Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train
Chapter 349: is here!

Wuuu~

With a low system shutdown hum, the remaining defensive weapons in the mysterious laboratory all went offline. The barrels of the automated turrets drooped, the electromagnetic cannons powered down and retracted, and the swarm of drones fell from the sky like raindrops.

At the same time, on Lin Xian's side, the holographic panels in front of him and Senju Shun were receiving real-time calculations from Grace, who was using the angle of the Lionfish Colossus to pinpoint the optimal moment.

[Based on your position and distance, the optimal launch time is in 23 seconds.] [This moment still falls within the colossus’s frontal observational range on the left side. Proceed with caution.]

Grace’s voice echoed in their ears. On the screen, Lin Xian and KIKI clearly saw the floating colossus slowly turning. Wherever its gaze swept across, the dark space and mist twisted and distorted madly. On all kinds of decaying man-made objects—houses, streets, power towers, traffic poles—a faint crimson hue surfaced. Frost began to form, and the metal surfaces trembled at a microscopic level!

15 seconds. The colossus began to sweep toward their half-collapsed factory area. Even from hundreds of meters away and behind a wall, Lin Xian and the others felt a bone-deep, piercing fear—as if it ignored all physical barriers and pierced straight through their bodies. The power of the Dark Invasion continuously drained their body heat and sanity. Heart rates spiked, and brainwaves erupted into abnormal resistance frequencies.

10 seconds... 5 seconds...

Lin Xian gripped the steering wheel tightly, eyes locked on the screen. KIKI beside him had already raised both hands, waves of psychic power raging in her eyes.

BOOM!

KIKI suddenly thrust forward—several-meter-tall walls tore apart with a thunderous crack. The streetlamps and barbed wire along the road were flattened by her power, clearing a path for Lin Xian. Simultaneously, Lin Xian and Wen Sixuan activated their transport vehicles. High-energy motors roared to life, and the two vehicles shot out from the shadows like beasts, racing straight toward the gate of the sewage treatment plant!

All around—southeast, north, west—Chen Sixuan, Ning Jing, Xiao Qing, A Bai, Qian Dele, Monica, Amano Ran, and Takahashi Ryunosuke were locked in chaotic combat. Psychic powers erupted non-stop around the facility. In the dark, a massive humanoid figure loomed—their faces obscured. Just its sudden appearance before Chen Sixuan and the others sent a wave of chilling terror through the air.

On Lin Xian's side, he pushed the speed to the limit, blasting through the bullet-riddled steel gates, smashing through shattered robots and blockades along the way, and ramming straight into the main office building.

The moment they entered, the stench of rot and mildew hit them hard. Under the car headlights was a pitch-dark industrial office—rainwater dripped through rusted pipes, echoing hollowly on the concrete stairs. Lin Xian and Senju Shun’s team of five got off the car. They’d successfully avoided the colossus’s surveillance, but they could all feel it—an oppressive and eerie force pressed above their heads. The Dark Invasion here was much denser than elsewhere.

Shiori stepped up and activated her purification ability, helping the group resist the oppressive aura around them.

“This way!”

Without wasting time, Lin Xian followed Grace’s guidance to the center of the factory. What was once a pile of decayed control cabinets had now parted open, revealing a circular elevator. Grace stood in the center, hands behind her back, and said:

[I’ve taken over the research institute’s system. No biological targets detected for now.]

“No Red Skeletal Horrors? No Replicants?”

Wuuu~

The platform lowered. They descended rapidly.

[The research institute is split into several research zones, with multiple secret exits. These connect to Baicheng’s commercial street underground lot, Yuxiu Park, and Baicheng Rail Station. Currently, Dancer-1 and ACS are still scanning the upper levels.]

Zhou Lei looked at Lin Xian. “Now that the infiltration plan is complete, it’s time you hand back command of the ACS bots and assault mechs.”

Qian Huasheng gave a slight smile. “No problem. Appreciate the help.”

Ning Jing nodded at him with a complicated look. Those eight heavy assault mechs under Lin Xian had played a critical role. Without them drawing enemy fire, they wouldn’t have been able to breach the intense defenses. Against heavy machine cannons, spike missiles, and electromagnetic artillery, their exosuits alone wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Lin Xian relinquished control of the ACS. The data feed instantly made his expression change.

“There are way more of them up there than we expected.”

“Even if they ship in one or two thousand Replicants per batch, that’s no small number,” Lin Xian said, glancing at the unusually quiet Lu Xingchen. “You good?”

“Ah... I’m fine.” Lu Xingchen nodded. “After staying in the darkness so long these past days, I’ve kinda gotten used to it.”

As the elevator reached the bottom, they were greeted by a massive hangar. Deep inside, a familiar medium-sized transport ship rested—similar to one they’d encountered earlier. A few automated vehicles sat scattered around, but most of the space was eerily empty. On the floor, the automated conveyor tracks stretched under yellow hazard markings to the far end.

At the far end, the airlock door slid open under Grace’s control. All five stopped breathing at once.

Corpse Storage Facility.

Hundreds of huge transparent tanks extended from floor to ceiling like oil vats in a factory, tightly packed. Each tank held hundreds or even thousands of corpses—men and women alike, mostly aged 20 to 40. All wore Deep Crimson World uniforms, and their brains were embedded with neural interfaces. But their memories were wiped. White mycelium grew thick like spider webs. Some tanks had clearly sat for ages—completely overtaken by fungus. Some were empty, shattered glass scattered across the floor, dragging dried brown stains with them. Closest to the door, a few “specimens” were in the middle of liquefying—their skin melting like wax, exposing dark red muscle underneath.

“These must be the so-called ‘normal losses’ after being sent in…” Senju Shun said calmly. “Keeping these corpses must serve some other purpose for the Deep Crimson World. Otherwise, why store them separately?”

Back at the command center, Mochizuki Shinji’s voice chimed in:

“Even corpses have value. The Replicant researchers who came in were themselves experiments.”

“Huh?” KIKI frowned. “Even if they’re Replicants, they’ve got independent consciousness. They’re not robots. Why would they obey so blindly and fanatically?”

Shiori, shaken by what she saw, silently followed behind, occasionally casting her purification power to support the others, but avoided looking directly at the tanks.

“There must be outliers,” Senju Shun said. “But the Deep Crimson World surely has countermeasures for that. For instance, the memory imprints they load probably come from personnel who’ve already been heavily brainwashed—copied at the peak of fanaticism—to minimize rebellion risk. Like genetic filtering, they copy the consciousness of only the most fanatical researchers, and categorize them. If a specific person’s clone has a high defection rate, even the original body gets held accountable. To them, managing clones is as simple as managing software.”

KIKI shook her head. “Hard to imagine… If my consciousness were reduced to something mass-produced, would I even still be me? Is digital life still life?”

Senju Shun glanced at her curiously, like he wanted to say something.

Then Mochizuki Shinji’s calm voice came again.

“Programmable digital life and DNA programming are conceptually the same. Whether it’s reducing errors or eradicating genetic disease, copying top scientists, athletes, or artists—it’s all the same. Arguing about the essence of life is pointless. Humanity simply hasn’t reached that level of civilization yet. Advanced societies must simplify. Entropy is destruction. But… now’s not the time for that debate.”

“I’ve already checked the transport ship—it’s operational. You can use it for extraction later.”

Lin Xian said nothing. He knew those in Silent City were all strong advocates for digital life. And what KIKI had just brought up was one of the exact reasons Mochizuki’s Digital Life Plan was shut down before the apocalypse—ethical concerns over the essence of life.

But now wasn’t the time to argue philosophy. They moved forward quickly.

The next door opened. Dancer-1 stood waiting at the center. It and another bot led the way, clearing and scanning ahead.

Senju Shun was right. The underground section of this sewage plant was fully automated. There were no living quarters. Each lab was sealed, received precise deliveries of energy blocks and water, and communication occurred solely through holograms. No private space, no personal paths. Each lab zone was isolated—a sterile, clinical prison of science.

“Distributed labs,” Lin Xian muttered. “The only difference from mine is these have no people.”

At the bunker control center, Mochizuki said:

“If we ignore morality, this is a primitive model of a mid-tier civilization’s production system…”

“They’d be a lot more convincing if they weren’t using survivors as expendable Replicant resources,” Lin Xian snapped coldly.

“The irony is—they really are ahead of us in tech,” Senju Shun sighed.

Lin Xian said nothing more. He released 25 Thunder Falcon drones.

“Grace, take control and start a full sweep.”

[Understood.]

Whoosh— Under Grace’s immense computational control, the drones flew out in all directions. Their video feeds were instantly processed into streamlined intel and relayed to Lin Xian.

He couldn’t do this alone. If he ever produced hundreds or thousands of drones, he’d need Grace to handle them. She was becoming an essential part of his mechanical ability.

“Brother Lin,” Lu Xingchen spoke up. “If there’s no other way, why don’t we just destroy this place? If we cut the power, won’t that shut down the purge command too?”

“Absolutely not.”

KIKI cut in before he could finish. “We don’t even know what the purge mechanism is. What if it’s a standalone system that just needs a remote signal to trigger?”

Lu Xingchen fell silent again.

They moved forward until reaching what looked like a central hall. Bright lights. Dead silence. On the holograms, dozens of drones scanned every corner under Grace’s direction. Aside from the hangar and corpse tanks, the rest were categorized labs.

But strangely—no sign of a main control center.

“Grace, where’s the system integration hub?”

[Each lab has its own control unit. No signs of a central command room or system integration hub.]

“Weird…” Senju Shun muttered. “No way Deep Crimson World runs this without a central node. From an automation standpoint, that makes no sense. Unless… there’s another Deep Crimson-3 AI managing everything behind the scenes.”

“You’re not wrong, but there’s another possibility,” Mochizuki Shinji chimed in. “For ultra-secret facilities like this, to prevent data theft or intrusion, they might build a system totally isolated from the mainframe—an invisible system that cuts contact during threats and acts unilaterally. Commonly known as…”

“A vault, or secret chamber.” Senju Shun nodded. “That would explain it—but this place is huge.”

He turned to Grace. “Deep Crimson-3, anything in the memory data that might point us to it?”

[I’ve already searched. No such data found.]

“Those Replicants only know their specific fields. Aside from that Dark-Erosion cell research, their knowledge is limited. One researcher among thousands can’t help.” Lin Xian frowned, looking at the sprawling cage-like labs. “This info’s not in their memory.”

“So what now?” KIKI checked the time. The Tidefall had already passed 25 minutes. Chen Sixuan and the others were still fighting above. Time was running out.

Lin Xian’s gaze turned sharp. He stepped forward, voice low.

“Then we’ll use the dumbest method.”

He walked to the center of the hall, extended both hands downward—Mechanical Heart, full power.

Mechanical scan—activate!

Though it drained him immensely, Lin Xian had mastered remote scanning. As his domain unfolded, circuits and structural data began forming like a hologram around him—piping, wiring, conveyor belts, vents, data consoles, lab gear, lights, steel beams, elevators, corridors...

The entire face of the Deep Crimson World’s underground base unfolded in Lin Xian’s mind—flawless, full-spectrum, and complete.

This sudden, linear expansion caused Lin Xian's energy to spike rapidly, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. But at this point, he had no other choice—he could only grit his teeth and push through.

As his energy was drained, the overwhelming Dark Invasion Fear began eroding his rationality. He felt as though he had plunged into an ice cavern; even the bright lights around him dimmed. The bodies of nearby squad members twisted and contorted, and countless terrifying and despair-inducing visions surged into his mind.

Just then, a powerful surge of energy rushed into his body, instantly dispelling much of the fear and filling Lin Xian with a comforting warmth. His mind began to clear.

Shiori!

Sensing the change in Lin Xian, the girl acted immediately, focusing all her purification abilities on him to support his Mechanical Scan.

With that power boosting him, Lin Xian felt like he’d just been supercharged by Eerie Cube energy. His Mechanical Scan expanded rapidly, and finally, he spotted something unusual.

It was located deep beneath the multi-level secret research base—a heavily fortified bunker of around 200 square meters, connected by countless power cables. But the cables weren’t active. Inside one of its labs, there was a concealed elevator descending straight down.

“Found it!”

As soon as he spoke, Lin Xian withdrew the Mechanical Scan, led the group into the elevator, and descended to the lowest experimental level. They arrived at a lab marked A1, where he had Grace unlock the automatic door.

Without hesitation, Lin Xian rushed in. His Mechanical Ability quietly activated as he triggered a hidden switch. The metal wall slowly slid open, revealing a compact elevator.

The elevator was tiny—cramped even for a few people. To play it safe, Lin Xian had Grace’s Gemini Units go down first. Once they secured control of the main systems, the rest would follow.

Sure enough, after Grace took over and Lin Xian’s group descended, they discovered a Main Control Room packed with server cabinets. But the strange part wasn’t the tech—it was that in the middle of the room... was a living space.

A circular glass partition enclosed the area. Inside were surveillance computers, a bed, a basic bathroom, and shelves stocked with food and supplies. An old movie played on a nearby TV, while food wrappers and empty cans littered the tables and floor. It was a mess.

On the bed lay a pale, life-sized mechanical silicone doll, its usage quite... obvious. No doubt, a man had been living here.

“Someone’s here!”

“Grace,” Lin Xian ordered immediately.

Everyone spread out. The mecha systems scanned the room—nothing showed up.

Senju Shun stepped up to the TV, touching a still-warm bowl of instant noodles. “That bastard’s definitely around. He must’ve noticed when we stormed the upper levels and cut the connection to the main control room.”

KIKI swept the area, but her power armor radar still showed nothing. Shiori tried using her ability, but Shun stopped her: “Shiori, we’re dealing with a human. Don’t waste your ability.”

“How the h**l can a living person vanish in such a small space?” Fire Bro muttered skeptically. He stepped outside and fired small Flame Beams toward the shadowy corners of the server cabinets.

KIKI scolded him: “Hey, careful! If you burn something, we might lose the purification device.”

Right as she spoke, a scream burst from the shadows in front of Lu Xingchen. Lin Xian’s group rushed over to see a figure, ablaze and writhing, tumbling from the darkness. Strangely, even now, Lin Xian’s power armor radar couldn’t detect the man.

“What kind of freak are you?!” Lu Xingchen shouted—he’d actually flushed out a “person” from the shadows with fire.

KIKI instantly used her psychic power to immobilize the man. As she hoisted him up, the guy begged for mercy.

“Don’t—don’t kill me! I’m useful! I have intel!”

“KIKI.” Lin Xian’s voice halted her. The voice sounded oddly familiar. She pulled the man from the shadows, and under the beam of their armor lights, they finally saw him: a chubby man in his thirties wearing casual clothes and a mechanical collar. Clearly not a combatant.

When Lin Xian and KIKI saw his face, their expressions stiffened in unison.

“It’s you!”

“Huh?? You know me?” the man stammered, terrified at the sight of these armored figures, realizing he might be living on borrowed time.

Lin Xian shined a flashlight in his face and removed his helmet. His expression was a mix of shock and disbelief.

“You’ve really got some damn luck.”

The man squinted in the bright light. When his eyes finally adjusted and he recognized Lin Xian’s face, he went pale.

“It’s... you guys?!”

This man was none other than Zhou Lei—the traitor who betrayed Qian Yu in Beiwang, then later stole Lu Xingchen’s RV in Yubei!

“You were the one who stole Fire Bro’s RV and ran? And you’re still alive despite not escaping to the Sky Corridor?” KIKI exclaimed. “No wonder the radar didn’t pick you up—you’re an ability user.”

Lin Xian was shocked. To run into Zhou Lei of all people in the Crimson World’s underground control room?

This man had once teamed up with Lin Xian, Big Luo, Shasha, and Qian Yu in Beiwang Town to break through the fog. But he secretly betrayed them, killed Qian Yu, stole half the convoy, and fled. Later, when he joined the Black Crow Four, he survived only by smooth-talking, becoming a minor boss. Eventually, when that group was wiped out in Yubei, Zhou Lei stole Lu Xingchen’s Doomsday RV and escaped—prompting Fire Bro to join the Infinite Train.

Given all that happened in Yubei City—mutant tides, nuclear blasts, Corpse Shepherds—how had Zhou Lei survived?

“Huh? Wait, what?” Lu Xingchen had just caught on.

He looked closely at the fat guy’s face—unfamiliar, yet oddly familiar.

Suddenly, his expression changed. He gasped and yelled in rage:

“You b*****d!!!”

Realization hit like a truck—this guy had stolen his precious RV, leaving him naked and stranded. Enraged, Lu Xingchen looked ready to explode. “The heavens have eyes! Fate has brought you to me! I swear I’ll—"

“Fire Bro!” Lin Xian quickly stopped him before he could erupt.

Nearby, Senju Shun and Shiori watched curiously.

“Shinji, didn’t expect a live one down here, huh?” Shun teased. “Seems like Lin and the others know him.”

“Wouldn’t say he’s a friend...” Lin Xian muttered.

He turned coldly to Zhou Lei and said, “You’ve got two minutes. If your intel’s useless, I’ll make sure your death isn’t.”

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Zhou Lei panicked. Meeting Lin Xian again was a nightmare—this guy knew all his tricks. Any hope of bluffing was useless. He swallowed hard and pleaded, “Captain Lin, I’ll tell you everything I know. Just let me live!”

“1 minute 58,” Lin Xian replied icily, not even bothering to negotiate.

Zhou Lei’s face twisted in fear. He blurted out, “The higher-ups in Crimson World and Dawn City are in cahoots. They’re expanding Abyss Zone No. 5!”

Still no reaction from Lin Xian. Cold sweat dripped down Zhou Lei’s face. He rushed on:

“They’re experimenting on ability users, trying to evolve or clone them. But it’s not working. Instead, they developed something that can implant and control zombies and Eerie Entities—even B-Class, A-Class, massive ones...”

That’s when Lin Xian raised a hand and aimed his Kinetic Cannon at Zhou Lei’s forehead.

Zzzzz... A sharp electric hum filled the air.

Zhou Lei’s pupils dilated in panic. “Wait—wait! There’s more!” He struggled against KIKI’s psychic hold, pointing desperately toward a blue-lit device in the control center. “That’s the master database! It holds the latest progress from all 930 labs in this facility!”

“Wow~” Senju Shun rolled his eyes. “You’re saying Crimson World stored all their R& D here and made you the watchdog?”

“No, no, no!!” Zhou Lei cried. “That data is synced to the outside every 12 hours—otherwise it’s auto-deleted. Incoming researchers don’t know the progress and must update records here first. It’s for secrecy and info audits. Only certain people can leave. My job was to monitor this process—and all the replicant batches—to verify and prevent leaks!”

Lin Xian frowned. “How do you know all this? Why are you here?”

“Yeah! Most people sent in don’t survive. This place is fully automated. How’ve you lived this long?” KIKI pressed.

“I... I already said—they only send people in who know nothing. Once inside, after surviving and passing psych checks, they get access. I’m here because they needed someone to supervise and isolate the replicants, and also... to stop external hacks.”

Zhou Lei’s voice went flat—he spilled it all in one breath. Lin Xian’s group finally understood: Zhou Lei was Crimson World’s double-layered failsafe, and the AI’s learning target. If the system were compromised or attacked, Zhou Lei could manually disconnect the control center—ensuring the data stayed secure. Even if he died, the data would auto-delete in 12 hours.

He also had another job: monitoring replicants. Though controlled by memory cores and mycelial threads, Crimson World’s tech was still unstable. Original personalities often fought back—resistance, betrayal, fear, or lies. But they didn’t know a real person was watching them.

Zhou Lei looked at Lin Xian’s group, conflicted.

“You won’t believe me. Crimson World doesn’t trust me either. But the reason they chose me is... I’m part of Holy Revelation.”

“You joined them?” Lin Xian asked.

“I didn’t want to!” Zhou Lei wailed. “After Yubei, I ran into this giant Sky Jellyfish—almost died. But it got burned, and I lived. I found a candle in a supermarket...”

He paused, then added, “Later, this cult found me—they called themselves Holy Revelation. Turns out, that candle was a Forbidden Item. If I lit it, I could hide in shadows—undetectable, even to Eerie Entities. But once it burned out, I’d die... So when they asked if I wanted to live, I said yes. Then... they sent me here.”

Lin Xian was stunned. “So the candle burns for a month, and you get to live twelve?”

Zhou Lei nodded.

“What candle burns for a month?”

Zhou Lei: “…”

“Utter b******t. Lin, let me burn his candle early,” Fire Bro snapped.

“I swear I’m not lying!” Zhou Lei begged. “Holy Revelation said if I left the Abyss, I’d die. My life’s in their hands. They chose me because of how the Forbidden Item altered me. That’s why Crimson World planted me here. I’m just a pawn for both sides. How else would I still be alive?! Right, Captain Lin?!”

Senju Shun narrowed his eyes. “That explains the radar issue... and his survival. A Forbidden Item, huh?”

It all sounded like lunacy—but the logic was solid. And Lin Xian knew there was no reason to lie. At this point, he didn’t care about Crimson World’s secrets. What mattered was—

The Purge.

He asked coldly, “If your job is so critical, then you must know where Crimson World’s cleansing device is, right?”

“Cleansing... device?” Zhou Lei blinked, confused.

“You know—the one that triggers a massive Eerie Entity riot to wipe out the whole city?” Lin Xian snapped. “Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

Zhou Lei reacted immediately. He looked at Senju Shun and Shiori beside Lin Xian and quickly said, “They’re from Silent City, aren’t they? Aren’t you here to steal research data?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Zhou Lei panicked. “I’m not changing the subject! There’s no decontamination system here at all. The Eerie Entities didn’t riot because of you guys. We—uh, okay, yeah, the Crimson World has had its eyes on Silent City for a while now, but that’s not their main goal!!”

As soon as Zhou Lei said that, the look in Lin Xian and the others’ eyes subtly shifted. Even in the command center of the Western Mountain Bunker, Moonlight Shinji’s gaze hardened.

Zhou Lei glanced up at the clock in the control room and spoke urgently. “I don’t know much, but every time the spatial disturbances happened here, they weren’t targeting you. It’s because the Crimson World is using some strange device or Forbidden Item to force Abyss expansion. They’re sacrificing lives like crazy—tons of people have died. Every time they activate that thing, all the Eerie Entities in Abyss Zone No. 5 go berserk. Just the other day, didn’t it happen again? There was fighting all night near the swamp by Butuo Lake to the west—you didn’t notice?”

Lin Xian sucked in a sharp breath. “What did you say?!”

Butuo Lake—that was right where the Unified Train’s front line was. He immediately exchanged glances with Senju Shun and KIKI. The group clearly came to a realization.

The so-called “Cleansing Plan” sounded exactly like the Crimson World using the Merlion Colossus to trigger a massive expansion of the Abyss, resulting in internal tremors within the zone!

Senju Shun frowned and spoke into his comms, “Shinji, this is messier than we thought.”

“Oh, I get it now! I know what you guys are really after!!” Zhou Lei saw the change in their expressions and quickly added, “Every time they’re about to initiate an expansion, I always receive an order to go silent and disconnect the control room from the upper research facility. So, if I get that order again, and you guys hide down here without a Dark Mark, you’ll be safe.”

Lin Xian took a deep breath, his face now completely grim. If that was the case, there was no way to stop the Abyss outbreak.

Apparently, Zhou Lei didn’t even realize the Crimson World’s experiment had awakened Biological Entity 01. And that order he received? It might be his last one ever.

Lin Xian checked the time. Forty minutes had already passed. They had only twenty left.

“Shun, Lin.” Moonlight Shinji’s voice came through the comms. “Quick—check for the system backup. The full data must be here.”

Lin Xian and Senju Shun exchanged a glance and sprang into action.

“Code.” Lin Xian pointed at the blue data cabinet and said to Zhou Lei.

A flicker of panic crossed Zhou Lei’s eyes. “Captain Lin, you’re not gonna kill me once I give it, right?”

“You’re hanging on by a thread already, living like this every day. What are you afraid of now?” Lin Xian shot back.

Zhou Lei’s eyes dimmed. He caught the meaning behind Lin’s words, and his whole demeanor deflated. In a low voice, he said, “Verification code: 5A6H0. Captain Lin, once you get what you need, can you let me stay alive here for a few more days?” As he spoke, his tears gushed out. “This f***ing apocalypse has wrecked me, turned me into something less than a man and more than a ghost. But I still wanna live a few more days... wuwuwu…”

Lin Xian and Senju Shun ignored his wailing. They successfully extracted the system backup. ACS robots and Grace instantly synchronized, beginning to extract the key data.

[Forbidden Item SIID-04: Merlion Colossus] Discovered at: Lion City Appearance: Three 16-meter-tall statues with lion faces and fish tails. Eyes glow red with fear-inducing light. Trait 1: Direct eye contact triggers immense Fear Energy intrusion and teleports the statue to the observer’s location. Trait 2: Moving it out of the Abyss or Polar Night Zones causes a “Black Border” phenomenon—abnormal Abyss expansion and anchor-point displacement within the zone. Only happens after Abyss stabilization. Containment: Observer must die. No known containment method yet.

Very quickly, Grace extracted additional Forbidden Item data from the Holy Revelation Compilation.

Meanwhile, Moonlight Shinji also found a critical piece of intel. “Lin, looks like this isn’t their first expansion attempt. Bad news—the next target is Luling.”

“Luling?” KIKI looked at Lin Xian in shock. “That’s eastward?!”

If the disturbance starts from Luling, and they try to flee eastward via the rail, wouldn’t they be heading right into the f**ing storm*?

Lin Xian’s face twisted. He had the sudden urge to curse.

And it wasn’t just him—on the channel, outside the wastewater treatment plant, Ning Jing, Qian Dele, Chen Sixuan, and others gasped, despair thick in the air.

“I don’t get it…” Fire Bro glared angrily at Zhou Lei. “You said Crimson World and Dawn City were conspiring. But if they’re expanding the Abyss so recklessly, wouldn’t Dawn City be signing its own death warrant?!”

“I—I—I don’t know, okay?!” Zhou Lei cried in frustration. “There’s barely a sane person in Crimson World or Holy Revelation! You’ve dealt with them—you know what I mean! They’re all f***ing insane!”

“Lin.” Senju Shun could sense everyone losing focus. He turned to Lin Xian. “There’s no time. Get them down here now to hide from the Eerie Entities. Once the tide rises, it’ll be too late to shake off a Dark Mark.”

Lin nodded and immediately shouted to the outside team, “I’ll have Grace cover you. Fall back now—move!”

Right now, the Cleansing Directive wasn’t even the issue anymore. All they could do was wait for the coming Abyssal Tide.

With help from Grace and Dancer Unit-01, Chen Sixuan and the others managed to escape and regroup in Crimson World’s underground control room.

“At this rate, even if we leap all the way to Baicheng with maglev, what’s the point? Surrounded by danger—Abyss above, Eerie Entities behind!” Qian Dele, covered in grime and Eerie Entity blood, spat bitterly.

Monica, utterly drained, was finally calming down with Shiori’s help. She offered, “Maybe we can avoid this outbreak and look for another window to escape?”

“Yeah, I mean, haven’t the Silent City folks been hiding in the Western Mountain Bunker for ages? They’ve been fine as long as they don’t have a mark.” Chen Sixuan nodded.

“So we’re safe if we’re unmarked,” Ning Jing added in agreement.

But Lin Xian looked at Senju Shun. “It’s not just about our Unified Train or the bunker anymore, is it?”

“What do you mean?” Chen Sixuan and the others followed his gaze. Senju Shun and Amano Ran all wore dark, serious expressions.

Just then, Moonlight Shinji’s voice came over the comms.

“You’re right, Lin. The original plan’s done for.”

He stood alone in the control center, watching Grace’s stream of decoded data. His voice had clearly grown heavier—understandably so.

Because as he had told Lin earlier… Silent City No. 2 was currently in the Luling Forest!

Lin Xian’s mind was a storm. He glanced at Zhou Lei tied in the corner, then turned to Shinji.

“Let’s hear your plan.”

“I do have a new one.” Shinji replied. “Lin, keep your maglev leap plan. Once you reach Wangshan Pass, I’ll release one of the four floating cities. It’ll be enough to evacuate thousands of you—if we’re in time.”

Lin Xian’s heart sank. He looked to Senju Shun and the others. “You guys aren’t leaving, are you?”

“Looks like it,” Senju Shun smiled faintly—ready to risk it all.

“If City No. 2 is dragged in, we have to protect our people.”

Amano Ran clenched her fists, expression sharp. “Right. In that case, running is pointless. Better to charge into the Abyss. With our strength, maybe we can still save lives.”

Ryunosuke said nothing—but his silence was answer enough. Nearby, Shiori quickly stood beside Senju Shun, face determined beneath her helmet.

Their words hit like thunder. Ning Jing, Chen Sixuan, Qian Dele—all looked at them in shock.

Things had turned so fast. Escape was off the table.

Meanwhile, Lin Xian had a way out—a floating city big enough to save everyone in the convoy. A real chance.

And seeing Senju Shun’s group make their decision so quickly, one couldn’t help but feel the gravitational pull of Moonlight Shinji—what kind of man made people follow him to death without hesitation?

22:00. Five minutes till the tide.

“Lin Xian…” Chen Sixuan called, hesitating. She wanted to ask about Shinji’s plan—but didn’t.

Lin Xian understood. It was a good plan. Abandon the train, enter the floating city, use the bait strategy from Silent City—thousands could survive.

“Lin.” Senju Shun looked at him seriously. “Let’s do it. After this tide, it’s our last shot. You have one hour—get the train across, and transfer everyone to the floating city. We’ll activate Silent City’s defenses.”

Tied up in the corner, Zhou Lei listened. His eyes changed. His sharp instincts screamed: something big is about to happen in Abyss Zone No. 5. He might not survive this.

Now that the control room was lost, the Crimson World might consider him useless. They could extinguish his flame at any moment.

His internal glow flickered. He began to scheme how to stay alive…

All eyes turned to Lin Xian. The control room was heavy with tension.

He lowered his head. Aksai. The Abyss. Time dilation. Cleansing Plan. Merlion Colossus. Abnormal expansion. Abyssal beasts. Flesh-grafted armor...

So many nightmares weighed on his chest, nearly suffocating.

Then—he looked at Grace. Eyes narrowing, thoughts coalescing. His brows lifted slowly.

Suddenly, he broke the silence and spoke softly to Moonlight Shinji.

“Moonlight Shinji, I appreciate your idea... but I think I’ve come up with something you might find very interesting. Wanna hear it?”

“Oh?” Alone in the control room, Moonlight Shinji smiled curiously. “Don’t tell me—it’s another insane plan?”

“Yep.”

“Even crazier than your maglev leap?”

“A hundred times crazier. Might even save all 100,000 people in your Silent City No. 2.”

Before Shinji could respond, Senju Shun froze, stunned.

Amano Ran exclaimed, “What did you just say?!”

Shinji’s smile faded slightly. He asked seriously:

“Where do you want Silent City to fly?”

Lin Xian’s eyes sharpened.

“Right here.”