital. On the holographic display, Squad Two’s signals instantly went offline.

Lin Xian’s expression darkened. He immediately tried to reach out.

“Sister Ning! Qian Dele! Monica!”

No response.

Just then, Senju Shun’s voice came through the communicator:

“They encountered the Crimson Skeletal Horror. We’ll head over right after the tide ebbs. Lin, hold your position. The Crimson World might be making a move!”

Everyone went tense.

“Five minutes left!” Lin Xian said.

Chen Sixuan frowned. “Is the Crimson Skeletal Horror really that strong? Ning Jing and the others should’ve been able to fight back.”

KIKI shook her head. “No—it’s more like some kind of electromagnetic interference!”

Senju Shun added, “Exactly. We’ve seen this before. The Crimson Skeletal Horror in play means their transport ship is launching.”

For the Silent City crew, this wasn’t new. Shun was clearly prepared, so Lin Xian kept his cool and instructed KIKI and Fire Bro:

“If the transport ship’s en route, we must intercept it in the sky the moment it locks onto our path. KIKI.”

“Got it,” KIKI replied.

Moonlight Shinji’s voice followed:

“Lin, be alert. The Crimson World receives intel from inside the city 12 times faster than we do. They’ve already been toying with us during past interceptions. Those replicants aren’t stupid.”

Lin Xian glanced at the clock. After the tide, they’d have one hour—and so would the Crimson World. With aircraft, they could escape the Abyss in that window.

For them, this contingency plan had been rehearsed endlessly. Their efficiency was terrifying. Given the time lag between inner and outer zones, failure today meant waiting six days or longer. That wasn’t a problem for Shinji—but for Lin Xian and the Infinite Train survivors? Impossible.

19:30.

In an underground facility below the central plaza, Senju Shun and the others stared at the timer. Above them, the mother hive rumbled like it was shaking the earth.

Shun watched the monitors calmly while controlling several micro-drones moving through the shadows.

“Baicheng Hospital is emitting corpse energy. The signal’s jammed. Definitely that same Crimson Skeletal Horror as before.”

“We’re killing it this time,” said Takahashi Ryunosuke in a low voice.

“It’s more troublesome than the last. More sentient, and faster,” muttered Amano Ran, her eyes fierce under high-energy armor.

But Shun said, “No. Killing the horror isn’t the main goal.”

On the screen, the water in the sewage treatment plant split, revealing a massive underground launchpad. Two glowing transport ships slowly rose from below.

“Two of them... They’re splitting up,” Shun muttered, frowning. “Which means there’s more than one horror inside the city!”

Back at Baicheng Rail Station, Lin Xian and the others were fully geared up, waiting for the tide to recede so they could open the blast doors.

Just then, Shun’s voice crackled through the comm:

“Lin—watch out!”

BOOM!

A deafening crash came from beyond the blast door—a massive two-meter-tall round gate caved inward, a broken alloy shaft shooting straight at Lin Xian!

He didn’t move. The shaft froze midair in front of his armor’s visor.

KIKI’s eyes flashed, hurling the shaft aside with telekinesis. Lin Xian said sternly:

“Get ready!”

Before Shun’s warning, Chen Sixuan had already sensed the commotion. Everyone had prepared in advance.

As they caught their breath, Lin Xian realized the blast door wouldn’t hold another hit. He used the Mechanical Heart to forcibly open it.

Bang!

A giant axe flew through the open door, slamming down with tremendous force.

KIKI caught it mid-air with her psychic power. At the same time, a tall, black-shadowed figure stepped inside, wrapped in bizarre black leather, wearing a top hat, glowing red eyes gleaming—its body radiating steaming corpse energy. The Soul Wave Detector was blinking uncontrollably from the massive readings.

“Lin—one of the transport ships is on your path!”

“Got it,” Lin Xian replied coldly, launching drones that fired dozens of pulse beams at once.

The towering horror swung its left arm, sending shimmering silver ripples through the air, warping it. The pulse blasts hit with massive explosions—but it charged through, unscathed.

Beneath the hat, its face was like a blackened corpse, its red glowing eyes likely cybernetic. Its hands glowed with gray-white light as it lunged forward, throwing twin punches at the group.

BOOM!

A blast of eerie corpse energy exploded toward them—but slammed into a shimmering shield lined with hexagonal patterns, flowing around Lin Xian and the others.

The creature paused, scanning them.

“You’ve got a shield? I’ve got one too,” Lin Xian said, his armor crackling with lightning. The AT Field Shield flared up, covering the squad. At that moment, a surge of force flung the creature away like a cannonball into a wall—leaving a crater and a spray of dust and debris.

KIKI moved. Lu Xingchen jumped in.

“Wretched monster! Taste the divine fire of Heaven!”

He soared in, hands blazing, unleashing twin white-hot fire pillars backward that shot forward.

“Zhou Flame!”

WHOOSH! The blast hall erupted in blazing light. The flames slammed into the horror’s chest. Just as everyone thought it had been incinerated, Chen Sixuan noticed that the scorched area was spewing corpse energy. Silver ripples shimmered.

“It’s still alive!”

Lin Xian saw it too. With the tide still in motion, the disturbance triggered a strange droning from above.

“Grace—seal the stairwell!”

【Understood.】

They had to avoid being marked before the next Monster Tide hit. A green light enveloped them—Shiori’s purification.

KIKI focused her telekinesis and warned Lu Xingchen:

“Careful. It can resist your fire.”

“Then I’ll burn even harder!” Lu Xingchen growled.

He’d been brooding in the dark all night. If even a mutated freak like this could tank his Heavenly Fire, then what was the point of being called the Fire God?

Just as he finished speaking, a chunk of concrete suddenly shot out, slamming directly into Lu Xingchen's power armor helmet. His vision went black as he was knocked backward, the flames on his hands vanishing instantly.

"You son of a b—" Lu Xingchen’s curse didn’t even land before he crashed into a wall. Thankfully, his power armor absorbed most of the impact—without it, that hit would’ve done serious damage.

KIKI hadn’t even reacted yet. That monster could throw rocks? Her eyes darted over—sure enough, the wall was scorched and oozing with molten residue, but the creature had already vanished.

A split second later, a blast of air hit from the side. Chen Sixuan instantly pivoted and fired an armor-piercing round into the shadows. A muffled, penetrating thud followed—direct hit. A raspy, guttural hiss echoed through the air. KIKI caught that moment and raised her hand, unleashing a towering wall of psychic energy that swept through the darkness, ripping the Crimson Skeletal Horror from hiding and suspending it mid-air.

Thanks to the lighting in the hall, they could now clearly see the creature. Its leather outfit had been incinerated by Fire Bro's flames. Standing nearly 2.5 meters tall, its skin was charred and grotesquely bloated like necrotic iron. Its abdomen, shoulders, spine, and the back of its skull were riddled with mechanical implants—crudely stitched in with metal. Pale corpse gas seeped out constantly, triggering error signals from Lin Xian's information system.

"This thing's got serious strength!" Even though KIKI had it restrained with her powers, she could feel immense resistance and had to bring both hands into play.

Szzzz—ripples of silver scales shimmered around the monster’s body as it let out a bizarre snarl, thrashing madly.

Lin Xian stood his ground, eyes locked on the Crimson Skeletal Horror’s glowing red eyes—they were fixated on him. Despite everyone being in fully enclosed armor suits, it seemed the creature was trying to scan their data.

“Scanning? Don’t bother.”

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes and reached out, instantly devouring the energy transmission module embedded in the creature’s spine. The crimson light in its eyes dimmed instantly, and the thrashing ceased.

“Is it dead?”

“No,” Lin Xian said as he deployed 25 Thunder Falcon drones, swarming over the creature's head, locking on.

Just then, the Crimson Skeletal Horror's eyes snapped open again, its whole body violently trembling.

Whmmm! But before it could react, a barrage of pulse lasers fired at once, instantly obliterating its head with surgical precision.

Black mist poured from the monster’s corpse as it finally stopped twitching.

“Sss—” Fire Bro staggered over from the ground, looking annoyed. “What the h*ll was that ability? It blocked fire?”

“Probably some kind of energy-type ability—but not one that can be kept up constantly,” Lin Xian replied, glancing at the bloody hole in its chest—a wound from Chen Sixuan’s bullet. “With the right timing, it’s not that hard to kill.”

KIKI exhaled and dropped the corpse. “Not as tough as they made it sound.”

Fire Bro's face twitched awkwardly at that. The girl called Shiori chimed in, “It must’ve used a huge burst of energy to block the flames just now.”

Lin Xian nodded. “If it weren’t half machine, this thing would’ve been even more troublesome.”

He looked down the hallway. Sounds of fighting and hissing echoed in the distance—Grace was clashing with more Eerie Entities.

That trouble came thanks to the Crimson Skeletal Horror. Moving through the dark gave it a huge advantage.

Hearing Lin Xian and Shiori, Fire Bro’s expression eased a bit. “I got careless... should’ve gone all-in with my divine kill move from the start.”

Lu Xingchen hadn’t used his ultimate right away. He preferred probing first—and this cramped space limited him. Still, getting brained by a rock was a serious hit to his ego.

Lin Xian didn’t dwell on it. Just then, a wave of temporal drag hit.

He checked the time—19:35. Ebb tide.

“Ms. Chen, protect Shiori. KIKI, we intercept the transport ship. Fire Bro, clear the passage!”

“On it!”

Fueled by rage, Lu Xingchen shot forward like a fireball. Meanwhile, Grace was holding off a flood of Eerie Entities solo, leaving the ground littered with corpses she had shredded. As Lu Xingchen arrived, a massive bug had her half in its jaws.

“Fire Fist!”

Without hesitation, Lu Xingchen blasted the creature with a fiery punch, incinerating its upper half. Grace landed lightly, unharmed save for the blood splatter.

With the ebb tide, most of the Eerie Entities vanished from the hall and passenger station. The few that remained were swiftly dealt with by Grace, Fire Bro, and KIKI. Then, KIKI lifted Lin Xian, Grace, and Fire Bro into the sky. Below, Chen Sixuan and Shiori took position on the station rooftop for support.

Every second counted. Just as the tide ebbed, Silent City’s surveillance picked up two transport ships launching from the sewage plant—heading southeast at high speed. KIKI ascended while adjusting bearings using the city’s anchor points. They had to lock onto trajectory and altitude before the ships hit supersonic—or they’d lose them.

This was new territory for them. No room for hesitation—the enemy was clearly prepared.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

As they climbed, Lin Xian sensed the air thickening with twisted black fog. A suffocating dread loomed above. Looking down, the outline of Baicheng faded beneath them, surrounded by a void like a drifting black hole.

“Three seconds to target!”

He turned to Fire Bro behind him. “KIKI, Fire Bro—if Grace fails to grab it, blow that damn ship apart!”

His mission was to capture the fleeing Replicants and disable their neural interfaces before they could self-destruct—a familiar process for him.

The earlier Crimson Skeletal Horror had insanely complex mechanical restraints. Scanning it would’ve taken time. But defeating it? He only had to melt the energy core, and it shut down instantly.

To machines, Lin Xian was the natural predator. Like back in Yijin City—he didn’t dismantle Grace’s AI Core, just disabled her power module.

The problem was, the ship’s current speed was likely over Mach 1, and interception would create a 30G overload—even his Black Hawk Armor wouldn’t withstand that.

Grace carried a round magnetic explosive, an intercept plan prepared by Moonlight Shinji. Once detonated, it could instantly disable the ship’s power and electrical systems.

Still, Lin Xian wanted KIKI and Fire Bro as backups.

“Copy that!” Fire Bro confirmed.

Hovering mid-air, KIKI looked intensely focused.

3... 2...

No sound. Then—a beam of light tore through the black mist. A massive silver-black human transport ship burst into view. The world fell silent.

KIKI grunted, shoving Grace downward with a psychic blast. At the same time, she formed a massive wall of psychic force to try and decelerate the ship.

BOOM!

She felt a tremor through her body as her grip faltered, but that brief moment was enough—Grace slammed onto the ship like a metal spike.

Inside the ship, more than a dozen people with prosthetic-modified bodies felt the massive jolt. Men and women, they all looked young, but their faces were stiff, unnervingly expressionless—like forty-somethings crammed into young shells.

A cold-looking young man glanced upward. “What was that sound?!”

[External breach detected] the ship’s alarm blared.

Panic erupted.

“It’s them! Initiate self-destruct!”

“No, wait! What if we hit an Eerie Entity?!” a middle-aged man snapped. Mushrooms already covered his skull from the mycelium neural interface.

“The Crimson Skeletal Horror was deployed—we should’ve been clear…”

“No excuses!” the woman barked. “Dr. Zhao, your cowardice is a disgrace! Even if you escape, you’ll be reclaimed!”

“No, I didn’t mean—wait—”

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the ship. Power died. The cabin plunged into zero-G chaos.

Alarms blared:

• [Altitude dropping. Danger!]

• [Propulsion offline]

• [Navigation offline]

The ship began to plummet.

Inside, the replicants panicked. That same woman lay dead, her head twisted off by a cable, still eerily composed in death.

“All units of Deep Batch 3056, prepare for shutdown,” a cold voice echoed. “Self-destruct sequence initiated. No repeat.”

“Thank you for your contributions to the Crimson Civilization. Farewell.”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Their neural devices all glowed red—then exploded in bursts of sparks. Silence.

Just then, iron hands tore open the cabin roof—Grace had breached it. Lin Xian’s mechanical scan surged in. He locked onto the last-delay signal, and in a flash, he devoured the self-destruct module of one brain chip.

“KIKI, second one from the left!”

That man—Dr. Zhao—suddenly realized his suicide program had halted. Then, before he could react, an invisible force yanked him from the ship.

Wind roared as several power-armored figures seized him. His terror gave way to crazed laughter.

“Lin Xian, Mechanical Ability... Infinite Train... Our Crimson World will never—”

CRACK.

Lin Xian yanked a rectangular memory core from the neural port.

“Got it.”

KIKI lifted him, Grace, and Fire Bro into the air. Below, the transport ship spiraled into the abyss.

Lin Xian stared at the memory core and let out a breath. That was close... but they got it.

Then his comm crackled to life—Senju Shun's voice rang in.

“Lin, get to Baicheng Hospital now. We intercepted the second transport!”