Clack-clack, clack-clack.
Since the Polar Night began, this was the first time Jiang City had heard a train rattling along the tracks.
The commotion stirred the curiosity of survivors along the railway who had planned to stay hidden at home. A few watched the enormous train roll past in astonishment.
Chen Sixuan wolfed down the bread, then drank more than half a bottle of water. Only then did she feel as though she had come back from the brink of death, where cold had seeped through her entire body.
She sat quietly for a while, feeling the train move steadily forward. A bleak sense of having survived disaster settled over her.
When she came to her senses, Chen Sixuan looked around the steel carriage that made her feel so safe. Heavy steel plates had been welded over the windows, leaving only narrow gaps in the grilles through which she could see the world sliding past.
All the seats had been removed from what had once been a passenger carriage, turning it into a living area. There was bedding on the floor and a tent. Most of the space had been left open for supplies, and the original passenger restroom was still there.
It was a little cramped and cluttered, but it had everything they needed and felt comfortably secure.
Chen Sixuan looked toward the back. Carriage 2 was almost empty, apart from some unidentified supplies in waterproof bags. Then her mouth fell open in shock.
A girl lay in a corner of Carriage 2 with her hands and feet bound, eyes closed. Chen Sixuan could not tell whether she was alive.
She hurriedly covered her mouth, frightened. What was going on? Had Lin Xian kidnapped the girl?
But she could not understand what anyone would gain from kidnapping a young girl in circumstances like these.
Unless...
Chen Sixuan's thoughts were running wild. She did not notice Lin Xian enter the carriage.
"Teacher Chen."
"Ah!" Startled out of her daze, Chen Sixuan turned toward him in alarm. Lin Xian's expression remained calm.
"Feeling better?"
"Who... who is she?" Chen Sixuan asked cautiously, her mind full of doubts.
Lin Xian glanced toward Carriage 2. "I don't know. She suddenly showed up outside my home and asked me to save her, but she hasn't woken up since. For safety's sake, I had to tie her hands and feet."
Chen Sixuan let out a long breath of relief and could not help laughing at herself.
She had begged to board Lin Xian's train. Whatever happened to her, good or bad, it had been her choice. What was there to worry about?
"So are we leaving the city now?"
"Not yet."
"I still need to gather some essential supplies," Lin Xian said. "I also need to test the train. We have four days until the Polar Night. There should be time."
Chen Sixuan looked at him and summoned her courage.
"What do you need me to do?"
If they were going to weather the storms ahead together, Chen Sixuan felt she had to prove her worth rather than be someone who merely looked pretty.
"I do need your help."
Lin Xian took the Logbook from the Cockpit and tossed it to her.
"I'll drive. You'll record each day's route, distance traveled, stops, and the train's condition. We still don't know how the Tide of Darkness works or how far it reaches, so as we flee, we need to track how the time of sunrise changes each day. That's important. If we head in the wrong direction, we might never escape the Polar Night."
Chen Sixuan nodded solemnly. "All right. I understand. I can do that!"
"And..." Lin Xian glanced around the carriage. "It's just the two of us for now, so I need you to help inventory and manage the supplies. Keep an eye on that girl, too."
Chen Sixuan looked back at the sleeping girl, a little surprised.
"You don't need me to come with you to look for supplies?"
What she meant was, Are you really comfortable leaving me alone on the train?
Lin Xian smiled faintly.
"Like I said, it's just the two of us for now. If we both get off, who'll guard the train?"
Lin Xian understood what Chen Sixuan was asking, but he did not spell it out.
There was no fuel in the train's tank. Even the most experienced driver could not take it anywhere. Nor was Lin Xian worried about someone locking him outside; he was certain he could deal with that. He had left those facts unsaid partly to test her.
In the apocalypse, he could not fully trust even Teacher Chen, who had once seemed so beautiful and kind.
For now, though, he still had to show her some trust.
"I understand." Chen Sixuan had not expected Lin Xian to trust her so much, and she felt strangely touched. For a moment, it felt as though he would handle matters outside while she took care of their home. Then she remembered he was her student, and an unsettling warmth stirred in her heart.
Clack-clack, clack-clack.
The Infinite crept along Jiang City's Urban Light Rail tracks. Following the route he had planned on the map, Lin Xian headed down Line 3 while keeping a close watch on the tracks ahead.
[Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +1. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1. Bonus reward: Defense +1.] [Current Mechanical Heart Level: LV.1 177/500] [Tip: Leveling up Mechanical Heart grants Special Skills. Mysterious Awakening occurs when Mechanical Heart reaches LV3, LV6, and LV9.] [Base Attributes] [Strength: LV1 22/50] [Speed: LV0 28/30] [Defense: LV0 16/30] [Current Basic Skills] [Mechanical Devour LV.1 266/300] [Mechanical Manufacturing LV.1 112/300] [Mechanical Scan (Passive)] [Mechanical Repair (Passive)] [Mechanical Operation (Passive)] [Special Skills] [Wind Cannon LV.1 3/100]
In the Cockpit, Lin Xian began devouring the small appliances he had brought from Chen Sixuan's home, one by one. With their journey about to begin, he had to stay focused and seize every chance to grow stronger.
[Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +1. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1.] [Devour successful. Mechanical Origin Points +2. Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1.] [Current Mechanical Heart Level: LV.1 180/500] [Mechanical Devour LV.1 268/300]
"Still too slow..."
The pink bear-shaped blender in his hand turned to ash. If only he had enough time, he thought. Devouring a car or even a train might earn him dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Mechanical Origin Points at once.
And after what had happened with the hair dryer, he was eager to find out whether devouring other things might grant him more unusual skills.
The possibilities were absurd.
His Mechanical Heart system let him control machines and drive a train. It could even manufacture machinery outright, almost like a creation mode. In an apocalypse where humanity's entire industrial system had collapsed, that was practically unbeatable.
More importantly, its skills could raise his attributes and grant him other abilities.
It seemed far more versatile than those supernatural powers.
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