Chapter 176: Triple Tides (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Whoosh.

A black train hundreds of meters long began accelerating under the sunset.

18: 0

The tracks stretched into the old forest of the valley, the horizon seeming to sink into a black tide.

Chen Sixuan looked at the route map and said: "It's about to get dark. For some reason, since we left Jiazhou City, I've felt a chilling cold."

Lin Xian's gaze swept toward the distant sunset on the horizon, his expression shifting slightly.

He had felt it too—now that Chen Sixuan mentioned it, he was taken aback.

Hollow~ Hollow~

The train suddenly slowed, as if rolling over something. Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan lurched forward from inertia, both frowning.

"What was that?"

Chen Sixuan frowned and shook her head: "I didn't see anything."

Lin Xian felt something was off. The tracks ahead showed no zombies or obstacles—yet the train had clearly hit something.

"Does anyone else feel something's wrong?" Keeping caution, Lin Xian picked up the communicator and contacted key personnel across all cars.

"It feels cold," Shasha replied first.

"Did we just run over something?" Kiki's voice came through.

In Car 10, Shu Qin frowned, gripping her Remington M96 as she paced back and forth: "Maybe I'm overthinking it, but every time I've felt this before, we ended up in trouble."

In Car 5, Lu Xingchen was fixing his hair, looking toward the tower: "Big Guy, is Lin Brother calling us?"

Lou Ye raised a finger toward the communicator: "Xian Brother says something feels off. Did you notice anything?"

Lu Xingchen frowned, raised his palm—and a flame ignited there.

Shhh~

Suddenly, the flame flared violently, trembling intensely, then settled back.

Shhh-shhh-shhh!

Flames erupted in both his hands, flooding the car with crimson light. His expression darkened, a rare gravity settling on his face: "This cold isn't from temperature. There's a supernatural force at work."

In Car 2, Kiki sat before the information terminal, frowning as she scanned the train's parameters and activated every Sentinel System camera—yet found nothing.

"Lin Xian, I'm not detecting anything, but I feel something's wrong. Should we stop and check?" Kiki picked up the communicator.

Hollow~

The train slowed again—this time not just as if rolling over something, but as if it had grown heavier.

Hearing the feedback, Lin Xian's gaze sharpened. He realized something, turned, and rushed back to Car 1 to open the anomalous Rubik's Cube mounted on the train's hull.

【Ding! Non-mechanical force reflection scan in progress.】

【Scan successful. No fear risk detected within train. Dark-side influence blocked.】

"Nothing inside… did I imagine it?"

Lin Xian's heart pounded. He grabbed the Oscillating Spirit Value detector, clicked the button—and a faint red energy radiated from the eerie blood essence, then snapped back. The needle on the detector began slowly turning.

100-

200-

300!

500!!

1000!!!

Watching the Oscillating Spirit Value plummet, Lin Xian's face grew grim.

Seeing this, Lin Xian lifted the communicator, speaking slowly: "Everyone, pay attention. The detector registered an extreme level of dark-side energy. We may be targeted by a supernatural entity."

At once, every crew member in every car tensed.

Lin Xian walked to Car 2. Kiki frowned: "Nothing. I've found nothing."

"Could it be those crows in the sky?"

"No."

"Lin Xian."

"Hmm?" Lin Xian, about to check other cars, stopped as Kiki called him. She looked at him and said: "It's about to get dark."

Lin Xian's eyes shifted. He turned on his heel and sprinted back toward the cockpit.

"Chen Laoshi, are there any bridges or tunnels ahead? We might need to accelerate through a stretch."

Chen Sixuan replied immediately: "Many. This is still mountainous terrain. Only past Hengshan Pass does it become a vast plain. And if we enter the forest, we'll hit swamps and wetlands."

Beep. Beep.

The watch chimed a second time.

18: 5.

"It's going to be dark!"

Lin Xian looked ahead—the sun hadn't set yet, but the horizon now shimmered with eerie light.

Then, in the next instant, his face turned pale.

!

Beside him, Chen Sixuan gasped: "Lin Xian, look—three flashes are coming at once!!"

Lin Xian saw it too. Every time night fell, the dark tide's glow swept across the horizon like a curtain—then darkness swallowed everything. Now, three glows flashed simultaneously from different directions, like ripples spreading across the sky.

"This… these are tides from three Star Abysses!"

Before he finished speaking, the entire world plunged into darkness.

Hollow~

The train encountered another delay—and instantly, every window on the Infinite Train, including all Sentinel System monitors, went black.

"What's happening?"

Kiki leapt from her chair, rushed to the window, and pulled open the blackout panel—only to find the glass obscured, as if covered by something.

In the cockpit, as darkness fell, a black object suddenly blocked the front windshield entirely. Chen Sixuan's gaze sharpened—the thing covering the entire front window seemed to be slowly writhing.

Like… the belly of some insect!

Squeak!

Instantly, Lin Xian slowed the Infinite Train. Screams erupted through the cars.

"Lin Xian!"

Kiki's urgent voice came through the communicator: "Outside our train—there are supernatural entities crawling all over it!!"

At once, everyone was stunned.

Outside the Infinite Train, now slowing as it entered the deep forest, countless terrifying supernatural entities had somehow clung to its surface. They were enormous, twisting and coiling around the entire train. The cars groaned under pressure—steel plates creaking hollowly. Everyone was jolted by this sudden horror.

Creak-creak-creak~

Suddenly, the entire train was encircled. Crawling, slithering sounds came from all directions. Outside the windows, grotesque limbs and insect legs darted past—no one dared breathe.

"Where did these things come from?!!"

Watching the massive black belly glide across the windshield, Chen Sixuan's face turned ashen. She forced back her fear and whispered carefully to Lin Xian.

Lin Xian said nothing. His Mechanical Heart connected to the entire train, sensing countless external forces transmitting through every car. His heart sank.

Why had these things suddenly appeared outside the Infinite Train? It was unthinkable.

He'd been cautious—yet these things still terrified him.

Thump-thump-thump~

The black giant had just crawled past the front of the train. Now, a slow-moving presence trudged onto the roof, then descended directly before the locomotive—a grotesque creature hanging upside down, its body covered in countless human-like arms, its face a monstrous spider's head with six eyes: two large ones, each a pale, twisted human face, mouths gaping wide, radiating paralyzing dread.

(End of Chapter)