Mysterious Girl

Argh!

A bloodcurdling howl rang out. Lin Xian's expression hardened at the sight. The girl was still young, and even after all the human tragedies he had witnessed lately, he could not bear to watch.

Just as Lin Xian thought the corpse and the bug were about to devour her, an invisible shockwave burst from the girl with a thunderous boom. Before he could react, the door in front of him—and Lin Xian himself—were hurled away by the blast!

Boom!

In an instant, every pane of glass in the apartment shattered, and the furniture broke apart.

Horrified, Lin Xian slammed into the iron bars over the living room window. His ears rang!

If his physical attributes had not been enhanced, he would have passed out on the spot.

The sudden upheaval shook the entire apartment building. Countless howls erupted at once, packed together in the hallway.

I'm done for!

Lin Xian scrambled to his feet, knowing things had gone badly wrong. Somehow, "Old Man Li," controlled by the Strange Bug, had also been blasted into the living room.

Lin Xian switched on his flashlight. "Old Man Li" was crouched on all fours. He sprang from the floor with a ghastly cry and lunged straight at him, bringing a powerful stench of blood and rot.

Lin Xian sucked in a breath. Blood Aura surged through him as he retreated several steps, raised his hand, and fired a Wind Cannon!

Hiss!

In his shock and fury, he poured nearly all his strength into it. A fierce Wind Gun shot out!

Argh!!!

Black Blood sprayed everywhere. The blast struck the Strange Corpse head-on, blowing away half its face and sending it tumbling aside. Bits of its body scattered across the floor.

Still shaken, Lin Xian did not hesitate. He snatched up his short blade, rushed forward, and drove it straight through the Black Bug!

Pfft!

Screee!

The Black Bug shrieked, its countless legs thrashing wildly. Lin Xian gripped the blade tight, not daring to let down his guard. But when the bug could not break free, it twisted its body and tore itself apart against the blade, then darted into the shadows.

"Damn it, that thing's this smart?!"

Lin Xian cursed. The commotion had drawn countless Zombies rushing up toward him. He had not expected to lose his shelter in an instant. He grabbed his backpack, hastily stuffed in some supplies, and looked toward the corridor.

The girl lay motionless on the floor. After causing such a racket, she was still unconscious?

Lin Xian's mind raced. The girl had to be some kind of Esper, but he had no idea why she had come to him. With no time to spare, he gritted his teeth. Save her first. Figure out the rest later. He scooped her up and ran down the fire stairs.

With his shelter destroyed, he had no choice but to head for the underground tunnel. Zombies poured into the stairwell from every direction, pursuing him as he ran.

Pfft! Pfft!

Along the way, Lin Xian used the Wind Cannon skill to kill several Zombies before finally reaching the Infinite. He pressed a hand against the train. The Mechanical Heart activated, and the cockpit door opened. He pushed the girl inside, then climbed in after her.

Bang! The heavy door shut, and the passage lights came on. Lin Xian leaned against the steel wall and finally let out a long breath.

Ugh! Argh!

The Corpse Tide surged in. Within minutes, Zombies had packed around the entire train, their countless claws scraping across it with a grating squeal.

But the Zombies clearly did not understand that the steel giant before them weighed hundreds of tons. Even its thinnest plating was at least forty millimeters thick. Ordinary bullets would leave no more than white marks, without so much as a dent. How could their rotting claws do any damage?

Lin Xian wiped away his sweat. He went to Carriage 1 and opened the Light Shield on one side. The interior lights instantly revealed countless snarling, rotting faces. Click. He pulled the Light Shield shut again.

Luckily, he had finished installing the train's armor as planned that day. Still uneasy, he checked it all over once more before turning off every light inside.

Then he went to the cockpit and found a black remote control.

At the far end of the tunnel, he had set up a large remote-controlled loudspeaker as a decoy in case the Corpse Tide surrounded him before he could start the train.

Beep~

A loud noise sounded in the distance. It immediately drew all the Zombies away, and they charged toward it without a thought.

Before long, the scratching outside the train gradually faded.

Lin Xian breathed a sigh of relief. He switched on his phone's flashlight and began checking the girl for injuries.

To his surprise, she had no external wounds at all. The blood on her did not seem to be hers...

There's something strange about this girl.

Lin Xian looked at the sleeping Little Girl and sighed to himself. Her arrival had completely disrupted his plans. More importantly, his instincts told him she possessed some unusual ability. Otherwise, she could never have reached his door safely through the Black Night without a single wound.

Taking her along would undoubtedly introduce an unpredictable risk for Lin Xian.

After some thought, Lin Xian found several lengths of rope and securely bound the sleeping girl's hands and feet. Then he carried her into Carriage 2 and laid her on a blanket.

Once that was done, Lin Xian returned to Carriage 1 and considered what to do next.

His brow furrowed, and he opened the map to search again.

If I start the train tomorrow and follow Line 3 to find Teacher Chen, wouldn't that be closer?

It was a bold idea. If it worked, he could avoid much of the danger along the way and test the train's functions at the same time.

Sure enough, the map showed that Chen Sixuan's residential complex was less than three hundred meters from the nearest subway entrance.

"Heh."

He gave a short laugh. "That's a great location, Teacher Chen. You picked the right place to buy..."

It was a sleepless night. Lin Xian spent the Black Night aboard the Infinite for the first time. Though the sturdy fortress he had built with his own hands gave him some sense of security, what had happened that night still left him uneasy.

It was his first encounter with something uncanny in the Black Night. The Strange Bug had been only one creature, but it was revolting—and clearly much smarter than a Zombie. On top of that, a Mysterious Girl was lying in one of his carriages. How could he possibly sleep soundly?

14:00. Dawn came another hour later than before.

Lin Xian was deep in the tunnel and could not see any daylight, but his watch told him it should be light outside by now.

He took the driver's seat of the Infinite. A mysterious glint flashed in his eyes, and he felt as though his very presence had joined with that of the enormous machine.

Woo~

The turbocharger roared to life, and the crankshaft and connecting rods let out a piercing metallic screech. The Horizon Gate Device opened. Click! Amber headlights instantly lit the dark subway tunnel like day.

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened.

Time to go, old friend.

Clack-clack, clack-clack~

The steel beast, dormant for decades, awoke once more. Dust and iron filings slid from its body as the Infinite hauled three armored carriages off the maintenance track and onto the main subway line. It swallowed the Black Mist ahead and roared away!

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