A Major Haul

On the train, Lin Xian opened the Mechanical Heart panel from before and looked over the data he had gained after devouring that generator set.

[Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +200, Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +100. Additional rewards: Strength +15, Speed +10, Defense +10!]

[Congratulations. Mechanical Heart has successfully risen to Level 2 and gained the passive skill Decomposition Space!]

[Decomposition Space (Passive)]: After completing Mechanical Devour, you will obtain 20% of the mechanical device's materials, which will be placed in (Decomposition Space, capacity: 100 tons). When using mechanical blueprints for manufacturing, materials within Decomposition Space may be used directly.

[Congratulations. Strength attribute increased to Level 2 (200-kilogram burst power).]

[Congratulations. Defense attribute increased to Level 1 (Tough Bones and Resilient Skin).]

[Strength, Speed, and Defense attributes fully activated. Detailed parameters unlocked.]

[Congratulations. Wind Cannon skill increased to Level 2, 6%.]

[Current Mechanical Heart Level 2 (10/1000)]

[Notice: Upgrading Mechanical Heart grants Special Skills rewards. Mysterious Awakening can be obtained when Mechanical Heart reaches Levels 3, 6, and 9.]

Strength Level: 2 [17%] (200-kilogram burst power)

Speed Level: 1 [62%] (Maximum 10 m/s)

Defense Level: 1 [21%] (Tough Bones and Resilient Skin)

[Mechanical Awakening]: Not Awakened

Mechanical Devour: 2 (208/500) Increases devouring efficiency

Mechanical Manufacturing: 1 (112/300) Increases construction efficiency

Mechanical Passive: Scan/Repair/Decompose

[Special Skills]

Wind Cannon (Common) (Level 2, 6%)

Ice Shield (Common) (Level 1, 22%)

Devouring an entire 1900KW generator set was Lin Xian's first time tackling something this large since obtaining the Mechanical Heart. Though it had taken seven or eight hours, the rewards were exceptionally generous.

Looking at the light screen before him, Lin Xian saw that not only had his Strength and Defense leveled up, but his Mechanical Heart had finally reached Level 2.

Most importantly, after his Defense attribute leveled up, his three core attributes had gained clear numerical parameters. And after the Mechanical Heart leveled up, the skills he had acquired now had level indicators as well!

It all looked incredibly straightforward now.

"So Wind Cannon and Ice Shield are both common skills. That means there are higher-level skills. If I get the chance to devour that Close-In Defense Cannon or that Iron Guard 3 military Assaulter armor, I might get a pleasant surprise..."

"Two hundred kilograms of burst strength... damn. I'm stronger than a professional boxer."

As for this Decomposition Space skill, although it was passive, Lin Xian felt its practicality was simply maxed out!

Scanning blueprints and carrying out Mechanical Manufacturing had originally been extremely troublesome for him, especially gathering materials. Now, devouring could directly break things down into materials, and he had even gained a storage space specifically for materials. It was ridiculously powerful.

Its only drawback was that the space could only receive materials produced from Mechanical Devour. It could not directly store other things, which was somewhat regrettable. Otherwise, he might really have been able to haul away that Close-In Defense Cannon.

Still, if nothing else, this would make devouring large objects much more convenient in the future. He was already satisfied. At that moment, Lin Xian was looking forward to seeing what awakened skill he would gain after reaching Level 3, or whether he could acquire even more powerful abilities through devouring.

Otherwise, relying on Wind Cannon alone to deal with those monsters was honestly rather shabby.

With two more helpers, the Infinite suddenly no longer felt so deserted. After eating and drinking some water aboard the train to recover a little energy, Lin Xian got off and began helping as well.

Lou Ye was helping Kiki carry computers and servers out of the air-raid shelter. She planned to turn Carriage 2 into an Information Center, as well as her own private sleeping quarters. To that end, she had even moved out the bunk bed frame from the air-raid shelter dormitory.

Meanwhile, Chen Sixuan and Sha Sha wore gas masks from the armory as they gathered scattered weapons and supplies in the sentry post compound.

Seeing this, Lin Xian had initially been somewhat worried. It was the Black Night, there were still quite a few Zombies nearby, and the Black Bugs littering the ground looked horrifying. Yet Chen Sixuan and Sha Sha each held a gun and searched around with great diligence. They did not so much as frown while carrying out supply crates covered in bloody pulp and slime. Extreme environments truly did temper a person's mind.

Lin Xian was thinking about how to take the Iron Guard 3 military Assaulter armor and the Heavy TFV600 twin-barreled tank with him so he could study them along the way.

But after only taking two steps, he heard a faint rustling sound coming from the distant tracks behind him.

His brows furrowed as he immediately moved to investigate. He had not gone far when he suddenly spotted a limping black figure fleeing frantically down the railway.

Tang Hai?

Lin Xian's expression turned cold. Hadn't he just killed him? How was this bastard still alive...

"Is his vitality really that tenacious?"

He raised a finger, ready to blow the head off this scum who had caused the deaths of hundreds of survivors. But at that moment, several Zombies emerged slowly from the shadows. Just as Lin Xian thought the man would be startled, Tang Hai merely shifted sideways and walked directly through the gap between them.

Tang Hai's strange reaction caught Lin Xian's attention. Why could the Zombies not see him?

Only after those Zombies had sluggishly shuffled a few steps did they seem to smell blood. Then they turned and pounced toward Tang Hai.

"No, no... weren't you beasts supposed to be unable to see me?!" Tang Hai cried in terror as he fled.

Hearing that, Lin Xian held up his finger with even greater astonishment. Tang Hai actually believed the Zombies could not see him. Had he lost his mind?

But in that brief instant earlier, Lin Xian had indeed seen Tang Hai calmly pass by the Zombies. Apart from shifting his body aside, he had not appeared afraid in the slightest. He clearly had not simply been taking a chance.

"What's going on..." Lin Xian's face darkened slightly.

At that moment, the Zombies finally went into a bloodthirsty frenzy. Swarming forward, they knocked Tang Hai to the ground and began biting him.

"Ah!! No!!"

Tang Hai struggled and screamed for a moment before quickly falling silent.

Lin Xian frowned slightly. To avoid causing a chain reaction, he raised his hand and used several Wind Cannons to finish off all those Zombies. Then, to ensure nothing could go wrong, he walked directly toward Tang Hai's corpse to eliminate any future trouble.

Then something even stranger happened.

Tang Hai's still-warm corpse suddenly began to convulse violently. The Blood Aura of the dead Zombies nearby took on a visible fluid form and rapidly flowed toward him, soon turning his entire body blood-red.

As more and more Blood Aura gathered, it gradually formed a blood cocoon.

Lin Xian's pupils narrowed. His instincts told him this was not a good sign. Could Tang Hai's unconscious movements earlier, which had kept the Zombies from noticing him, actually have been some kind of special ability?

The thought flashed through his mind, making his heart jolt. He stopped holding back and immediately fired several Wind Guns at the blood cocoon.

Whatever the hell you are, Tang Hai was only a good Tang Hai when he was completely dead!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The upgraded Wind Cannon was even more powerful, carrying sharp tearing whistles through the air as it instantly punched several bloody holes through the cocoon and sent grayish-white flesh flying.

"Just as I thought, there's something strange about this!"

Lin Xian's expression changed, and he raised his hand again to fire another Wind Gun.

But in the next instant, the blood cocoon seemed to sense the danger. It suddenly struggled twice before exploding with a bang. A tiny, gaunt grayish-white figure shot out abruptly and vanished into the dense fog in the blink of an eye.

Damn it!

Sensing that something was wrong, Lin Xian chased after it for several steps, only to find that no living thing could be seen within the dark fog. Remembering that Teacher Chen and Sha Sha, neither of whom had abilities, were still in the compound not far below, he hurried back.

With the Black Night and dense fog shrouding everything, even Zombies could easily appear from the darkness. To be safe, Lin Xian decided to have the others board the train early.

Clatter, clatter~

The Infinite soon returned to the platform at Beiwan Station. Lin Xian did not waste a second, immediately working with Chen Sixuan to prepare the carriages.

Lou Ye was also highly skilled with tools. With the three of them working together, they quickly completed the train's new arrangement.

The Juying 03E heavy-duty gas turbine locomotive and Huanxing 7F electric locomotive remained at the front. Carriage 1 and Carriage 2 were unchanged, while Tang Hai's two passenger carriages filled with supplies were placed behind Carriage 2, becoming the new Carriage 3 and Carriage 4. The original Carriage 3, which stored tools and had a tailgate installed, became Carriage 5.

In addition, four flatbed trailers behind them carried two military jeeps, one heavy off-road vehicle, and Qian Yu's armored vehicle.

The original short-haul electric freight locomotive was pulled along at the very end. It had no connected carriages and was cumbersome to bring along, so Lin Xian planned to devour it after leaving the fog. It might yield another major haul.

To make it easier to look after the tool carriage, Lin Xian had Lou Ye remain in Carriage 5. Lou Shasha stayed with Kiki in Carriage 2, and the two happened to have the upper and lower bunks.

New author seeking follows and recommendations!