Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 12: Preemptive Planning

【Current Mechanical Heart Level: LV.1 210/500】

【Tip: Upgrading the Mechanical Heart grants special skill rewards. At LV3, LV6, and LV9, mysterious awakenings are unlocked.】

【Base Attributes】

【Strength: LV1 27/50】

【Speed: LV1 8/50】

【Defense: LV0 18/30】

【Current Basic Skills】

【Mechanical Devour LV.1 278/300】

【Mechanical Manufacturing LV.1 112/300】

【Mechanical Scan (Passive)】

【Mechanical Repair (Passive)】

【Mechanical Operation (Passive)】

【Special Skill】

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【Wind Cannon LV.1 12/100】

"Wait, what? I used Wind Cannon twice on that white monster, so why did the skill proficiency jump up so much?"

Lin Xian stared at the Wind Cannon’s proficiency, now at 12, and was momentarily stunned.

He had assumed each use would only increase proficiency by 1 point. Instead, it suddenly leaped forward significantly.

“Could it be that in critical situations, the mastery of a skill increases significantly?”

After some thought, Lin Xian felt this hypothesis was plausible.

At the same time, devouring a small cargo truck had brought him immense benefits: 30 mechanical energy points, 10 devour proficiency points, and even a 12-point increase in attributes.

It was a major profit.

“D*mn, if someone could give me access to a parking lot, I’d be working 996 without a break…” Lin Xian grumbled to himself.

But he knew that was wishful thinking.

Looking back at the earlier situation, he couldn’t shake the feeling that pure luck had played a big part in his survival. That monster must have stood near him for a while, as he had indeed heard some movement earlier.

Perhaps because he stayed focused and didn’t make a sound, the monster didn’t immediately attack. Otherwise, he would’ve already been skewered like a kebab.

As expected, high risks came with high rewards.

Each vehicle took Lin Xian at least an hour and a half to devour, requiring him to maintain intense focus and expend a lot of physical energy. With Jiang City now plunged into the Dark Tides, daylight lasted less than four hours a day.

There simply wasn’t enough time or opportunity to devour at his leisure. And once night fell, who knew what kind of horrors might emerge?

“Could I tow a freight carriage and slowly devour it at night?” he wondered.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

“Wait… nah, it’s not feasible!”

“An empty freight car is just a metal frame—it won’t provide much benefit. Unless it’s a locomotive or something…”

“But a locomotive weighs hundreds of tons. Devouring that would take forever, and I’m not even sure I’d have the stamina for it.”

Over the past few months, Lin Xian had brainstormed many ideas, only to find that reality was far more complex than he had imagined.

At 3:00 PM, the sky suddenly brightened, and Jiang City was greeted with a fleeting dawn.

The city lay in eerie silence. Lin Xian stood by the intercity line, gazing northwest. That direction remained shrouded in gray and black, as if enveloped by a massive storm.

He knew that was where Lu City and Ding Prefecture were located—areas that had vanished almost immediately on Apocalypse Day.

Those areas were also the center of the third “Abyss.”

Compared to the fate of those regions, Jiang City, now a wasteland, was almost fortunate. At least it had given its citizens time to migrate, leaving behind a few survivors clinging to life.

Lin Xian still remembered his trip to Lu City, where the rice noodles and barbecue had left a lasting impression.

But now, these cultural symbols of humanity had been reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.

The light streaming through the armored gaps of the train windows fell on Chen Sixuan’s face, stirring her awake. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Lin Xian welding the bed frame. She immediately flipped upright, guilt evident on her face as she apologized.

“I’m sorry… Lin Xian, did I oversleep?”

“It’s fine,” Lin Xian replied without turning his head. “You didn’t seem in great shape. Plus, last night was… unique. That monster might come back, so I didn’t wake you.”

Even now, with the daylight returning, Lin Xian couldn’t shake the unease in his heart.

That white giant might even be capable of breaking through his Steel Fortress. Waking Chen Sixuan to stand watch would’ve been useless.

His top priority was to continuously reinforce the “Infinite Train’s” defenses and boost his own strength as quickly as possible.

“You… stayed up all night?”

Lin Xian finished welding the steel-framed bed and stood up, handing Chen Sixuan a bottle of water. “Today, we’ll pass by the freight unloading area in Jiang City. The situation there might be tricky, so prepare yourself mentally.”

“Okay,” Chen Sixuan replied, her guilt clear as she nodded quickly. “I’ll follow your lead today.”

“No need. I have another task for you.”

Lin Xian led Chen Sixuan to the control cabin. The “Infinite Train” had already started moving slowly. As they advanced, Lin Xian explained to her,

“This main route merges into the Jiangyu Line, so it shouldn’t deviate at any switches. If the opportunity arises, I plan to tow an electric locomotive onto the train today. When that happens, I’ll need to get off to manually operate the track switch. While connecting the carriages, I need you to handle the coupling instructions.”

Pointing to a few controls, Lin Xian patiently explained,

“This one disengages the lock, this one aligns the couplers, this one connects the brake systems, and this one tests the link.”

For Chen Sixuan, these technical terms weren’t entirely unfamiliar. She had grown up exposed to railway knowledge, thanks to her father’s influence. She understood that this was the process for coupling train carriages. However, understanding the theory was one thing—actually doing it was entirely new to her.

So, she listened intently to Lin Xian’s explanation, afraid to miss even a single detail.

Coupling carriages was also a complicated task for Lin Xian. The biggest challenge was that he couldn’t simultaneously control two carriages using the Mechanical Heart. To switch tracks, he had to manually operate the track switch himself.

But once he got off the train, the “Infinite Train” would lose its power source. The only solution was to “manually push” the train forward while ensuring the electric locomotive’s coupler and brake hook were in a released state.

In this energy-deprived scenario, Lin Xian would have to run back and forth between tasks…

Moreover, if he did manage to find an electric locomotive, he needed to position it behind the gas turbine locomotive and before the first carriage.

The Whale 03E locomotive’s front end was already armored, and compared to an electric locomotive, the gas turbine locomotive was far tougher. That meant the electric locomotive had to take the second position.

All in all, the operation was incredibly complicated. If Lin Xian were working alone, it would take him an entire day. But with Chen Sixuan’s help, he could save at least half a day.

Clang, clang.

The train slowly exited the city center, heading toward Jiang City Station.

As they left the urban area, their view opened up, and several main roads leading out of the city unfolded before Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan.

But in an instant, both of their expressions changed.

The roads were completely jammed with tens of thousands of cars, forming an unbroken chain that rendered the routes impassable. Pools of blood, severed limbs, burning car frames, and scattered luggage and clothing littered the scene. Everything screamed of the hellish nightmare that had unfolded on the path out of the city.

Not a single living soul was in sight after the darkness had passed. The hills and plains were overrun with zombies wandering aimlessly.

“Those who could run already ran. The ones left behind aren’t getting out,” Lin Xian muttered.

The roads out of the city were completely blocked. Unless you were driving a tank or knew some hidden backroad, the only way to escape the city was on foot.

But with the polar night creeping closer and daytime reduced to just over three hours, how far could anyone get on foot?

And even if they managed to get out of the city, what then? When night fell, what chance did they have?

The monsters in the darkness were creatures even Lin Xian, an ability user, couldn’t contend with, let alone ordinary humans.

Looking at the horrific scenes on the main roads, Chen Sixuan’s eyes trembled slightly. She then glanced at the clear railway tracks ahead. At this moment, she felt immensely fortunate to have met Lin Xian—and even more fortunate to be aboard this train.

The slow-moving train caught the attention of some survivors hiding in nearby houses along the tracks. Several pairs of furtive eyes peeked out, and whispers began to spread.

“A train? That’s impossible!”

“Where did it come from?”

“Stop! Stop!” someone shouted loudly from inside a building.

“Take me with you! I have supplies!”

“Keep your voice down, or you’ll bring the zombies here!”

“Quick, shut the window!”

Clang!

Someone even threw a stone at the train, screaming hysterically,

“Stop! Let me on the train!”

“Will they… try to rob us?” Chen Sixuan asked nervously as the sound of the stone hitting the train echoed around them.

“They’re not here to offer help, that’s for sure,” Lin Xian replied indifferently.

In the apocalypse, fighting over supplies—even to the death—wasn’t uncommon.

Survival Rule #3: Better you than me.

“Lin…” Chen Sixuan began softly. Her voice was soothing, with a pleasant cadence that Lin Xian found hard to ignore. Every time she spoke, he felt more certain about his choice to save her. Having a woman like her on this journey of life and death made everything feel just a little more bearable. Her presence often reminded him of their time at school, of how she used to wear her black-framed glasses, frowning seriously while explaining vocabulary to him.

Hearing her voice, Lin Xian looked up, and his pupils contracted slightly.

It was snowing.

Outside the train, snowflakes drifted down, landing on the windows and melting into tiny droplets of water.

“Is it winter already?” Chen Sixuan stared blankly at the snowflakes outside, muttering to herself.

By the calendar, winter was still several months away.

However, Jiang City had been growing colder by the day. And now, with snow gently falling, Lin Xian felt a chill in his heart. His concerns weren’t baseless after all.

Aside from the darkness, zombies, and eerie occurrences, yet another disaster was quietly descending as the climate began to shift.

Natural disasters!

If extreme cold and snowstorms arrived, the problems wouldn’t just be about enduring the cold. Humans would need more food to maintain their body temperature. The train would need significantly more energy to keep running.

In the case of severe low temperatures, they might even need to install a heating system onboard the train.

“F***…” Lin Xian cursed under his breath. He had been planning to find a refrigerator to store food, but judging by the current situation, it didn’t seem like that would be necessary anymore.