Advance Deployment Plan

[Current Mechanical Heart Level LV.1 210/500]

[Hint: Upgrading the Mechanical Heart will grant special skill rewards. When the Mechanical Heart reaches LV3, LV6, or LV9, a mysterious awakening will occur.]

[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 Skills]

[Wind Cannon LV.1 12/100]

"Something's not right. I used Wind Cannon twice on that white monster, how did the proficiency increase so much?"

Lin Xian looked at the Wind Cannon proficiency, which had reached 12, and felt a bit like his life was a lie.

He had expected it to increase by 1 point per use, but instead, it had taken a huge leap.

"Could it be that in critical situations, one's mastery of skills increases dramatically?"

After much thought, Lin Xian felt this was the most likely explanation.

At the same time, devouring a small-displacement truck had brought him immense benefits: 30 Mechanical Source Points, 10 Devour proficiency, and even a 12-point increase in attributes!

He was making a killing.

"Damn, if only I had a parking lot, I'd work 996 straight, no breaks..."

Lin Xian thought bitterly.

But he knew that was just wishful thinking.

If it hadn't been for sheer luck in the previous situation, he couldn't think of any other reason he'd be alive.

That monster had definitely stood near him for some time, as he had indeed heard some movement beforehand.

Perhaps because he had remained focused and made no noise, the monster hadn't attacked immediately.

Otherwise, he would have already been turned into a kebab.

As expected, it really is high risk, high reward.

It took Lin Xian at least an hour and a half to process one car, requiring constant focus and a lot of physical exertion. In Jiang City, under the influence of the Dark Tide, the daytime lasted less than 4 hours.

There wasn't much time or opportunity for him to slowly devour. Once night fell, who knew what kind of horrors might emerge.

"Could I drag a freight car and then slowly devour it at night..." A thought crossed his mind.

But he quickly dismissed it.

"Seems... tsk, no, no!"

"Damn it, an empty freight car is just a metal frame, it won't increase the gains much. Unless I drag a locomotive or something..."

"But devouring a locomotive weighing hundreds of tons would take ages, and whether I'd have enough stamina is another question."

Lin Xian had made many plans over the past few months, but when it came to actual execution, he found it wasn't as simple as he'd imagined.

15:00

The sky suddenly brightened, and Jiang City welcomed a brief dawn.

The entire city was desolate. Lin Xian gazed into the distance from the intercity line towards the northwest. That area was still shrouded in gray and black, as if enveloped in some massive storm.

Lin Xian knew that direction led to Lu City and Dingzhou, the areas where people had first disappeared without a trace on Apocalypse Day.

That was the center of the third "Star Abyss"!

Compared to the people there, Jiang City, now in ruins, could be considered fortunate. At least its citizens had been given ample time to evacuate, and many survivors were still clinging to life.

Lin Xian remembered visiting Lu City on a trip once. The rice noodles and barbecue there were very distinctive, making him linger for a long time.

However, these symbols of human culture instantly turned to dust under the apocalypse.

Light filtering through the gaps in the car's armor fell on Chen Sixuan's face. She slowly opened her eyes and watched Lin Xian welding a bed frame. She immediately sat up in surprise, her face full of guilt as she apologized.

"I'm sorry... Lin Xian, did I oversleep?"

"It's fine," Lin Xian replied without turning his head. "I saw you weren't feeling well, and last night was quite unusual. That monster might come back, so I didn't wake you."

Even with the daylight, Lin Xian was still filled with apprehension.

That giant white monster might be something his steel fortress couldn't withstand. Even if he had woken Chen Sixuan to stand guard, it would have been useless.

His immediate priority was to continuously strengthen the "Infinite"'s defenses while also quickly improving his own strength.

"You... didn't sleep all night?"

Lin Xian finished welding the steel frame bed, got up, grabbed a bottle of water, and handed it to Chen Sixuan. "Today we're passing through the freight loading and unloading point in Jiang City. Things might get a bit troublesome there, so you should be mentally prepared."

"Okay." Chen Sixuan, her heart full of guilt, quickly nodded. "I'll stick with you today."

"No need, I have something else I need your help with."

Lin Xian brought Chen Sixuan to the cockpit. He had already started the "Infinite" and it was slowly moving forward. As they traveled, he said to Chen Sixuan, "This main track merging into the Jiangyu Line shouldn't require a switch. If I get the chance, I plan to tow an electric locomotive today. I'll need to get off beforehand to operate the track switch machine. When we're coupling the carriages, I'll need you to handle the coupling commands."

Lin Xian pointed to a few operational buttons and patiently explained to Chen Sixuan.

"This is to disengage, this is for alignment and coupling, this is for brake connection, and this is for pathway testing..."

These technical terms weren't entirely unfamiliar to Chen Sixuan. She had been influenced by her father's knowledge of railways since childhood and knew this was the operational procedure for connecting railway carriages. However, while she had heard of it, actually performing the operation was a first for her.

So, she listened intently to Lin Xian's explanation, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

Connecting carriages was also a very complex task for Lin Xian. The main reason was that he couldn't simultaneously control two carriages using the Mechanical Heart. Furthermore, to change tracks, he had to get off the train and manually operate the track switch machine.

But once he got off, the "Infinite" would lose its power source. The only way was for him to 'push' it forward from the outside, while the brake port and buffer coupler of the other electric locomotive had to be in a disengaged state.

Under these power-loss conditions, he would have to run back and forth...

Another point was that if he found such an electric locomotive, he would have to place it behind the gas turbine and before the first carriage.

This was because the head of the Juying 03E was already armored, and the heavy-duty gas turbine was more robust than an electric locomotive, so it could only be placed in the second position.

Overall, this operation was quite complex. It would take Lin Xian at least a full day to manage it alone. Now that he had Chen Sixuan, he could save at least half a day.

Clang, clang.

The train slowly pulled out of the main urban area and headed towards the Jiang City station.

Exiting the city, the view suddenly opened up, and several main roads leading out of the city appeared before them.

But in an instant, both Lin Xian's and Chen Sixuan's expressions changed.

Tens of thousands of cars were continuously blocking the roads, creating an impassable jam. Blood, severed limbs, burning car frames, and scattered luggage and clothing all told them that the road out of the city had become a living hell.

After the darkness, not a single living person could be seen. The land was covered with wandering zombies.

"Those who could run have already run. Those left can't escape."

The road out of the city was completely blocked. Unless you were driving a tank or taking an unknown back road, the only way to escape the city was on foot.

But the polar night was approaching, and there were only a little over three hours of daylight left. How far could one get on foot?

Or rather, what would happen after dark even if they managed to get out of the city?

Even Lin Xian, an ability user, felt powerless against the monsters of the night, let alone ordinary people.

Looking at the tragic scene on the main road, Chen Sixuan's eyes trembled slightly. She then looked ahead at the clear railway tracks. At this moment, she felt incredibly fortunate to know Lin Xian and even more fortunate to have boarded this train.

The slowly moving train also attracted the attention of some survivors hiding in their homes by the tracks. Several furtive glances fell upon it, and some people began to whisper.

"A train? How is that possible!"

"Where did it come from..."

"Stop! Stop!" someone shouted from a building.

"Take me with you, I have supplies...!"

"Keep your voice down, or you'll attract the zombies!"

"Hurry and close the windows!!"

Clang~

Someone even threw stones at the train, shouting frantically, "Stop, let me on!!"

"Will... will they try to steal things?" Chen Sixuan asked nervously upon hearing the sound of stones hitting the train.

"They're certainly not here to offer pleasantries," Lin Xian replied indifferently.

In this post-apocalyptic world, fighting to the death for survival and resources was not uncommon.

Rule of Survival, Article 3: Better a friend dies than I.

"Classmate Lin, look..." Chen Sixuan's voice was pleasant. Every time she spoke, Lin Xian felt his decision to save people becoming even clearer. Having such a woman on this journey of life and death could improve his mood. It always reminded him of when she used to wear her black-rimmed glasses and earnestly explain vocabulary to him in school.

Lin Xian listened to her voice, then looked up, his pupils constricting.

It was snowing.

Outside the train, snowflakes were fluttering down, landing on the windows and turning into small water droplets.

"Is winter here already?" Chen Sixuan murmured, staring blankly at the falling snow outside the window.

According to the season, winter was still several months away.

But Jiang City had been getting colder these past few days. Now, as soft snowflakes began to fall, Lin Xian's heart tightened. It seemed his worries were not unfounded.

Besides the darkness, zombies, and eerie horrors, another disaster began to descend with the regional climate change.

Natural disasters!

If the extreme cold of ice and snow arrived, the trouble wouldn't just be the cold; it would mean people needed more food to maintain their body temperature, and the train would require more energy to run.

If extremely low temperatures occurred, they might even need to prepare heating systems on the train.

"Damn it..." Lin Xian cursed inwardly. He had been planning to find a refrigerator to preserve food, but it seemed that wouldn't be necessary anymore...

New book, please follow!