Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 159: Dead City
This was the first time Lin Xian’s Mechanical Heart had completely consumed his energy. The sensation felt as if it had triggered some kind of self-protection program, forcibly shutting down.
When his Mechanical Ability began running again, he immediately felt a chilling sensation on his skin—along with... weightlessness!
The Infinite Train was descending rapidly.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The tracks hummed, and the train trembled slightly.
Lin Xian opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed in Car No. 1. From the cockpit, he heard Chen Sixuan’s crisp voice:
“Decelerating. No obstacles ahead.”
Read 𝓁atest chapters at fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm Only.
“Hold on, everyone! Shasha, make sure your brother Lin doesn’t fall!”
Turning his gaze, he saw Luo Shasha pressing down on his shoulder, her small face tense as she stared out the window, afraid he would roll off the bed due to inertia.
“Sister Chen, no radio broadcasts about Jiazhou City so far,” KIKI’s voice came from Car No. 2.
Lin Xian’s mind was still groggy, but his subconscious told him—this descent angle... it had to be the Climbing Passage.
Had they already arrived at Jiazhou City?
Ding!
A notification from the Mechanical Heart snapped him back to reality. He realized that several hours ago, the R&D Center had completed research on the M556 Light Machine Gun, and a new blueprint was now available.
A flash of light. Inside the R&D Center, a brand-new blueprint appeared:
[Congratulations! You have obtained the blueprint for the Roaring K23 Electric Gatling Gun!]
Lin Xian craned his neck to look at it, his pupils trembling slightly before he collapsed back onto the pillow.
"Am I seeing things?
"What the hell is this? I wanted firepower enhancements, and it just throws out something like this...?"
After pondering for a moment, he became certain—the R&D Center wasn’t merely upgrading blueprints. Just like how it had created the A1-Class Subcritical Reverse Osmosis Water Purifier out of thin air, it was manifesting new technology altogether.
At this point, he even started to suspect that the endgame of the R&D Center wasn’t limited to creating things that existed on this planet…
"Hah!"
No time to dwell on it now. Lin Xian shook off his dizziness and sat up.
Luo Shasha gasped in surprise. “Brother Lin! You’re awake?!”
“Where are we?”
“On the descending tracks of Jiazhou’s No. 2 Spaceport! We’ve been flying through the High-Altitude Corridor for about seven or eight hours now,” Shasha replied.
Lin Xian sat up straight. The entire train was tilted downward. He activated his Mechanical Heart and quickly sensed that Chen Sixuan was using the Horizon Clamp System to control the descent. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.
The black-armored train continued its descent toward the ground.
In the cockpit, Chen Sixuan looked up, surprise flashing in her eyes. “You’re awake?”
“Is everything under control?” Lin Xian asked, seeing that the train was still charging forward at high speed. He cautiously began adjusting the train’s trajectory.
“So far, no issues. I pushed the train to max speed in the High-Altitude Corridor, but compared to others, we’re still a few hours behind.”
“That’s fine.”
Lin Xian’s voice was deep. “As long as we made it. This is already the fastest we could escape the dark night while covering the greatest distance.”
All the traction platforms had used electromagnetic acceleration to reach 1,000 km/h. Trains like the Silver Star and Dragon Mountain No. 1 had far superior configurations, so it was natural for the Infinite Train to fall behind in speed.
But for a team that had just crossed 4,500 kilometers over the Dazhu Plateau, they had, at least for now, escaped the threat of the Polar Night.
"I wonder if anyone else stopped at Jiazhou Spaceport…"
“No idea about others, but Shu Qin’s group should be waiting for us,” Lin Xian replied.
After what had happened at the spaceport, he decided that, like Silver Star and Dragon Mountain No. 1, he would expand the train on a massive scale, bring in more passengers, and fully tap into the potential of his Mechanical Heart.
At the same time, he had another critical issue to resolve: the train’s all-terrain mobility.
The Orbital Rail passed through major cities and extreme regions alike. He needed multiple route options, just like Phoenix’s Dawn Center.
At that moment, the slope leveled out, the train shot down the Climbing Passage, and a massive track hall appeared in view.
!!!
The train’s powerful rumbling echoed through the vast hall.
Empty.
Jiazhou’s No. 2 Spaceport was built into a mountain, with its tracks running through underground tunnels. As the Infinite Train followed the tunnel along the subterranean tracks, a beam of light suddenly appeared ahead!
Without stopping, the Infinite Train burst out of the tunnel.
In an instant, blinding sunlight flooded the train, illuminating every carriage. Along with it came a distinct warmth.
“It’s daytime?!”
“The sun’s up so early…”
Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan squinted against the glare. Shasha and KIKI came running in as well.
Through the glass viewport, a silent metropolis unfolded under the morning sun.
It was 7 AM. The sunlight was still cold, but compared to the blizzard conditions of Yubei City, this warmth felt almost comforting.
“Wow! It’s been so long since I’ve seen the sun this early!” KIKI gasped.
Chen Sixuan’s gaze softened. “Feels like coming back from the dead.”
“Our daytime hours just increased a lot all at once!” Shasha beamed.
Whoosh… whoosh…
The train glided swiftly along the high-speed elevated tracks of the spaceport.
Beyond them, the cityscape stretched into the distance—both familiar and alien.
“4,500 kilometers,” Lin Xian murmured. “Jiazhou to Longjiang is near the middle ground between Abyss Zones No. 3 and No. 5.”
Shasha admired the view. “The people here are lucky. They get longer daylight than most places…”
“That’s one way to put it.”
KIKI frowned, pressing closer to the window. “But why… does this city feel way too quiet?”
“Looks like a dead city.”
“Shouldn’t there be lots of survivors in a middle zone between Abysses?”
Lin Xian shook his head. “You’re thinking too simply. Abyss Zones No. 3, No. 5, and No. 7 are all close together. Even if there’s temporary livable space, it’s just boiling frogs in warm water. The dangers of the dark night are the same everywhere…”
The farther a city was from an Abyss, the more time and space it had to survive.
But the Black Night Infection was just as lethal.
With Abysses expanding at different rates, some regions were slower to be covered and thus had higher survival chances.
Jiazhou City was far from the rapidly expanding Abyss No. 3, but it was dangerously close to Abysses No. 5 and No. 7.
If both those Abysses expanded at full speed, this entire middle zone would be swallowed in no time.
"Population and city structure are major factors."
Ding Junyi stepped forward. “Abyss No. 3 is in Lucheng and Dingzhou—the most densely populated area of the Oceanic Province. It’s just like Abyss No. 1 in North America, No. 2 in Asia-Pacific, No. 9 in Europe, and No. 11 in the Republic Continent. These areas saw the fastest Dark Tides expansion.”
“That’s why Phoenix promotes mobility for survival,” she continued. “For example, the Arctic Ice Cap, influenced by the Polar Day, is estimated to be one of the last places covered by the Polar Night.”
Lin Xian nodded. “Not bad. For humanity, that’s a shrinking safe zone.”
Something about it reminded him of an old game—where you had to keep running from the shrinking zone…
“You call that a safe zone?”
KIKI was dumbfounded. “That place is the freaking Arctic! There’s nothing there! How the hell are people supposed to survive?”
Lin Xian turned to look at her, his expression meaningful. “Trust me, when the entire planet is covered in an endless Polar Night, and monsters roam every inch of land… a sunlit wasteland will become the most desirable refuge imaginable.”
