Chapter 111: Motorcycle

"Lin Xian... what do we do?"

Lin Xian took a deep breath; he heard the fear in Kiki’s voice—not just Kiki’s, but his own heart was also filled with shock.

He stared at the collapsed tunnel and the partially exposed wall before him, falling silent.

The collapse wasn’t far—about seven or eight meters—and with the mountain’s inner wall of the tunnel, he could directly forge rails and support beams, working with Kiki to secure the track here.

They had already advanced over a thousand meters; as expected, the 95th-floor freight terminal platform lay just ahead.

And now, if they turned back immediately, it meant their entire risky descent into the underground city had yielded nothing except saving three strangers and a pot of flowers whose purpose was unknown.

"Wait—I’ll take a look first."

Lin Xian studied the silhouette in the darkness and hid with Kiki in the shadows. Perhaps he was overthinking this, but right now, he simply couldn’t bear to give up—they’d come this far; abandoning it now would be a waste.

Originally, he’d planned that if he successfully secured the nuclear-powered electric locomotive and had time to spare, he could explore other areas of the underground city—the military readiness zone, the industrial zone, even the stored energy reserves or the night patrol system.

But now, not only was exploration out of the question—he was beginning to worry whether this entire train could even make it out of these hundreds of meters of underground tunnel. If they turned back, the elevator was definitely off-limits, meaning the two of them would have to climb along the tracks from the 95th floor back to the 65th-floor freight loading platform.

Lin Xian first forged a rail, then had Kiki gently place it over the broken section.

Kiki’s expression was tense as she carefully used her ability to position it.

Ding~

A soft sound made both of them flinch.

But nothing happened.

"No reaction."

"What do you mean?" Kiki looked at Lin Xian.

"Let’s go over first, then check the locomotive."

Decided, Lin Xian said nothing more—he raised his hand and began forging rail steel and support pillars. Kiki watched him silently for a moment, then no longer hesitated; she raised her hand and activated her ability to help Lin Xian repair the track.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Soon, a suspended temporary rail appeared before them. Lin Xian laid iron plates across the center—ensuring stability and making passage easier for both of them.

Thump. Thump.

The instant both stepped onto the suspended rail, their hearts clenched.

Beside them stretched the open wall of the underground city; below lay an abyss of unknown depth, and now they were almost completely exposed beneath the dark creature.

"Be careful—that big thing probably hasn’t noticed us."

A few steps felt like an eternity. Finally, they entered the tunnel ahead, and the light was swallowed once more by darkness.

Both exhaled in relief.

"Hurry, we need to move fast."

Turning on their flashlights, the fleshy tissues inside the passage grew thicker and thicker.

Lin Xian and Kiki finally relaxed slightly, their pace quickening.

Not far ahead, several more tunnel misalignments and breaks appeared—but none as severe as the previous void. For safety, Lin Xian and Kiki repaired them as they walked.

Finally, the track’s slope leveled out, and ahead opened a vast underground freight platform.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The Geiger counter started beeping; Lin Xian picked it up and saw it reading 127.46 mSv/h—severely exceeding the limit.

"We need to hurry."

The platform had lost all power, yet it wasn’t as dark as expected—the wall on one side had completely collapsed, exposing steel-reinforced concrete frames. A massive broken elevator shaft hung suspended in midair, with several steel cables still dangling inside.

"This has collapsed too..." Lin Xian’s heart sank. He shone his flashlight forward quickly. The platform had five straight tracks and loading platforms, with immense space and overhead container cranes with rails for lifting heavy cargo.

The hole in this wall was even larger. At a glance, the side profile of the massive creature at the bottom of the underground city resembled a giant head, while its torso remained entirely obscured.

"Lin Xian, don’t you think these fleshy tissues are... moving?"

Kiki shrank her neck, shining her light on the spreading reddish-brown flesh. Overall, it seemed as if countless tissue masses were constantly flowing within.

Like they were absorbing nutrients.

Lin Xian saw it, but right now he had no interest in analyzing it—his entire focus was on locating the Twin Star 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Suddenly, the Geiger counter went wild. Lin Xian was startled—he slowly brought the device closer to the fleshy mass, watching as the numbers spiked violently, surpassing 300 in seconds.

Worse still, as he moved the probe toward the waterfall of flesh—the massive black shadow on the wall—the numbers kept climbing.

"Is the radiation source over there?!"

!

Lin Xian stared in disbelief. Logically, Core No. 1’s meltdown was sealed deep in the 100th floor—how could such massive radiation be leaking from outside?

"Lin Xian, look over there!"

At that moment, Kiki spotted something. She shone her flashlight toward a backup platform—and in the beam, a streamlined train head emerged, its massive industrial silhouette visible in the dark. Lin Xian’s spirits lifted instantly.

Found it!

Both sprinted toward the platform. As they drew closer, a black-purple, high-tech electric locomotive appeared clearly in their vision.

Amid the underground city’s great migration, the Twin Star 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive lay like a dormant industrial beast in the abyss. Lin Xian rushed forward, placed his hand on it, and activated the Mechanical Heart.

[Mechanical Heart—Scanning]

[Mechanical Heart—Overwriting]

[Scan Complete: Target—Twin Star 11R Nuclear-Powered Electric Locomotive]

[Condition Check: Main structure integrity 100%, overall power system: good, Microstar 152-type micro-nuclear power DRX generator: cooled, auxiliary energy group: good...]

"How is it?"

"Everything’s intact. The nuclear reactor is cooled, but I can try activating the auxiliary energy group first to run a system self-check." Lin Xian didn’t pause—he immediately attempted to power up the primary system.

For equipment of this scale, fully overwriting and driving it was extremely difficult—he had to rely on the train’s own control system. All he could do now was activate and control the energy transmission switches. The system itself would need Kiki to take over.

Whir~

As Lin Xian activated the primary system, all subsystems of the locomotive began to hum to life. The headlights slowly ignited—and suddenly, the full, awe-inspiring form of the nuclear-powered electric locomotive appeared before Lin Xian and Kiki!

"Whoa, this thing is so cool."

Lin Xian’s eyes gleamed with longing. With this machine, the train’s energy problems would be solved completely—heating, water recycling, propulsion—all covered. The 290-megawatt Microstar DRX nuclear generator would let Lin Xian run full throttle without relying on his ability. He could now free up more energy and time to strengthen defenses, internal mechanical construction, and his own power!

The only problem: this locomotive needed absolute protection—it was nowhere near as durable as the Whale 03E heavy gas turbine locomotive.

"Let’s go up and take a look."

Lin Xian glanced at the Geiger counter in his hand, his expression grim. He looked at the train, knowing its outer shell must be made of ultra-high-grade radiation-resistant metal. Right now, staying aboard the train was safest.

Not only was the reactor cooled—numerous mechanical components awaited inspection. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to work in a high-radiation zone.

New book, brothers—vote for monthly tickets, hop on board and charge ahead!

(End of Chapter)