Chapter 1: Infinite Train Project

Jiang City, afternoon, a gentle breeze blew.

A faint shimmer flickered on the balcony of a high-rise apartment; the man looked toward the sun’s position, checked his watch, then closed the astronomical telescope’s light shield.

Far across the horizon, the city beneath the clouds lay utterly silent, while in the sky, the massive clump of clouds stood immovable like a mountain.

Beep. Beep. The watch emitted a reminder tone.

17:00 PM, one and a half hours until nightfall.

The man pulled a chain; a custom alloy security gate rose from outside the floor-to-ceiling window, gradually swallowing the indoor light.

Sunlight streamed through gaps in the alloy panels, casting linear beams that illuminated a living room piled high with supplies.

Hummm~

A strange sound arose; the man paused his actions and listened intently.

Instantly, his expression changed.

He grabbed his self-defense short knife, strapped it to his waist, then quietly exited and climbed the stairs to the rooftop terrace.

A helicopter flew low from afar, its massive rotor noise growing deafening.

Whoosh!

The man pulled out a long water pipe from somewhere, tied an orange rag to its top, and rapidly waved it toward the helicopter.

On the helicopter, a girl wearing headphones saw the orange cloth and silently traced its shape in the air against the window with her finger.

“Mr. Wen?”

The pilot in the front seat also spotted the orange on the roof and turned back to ask tentatively.

The man called Mr. Wen was a middle-aged man in a suit; he glanced out the window, then closed his eyes with indifference. “Delusional nonsense—who cares about the lives of these beggars!”

The pilot fell silent.

The middle-aged man noticed the girl’s gaze and spoke loudly: “What, feeling sorry for them?”

“Remember this: they’re not like us. If tomorrow is the end of the world, we’ll be the last to die. Understood?!”

“Pfft~”

The girl’s expression turned cold; she stared out the window, utterly dismissive of the man’s words.

Wooo~

Above the horizon, the helicopter roared past.

On the distant rooftop, Lin Xian watched this scene, then lowered the pole calmly.

“Damn, such a good plane—what a waste…”

…

Woooo!

A few minutes later, a sharp alarm blared from the helicopter.

“Stall danger—stall danger!”

“What’s going on?!”

“Lift has suddenly vanished—probably encountered an unknown vortex,” the young co-pilot cried, frantically maintaining flight attitude.

The sudden crisis threw everyone into panic.

“We’re in midair—it’s broad daylight! What the hell are we encountering?!” the previously calm man in the back shouted first.

The pilot checked the onboard radar but found nothing unusual; then, the cabin lights abruptly dimmed, as if shadowed—he sensed something and quickly leaned forward to look upward.

The sight made his pupils contract; his entire face turned deathly pale.

Within the towering clouds above, a bizarre dark silhouette flickered in and out, blotting out the sky!

The clouds churned violently; wind erupted in a fury!

The helicopter was seized by a colossal suction force, ascending uncontrollably.

“Warning! Warning!”

“Shit! Pilot! What do we do?!”

The confused co-pilot panicked and turned to the pilot, only to find him transfixed by something—he followed the pilot’s gaze.

Thin clouds dispersed as altitude climbed; the two men in the cockpit finally saw the dark shape within the clouds.

The dark shape within the clouds… was a colossal humanoid mummy!

The humanoid mummy floated face-down in the cloud layer, blotting out the sky; even the portion visible above the clouds measured at least ten kilometers in length.

The skyborne giant corpse remained motionless, resembling a floating continent—its entire body gray-black, with skin wrinkles as deep as valleys, dry and cracked; its hollow black eyes held no life, yet radiated an eerie, oppressive presence as it drifted above the city.

“Aaaahhh~!”

At that moment, screams erupted from the out-of-control helicopter.

The girl in the back turned deathly pale, her pupils slowly swallowed by darkness.

Hurricane-force winds tore at the helicopter’s frame; this multi-ton industrial machine now resembled a speck of dust in the sky.

An invisible suction force instantly devoured it upward, and soon it vanished into the clouds, gone without a trace.

On the distant rooftop, Lin Xian watched this scene, his expression darkening slightly.

Hum~

At that moment, a flash of mysterious light appeared on the horizon; Lin Xian snapped back to awareness, spat “Damn,” and immediately returned to his apartment.

He pulled the window gate shut, sprayed deodorizer in the hallway, and locked the iron door.

He waited for nightfall.

Beep. Beep.

Exactly 18:45, the window gate flashed a second time with mysterious light—the sun set, and the entire city was swallowed by darkness.

Beneath the black veil, eerie whispers rose in dark alleys; piercing screams echoed through the shadows—terror approached, strangeness descended!

Inside the apartment.

A record player softly played jazz; Lin Xian, wearing an apron, slowly opened a can of beans in the kitchen; on the electric stove, tomato beef stew emitted a tempting aroma.

On the cutting board lay a sprig of fresh, vibrant cilantro—a gift from his rooftop garden; in days like these, green always lifted the spirit.

He sprinkled the chopped cilantro into the pot, even scraping off the tiny fragment clinging to the knife blade.

Outside the window lay a desolate, empty night; footsteps echoed beneath the floorboards; deep in the pitch-black corridor, something seemed to breathe…

As if accustomed, Lin Xian calmly arranged his dinner and ate quietly by candlelight.

“Sunrise has been delayed to 12:00; the next polar night should arrive in less than five days.”

At the table, Lin Xian wrote notes in his journal while eating.

The backup batteries and generator in the storage room primarily kept the refrigerator running and the alarm system active.

Lighting was unnecessary—light glowing in a pitch-black city would turn his shelter into a beacon.

After dinner, Lin Xian organized today’s haul.

“Two cans, two bottles of water, oh, and a bag of expired potato chips…”

Strangely, food and water didn’t fill much of the large backpack; the rest consisted of odd, random items.

Several broken cell phones, a speaker, a ruined razor, and a hairdryer.

To Lin Xian, these trash items were treasures. He smirked, placed his hand on the speaker—and instantly, faint luminescence appeared on his palm and in his pupils; his hair stirred without wind, as if strange power surged. Soon, the glow vanished, and the speaker he touched crumbled into a small pile of brown ash on the floor.

【Consumption successful, Mechanical Source Point +1, Mechanical Consumption skill proficiency +1, Bonus reward: Your strength increased by 1】

【Current Mechanical Heart level: lv.1176/500】

【Tip: Upgrading Mechanical Heart grants special skill rewards. At lv.3, lv.6, and lv.9, you gain a mysterious awakening.】

【Base Attributes】

【Strength: lv.122/50】

【Speed: lv.028/30】

【Defense: lv.015/30】

【Current Basic Skills】

【Mechanical Consumption lv.1265/300】

!

【Mechanical Creation lv.1112/300】

【Mechanical Scan (Passive)】

【Mechanical Repair (Passive)】

【Mechanical Operation (Passive)】

The familiar interface lit up before him; Lin Xian’s eyes brightened—he hadn’t expected a broken speaker to grant +1 strength.

Don’t underestimate this +1 strength stat.

Since his strength rose from lv.0 to lv.1, his entire body transformed completely.

He used to be a skinny college shut-in who struggled to carry a water jug; now, he could easily do a hundred one-arm push-ups in one go—such a drastic change was astonishing.

At first, Lin Xian thought his ability was useless, but now he increasingly believed its potential was vast; if strength and speed continued to rise, his raw physical power might soon rival even those with bodily mutations.

【Consumption successful, Mechanical Source Point +1】

【Consumption successful, Mechanical Source Point +1】

The subsequent broken phones yielded no further stat increases.

“Looks like higher-power devices yield better results…”

He sighed; he’d once tried consuming a car engine and succeeded once—gaining 20 Mechanical Source Points and +5 attribute points.

But now, he chose to start with these small items—and insisted on returning to his apartment—for one simple reason.

The larger the mechanical structure, the longer it takes him to consume it, and the more energy it drains.

That time he consumed a car engine felt like being trapped in a ghostly loop—it took over an hour and nearly drained him completely; Lin Xian was grateful he hadn’t been bitten to death by zombies or ghouls in that situation—it was already like ancestral graves emitting blue smoke.

Since that incident, Lin Xian had deeply understood that haste makes waste, and he adhered to the belief of safety first, survival through caution.

However, he hadn’t expected that after consuming the hair dryer, the screen before him suddenly flashed golden light.

【Consumption successful: Mechanical Source Point +1, Mechanical Consumption Skill Proficiency +1, Bonus Reward: You have obtained the Wind Cannon skill!】

【Wind Cannon Lv.1: Condense air at your fingertip and unleash it instantly, causing significant damage.】

“A skill?!!”

Lin Xian’s pupils contracted—he had never before gained a skill from mechanical consumption.

“Who would’ve thought consuming ordinary objects could yield skills?”

Hair dryer… Wind Cannon??

What kind of logic is this?

Lin Xian suppressed his excitement, focused his thoughts, raised his fingertip, and pointed at the sofa across the room.

Tsuu!

A faint whistling sound pierced the air—the cushion on the sofa seemed struck by something invisible, then exploded, its stuffing scattering like snowflakes.

“Fuck!”

Lin Xian’s heart raced—he had deliberately used minimal force and air, fearing excessive noise; now, after this simple test, he realized that if he unleashed it fully, it would certainly have lethal potential.

…

In 2069 AD, the Day of Revelation arrived; thirteen “Consumption Zones,” each several hundred kilometers in diameter, appeared across the globe, officially named “Star Abyss.”

From that day on, the “Star Abyss” spread like an unknown lifeform, radiating black veils outward—termed by the public the “Dark Tide.” Every day, the area engulfed by the Dark Tide expanded hundreds of kilometers; daylight shortened, and after reaching a certain cycle, the covered regions plunged into permanent night.

Under permanent night, climate disasters mutated, creatures became infected, zombie hordes erupted, and unknown horrors descended from the abyss!

Humanity was forced to begin a mass exodus from the Dark Tide.

After the apocalypse, a small fraction of people, affected by radiation from the Star Abyss’s annihilation zones, developed various abilities, granting them immense survival advantages—Lin Xian was one of them.

Soon, survival groups centered on abilitists began to emerge like sparks.

“Jiang City Alert: All six monitoring teams in the northwest and southwest have gone missing. All survivors, evacuate eastward!”

“The Oasis Caravan, founded by abilitist Brother Liu Wei, departs tomorrow at 16:00 from Walmart in Baicheng District. Only healthy individuals aged 16–50 accepted. No children, elderly, or women. However, those carrying firearms or substantial supplies may bring one additional family member…”

“The Jiangcheng Bunker welcomes all abilitists and beauties! We’re entrenched in Jiangcheng’s military nuclear bunker, over three hundred strong, clearly divided, capable of withstanding permanent night…”

“I’m in Building A, Unit 1304, Mingwang Neighborhood. Ample supplies, house specially modified. Only accepting beautiful women aged 16–30. Ugly ones need not apply…”

“Amitabha is the emissary sent by the Creator to cleanse humanity’s evil thoughts. Those who harbor repentance may join our Paradise of Bliss, spared from calamity. Sincerely offer water, food, and pure maidens—the Savior will spare the innocent. Seek redemption: call 139…”

“I’m Professor Wang from Jiang City’s Scientific Research Institute. After calculations, Jiang City will be swallowed by permanent night in five days. This time, there will be no sunrise… Hahahaha, finished. Physics… so ridiculous. No one can escape… Hahahahahaha!”

In the darkness, Lin Xian slowly adjusted the radio. The content grew increasingly extreme—it seemed most Jiang City survivors had fled after the first permanent night.

Twenty-one straight days of permanent night had already turned Jiang City, once home to over a million, into a living hell. Who knew how long the next permanent night would last—or whether his supplies would last until dawn?

“Infinite Train Recruitment Program—Build a fully armed heavy train, racing along the 320,000-kilometer Star Ring Orbit!”

Lin Xian opened his phone and checked the post he’d made on the local forum before the last permanent night. The few replies were mostly sarcastic.

“You’ve watched too many Snow Country Trains…”

“Bro, the global grid’s mostly down. How are you gonna run without power?”

“Even a gas turbine train consumes at least fifty liters per hour. With that much fuel, wouldn’t you rather drive a rugged SUV?”

“Apocalypse joker—you’ll shut up the moment you hit a broken track…”

“Idealism is full, a mobile iron fortress won’t fear zombie hordes—but fantasies remain fantasies, too many unrealistic elements.”

“Idiot.”

The post described his plan to assemble a fortress-train combining living quarters, supply cars, medical units, cultivation chambers, energy generators, and production facilities, recruiting members with extremely high standards: either abilitists or professionals capable of operating the specialized cars.

A fully armed, unstoppable heavy train, racing eastward along the 320,000-kilometer Star Ring Orbit to flee permanent night—even if it halted, its armored hull would withstand zombie hordes and horrors in the dark!

It was romantic enough. And insane enough.

But after permanent night, most networks and power infrastructure had collapsed; no one had replied to this post in a long time.

Except for the occasional voices on the radio from survivors clinging to shelters…

Jiang City was utterly silent.

New book, please follow and read!

(End of Chapter)