Chapter 150: Earthquake

"So is the Phoenix Society’s current headquarters located in the sky?" Lin Xian asked.

Wei Kexue nodded.

"The Phoenix Society now has three headquarters, all in constant global motion. Headquarters One is the Phoenix City in the sky, currently positioned near North America’s Star Abyss No. 9. Headquarters Two is the floating city Noah, moving across the Pacific. Headquarters Three, our largest land-based mobile center—Dawn—is deep within Yun’an Ridge."

He shrugged, looking at Lin Xian. "Land-based mobile centers operate much like your situation—rail trains combined with vehicle squads follow the circumstellar orbit direction. That’s good news for you, since most of the tracks remain intact. But our centers have full-terrain capability—we don’t maintain every section. If an area is severely damaged or geologically fractured, we detour off the track."

"Currently, all of our Long Nation’s emergency teams are under Dawn’s coordination, providing survivor support in regions not covered by star abysses, helping more people survive."

Drip. Program activated.

Another PX-05 engineering robot, repaired and restarted by Lin Xian, wobbled into the air and flew toward the high-altitude corridor to begin maintenance operations at its designated location.

"Just as I thought," Lin Xian breathed deeply. "The priority is preserving living forces. The Long Night came too fast; no one was prepared, so the world collapsed too quickly."

"Yes, I was still at work back then. When I got home, my wife and child were gone..."

Wei Kexue tapped his keyboard rapidly, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. "After that, I spent years wandering through zombie crowds on the streets, searching—hoping to find if they’d turned, if they were suffering less, if other zombies were bullying them..."

Lin Xian fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a soothing tone.

"No one knows what tomorrow will bring. Since the world has reached the brink of destruction, we have only one path left: upward."

"Exactly! Our abilities will grow stronger. Maybe someday it won’t be those creatures of the dark hunting us—but us hunting them!" Kiki gritted her teeth.

"I fully agree."

Wei Kexue nodded. "Though only a few months have passed, the Phoenix Society has made major breakthroughs in studying Black Shadows and psychic abilities. We continuously broadcast updates via radio to survivors fleeing across the globe. Our belief is simple: if more people grow stronger and survive, eventually we’ll stop running."

"From order to chaos, then back to order. Many convoys are now uniting—survival capability improves, and information spreads faster." Lin Xian worked tirelessly; his mechanical expertise kept rising. This mission brought him significant gains.

He planned to scan the blueprints of the electromagnetic railgun and the Taitiewei battle armor and mechs when he got the chance, then study them thoroughly after passing Jiazhou City—to arm himself and his team.

"The Nightwalkers division under the Phoenix Society was originally formed from core personnel of the former Federation’s Angel Project. Their main role is researching psychic abilities and recruiting new psychics." Wei Kexue said.

"Recruiting?" Lin Xian asked. "Just for research?"

"Research is only a small part."

Wei Kexue said, "While exploring, the Nightwalkers have also been training psychics and dispatching them for rescues and collecting strange artifacts. Currently, their research on psychic abilities is far more detailed than the early Angel Project."

"Captain Lin, your ability is extraordinary. And this girl with telekinesis—your kind is exactly what the Nightwalkers need." Wei Kexue adjusted his glasses. "You could join the Nightwalkers or cooperate with the Phoenix Society. We can provide you with many resources you need."

"Where exactly is your Nightwalkers organization? Not one of those three headquarters, right?" Kiki asked.

"Yes, the closest is Dawn Headquarters. After crossing the high-altitude corridor, it’ll take several days to catch up."

"Easier said than done," Lin Xian mused. "After Jiazhou City, Hengshan Pass, Wei River, Long River—the northeast leads to Star Abyss No. 5 devouring the Xidi Desert. The southeast leads to Haidong’s Star Abyss No. 7. To cross both, you must traverse the Palma Grassland via Jinhai and Xingcheng. I guess Dawn’s center is moving through Yun’an Ridge, meaning they won’t take the oceanic orbital route to detour around the northern continental shelf and cross Qionggu Strait..."

It’s better to shelter under a big tree. Lin Xian knew his ability would flourish if he cooperated with the Phoenix Society. In this perilous apocalypse, beyond bandits, who wouldn’t want to band together for warmth?

Even without joining, cooperation would be far better than their previous blind, isolated flight.

But catching up with the main force clearly wouldn’t be easy...

"Correct," Wei Kexue nodded. "So many people can’t all board the oceanic orbital route—land migration remains primary." Lin Xian asked, "Without satellites, how does the Phoenix Society coordinate so many scattered emergency teams globally?"

"Many methods—it’s complicated. First, unmanned aerial vehicles guide fixed routes. All emergency teams report anchor points before deployment; communication nodes launch saturated signals. Second, we use multi-point relay chains—commonly called ‘mail carriers.’ For broad directives, our long-wave radio transmits special codes—but I can’t reveal those details to you..."

"Anchor points? Whoa—is that cyber beacons?!" Kiki gasped. "Why not just use the Dark Radio principle? Use blood essence to boost ground signal relays and lay them out along maximum range—then those two places could connect!"

Wei Kexue frowned instantly. Lin Xian stared at her in disbelief. "Hey, do you even know what you’re saying? Every unit is moving. Fixed signal relays are useless. And you’d need massive amounts of strange blood essence. Even if no survivors were left to harvest it at night, wouldn’t the monsters just eat it?"

"Oh... right..." Kiki sheepishly rubbed her forehead.

Wei Kexue chuckled awkwardly. "Information transmission really is a major problem..."

"After you evacuate from here, do you head straight back to Dawn Headquarters?" Lin Xian asked.

"No," Wei Kexue said seriously. "Our missions are one-time only. If the emergency team isn’t fully wiped out, we turn north at Jiazhou City—we won’t take the eastern circumstellar route."

BOOM!!

As Lin Xian and Wei Kexue worked together to repair a maintenance robot, the entire airport suddenly began to shake violently. The tremor grew stronger, lasted several seconds, then faded.

Outside, on the airport square, countless survivors felt the ground churn with dust, their heads spinning, windows rattling. Instantly, panic erupted.

"Earthquake?!!"

!

"What’s happening..."

"What’s going on?"

On the "Infinity," Ding Junyi sat in the research car, a Dark Radio on the table, gathering Phoenix Society data while studying the Hell Black Chrysanthemum. The tremor struck, and she frowned.

She stood immediately and walked to the front car. "Ms. Chen, this earthquake reminds me of the subterranean creature we encountered in Underground City No. 9 last night. I suggest contacting Lin Xian and the airport emergency team immediately."

"I’m already contacting them."

Chen Sixuan had been continuously calling the control tower via responder, while simultaneously using her radio to reach Lin Xian.

Vrrr! BOOM!

Suddenly, above the airport, the electromagnetic railgun appeared to auto-lock onto something. A blinding blue light flashed, and kinetic energy launched—triggering a chain of explosions on the high-altitude platform.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Flames blazed across the sky. Survivors looked up to see a massive, bat-winged creature suddenly diving from the darkness toward the outer wall of the ascending elevator platform. The monster was pale, with extremely long arms, a serpentine neck extending from its torso, and atop that neck—a grotesque human head.

Thump... thump...

The unknown strange entity rapidly crawled down the outer wall. Below, the electromagnetic railgun swiftly rotated, accelerating its lock onto the target.

Vrrr! BOOM!

Another railgun round fired, shearing off one of the creature’s wings and sending it crashing onto the platform. But instantly, its elongated neck lunged forward and bit into the railgun’s magnetic barrel. It opened its mouth, and countless black insects poured out, burrowing into the weapon. Sparks flew. The railgun’s arc light flickered and died.

THUD!

Another railgun fired, shattering the creature’s head. Blood splattered—and it fell still.

"This thing targets weapons first?!"

Below the port, Jiang Yun, alongside Dasha and Lu Xingchen in Area A, was fighting off a surge of zombies. Seeing this, his face turned pale.

Attacking weapons directly meant the creature possessed some intelligence—not merely hunting survivors.

(End of Chapter)