Giant Centipede

"Really?" Lin Xian smiled. "Feeling better now?"

Kiki looked away and muttered, "I already said we'd made up..."

She suddenly turned to Chen Sixuan and said in a wheedling voice, "Teacher Chen, thank you for taking care of me these past two days. Could you untie me? This is so uncomfortable."

"Oh, is it? I couldn't tell." Chen Sixuan snorted. "You seemed to sleep just fine while you were tied up."

Chen Sixuan had a gentle nature, but she had a temper too. Kiki's actions had frightened her badly. There was no way she would be all smiles now.

"I...!"

At a loss for words, Kiki shot Lin Xian an annoyed look. "Hey, you're not seriously planning to keep me tied up forever, are you? What if we run into a monster?"

Lin Xian's expression remained calm. "This is your punishment for stealing food. If you want me to untie you, show me you deserve it. If your ability can't help us, I'll still have to ask you to get off the train."

Kiki bristled, but she cast him a guilty glance and shrank back into the sofa.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong. If I have an ability, I'll definitely help you. Just don't kick me off the train."

"Fine," Lin Xian said coldly.

He left her there and headed for the Cockpit, telling Chen Sixuan to keep an eye on her.

Lin Xian took out the guns he had picked up from the Oasis Convoy and sighed as he examined them. The barrel of one AK was bent. The men had probably run out of ammunition last night and resorted to swinging their guns like clubs. Even so, every last one of them had been wiped out.

What kind of monster was it...?

[Devour progress: 5%]

With no ammunition and a bent barrel, Lin Xian figured he might as well devour the gun and see if it held any surprises.

[Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +2. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1]

[Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +1. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1]

"That's all? It's a gun!"

Lin Xian stared at the screen before him, thoroughly dismayed.

"An AK's worth more than a fire poker, damn it!"

Just then, Lin Xian's expression changed. He had sensed something.

Through the floor of the silent carriage came a faint tremor from the rails.

Clack... click... clack... click...

Clack... click...

Clack... click... clack... click...

It sounded like countless chains sliding over the tracks, a steady rhythm, heavy and powerful.

"What is it?" Chen Sixuan asked as Lin Xian entered the carriage.

"Shh!" Lin Xian put a finger to his lips.

"Something's coming." He lowered his voice and motioned for both of them to stay still.

He switched off the carriage lights, plunging everyone into darkness. Then he crouched and pressed a hand to the floor. Activating his Mechanical Heart, he became one with the train and sensed what was happening outside.

Chen Sixuan frowned. She went to the window beside the bed and quietly lifted the blackout shade a crack. Her pupils contracted, and she clapped a hand over her mouth in alarm.

Across from her, Kiki saw Chen Sixuan's expression and turned grave as well.

"Lin Xian."

In the darkness, Chen Sixuan gently tapped Lin Xian's shoulder.

He stood, came over to the window, and peered through the crack.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

By the faint light of the Black Night, he could see a huge shadow climbing a support pillar of the railway bridge behind the train. It was slowly pulling itself up onto the tracks. Dense rows of claws tapped against the pillar and rails with a rapid metallic clatter, and two extraordinarily long antennae swayed back and forth.

Was it that Giant Insect?!

Lin Xian was stunned. Why wouldn't the thing leave them alone? They had gone from Jiang City Freight Center to Yushan Station, then traveled at least another hundred or two hundred kilometers today. How was it still behind them?

Had it marked me as prey?

As the vast shadow in the Black Night crept toward the rear of Carriage 3, Lin Xian's gaze sharpened. He made his decision on the spot, pushing his Mechanical Heart to its limit and sending both the Juying 03E and Huanxing 7F engines roaring to life.

Run!

It was his only thought. Like the White Giant Monster from that night, this huge bug could tear through ordinary armor. The Infinite's exterior used the same rolled steel plates and High-Hardness Tungsten Steel as armored vehicles, so it was much tougher than the cold-storage warehouse door. But he didn't dare gamble on that. Against a monster like this, it was better to get the train moving than sit still and wait for it to peel them open. Tens of thousands of horsepower driving hundreds of tons of steel would hit with tremendous force.

Vroooom!

The sudden pull nearly knocked Chen Sixuan and Kiki off their feet. Then the carriage lights came on as the train's engines roared at full power.

"Teacher Chen, get to the Cockpit!"

Lin Xian drew his short blade and shouted.

Chen Sixuan's heart raced. Once she steadied herself, she got up and hurried toward the Cockpit, stumbling with the train's motion.

Screeeech!

The Infinite's sudden departure enraged the red Giant Centipede. A piercing shriek rang out through the ravine, and something slammed into the carriage.

Bang!

The force tilted Carriage 3 several degrees and shook the entire train. Sparks flew from its steel wheels as they screamed against the rails.

"Not good!"

Lin Xian barked the words and charged toward Carriage 3, short blade in hand.

Kiki watched them rush off one after the other while her hands and feet were still tied. "Hey! You jerk, untie me!"

Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack!

At Lin Xian's command, the blackout shades in every carriage shot up in unison. He reached Carriage 3 in moments and saw a massive red shape climbing up one side.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Giant Insect moved at incredible speed. Its legs hooked onto the carriage like mechanical grapples, letting it climb up effortlessly. Under its immense weight, the roof of Carriage 3 gave off hollow booms.

Lin Xian's heart pounded. The thing was far faster than he had imagined. They couldn't shake it.

Afraid it might reach the front and overturn the train, he promptly lowered the rear carriage's tailgate. The sight of countless legs lining the bug's belly outside the window made his scalp crawl.

But when the hydraulic tailgate was a third of the way down, it jammed. Part of the red Giant Insect's body was scuttling past outside.

"Damn it!"

Lin Xian aimed at the Strange Bug's belly shell and fired a Wind Gun without hesitation.

Thwack!

The full-powered blast struck head-on with a hard crack. It only snapped off one of the hundreds of legs on the red Giant Insect, sending it flying. Otherwise, it did no significant damage.

Instead, the attack drew the Giant Insect's attention. It swiftly climbed onto the roof. With the hydraulic tailgate jammed, it suddenly curled its tail, revealing several stingers over a meter long. It brought them together and drove them hard into the steel tailgate!

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