Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 201: "People"

"Husband!"

Outside the chemical plant, the faint orange neurotoxin dissipated, and everyone gradually regained movement from their paralyzed state.

Ding Qing had been impaled through the chest by Lü Chang’s thrown electric blade. Duan Min let out a sorrowful cry, scrambling up to catch his falling body.

Lin Xian discarded his black rifle without hesitation, raised his gun, and stepped forward, ready to finish off the couple.

"No!"

Seeing this, Duan Min immediately threw herself in front of Ding Qing, fearfully pleading, "Please, spare us! You can have all the supplies and weapons from our convoy!"

"Isn't it a little late for that now?"

"Captain Lin."

At this moment, Miao Lu stepped forward to report, "The convoy that attacked our train has been completely wiped out. A rough estimate puts their numbers at over forty. The remaining stragglers were also taken care of by Sister Shu Qin and the others."

Hearing this, Ding Qing's expression changed dramatically. He looked at Lin Xian in disbelief.

"Impossible!"

Beside him, Duan Min gasped, "We didn’t…"

Before she could finish, her face suddenly stiffened, and she turned sharply toward Ding Qing.

Luo Rui.

Both of them realized what had happened.

Now that Lin Xian knew Infinite Train had secured its position, his heart was at ease. He chambered a round and aimed at Ding Qing's forehead, his voice icy cold.

"The good news is, once we take care of that monster inside, you two won’t have to be skinned and turned into impostors."

"Wait!"

Duan Min panicked, desperately trying to explain. "We didn’t order an attack on your train! Actually—"

"Duan Min!"

Blood trickled from Ding Qing’s mouth as he cut her off. Seeing her confused expression, he said weakly, "No need to explain. We were the ones who struck first. The strong survive, the weak perish. There’s no point in negotiating now."

His face was ashen, his life rapidly slipping away. He turned to Lin Xian and muttered, "I just want to know… do you really think you can take that thing down with just a few people?"

Lin Xian’s gaze flickered. "Since you already mentioned the Black Night Curse, you should know we don’t have a choice."

Ding Qing frowned, agitated. "You're throwing your people’s lives away! Why not accept safe shelter and wait until you’re ready to strike back?"

Lin Xian met his gaze. "Your so-called shelter… is that just feeding people to the monster every day?"

Ding Qing fell silent for a moment before sighing, a self-deprecating smile appearing on his face. Facing the barrel of Lin Xian's gun, his expression carried a hint of relief.

"Go ahead and shoot."

"You still haven’t told me where your so-called shelter is."

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Ding Qing opened his eyes, chuckled disdainfully, and sneered, "What, so you can slaughter everyone there? My enforcers were all part of my convoy, and they’re already dead at your hands. The only ones left are innocent people. Why spill more blood?"

Lin Xian’s voice was cold. "People who’ve eaten human flesh… can they still be called human?"

Ding Qing said nothing. He closed his eyes, held Duan Min tightly as she sobbed, and braced himself for the shot.

Bzzt—

At that moment, the sound of a drone cut through the air. A PX-05 engineering robot flew overhead, landing behind Lin Xian.

Ding Qing's eyes snapped open, his face twisting in alarm. "What did you do?!"

KIKI stepped forward, clapping her hands with a smug grin. "What else? Setting up bombs, obviously. Don’t tell me you don’t know this chemical plant is basically a giant powder keg?"

Lin Xian spoke calmly, "Even if you won’t talk, it doesn’t matter. Blowing up this factory and that monster will force the people in town to face the consequences of their own choices once night falls."

Ding Qing’s pupils shrank, and he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. His breathing grew ragged as he stared at Lin Xian in a frenzy.

"No! You can’t do this! You’ll kill everyone!"

Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, Ding Qing completely lost his composure. His eyes were desperate as he pointed to his exoskeleton suit.

"Listen, brother! I know you want this suit! It has voice recognition—no one else can activate it but me! I’ll unlock it for you… just promise me one thing!"

KIKI scoffed, "Hah! Voice recognition? What a joke, I—"

But before she could finish, Lin Xian raised a hand, stopping her. He turned to Ding Qing.

"Speak."

Ding Qing coughed up more blood, his voice hoarse. "Take everything from my convoy, I don’t care… Just leave a few vehicles for the survivors. They’re just ordinary people. Let them live! Please… let them live!"

Blood foamed at his lips as he screamed the last words with all his strength.

"Husband…"

Tears streamed down Duan Min’s face as she cradled Ding Qing, looking up at Lin Xian with pleading eyes. "We did the evil deeds. In the underground parking lot of the cinema… there are 191 people. Many of them are women and children. Please… spare them."

Lin Xian raised his gun, his gaze cold. "You were right about one thing."

Duan Min looked up, hope flickering in her eyes.

BANG!

A gunshot echoed inside the chemical plant.

Lü Chang, Miao Lu, and KIKI all tensed at the sound.

Lin Xian lowered his gun and spoke slowly. "I still have to deal with that monster."

Outside the chemical plant…

Two motorcycles roared out at high speed. Lin Xian rode with KIKI, followed closely by Lü Chang and Miao Lu, heading straight for the town.

Meanwhile, Shu Qin and Lu Xingchen had finished clearing the battlefield. They drove into town to rendezvous with Lin Xian.

"Captain Lin, we’ve checked the area," Shu Qin reported as she stepped out of the vehicle. "The core members of the Vajra Convoy are all dead. There may still be some hiding, but we haven’t located them yet."

Lin Xian turned to look at the distant chemical plant. "Get ready. The explosion is going to be massive. The town will definitely be affected, and it might even flush out those impostor creatures."

Lu Xingchen grinned. "Perfect. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one."

"Lin Xian, what if it doesn’t die?" KIKI asked. "That thing is definitely stronger than a C-rank Eerie Entity. Its vitality is insane."

"If the explosion doesn’t kill it, we’ll drag it out." Lin Xian’s tone was firm. "If it’s really as immobile as Director Ding said, we’ll take our time wearing it down. If not… well, at least it's daylight now. We won’t be as defenseless as last night."

Everyone nodded in agreement. This was an active assault on a high-level Eerie Entity—something they never would have dared attempt before. Though nervous, they steeled themselves for battle.

Lin Xian retrieved Ding Qing’s exoskeleton suit and activated Mechanical Scan.

【Scan complete. Acquired TRP-4 Special Industrial Active Exoskeleton (Blueprint).】

His eyes flickered as he read Ding Qing’s personal logs.

[21st: Little Jia doesn’t want to celebrate her 8th birthday underground. We’re planning to let her see the sun for an hour…]

[25th: The monster in the chemical plant is getting restless. Luo Rong told me Grandma Zhang is getting worse. I know what he meant by that…]

Lin Xian exhaled slowly, then pressed DELETE.

【Deleting user Ding Qing’s log data…】

【Deletion complete.】

He turned away. "Let’s move out."