Connecting the Electric Locomotive

Beep, beep.

Lin Xian silenced the watch's chime. Two nights without rest had left his mind hazy and sluggish.

Listening to the strange sounds outside and the foul stench seeping from the cold storage, Lin Xian finally endured until 16:00 the next day.

Day had broken.

But it was already afternoon now, with only 2 hours and 45 minutes left until dark.

Without a moment's relaxation, Lin Xian peered through the observation window. The warehouse was now flooded with light, and he could finally see the scene outside clearly.

The door to Cold Storage Unit 1 had been torn open into a massive hole. The heavy, specially reinforced stainless steel composite door was grotesquely warped. Pools of crimson blood stained the floor, and shreds of flesh clung to the door and ground. A few zombies still wandered outside the cold storage, some gnawing on a half-eaten corpse.

Lin Xian spotted a familiar tattoo on the body—it seemed to belong to that middle-aged man. A surge of grim satisfaction rose in his heart!

Good riddance!

In the apocalypse, that's the fate scumbags who set traps deserve—their whole family wiped out.

A cold glint flickered in Lin Xian's eyes. He quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie to check on the other side.

"Teacher Chen, are you okay?"

On the other end, Chen Sixuan, who had endured a night of terror, finally breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Lin Xian's voice. She quickly replied, "I... I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine too." Hearing that Chen Sixuan was safe, Lin Xian relaxed a little. He kept scanning the area outside, and only after confirming that terrifying bug was nowhere in sight did he continue, "I'll be right back. Everything goes according to yesterday's plan. There's an electric locomotive on Track 4. Remember to coordinate with me later."

"Got it!"

With that, Lin Xian opened the cold storage door again. Through the gap, he fired a Wind Gun straight at the iron chain, shattering it!

The noise drew the zombies outside, who howled and lunged at him.

Lin Xian swung his blade and unleashed a few Wind Guns, easily taking down the zombies.

The commotion from last night had attracted too many zombies. When Lin Xian stepped out of the warehouse, he saw at least a few dozen more wandering around.

He thought for a moment, then quietly slipped over to Warehouse 1, an empty building materials storage. Inside, he fired off a few Wind Guns to make noise, quickly luring the dozens of zombies on the platform over.

As long as those eerie nocturnal creatures weren't around, dealing with ordinary zombies was relatively simple given Lin Xian's abilities.

Soon, he dashed down the platform to the Huanxing 7F electric locomotive he'd spotted yesterday. Activating his Mechanical Heart, he opened the cabin's automatic door.

He uncoupled the locomotive, disengaged the bridge connection, and the traction motor hummed low as it slowly pulled the massive electric beast away from the platform.

On the other side, Lin Xian disconnected Carriage 1 from the Juying 03E. After completing the sequential swap, with Chen Sixuan's help, he precisely coupled the Huanxing 7F electric locomotive into the second position.

From then on, the "Infinite" had five carriages. Leading was the armor-reinforced Juying 03E heavy-duty gas turbine locomotive—the cab. The Huanxing 7F electric locomotive was placed second for kinetic energy recovery and power storage. Behind it were Carriages 1, 2, and 3—the living quarters.

The Huanxing 7F was twice as long as the Juying 03E, giving it a sci-fi look. Both locomotives were designed with bridge connections, allowing passage from the front to the rear.

But since this was a last-minute addition, Lin Xian hadn't had time to armor the electric locomotive. And after coupling, there was no time left. While it was still light, Lin Xian started the newly configured "Infinite" and headed east along the Jiangyu Line.

Clang, clang.

The train rumbled forward.

Lin Xian pushed the speed to about 80 km/h. With the extra load, his stamina was draining much faster.

"The stretch to Beiwan Station has no tunnels and the terrain is flat, but watch out for rocks blocking the track," Chen Sixuan reminded him as she recorded the speed.

Lin Xian nodded. "Got it. I'll stop if anything comes up."

"What happened to those people from yesterday?"

"Dead."

Lin Xian glanced at Chen Sixuan. "That whole family was rotten. They set a trap to rob and kill. Last night, the zombies ate them clean."

Chen Sixuan's expression shifted slightly. She knew Lin Xian had his ways, but hearing that an entire family had died still made her flinch. In such a short time, a peaceful, orderly world had turned into a kill-or-be-killed hell.

For someone like Chen Sixuan, a rich beauty raised in a privileged, intellectual family, it was still hard to accept.

"Zzz... This is the Oasis Convoy, final broadcast, final broadcast. If you have supplies, weapons, or some kind of ability, you can join our team and find hope for survival. Only together can we stay warm. Don't cling to illusions..."

"Zzz... The 312 Avenue out of the city is completely gridlocked. Detour through Linye Road. A massive horde is gathering in the eastern district. Don't fire your guns recklessly, or no one will make it out..."

"Zzz... The Jiang City Bunker welcomes all ability users and beautiful women. We're based in Jiang City's military nuclear bunker. Over three hundred members, clear division of labor, can withstand the Polar Night..."

"Zzz... Last day, I'm saying it again. I'm at Mingwang Residential Area, Building A, Apt 1304. Plenty of supplies, the safest apocalypse shelter. Only accepting beautiful women aged 16-30. Two spots left..."

"Zzz... Dispatch from the Yubei City Patrol Battalion reports that Yancheng and Fengcheng have fully entered the Polar Night. Along the eastern Linshan Mountains, from Jiang City and Luolin City to Hechi and the Minjiang River, a 100-300 km zone is experiencing large-scale anomalous entities. Radiation index unknown..."

From the radio, Yancheng and Fengcheng, not far from Jiang City, had also fallen. Data from survivors suggested that if you could push 200-300 km east, you could gain about an hour of daylight.

That gave a rough estimate of the Dark Tide's spread speed from the third "Star Abyss."

Two or three hundred kilometers might not sound far, but in this apocalypse—with traffic paralyzed and zombies everywhere—surviving the night meant endless terror. Escaping that distance was no simple feat.

Chen Sixuan calculated with the Logbook. "If the survivors' intel is accurate, we can cross Yushan today and reach Beiwan Station. Tomorrow, we should see daylight around 16:30."

"We can't go that far."

Sitting in the driver's seat, Lin Xian shook his head. "Once it's dark, we have to stop. I can't guarantee anything about night driving. The road conditions, visibility—those are all problems."

As he spoke, Lin Xian started thinking. He might need radar or a drone to scout the tracks ahead. Otherwise, driving blind could mean hitting a broken rail or a boulder—derailment at best, a wreck at worst.

New book, please follow!