Chapter 244: Joint Shelter (110,000 [words] to make up for the 13th's missed update, please vote for monthly tickets)

"Hoo~"

After manufacturing the last batch of bullets, Lin Xian felt it was about enough. He stood up and loosened his muscles. This batch of ammunition was at least enough for the 1130 to finish a complete base, and for the convoy members, the magazines could also be fired four or five rounds.

"All ammunition consumption has to be manufactured by myself. Two hands are also a bit unable to free up."

Lin Xian sighed, looking at the large amount of bullet ammunition in front of him. The materials stored in his decomposition center had also been consumed quite a bit.

"If only I could build a bullet factory on the train..." Lin Xian just had this thought and immediately cast it aside.

Bullets seem simple, but different calibers and different manufacturing processes involve workflows that definitely cannot be solved by one or two simple pieces of equipment. For bullets, one has to prepare multiple production lines. Thinking about it, it's not an ideal development model. It's better to consider electromagnetic cannons and energy weapons later; that might be more reliable.

*Woo~*

The entire train was maintained and ready, and the ammunition was almost prepared. Lin Xian walked to the front cockpit and started the train. At the same time, he shouted in the communicator:

"Everyone pay attention. This is a Level 3 dark mark. After entering the night, it is very likely that we will encounter the situation of being surrounded by anomalous entities in Jiazhou City and Rain Town before, and it is also possible to encounter large anomalous entities. Everyone, be mentally prepared in advance!"

The Infinite headed into the north line.

After Lin Xian finished speaking in the communicator, he sat in the pilot's seat and picked up the food Chen Sixuan gave him to start eating. Now he needs to rest for a while to recover some physical strength to deal with the situation after dark.

After entering the north line tracks, the Infinite started to accelerate and charge. The golden sunset glow sprinkled on this abandoned city that was already dead silent, and the long shadows of the buildings kept sweeping across the train carriages.

In Carriage No. 2, Kiki pulled Shasha and introduced her to the inside of the mecha using a picture on the computer:

"This is the emergency valve. At a critical moment, you can release the limit on the top of the cabin and evacuate from the rear of the mecha."

"Don't use the flamethrower easily. Close-range burns are of no use to ordinary anomalous entities. If you are approached, you must find a way to get out of distance~"

"Got it, Sister Kiki."

"You know nothing. Remember it clearly for me."

In Carriage No. 5, Dalou, Shu Qin, and Lv Chang were loading magazines for their firearms.

"The machine gun can't be fired for too long. We'd better use crossfire to load ammunition to form a continuous suppression effect." Shu Qin threw a magazine to Lv Chang: "Did you hear that? You don't have abilities. If there is no order from Team Leader Lin, don't just rush up with a knife. Do you think you're like Brother Lou, who has abilities and can't be killed?"

Dalou cleared his throat, buried his head in loading the magazine, and said: "I can also die. It hurts quite a bit."

*Hoo~ Snore*

On the other side, Lu Xingchen was sitting on a recliner wearing a blackout mask and taking a nap. It looked like he was recuperating to prepare for the battle.

In Carriage No. 3, Ding Junyi set up many sensors and monitoring devices for the Hell Black Chrysanthemum and some plants, used to monitor the energy of the night and the changes in the dark mark. After finishing everything, she picked up a small potted plant cultivation cabin and returned to the lounge. There was a vine green plant in the container. She placed it on the table and then started to try to concentrate, attempting to sense this green plant and then test the changes in her own abilities.

In the living carriage, all teammates were holding guns and waiting. In the corridor and on the beds, magazines were laid out. The air was full of tension.

In the cockpit, Chen Sixuan stared at the road conditions seriously, and Lin Xian was resting beside her.

"The temperature is dropping too fast. Fortunately, we are prepared."

Chen Sixuan looked at the temperature gauge. The temperature inside the carriage was only 6~7 degrees now.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a low voice: "The dark tide is alive. These natural disasters are not natural changes. What survivors need to survive is not just simple perseverance."

"What if there are no tracks?"

Chen Sixuan suddenly looked at Lin Xian: "Now that we are out of the main orbital ring, the track systems of these branch lines are not maintained or operated by the Federation or the Phoenix Society. The possibility of damage to the track roadbed might be very high."

Lin Xian opened his eyes. He shook his head, his gaze darkening as he said:

"There's no way. Currently, the Infinite's drive system can only run on tracks. Short distances are fine; we can repair them ourselves, and Kiki can help. If it's a large-scale one, we can only stop the train and change to other routes while the night tide hasn't come."

It's easier said than done to completely take a train off the tracks. Even if Lin Xian has an ability like the mechanical heart, he can't manufacture the train's drive wheels out of thin air.

It's also very difficult if he wants to make the train fly. Flying isn't just about having propulsion engines. Strictly speaking, a train is a large moving iron rod, almost without any structure related to flight, and there is no aerodynamic design. Even if every carriage were equipped with flight engines, there is no such flight control system. Wanting to achieve such an upgrade is not a simple matter.

The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Lin Xian closed his eyes again.

Originally, the mechanical heart had finally reached Level 4, and the Infinite had also obtained quite a few harvests. It was the time to recuperate and maintain, but the 【Dark Mark】 on his head made the nerves of everyone on the train have to remain tense.

Chen Sixuan saw that Lin Xian's mentality was somewhat irritable. She walked over, placed her hands on his head, massaged him gently, and said:

"Alright, don't worry about it. Think about it from another angle. In the past, every time night came, we didn't know what would happen. The night was endless fear for us. But now, we can already predict some situations that might happen in advance. If we can solve them, plus the Soul-Oscillation Value Detector, we can find a safer situation in the night. From uncertainty to relative certainty, this is already changing for the better."

"Hmm."

Chen Sixuan's words dissipated much of the gloom in Lin Xian's heart. Yes, from the unknown night to being able to predict potential dangers, the Infinite had already taken a big step forward.

At least now everyone can be on full alert, changing complete passivity to partial initiative, which can avoid a large part of the casualties!

*Clatter, clatter~*

The train slowly drove out of the main urban area, passing through many industrial areas of Hengshan Pass along the way, and started to leave the suburbs. The sun set, and the distant mountains and dense broad-leaved forests could be clearly seen.

The heavy train crushed over the tracks, and the vibrating noise caused a large number of zombies along the tracks to chase. Zombies were crushed to pieces on the tracks by the ice-breaking shield and the iron wheels of the gas turbine. The Infinite started to leave Hengshan Pass.

Just as the train drove away from the suburbs, Chen Sixuan suddenly saw a dense crowd of over a hundred survivor vehicles parked in an open area ahead. Among them were many large trucks, and even living carriages modified from buses. At the very front was a polar tracked all-terrain truck, heavily armed. It looked like the leader of the vehicle group.

"Lin Xian."

Chen Sixuan reminded him.

Lin Xian had already seen it. His gaze swept over, and he saw quite a few people holding weapons, guarding around this area to form a temporary camp. People were also standing on top of the trucks. At this moment, seeing the Infinite drive over, several people actually took red flags and ran onto the tracks, waving them at the train.

"What do they want to do?" Chen Sixuan frowned slightly.

*Ssh. *

Lin Xian drove the Infinite directly and started to stop slowly. He swept his gaze through that group of vehicles and discovered several familiar vehicle models and faces.

"I know that person." Lin Xian pointed to a middle-aged man surrounded by a group of people walking towards the front of the convoy. It was exactly Liao Ming, whom they had traded with when they first entered Hengshan Pass.

At that time, it was he who warned Lin Xian about Hu Lushou and the Dragon-class transport ship in Qingshui Town.

Seeing a familiar face, Lin Xian also relaxed his vigilance. At this moment, the Infinite stopped slowly, and a group of people ran towards the train.

"Team Leader Lin!"

The first to call out was the middle-aged man Liao Ming, who wore a hat. Seeing the Infinite stop, he hurriedly brought a group of people swarming over. Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan glanced at them. There seemed to be more than one convoy here, but they were all temporarily gathered here. Looking at that appearance, it seemed they were waiting for them?

Lin Xian opened the cockpit door and walked down, asking him: "What's wrong, brother?"

Liao Ming swept his gaze over this train and said with surprise: "Team Leader Lin, it really is you. After the anomalous entity riot last night, I thought you had already left Hengshan Pass."

"Let me introduce." Beside Liao Ming at this time stood an old man with somewhat graying hair, wearing camouflage and body armor. He looked to be in his fifties, with a serious face and eyes like a hawk. He had the temperament of someone who had been a soldier, and although he was old, his figure was upright and resilient.

"Wu Zhenhai, captain of our Great Eagle convoy. We all call him Uncle Wu."

"Young man, nice to meet you." Wu Zhenhai reached out and shook Lin Xian's hand directly: "You can call me whatever. Our group of people has no hostility."

"Yes, Team Leader Lin, and them." Liao Ming pointed to a rather young man who looked to be about the same age as Lin Xian. "Chasing Sun convoy, Luo Yang. Many of their convoy members are college students from the same school."

"Hello, Lin Ge." Luo Yang looked at Lin Xian with somewhat eager eyes: "We are the Chasing Sun convoy, all the way from Shangjin to here."

Lin Xian noticed that the young man in front of him had delicate features, and a bit of rawness could still be seen between his brows, but his whole person revealed a steady momentum. Obviously, he had experienced quite a bit during the long-term fleeing and fighting.

"Team Leader Lin."

The last one to stand out was a rugged-looking man. This person wore various strange equipment—headlamps, protective gear, night vision goggles, gun racks—and even carried a large sword on his back. Many of them looked homemade. Beside him followed a woman with a somewhat sallow face, who looked to be in her thirties. What made Lin Xian notice was that this woman had a slightly bulging lower abdomen and appeared to be pregnant, but she was also fully armed, carrying at least three guns on her body.

"My name is Liang Lei. Our convoy is called the Running Far Camp. This is my wife, Li Yi." As he spoke, he pointed to a survivor camp vehicle modified from a large mining truck not far behind him. Behind it were two heavily armed buses, with people moving inside and many young faces.

"What are you doing?" Lin Xian didn't guess wrong; these people were indeed waiting specifically for him here.

"Our few convoys are all preparing to take the northwest line all the way to Xilan to find the Phoenix Society." Wu Zhenhai didn't beat around the bush and said directly: "After the anomalous entity outbreak at Hengshan Pass station last night, we were originally prepared to leave the city overnight, but we encountered some trouble."

"What trouble?" Chen Sixuan also got off the train at this time and asked immediately upon hearing the other party's intention.

"Insect tide." Wu Zhenhai said sternly: "Heading north from here, the range is uncertain. Once it gets dark, it's all black insects. Every single one can bite a person to death. The stratum corneum on their bodies is harder than iron. Small-caliber guns can't penetrate them at all. It's damn sinister."

"Yes." Liao Ming nodded and looked at Lin Xian: "We also suffered the loss of several people. Fortunately, we replenished a few heavy-firepower weapons from you yesterday, and we encountered the assistance of their two convoys on the way back, which supported us until dawn."

"It's like this, Lin Ge."

The young man named Luo Yang had an extroverted personality and said immediately: "Our Chasing Sun convoy was stationed in an industrial area in the suburbs last night. At that time, there was another large convoy with us, with over a hundred people. Their leader originally wanted to take advantage of the many anomalous entities in the city and the fact that it would be dawn soon to leave the city in advance, but before reaching the source mouth, the entire convoy had lost contact. When we set off at 9 o'clock and arrived here, Uncle Wu and the others were leading people to flee back. We met and just happened to resist together. By dawn, the insect tide disappeared."

"So our group of people discussed and decided to join forces to rush to the source mouth at night. Team Leader Lin, I heard that your firepower is strong, so our few convoys want to seek your shelter and leave the city together."

"Are all of you so many people going to take the northwest line?" Chen Sixuan was very puzzled: "Haven't the Phoenix Society and various survivor radios already warned that the blizzard caused by the extreme cold vortex here is very severe and ordinary vehicles are difficult to drive in? Why do you still want to take this way?"

Although taking the east line is also covered by the extreme cold vortex, there are a large number of survivors rushing on the road in this direction, and there are many heavy cities on the road, and the transportation routes are relatively developed, so there will be relatively more opportunities.

More insurance-minded convoys directly choose to bypass Star Abyss No. 7 from the south line. Unless they are tracked or rail vehicles, very few take the north line.

Once out of the source mouth, one gradually enters the area of the Parma Grasslands. The northern railway line follows the Yunjiang Mountain range all the way to Xilan City.

In addition, this insect tide also sounds very troublesome.

"We are not going directly into the grasslands." Liao Ming said: "We are going to bypass the west side of the Yunjiang Mountain range to the Dazhu Snow Mountain, exit to Xilin City in the Yunjiang Plain, and then join the North Wind Survivor Alliance there before entering Xilan City together."

Lin Xian understood the intention of these people at this time. They wanted to find the Phoenix Society and, after merging, chase the Dawn Center from the north.

But what was strange to him was not this.

"It looks like you were waiting specifically for me. How did you know I would take this way?"

"This..." Liao Ming said somewhat embarrassedly: "It was sold to us by that Hu Lushou."

"Sold?" Chen Sixuan frowned.

"Yes, this intelligence, he... charged us 1 blood essence."

Lin Xian was directly ashamed. That guy surnamed Hu was really a talent. He actually sold his route as intelligence? And charged others a blood essence!

Damn, this guy really doesn't let go of any opportunity to scrape some oil.

"Then why not wait until tomorrow daytime to go to the source mouth?" Lin Xian said directly.

"A large number of anomalous entities broke out in the city last night, and several large convoys were wiped out. No one dares to stay in Hengshan Pass tonight." Liao Ming said bluntly. He spread his hands: "Actually, we also wanted to set off during the day today, but we consumed almost all our ammunition to escape last night. To be safe, we went to find the Fulu Shou convoy again and bought quite a bit of ammunition, so we knew you would take the north line out of the city."

"We discussed it. For one, we want to warn you about the danger over there. For another, if our few convoys join forces, even if we can't rush through, we can camp in place to defend and wait until dawn tomorrow before setting off."

Lin Xian swept his gaze. He also saw that the insect tide encountered by the Great Eagle convoy was definitely not simple. A convoy of over a hundred people only escaped by luck after consuming a large amount of ammunition and also lost combat power. The current situation was that both ends were blocked. The anomalous entities that broke out in the city were almost destructive. Even Lin Xian and the others could only flee in a panic last night. No one dared to bet on whether there would be more outbreaks tonight.

So these three convoys were all caught in a dilemma. And both Liao Ming and Hu Lushou knew the firepower of Lin Xian's Infinite. So after obtaining this intelligence, the three convoys discussed and waited here for the arrival of Lin Xian's Infinite, thinking that they could travel together out of the city. If that didn't work, everyone could camp and defend together. The survival rate would be higher, right?

Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan exchanged glances. At this moment, their expressions were also somewhat solemn.

Looking at the time, it was already approaching 18:00, and there was less than an hour left until dark.

Lin Xian pressed his headset and said in a low voice to Ding Junyi: "Director Ding, how is it?"

When he got off the train just now, he had turned on the call on the backbone channel. At this moment, in the carriage, Shu Qin and the others had all heard the situation described by Wu Zhenhai, Liao Ming, Luo Yang, and Liang Lei.

Ding Junyi stood in Carriage No. 3, observing the subtle changes in the Hell Black Chrysanthemum. Hearing Lin Xian's message, she responded immediately:

"The dark mark remains at Level 3. There are two possibilities. First, these three convoys have no marks. Second, the marks on them do not exceed Level 3, or are on par with ours."

"I lean towards the second one." Lin Xian said directly in the headset.

These three convoys had just experienced a battle and were also fleeing. They would definitely carry a certain degree of marks on them; it was impossible not to.

However, the marks on them did not exceed Level 3, which meant that theoretically, they would not bring them higher risks.

"Lin Xian, what do you think?"

Chen Sixuan swept her gaze over everyone, turned to the side, and whispered to Lin Xian.

"They are right about one thing: we really can't stay in the city tonight."

The bait marking at the Hengshan Pass train station was definitely above Level 3, and the destructiveness it brought was extremely terrifying. All dozen or so convoys at the entire station, including the Night Charm, were wiped out overnight, not even leaving a living soul. If it weren't for Director Ding and the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, the Infinite definitely wouldn't have been able to escape so easily.

"But the problem is, regardless of the situation inside or outside the city, we ourselves carry a Level 3 mark..." Chen Sixuan pondered.

"Little brother." At this time, the leader of the Great Eagle convoy, Wu Zhenhai, stood out and said openly: "I know what you are worried about. You are a large convoy. Although we say it's a joint effort, to put it bluntly, we actually want to rely on your heavy firepower for shelter. I won't beat around the bush either. After all, your bullets aren't picked up for free. Our few hundred people are all trying to survive. If you have any requirements, you can bring them up. Just consider it us paying you to escort us for a stretch of the road."

"That's right, that's right." Liao Ming nodded: "We can all take out some supplies and such."

"Yes, we can too." Luo Yang also said hurriedly.

Li Yi, beside Liang Lei, looked at her husband and also stood out with a complex expression: "Our convoy's supplies are relatively tight, but there's this." She said, taking out an old small waist bag tied to her body from inside her body armor. Opening it, there were a few blood essences lying inside.

"If you are worried about the pack-hunting effect, I, Wu Zhenhai, guarantee to you that except for the black insects last night, our convoy had not encountered any serious anomalous entity attacks during the two nights before we were in Hengshan Pass." Wu Zhenhai patted his chest.

Lin Xian looked at everyone's stance, his gaze shifted slightly, and he said directly:

"To tell you the truth, I am very grateful that you told me the intelligence about the insect tide. I am also not opposed to joining forces with everyone to escape the predicament. However, the problem is that our trouble might be even bigger than yours."

"Bigger than ours? What do you mean?" Liao Ming was very puzzled upon hearing this.

Lin Xian pointed to the train: "If nothing unexpected happens, our convoy will encounter a large-scale anomalous entity attack as soon as we enter the night. You also know that we were at the Hengshan Pass station last night and have already encountered it once. It is very likely that we will repeat the same mistake tonight. So if we join forces, it seems like mutual help, but it is very likely that we will bring you destructive trouble instead."

The other party was so sincere, and Lin Xian didn't want to harm others.

Lin Xian didn't use the 【Dark Mark】 to explain. These people currently mainly recognize the pack-hunting effect, so they would understand it if he said it this way.

As soon as Lin Xian's words came out, the expressions of the few people opposite changed immediately. Their gazes exchanged, and they started to become solemn.

"Really? You are targeted by many anomalous entities?" Liao Ming said with surprise.

Lin Xian nodded, then looked at his watch: "It's about to get dark. My convoy must rush out of the city immediately. If you want to go with us, I don't object, but I must inform you of this risk and consequence in advance. If we encounter any emergency, I can't help much. After all, we run on tracks, and if we can't beat them, we accelerate and run away. You can't keep up the whole way; you definitely have to turn to the road line to run fast."

After speaking, Lin Xian signaled to everyone: "There's nothing else to say. While there is still time, we'll take the first step."

"Wait!"

Before Lin Xian could turn around, Wu Zhenhai called out to him directly: "I don't like being wishy-washy. Since you don't object, then we'll set off with you. We'll bear all the consequences ourselves!"

As he spoke, he threw over a walkie-talkie: "My Great Eagle convoy will listen to your command on this stretch of road. If you have any needs or scheduling, just arrange it."

"Liao Ming, notify everyone, the whole team sets off immediately!"

"Alright, Uncle Wu!" Liao Ming cast a grateful look at Lin Xian, then immediately turned and ran towards the convoy.

"We are too! Thanks in advance, Lin Ge!" A sense of decisiveness flashed across Luo Yang's face, and he immediately shouted to the few little partners behind him without hesitation: "Xiaobai, Amin, quick, let's keep up!"

"Wife?" Liang Lei looked at his pregnant wife beside him, but Li Yi said to him sternly: "What are you still standing there for! Call people to return to the team, prepare to set off!!"

"Alright!"

Liang Lei licked his lips, then looked at Lin Xian and said with determination: "Team Leader Lin, if you have anything, just call us. We'll follow behind and will never add trouble to you!!"

After speaking, the three groups of people immediately started to act in a tight-knit manner.

Lin Xian's expression changed slightly. He had explained the situation so seriously, but he didn't expect that these people didn't hesitate at all and were going to follow directly.

Chen Sixuan had a worried look between her brows, looking at the over a hundred vehicles: "It seems they don't believe in the dark mark and don't know how dangerous it is."

"Even if they believe it, there's no way." Lin Xian turned around abruptly and walked quickly towards the train: "They have no choice at all!"

Night is coming, and no one knows whether their team can survive tonight.

Overnight, all dozen or so convoys at the Hengshan Pass station were wiped out, and the hundred-person convoy that fled to the northwest line disappeared directly. Even a powerful team like the Great Eagle convoy had to flee back and join other convoys to seek another opportunity.

In front of them, there actually wasn't much choice—either flee or leave. Night is coming. Every night that passes, perhaps a lively convoy that you had just met yesterday might disappear without a trace today. Facing this situation, Wu Zhenhai, as a retired soldier, decisively chose to rely on the strong firepower of Lin Xian's Infinite to rush out of the insect tide night. This decision was not rash. He knew deeply that when danger is imminent, one must seize the opportunity. Any hesitation could bury the entire team.

*Woo~*

As soon as Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan returned to the train, they immediately started the train and moved forward.

Since they knew they might face an insect tide, there was no time to linger at all. They had to set off as soon as possible!

The three convoys led by the Great Eagle convoy acted quickly and were organized tightly. There were quite a few good hands among these few hundred people, and roughly speaking, the firepower could be considered fierce.

Because they were all modified high-chassis large vehicles, plus tracked all-terrain vehicles, they could travel along the small roads beside the tracks. When encountering some special sections, they could temporarily rush onto the tracks to follow. Under the roar of the engines, they had completely ignored those traffic restrictions. These convoys frantically huddled together, forming a mighty steel traffic flow on the side roads and behind the Infinite.

*Click. *

Lin Xian pressed the walkie-talkie. The leaders of the several convoys were all on one channel at this time. Lin Xian looked at the gradually opening terrain ahead and the setting sun that was about to fall, his expression cold and stern:

"Everyone, as soon as we enter the night, we might be attacked immediately. So before dark, I will find an open area to stop the train voluntarily and prepare to welcome the darkness. If the insect tide or anomalous entities encountered can be solved, we will try to solve them before setting off. Unless it is a threat we cannot deal with, we will drive and flee."

"I'm telling you in advance because our train's protection level is very high, so you don't need to observe our movements all the time. Once you encounter a problem, you can completely organize your own escape."

Lin Xian said this in advance because he didn't want their actions to affect the judgment of these three convoys, thereby causing large-scale casualties due to misjudgment.

After all, without the consciousness of accepting the 【Dark Mark】, normal survivors would probably find it difficult to understand that the first reaction to encountering danger is not to flee, but to engage the enemy first—this counter-intuitive operation.

!

Who knew that Wu Zhenhai didn't hesitate at all and shouted directly into the walkie-talkie: "It doesn't matter. You stop, we stop. Don't worry about us. When we encounter monsters, everyone just fire together and blow these beasts to death!"

"Alright!!"

"Kill these bastards!!"

Lin Xian was stunned for a moment listening to the voices in the walkie-talkie. It seemed these people were really betting everything on one path.

He looked at Chen Sixuan and said in a deep voice: "Proceed according to the original plan."

"Hmm." Chen Sixuan nodded.

Since he had already warned them and the other party also recognized the risk, then everyone would reach a temporary cooperation.

"Everyone pay attention. Don't accidentally injure friendly forces when firing later."

Lin Xian thought for a moment and still shouted in the Infinite's communication channel.

"Understood." Shu Qin and Dalou responded.

"Alright, alright, with so many people, the firepower should be fierce. It can help us reduce some pressure~" Kiki's voice came.

Lin Xian frowned upon hearing this: "I didn't intend to use these people as cannon fodder."

"Don't underestimate them either. Their vehicle modification level is not low. Although the firepower is not as fierce as ours, I estimate there are quite a few evolvers or ability users among those who can walk to here." Kiki observed the mighty steel traffic flow following behind with the information center and said to Lin Xian:

"I mean in terms of firepower, they can also output quite a bit, at least there are many people and many guns."

Lin Xian nodded: "I hope so."

18:30

15 minutes until dark.

Lin Xian came to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. After coming out, he picked up the fully charged black gun and walked to Carriage No. 2. At this time, Kiki was monitoring the situation outside the train in front of the information center. Seeing Lin Xian walk in, she said:

"Hey, Lin Xian, I have an idea."

She pointed her finger upward: "You say if both Sister Ding and I have marks, then I can just take Sister Ding and fly into the sky. In this way, can't I attract all the monsters over, and then we can decide whether to fight or run according to the situation? Anyway, I can fly, which is better than us using the train to engage the enemy, right?"

Lin Xian was surprised by her idea, blinked, and then laughed directly.

"I say, aren't you usually quite smart, little girl? Why is your brain suddenly twitching? It seems you've played too many games."

Lin Xian walked over and said: "Is there a possibility that those monsters in the darkness are already around you now?"

"Entering the night several times, anomalous entities appeared suddenly. Especially that night in Jiazhou City, so many monsters couldn't have appeared in an instant. It's very likely that they had been following us for a period of time and gathered together, waiting until after dark to suddenly appear."

Kiki narrowed her eyes and looked around upon hearing this, then shrank her neck: "Too disgusting. Why can't we see them during the day?"

Lin Xian was speechless: "During the day? Could we still be alive?"

"Heh heh~ I'm teasing you." Kiki leaned back on the recliner: "You say how can our abilities become more powerful? Maybe we won't be afraid of those monsters by then."

The recliner slowly turned over, and Kiki looked at Lin Xian: "I don't mean the absorption of dark power that Sister Ding said, but is there any visible and tangible improvement method?"

"Blood essence." Lin Xian took out one and gave it to her: "Organizations all over the world are studying this thing. Last time you were seriously injured, I fed you two by mistake, and the result was that you completed evolution. But this thing definitely has poison. Whether there is a better method, maybe we'll have to see the Phoenix Society."

"Hey!"

Kiki frowned and snapped her fingers: "That Foundation organization, they can even use the dark mark characteristics to take living people as bait, which just shows that their research is indeed far beyond the Phoenix Society and Dawn City. Do you think it's possible they knew the secret of blood essence or abilities long ago?"

"According to such an inference, it is indeed possible."

Lin Xian nodded: "However, these are all guesses. According to the current situation, we'd better pray that this guess is wrong. Otherwise, for all survivors and the Phoenix Society, the existence of such an organization is no less than the risk brought by the darkness to humanity."

*Beep, beep. *

As they were talking, Lin Xian's watch rang.

It's getting dark.

*Thump, thump, thump. * Chen Sixuan ran over quickly: "Lin Xian, ahead is a plain, the view is open, and there is only a forest."

Lin Xian nodded seriously and immediately drove the mechanical heart to let the train start to stop.

"It's about to get dark. Shu Qin, Dalou." Lin Xian pressed the communicator.

"Team Leader Lin, ready."

Shu Qin stood in the aisle of Carriage No. 8, holding a Remington M96, looking out the window vigilantly.

"Brother Xian, no problem." Dalou stood in front of the automatic door of Carriage No. 5, holding the Roaring K23 electric rotary machine gun, disengaged the safety, and was ready to go.

"Hey! Kid, it's about to get dark." He shouted at Lu Xingchen, who was still dozing off.

"No matter, I will make a move."

Lu Xingchen opened one eye slightly, glanced at him, and continued to close his eyes.

"Everyone." Lin Xian picked up the walkie-talkie, his gaze flickering slightly, and said: "We are preparing to stop. You convoys find favorable terrain and set up a defensive posture. It might engage the enemy as soon as it gets dark. Please be prepared."

Lin Xian's words reached the steel traffic flow. Wu Zhenhai, Liao Ming, Luo Yang, Liang Lei, Li Yi, and others were all solemn at this time and responded immediately.

"Alright!" Wu Zhenhai shouted sternly.

"Prepare to stop. All vehicles deploy in camp defensive formation!"

*Clatter, clatter. *

The side cabin door of a black military truck in the Great Eagle convoy rose, and the remaining dozen or so small missiles deployed in an attack sequence.

At the same time, over twenty elite armed personnel wearing passive armor and high-energy weapons got off each vehicle, carrying a cold aura, and started to disperse to various defensive nodes.

On the Chasing Sun convoy side, the dozen or so vehicles composed of Luo Yang and a group of young people also quickly found an area with an open view. This group of people had excellent driving skills and cooperated tacitly. They quickly stopped in a vortex formation, surrounding a material support vehicle in the middle. Then these young people carried various heavy weapons out of the highly modified vehicles—rocket launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and even drone bombing devices.

"Xiaobai, configure the high-pressure ionization wall. Amin, Luoluo, the power of the power armor can only support 2 hours. Don't leave the formation at will. Defense first. Li Guangwen, you pay attention to air defense!"

*Woo~ Ssh, ssh. *

Two girls wearing power armor got off the vehicle fully armed. The white combat armor on their bodies had azure energy lines, belonging to relatively advanced military-type rapid-response power armor, and had undergone a lot of upgrades and modifications, looking very fierce.

"Synchronize visual system." The two girls were performing system docking.

"Synchronization successful."

"Chain sword charging!"

Liang Lei and Li Yi drove a camper modified from a heavy mining truck. The truck wheels were tied with anti-skid chains. Behind the two heavily armed buses full of people were several heavy engineering vehicles, which looked thick-skinned. Their convoy drove at the very end, stopping directly at the tail of the Infinite. Several engineering vehicles surrounded the cargo trucks carrying supplies and the two modified buses, also setting up a defensive formation.

"Wife, you just guard the vehicle and command. Leave the outside to me!"

"Be careful, Lei Zi." Li Yi touched her bulging lower abdomen, looking at him with worry.

"Don't worry, I won't let any bugs into the convoy."

Liang Lei twisted his neck, and a faint light lit up in his eyes. His whole body seemed to have expanded a circle, and his skin turned into a dark metallic luster. Before he even got off the vehicle, the vehicle's hydraulic system had already sunk two centimeters.

On the Infinite side, in Carriage No. 2, Kiki looked at the rapid actions of these convoys and glanced at Lin Xian faintly.

"Look, I said, their strength is not bad, right?"

Lin Xian said: "The Great Eagle convoy with such strong firepower was rushed back by the insect tide, so we can't be careless at all."

He said to Kiki: "Shasha is debugging the Vulcan mecha in Carriage No. 11. Go help her. When necessary, quickly deploy for firepower suppression."

"Alright~"

Kiki made a 'yes' gesture to Lin Xian with two fingers on her forehead, then flew lightly from the seat and flew quickly towards Carriage No. 11.

Shasha was preparing to sit in the mecha cockpit here. Seeing Kiki rush over, she said: "Sister Kiki, why did you just come? Quick, quick~"

"What's the rush? It might not be used."

Kiki crossed her arms and landed in front of the mecha: "If we encounter the situation of surrounding the train like before, there's no need to drive this thing out."

"Be prepared~"

Shasha stood on the cockpit, looking eager to try. She jumped into the cockpit and reached out to pat it: "Right, Sally!"

Shasha usually likes to tinker with weapons and likes heavy firepower despite not being big. Now that Lin Xian let her pilot this Vulcan mecha, the little girl had already piloted it for an hour or two this afternoon and became more and more addicted. A little loli being obsessed with the heavy-firepower Vulcan mecha really had a bit of an angel and devil contrast.

"I told you to change a name. Sally sounds like Sally Chicken."

"No, I like Sally!"

*Ssh. *

On an open plain, the black heavy train stopped slowly. Except for a broad-leaved forest, the surrounding view was open, which could be considered an excellent area for entering the night.

The convoy of over a hundred survivors started to set up a defensive formation around the train. Looking around, it was pitch black, and a feeling of a big battle about to break out rushed into sight.

*Hum*, on the horizon, mysterious light flickered.

Like the curtain of the world pulled down by the dark tide, the horizon that was still under the sunset glow was covered by the night in an instant!

Instantly, everyone stopped breathing for a moment.

Lin Xian stood in the cockpit, his gaze fixed on the front.

In each carriage, each convoy, everyone was waiting in full battle array.

It was quiet all around, with only the sound of insects and wind, and the withered treetops kept making rustling sounds.

The mechanical heart ran through the entire train. Surprisingly, the expected siege by anomalous entities did not happen. Everything was as quiet as before.

"What's going on? Is there no anomalous entity in this area?" Chen Sixuan held the Meteor No. 3 manufactured by Lin Xian and lowered her voice.

"There is this possibility." Lin Xian swept his gaze around, his expression very serious: "But I am more worried about another situation."

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Sixuan. The other party immediately understood what he meant, and the two walked towards Carriage No. 3 immediately.

If they weren't besieged by anomalous entities, besides good luck, it was also possible that in this area, there was a large anomalous entity, and this was its territory!

The two walked quickly into Carriage No. 3 and looked at the Hell Black Chrysanthemum.

"Director Ding."

Ding Junyi stood by: "No change. No stacked marks."

Lin Xian frowned. Something must be wrong if something is abnormal. He felt it was very strange that it was suddenly so quiet, especially in the situation where they carried a Level 3 dark mark.

Lin Xian picked up the walkie-talkie: "Everyone, is there any abnormality?"

"No."

"Nothing found for the time being."

"Lin Ge, no."

Each convoy replied.

"Could it be that the dark creatures in this area were attracted away by other survivor teams, or were cleared away?"

Chen Sixuan's words gave Lin Xian a new line of thought.

"There is indeed this possibility." Ding Junyi also expressed her thoughts.

Lin Xian came to Carriage No. 2 at this time, looking at the external monitoring in the information center, and also found nothing.

Just when he wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, a monitoring screen of the sentry system on the side of the train roof caught Lin Xian's attention.

That infrared night vision monitoring screen seemed to be a bit narrow.

"What's wrong?" Chen Sixuan stood beside him, looking at Lin Xian's actions, and asked suspiciously.

"What is this?" Lin Xian pointed to the black narrow edge next to the screen, and then he switched to an adjacent monitor. At this time, the narrow edge of that screen moved from the left to the right.

Chen Sixuan didn't understand: "I don't see anything?"

"There is something here."

Lin Xian frowned deeply and said in a deep voice directly.

Immediately, he opened the blackout board and looked in the direction of the monitor.

That direction was the direction of the forest, but at this time, dark clouds covered the moon, there were no stars, and under the sky, it was as black as lacquer. He couldn't even see the outline of the forest clearly.

Seeing Lin Xian's action, Chen Sixuan stepped forward immediately: "Let me see."

Immediately, she raised the Meteor No. 3 directly and turned on the intelligent night vision aiming system. Chen Sixuan's eyesight was very keen in the night after genetic evolution, plus the assistance of the sniper scope, she saw much more clearly than Lin Xian.

"11 o'clock direction, that forest, take a look." Lin Xian said.

Chen Sixuan aimed over, and as she adjusted the viewing distance, her stretched willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed in an instant!

"What did you see?"

"Lin Xian, in that forest, there is a person standing!" Chen Sixuan's voice was cold, and her tone carried a hint of terror.

Standing in the forest, a person?

It sounded very strange. Why would they be standing above the forest?

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, at 11 o'clock direction, that person is very tall!" Chen Sixuan said sternly. At this moment, in her sniper scope, deep in the broad-leaved forest under the night, a biological entity similar to a human was standing there quietly. It was incomparably tall. At a glance, it seemed to be about twenty meters tall, with a pair of straight legs standing in the forest, just standing there motionless.

Chen Sixuan slowly raised her gun, wanting to see the face of that tall figure clearly, but found that she couldn't see it clearly no matter what.

But at this moment, it could be completely determined that it was definitely a night existence!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 245 =====