Chapter 166: Escape from Jiazhou (Requesting Monthly Tickets!)

The sky was filled with corpse crows devouring everything; to other caravans, this seemed like a natural disaster, but for Lu Xingchen, who possessed a fire-based ability, it was entirely within his domain.

The cloud-like swarm of corpse crows above ignited and exploded, pouring down ash like rain.

Yet despite this, countless corpse crows rising from the roadside still slammed into Shu Qin's jeep and off-road vehicles, spraying blood and flesh everywhere.

Scrape! Scrape! Scrape!

Seeing this, Lin Xian grew frantic and immediately forged sheet after sheet of metal to shield the vehicles.

But some still slipped through.

Boom! Boom!

Lu Xingchen landed bare-chested on the train's roof, his hands continuously spewing fire to clear the corpse crows from Shu Qin's caravan.

"Divine·Wall of Fire!"

Lu Xingchen glanced at the guard walls beside the tracks and blasted them with flame, igniting them to shield both sides of the caravan.

Finally, as the train accelerated, the corpse crows could no longer keep up, and the pressure of their collisions dropped sharply.

As the Infinite Train left the city's edge and moved farther from Jiazhou, the ear-splitting screeching finally ceased.

At this moment, Lin Xian forcibly pulled Shu Qin's caravan out from the flames and the flock using tow chains; the vehicles were a wreck, their outer armor and windows caked with blood and black feathers, layers of shredded corpses piled thick like tomato paste.

The overpowering stench made those inside unable to open their eyes; had the train not been tethered by chains, the caravan would surely have overturned and everyone died.

Lin Xian scanned the vehicles and noticed that much of the paint and coating on many cars had been stripped away, revealing silver metal beneath—making his heart tighten.

"Such terrifying parasites—there are things like this even in the dark…"

Fortunately, the black worms had been burned to ash; without this method, even if they escaped, they'd have had to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot.

"Shu Qin, how's it going?"

Lin Xian picked up the radio.

"Temporary safety," Shu Qin replied, driving with tense focus, checking her rearview mirror—no vehicles had fallen behind—and she exhaled in relief.

Lin Xian watched the caravan, then sensed something wrong—he raised his hand and severed all the connecting tow chains.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

At that moment, the last off-road vehicle suddenly lost control and crashed into the metal guard wall beside the tracks.

Something's wrong.

Lin Xian's expression darkened; he immediately accelerated the train. Shu Qin's team also noticed the anomaly and stopped their vehicles.

Everyone rushed toward the out-of-control vehicle. Shu Qin opened the door and found only blood inside—the three occupants had vanished.

"Ah!!" Someone gasped, clapping a hand over their mouth.

"They were eaten by the crows!"

"Oh my god!"

Lin Xian walked over. Shu Qin stared at him, eyes wide, voice heavy: "It's… the Zhong Jiahao family."

"The car's been chewed through—there might still be black worms inside," Lin Xian stepped back and told Lu Xingchen: "Burn it."

Lu Xingchen sighed and raised his hand, unleashing a burst of flame.

Boom~

In an instant, the car erupted into roaring fire.

Others watched this scene, their expressions sorrowful and complex; Lin Xian looked around and saw many faces already numb.

Every time danger struck, this caravan suffered losses—they'd grown used to it.

Shu Qin's eyes flickered with grief; she turned away: "Let's go quickly—we may not have shaken off those crows yet."

Lin Xian glanced at Shu Qin, said nothing, and restarted the train. He climbed onto the roof and ran toward the Infinite Train, pointing at the roof as he spoke to Lu Xingchen: "Fire God, disinfect the train too—watch for fires."

Disinfection meant having Lu Xingchen clear any lingering black worms from the train to prevent hidden threats.

"Leave it to me," Lu Xingchen nodded.

Lin Xian sprinted back to the Infinite Train's cockpit, where Chen Sixuan was monitoring the route: "Lin Xian, about a hundred kilometers ahead is a small station called Pukou—it's a Level 3 stop, and mainline trains don't usually halt there. Should we stop to inspect the vehicles?"

Chen Sixuan was also deeply concerned about the black worms and felt a thorough inspection was necessary.

"Alright."

Lin Xian walked over and said: "If we've shaken off those crows, we'll use daylight to overhaul the train so Shu Qin and the others can stay aboard—safer that way."

Lin Xian felt a heavy mood settle over him; he grabbed a bottle of water and drank half of it in gulps, then let out a long sigh.

The team had just expanded, and now they'd lost a member—it was hard to bear.

"Lin Xian."

Chen Sixuan looked at him: "You don't need to blame yourself—you did everything you could. I know that given time, you'd find ways to make this vehicle safer and protect more people. They just joined us, and we couldn't fit their cars onto the train. Look at Jiazhou—there's not a single living thing left. The fact that we escaped those crows is already luck."

Lin Xian nodded: "Keep watching the route—I'll go check the rear."

In Car 1, Lin Xian opened the R&D Center and selected Sha Sha's VOG grenade launcher for the upgrade interface.

!

【Please select the weapon's development direction:】

【Firepower】(13 hours)

【Mobility】(12 hours)

"Firepower, Mobility?" Lin Xian studied the options, then decided to boost firepower first.

【Prompt: VOG grenade launcher blueprint undergoing upgrade development. 12: 9: 9】

This time frame was acceptable to Lin Xian—less than a day to gain a powerful firepower blueprint was a worthwhile investment.

The PX-05 engineering robot blueprint and G3 land-based electromagnetic railgun blueprint he obtained from the airport were both high-tier items; he also had the 1130 blueprint and the mechanical arm set Shu Qin got from Guo Laowu—all still unconstructed, so no rush to upgrade them.

His mechanical manufacturing level was still low; upgrading blueprints wasted too much time, and even if upgraded, he couldn't build them yet. Given the increasing pressure of current threats, he decided to first upgrade the team's gear to boost immediate combat readiness.

"Lin Xian, didn't you scan the electromagnetic railgun at the airport? Are you planning to install one on the train?" Kiki walked over, seeing Lin Xian sitting alone in Car 1 with a serious expression.

"Yes, but not soon."

Lin Xian replied as Kiki approached.

"By the way, what about the robot? Build one, I'll program it to maintain the train—won't that make your life easier?" Kiki floated up like a tiny sprite, grinning mischievously before him.

"I've thought about it."

Lin Xian nodded: "I have the blueprint now, but I've never built anything this complex. I'll try when I get the chance."

"Then build it now?" Kiki stared at him with wide, cartoonish eyes.

Lin Xian promptly jabbed her forehead: "Build what? Don't you see we're still running? Even if we build one, we've got to finish reinforcing the new carriages first."

He knew a robot would improve efficiency, but from the blueprint, he also knew its complexity far exceeded his current mechanical manufacturing level—it required starting from basic chip control architecture, plus Hall-effect thrusters, material conversion, and preparation. Practically speaking, in this dangerous environment, his top priority was securing the train carriages; these delicate devices could wait until they were safely aboard.

"Fine, then I'll upgrade Car 2 properly too."

"What kind of upgrades do you want?"

"Beds, a bathroom, and the nuclear-powered locomotive's central server—we have to move it over and reconfigure everything."

Lin Xian raised an eyebrow in approval: "Alright. If time permits, I plan to overhaul the entire interior."

Kiki beamed: "Hehe, you're the best."

At that moment, Lu Xingchen walked over, bare-chested.

"Brother Lin, I need a dressing room, a tea brewer, and a few well-fitting shirts—would you be so kind as to lend a hand…?"

(End of Chapter)