Chapter 1: The Endless Train

Jiang City, afternoon, the breeze is mild and warm.

On the balcony of a high-rise apartment, a faint shimmer of light flickers. The man looks up toward the sun, checks the time on his watch, and immediately closes the lens cap of his astronomical telescope.

In the distance, the city beneath the cloud layer is deathly silent, while in the sky, that massive, clumped cloud hangs like a mountain, immovable and imposing.

Beep, beep. The watch alarm sounds.

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

The man pulls a chain, and a custom-made alloy shutter rises outside the floor-to-ceiling window, gradually swallowing the light inside the room.

Sunlight enters through the gaps in the alloy panels in linear strips, illuminating a living room piled high with supplies.

Hum, hum, hum~

A strange sound arises. The man stops what he is doing and tilts his head to listen.

In an instant, his expression changes.

He grabs his self-defense dagger, tucks it into his waistband, then carefully heads out, climbing the stairs to the rooftop terrace.

A helicopter approaches from the distance at a low altitude, the sound of its massive rotors gradually becoming deafening.

Whoosh, whoosh!

The man pulls out a long water pipe from somewhere, with a tattered orange rag tied to the top, and waves it rapidly at the helicopter.

On the helicopter, a girl wearing headphones sees that flash of orange and silently traces her finger across the window in the air.

"Mr. Wen?"

The pilot in the front row also sees the orange on the rooftop and turns back to ask tentatively.

The man referred to as Mr. Wen is a middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes. He glances out the window, closes his eyes with an indifferent expression, and says, "Wishful thinking. Who would care about the lives of these poor wretches!"

The pilot remains silent.

The middle-aged man notices the girl's gaze and says loudly, "What, overflowing with sympathy?"

"Remember, they are not like us. If tomorrow is the end of the world, we will still be the last batch to die. Understand?!"

"Tch~"

The girl's expression is cold, her gaze fixed outside the window, clearly disdainful of the middle-aged man's words.

Whoosh~

High in the sky, the helicopter whizzes past.

The man on the rooftop in the distance watches this scene, lowers the long pole, and his gaze becomes calm.

"Damn you, what a fine helicopter, what a waste..."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A few minutes later, a sharp alarm suddenly sounds on the helicopter.

"Stall warning—stall warning."

"What's happening!!"

"Sudden loss of lift, possibly encountered an unknown cyclone." The young co-pilot's expression changes drastically as he anxiously tries to maintain flight attitude.

The sudden situation throws everyone into a panic.

"We're in the air, in broad daylight, have we encountered some ghost thing?" The middle-aged man in the back row, previously composed, is the first to shout.

The pilot looks at the onboard radar but finds nothing unusual. At this moment, the light in the cockpit changes abruptly, as if covered by a shadow. He notices something and quickly leans forward to look at the sky above.

This look makes his pupils shrink, and his entire face turns deathly pale.

He sees a bizarre black shadow looming within the massive cloud layer above, blotting out the sky and sun!

The clouds roll, and a violent wind erupts!

The helicopter is captured by a massive suction force, its altitude rising uncontrollably.

"Warning! Warning!"

"Oh no! Captain! What do we do!"

The still-confused co-pilot looks at the pilot in a panic, only to find the other man already transfixed by something, so he follows his gaze.

The thin clouds dissipate, and as they climb higher, the two in the cockpit finally see the black shadow within the clouds.

The black shadow in the clouds is actually... a giant humanoid mummy!

The humanoid mummy floats face-down in the clouds, blotting out the sky and sun. The length of the torso alone, visible through the clouds, is at least over 10 kilometers!

The giant floating corpse is motionless. At first glance, it looks like a floating continent, entirely gray-black. One can even clearly see the dried skin folds like deep valleys and ravines. Its pitch-black, hollow eyes hold no life, and it floats high above the city with a bizarre sense of oppression.

"Ahhh~!"

At this moment, screams erupt on the out-of-control helicopter!

The girl in the back row turns pale, her pupils gradually invaded by darkness.

The hurricane tears at the helicopter's fuselage; this industrial product weighing several tons is now like a speck of dust in the air.

An invisible suction force swallows it upward instantly, and soon it vanishes into the clouds, disappearing from sight.

On the rooftop in the distance, Lin Xian watches this scene, his expression slightly somber.

Hum~

At this moment, a flash of mysterious light appears on the horizon. Lin Xian realizes what it is, spits out a "Damn," and immediately moves to return to his residence.

He pulls down the window shutters, sprays deodorizer in the hallway, and locks the iron door.

He waits quietly for the night to fall.

Beep, beep.

18:45 sharp, a second flash of mysterious light occurs outside the window shutters. The sun sets, and the entire city is swallowed by darkness.

In the city under the black veil, eerie whispers arise in dark alleys, harsh roars echo in the darkness; terror is arriving, the bizarre has descended!

Inside the house.

The record player plays soft jazz. Lin Xian, wearing an apron, unhurriedly opens a can of beans in the kitchen. On the electric stove, tomato beef brisket soup gives off an enticing aroma.

A sprig of fresh cilantro on the cutting board is a gift from today's rooftop botanical garden. In days like these, green always makes one feel pleasant.

He sprinkles the chopped cilantro into the pot, not even letting the small piece stuck to the knife go to waste.

Outside the window is the desperate, hollow night. Beneath the floorboards comes the sound of pacing, and deep in the pitch-black hallway, something bizarre seems to be breathing...

As if accustomed to it, Lin Xian calmly sets up dinner and eats quietly by candlelight.

"Sunrise time has been extended to 12 o'clock. There should be less than 5 days left until the next polar night."

At the table, Lin Xian eats while recording something in a diary.

The main functions of the batteries and generator in the storage room are to keep the refrigerator working and to power the alarm system.

Lighting, however, is a hindrance; after all, the light emanating from a pitch-black city would undoubtedly turn his shelter into a beacon.

After finishing dinner, Lin Xian begins to organize today's harvest.

"Two cans, two bottles of water, oh, and a bag of expired potato chips..."

Strangely, food and water do not take up much space in the large backpack; the rest are some strange, miscellaneous items.

Several broken mobile phones, a speaker, a broken shaver, and a hairdryer.

In Lin Xian's eyes, these pieces of junk are absolute treasures. He curls his lips, places his hand on the speaker, and instantly, a faint fluorescence appears on his hand and in his pupils. His hair moves without wind, as if a strange power has emerged. Before long, the fluorescence vanishes, and the speaker he touched suddenly decays into a small pile of brown ash, falling to the ground.

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Point +1, Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1, extra reward: your strength increases by 1】

【Current Mechanical Heart level: lv. 1 176/500】

【Hint: Upgrading the Mechanical Heart can grant special skill rewards. When the Mechanical Heart reaches lv. 3, lv. 6, lv. 9, you can obtain a mysterious awakening】

【Basic Attributes】

【Strength: lv. 1 22/50】

【Speed: lv. 0 28/30】

【Defense: lv. 0 15/30】

【Current Basic Skills】

【Mechanical Devour lv. 1 265/300】

!

【Mechanical Manufacturing lv. 1 112/300】

【Mechanical Scan (Passive)】

【Mechanical Repair (Passive)】

【Mechanical Operation (Passive)】

The familiar light screen lights up before his eyes. Lin Xian is delighted; he didn't expect a broken speaker to grant a 1-point strength increase.

Don't underestimate this 1 point of strength attribute.

Ever since his strength upgraded from lv. 0 to lv. 1, he has undergone a earth-shattering change.

He used to be just a scrawny college geek who struggled to carry a bucket of water, but now, he can almost complete one hundred one-handed push-ups in one go. The change is staggering.

At first, Lin Xian thought his ability was useless, but now he increasingly feels that this ability has great potential. If strength and speed can continue to upgrade, then he might not lose to those physically mutated superhumans even with his own combat power alone.

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Point +1】

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Point +1】

The broken phones behind did not grant any more attribute points.

"It seems I still need bigger, more powerful stuff; the effects are better..."

He sighs. He had tried devouring a car engine before, but only succeeded once. That time, it directly increased his Mechanical Source Points by 20 and granted 5 attribute points.

But the reason he chooses to start with these small things now, and insists on bringing them back to the apartment, is very simple.

The larger the mechanical structure, the longer it takes for him to devour it, and it is extremely energy-consuming.

That time he devoured the car engine, it was like encountering a terrifying ghost wall. Not only did it take over an hour, but it also left him almost completely exhausted. Lin Xian is truly grateful that he wasn't bitten to death by zombies or ghouls under those circumstances; it could be considered a miracle.

Since that time, Lin Xian has deeply understood the principle that haste makes waste, and he adheres to the belief of safety first and survival through caution.

However, to his surprise, when he devoured the hairdryer, the light screen before him suddenly flashed with golden light.

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Point +1, Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +1, extra reward: you have obtained the Wind Cannon skill!】

【Wind Cannon lv. 1: Condense air at the fingertips and fire it instantly, causing a certain amount of destructive power.】

"A skill?!!"

Lin Xian's pupils shrink. This is the first time he has obtained a skill from Mechanical Devour.

"I didn't expect that devouring ordinary things could actually yield a skill?"

Hairdryer... Wind Cannon??

What kind of logic is this?

Lin Xian suppresses his excitement, concentrates his thoughts, points his fingertip at the sofa in the distance, and flicks it lightly!

Swish!

A very faint sound of breaking air rings out. The cushion on the sofa seems to be hit by something transparent and suddenly explodes, the cotton inside scattering like snowflakes!

"Holy crap!"

Lin Xian's heart races. He had deliberately avoided using too much force or air just now, fearing it would cause too much of a stir. After this simple test, he thinks that if he uses his full strength, it will certainly possess a certain amount of lethality.

In the year 2069, the Apocalypse Day arrived. Thirteen "Devour Zones" with diameters of several hundred kilometers appeared across the globe, officially known as "Star Abyss."

Since that day, the "Star Abyss" has spread like some unknown life form, radiating a black veil to the surroundings, vividly called 【Dark Tide】 by the world. Every day, the area swallowed by the Dark Tide expands by several hundred kilometers, and the daytime begins to shorten. After reaching a certain cycle, the covered area enters a polar night!

Under the polar night, climate disasters change, organisms become infected, zombie tides erupt, and unknown horrors descend from the abyss!

Humanity is forced to begin a great migration to escape the Dark Tide!

After the apocalypse arrived, a small number of people were affected by the radiation from the Star Abyss annihilation zones and mutated with various abilities, giving them a huge advantage in survival tests. Lin Xian is one of them.

Soon, survival groups led by superhumans began to emerge like sparks.

"Jiang City bulletin: The six monitoring teams in the northwest and southwest directions have all gone missing. Notice to all survivors: flee to the east!"

"The 【Oasis】 convoy, founded by the superhuman Big Brother Liu Wei, will depart tomorrow at 16:00. Location: Walmart in Bai City District. Only accepting those aged 16-50 with good physical fitness. No elderly, women, or children. But those carrying firearms or large amounts of supplies can bring one extra family member..."

"【Jiang City Bunker】 welcomes all superhumans and beauties. We are rooted in the Jiang City military nuclear facility bunker, with over three hundred people, clear division of labor, and the ability to withstand the polar night..."

"I am at 1304, Building A, Mingwang Residential Area. Supplies are abundant, the house has been specially modified. Only accepting beauties aged 16-30, no ugly ones..."

"Ananda is the messenger sent by the Creator to cleanse the evil thoughts of the world. As long as you have a heart of repentance, you can join our Bliss Heaven Sect to avoid disaster. Sincerely offer water, food, and pure maidens, and the Savior will not harm the innocent. To seek salvation from suffering, contact 139..."

"I am Professor Wang from the Jiang City Research Institute. After calculation, Jiang City will be swallowed by the polar night again in 5 days. This time, there will be no sunrise... Hahahaha, it's over, physics... so ridiculous, can't escape, everyone can't escape... Hahahahaha!"

In the darkness, Lin Xian slowly adjusts the radio. The extreme content is increasing. It seems that after experiencing the first polar night, the vast majority of Jiang City's survivors have already fled.

The twenty-one-day polar night had already turned Jiang City, with its population of millions, into a living hell. And who knows how long the next polar night will last, and whether his supplies will last until the dawn arrives?

"Infinite Train Recruitment Plan—build a fully armed heavy train and rush along the 320,000-kilometer star-ring orbit!"

Lin Xian opens his phone and looks at the post he made on the local forum before the last polar night. The few replies are mostly sarcastic.

"Watched too much Snowpiercer, haven't you..."

"Brother, the global power grid is basically paralyzed. How can it run without electricity?"

"Even a gas turbine locomotive consumes at least 50 liters of oil per hour. With that much oil, wouldn't it be better for me to drive an off-road vehicle?"

"Apocalypse joker, you'll be honest the moment you hit a broken track..."

"The ideal is plump, a moving iron fortress, not afraid of zombie tides, but unfortunately, fantasy is fantasy after all, there are too many impractical things."

"Idiot."

The post writes that he is building a fortress train that integrates living carriages, supply carriages, medical, planting, energy, and production carriages. He is recruiting members one after another, and the requirements for members are extremely high: either they possess abilities, or they are personnel with professional skills that match these carriages.

A fully armed, unstoppable heavy train fleeing east along the 320,000-kilometer star-ring orbit to escape the polar night. Even if it stops midway, relying on the fortress-like armor of the carriage body, it can withstand zombie tides and bizarre attacks in the dark night!

This is romantic enough, and crazy enough!

However, after the polar night, most network and power facilities have been paralyzed, and this post has not had any responses for a long time.

Except for some survivors who are still holding onto their shelters, heard on the radio.

The entire Jiang City is lonely.

New book, please follow and read!

(End of chapter)