Lin Mu slowly rose to his feet. He wasn't the least bit nervous; instead, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
He pushed open the shattered compartment door and walked into the chaotic corridor.
The inside of the train had become a living hell.
Screams, sobs, and monsters' roars filled the air without pause.
Dozens of professionals in train-guard uniforms
were fighting for their lives against the Shadow Bats swarming in through breaches all over the train.
But there were simply too many monsters. The guards were quickly overwhelmed.
A train-guard captain at LV.30 was barely holding on as she swung her battle blade.
Her name was Qin Yue, and she was in charge of the train's security.
Her pretty face was deathly pale, and she was already covered in wounds.
"All combat personnel, assemble in Dining Car Three! Protect the noncombatants as they evacuate!"
Qin Yue's voice was urgent and hoarse, but the only response was more monsters' roars.
Just as three Shadow Bats surrounded her at once, and she was about to meet her end,
a leisurely figure strolled past her.
Lin Mu didn't even look at her. He merely glanced at the Shadow Bats and said two words.
"Too noisy."
As soon as the words left his mouth,
[Bone Tooth] activated!
Three streams of teeth pierced straight through the Shadow Bats, then exploded with a thunderous blast!
All three Shadow Bats were killed instantly!
Qin Yue froze, staring blankly at Lin Mu's back, her mind completely blank.
What had she just seen?
A Necromancer at LV.13?
He'd killed three LV.25 elite monsters just like that, without even breaking a sweat?
Lin Mu paid no attention to her shock.
He walked over to a breach where a carriage had been completely torn open and felt the gale rushing toward him.
He gazed out at the endless sea of monsters.
"Wow, this is a great place to farm monsters!"
he muttered to himself.
As Qin Yue and the other survivors looked on as if they'd seen a ghost,
Lin Mu leaped.
He jumped straight out of the speeding train and landed steadily on its roof!
"H-he's lost his mind?!"
Qin Yue cried out in disbelief.
But the next second,
she saw a terrifying sight she would never forget for the rest of her life, one that would shatter her entire worldview!
On the train roof,
Lin Mu stood against the wind, his black hair whipping wildly.
He raised the Withered Wood Staff high, pointing it at the sky as if conducting a grand symphony.
"Awaken."
Rumble—!
The entire train began to shake violently!
The roof and the alloy panels on both sides of the train split apart, inch by inch!
Ninety-nine towering, formidable Steel Skeletons wielding steel blades!
Ten Fire Crossbow Skeleton Archers wielding powerful crossbows, their bolts wreathed in roaring flames!
Burst out from inside the train itself!
Like bony spikes and armor growing out of the train,
they instantly transformed the steel behemoth into a mobile War Fortress!
"Resurrect Skeleton!"
"Resurrect Skeleton!"
Lin Mu cast the spell several more times from the center of the roof.
Nearly five hundred Steel Skeletons formed an impenetrable steel defensive line around him.
"Time to eat."
His voice was swept away by the gale.
He snapped his fingers.
[Death Prayer]!
An invisible melody of death instantly enveloped the entire Skeleton Legion!
The Soul Fire within every skeleton surged three feet higher, and their auras grew more than ten times stronger!
A one-sided massacre began!
The Steel Skeletons swung their blades, chopping every Shadow Bat that swooped toward them to pieces.
On either side of the train, the ten Fire Crossbow Skeleton Archers had become mobile turrets.
They drew their crossbows and loaded Fire Arrows.
Empowered by [Death Prayer], they moved so quickly that afterimages appeared.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Every flaming bolt they fired
exploded in the dense swarm of bats like a brilliant fireball.
Several Shadow Bats were instantly charred, shrieking as they tumbled from the sky.
It was a massacre carried out with horrifying efficiency.
Inside the train,
Captain Qin Yue and the other guards had turned to stone.
They pressed their faces against the cold glass, mouths agape,
staring at the figure standing on the roof like the Grim Reaper himself,
and at the terrifyingly numerous Undead Legion with its overwhelming strength.
Their minds had gone completely blank!
"T-this... what the hell... is he a Necromancer God?!"
A younger guard stammered, voicing what everyone else was thinking.
Just then,
a shriek far sharper than those of the ordinary Shadow Bats pierced the din of the battlefield.
A Shadow Bat nearly twice the size of the others, with a wingspan of over five meters,
its scales as black as ink, charged through a volley of Fire Arrows. It was an LV.30 elite monster!
Its talons like hooks, it lunged fiercely at Lin Mu!
Lin Mu's thoughts raced.
[Despair Scream]!
An invisible mental shock wave erupted.
The elite Shadow Bat's charge suddenly faltered, and a flash of confusion crossed its eyes.
Now!
[Grasp of Bones]!
A gigantic skeletal hand burst from the train roof.
It seized the elite Shadow Bat by the ankle with precision and yanked it violently from the air.
It crashed into the ranks of the Steel Skeletons.
Lin Mu didn't even need to give an order.
The Skeleton Legion, empowered by [Death Prayer], surged forward in a frenzy.
Steel blades flashed, and the sound of them cutting into flesh rang out again and again.
In less than ten seconds, the enormous elite Shadow Bat had been torn to pieces.
A crushing victory!
An absolute domination!
Lin Mu noticed that a few stray Shadow Bats were still slipping into the train through other breaches,
trying to break through the protective doors of the secure carriages.
He pointed casually.
Five Fire Crossbow Skeleton Archers and twenty Steel Skeletons immediately turned around.
They leaped nimbly through the breach and into the carriage, where they began precisely eliminating the remaining monsters.
Qin Yue and the other guards watched in horror.
The Fire Crossbow Skeleton Archers looked "ordinary," but their Fire Arrows were terrifyingly powerful.
Each bolt easily pierced a Shadow Bat, pinning it to the carriage wall before exploding with a thunderous blast.
The threat that had left them helpless was dealt with just like that.
The Monster Tide had come and gone in a flash.
Under the ruthlessly efficient onslaught of Lin Mu's Skeleton Legion, it lasted less than half an hour.
The massive spatial rift began to grow unstable, then slowly closed.
The Shadow Bats around the train were wiped out.
Only a trail of bat corpses and bones remained along both sides of the speeding train—a road of death.
[The Necromancer Lin Mu has reached LV.14!]
[The Necromancer Lin Mu has reached LV.15!]
It was a bit of a shame, though.
Monsters from these rifts generally didn't drop equipment.
The train's violent jolting gradually subsided.
With a flicker of thought, Lin Mu turned all the skeletons into black smoke.
The steel behemoth returned to its original appearance.
He leaped lightly back into the carriage.
Qin Yue and the others welcomed him with the reverent gazes one might give a deity.
Their eyes were filled with unconcealed fervor and awe.
Qin Yue nervously stepped forward.
She bowed deeply to Lin Mu, her voice respectful.
"Th-thank you for saving us, senior! May I ask your esteemed name?"
Lin Mu glanced at her, his tone indifferent.
"I was just passing through. No need to spread the word."
Qin Yue's heart tightened.
She immediately understood the unspoken meaning behind his words.
The great expert had acted on a whim.
He was warning her not to reveal his identity.
She hurriedly nodded and didn't dare ask another question.
Once the crisis had passed,
the train's announcement system crackled to life again, declaring the danger over and the train back on its way.
The surviving passengers erupted into jubilant cheers at having made it through alive.
But aside from a few guards,
they would never know that a mysterious young man had saved the entire train single-handedly.
Lin Mu paid no attention to the commotion behind him and headed straight back to his compartment.
He cleaned the grime off himself, feeling calm.
The battle had not only proved the terrifying strength his upgraded talent had brought him,
but also given him a clearer understanding of the path ahead.
After a long while, the train began to slow.
At last, it rolled smoothly into a station of unparalleled grandeur.
Shengjing Station!
Lin Mu looked through the window
at the great city, where ancient walls and magical technology had been seamlessly fused.
His heart stirred with countless thoughts.
His journey of revenge and exploration would officially begin here.
The moment Lin Mu stepped off the train,
an aura far more majestic and imposing than Xilin City's swept over him.
He keenly sensed several powerful auras sweeping over the platform from the shadows, as if they were observing something.
"Just as you'd expect from the capital of Huaxia. Even the platform has such formidable people secretly guarding it."
Lin Mu wondered to himself.
A young man and woman had been waiting on the platform for quite some time.
The young man looked sharp and capable, while the young woman was pretty and charming.
Both wore the emblem of Shengjing Academy on their chests.
They were clearly elite members of the student council, and now they were curiously sizing up the passengers stepping off the train.
"I wonder who this junior is, to be allowed to ride the Special Grade Magic Train."
"I've only heard that people with exceptionally high status get that kind of privilege. If I weren't here to pick him up, I might never have gotten inside this place in my life."
The pretty young woman watched the train doors as she spoke, seemingly asking the young man beside her.
"Hmph!"
The capable young man snorted.
"He's just some second-generation rich kid relying on his family's connections. What's there to be so smug about?"
"Professor Mu is being so secretive about it, too. At this point, I'm starting to seriously suspect that his family pulled some strings to get him into our Shengjing Academy!"
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