Chapter 269: Snowstorm Interlude

00: 2, the United Train arrived at Xilan City's rail station.

After entering Xilan City, the defense line's convoy split: the Emperor Project team was escorted by the Investigative Corps to the Phoenix Society's base, while Qian Dele's six convoys moved to a temporary encampment near the rail station, facing Zhongyangdajie; due to the high volume of trains stopping at the station, the Infinite and Longshan No. diverted onto the former freight-mining rail line to dock.

Near the Fenglan Mountain side, there was a large mining zone; far from Zhongyangdajie, this area had fewer survivor encampments, yet Lin Xian still spotted several convoy camps stationed at the former Xilan Mining Company freight platform, where countless containers were piled and rail tracks extended endlessly.

Choosing this area also had its advantages: numerous overhead cranes for lifting cargo were here, and for Lin Xian, there was an abundance of materials to consume.

Having traveled from Hengshan Pass through repeated battles, the convoy had suffered heavy losses; now even basic armor was damaged, and they had to seize this chance to upgrade the train's protection.

Longshan No. had endured the same perilous storm-chase as the Infinite; everyone's nerves were taut, and as soon as the United Train entered, personnel under Shi Di and Xiang Ningjing sprang into action without pause.

Hss~ At this moment, Longshan No. 's all-terrain drive train detached from behind the Infinite, and the temporary coupling frame was removed, reuniting the thousand-person train as one.

Clank-clank-clank~

The doors opened; over a hundred engineers and maintenance staff from Longshan No. , plus logistics personnel, quickly turned the quiet freight zone into a frenzy—hundreds bustled to rearm carriages, strip off outer armor, and armed sentries on the roof remained vigilant.

To assess the city's situation, Shi Di greeted Lin Xian and personally led a team toward the central district, leaving all rest operations entirely to Ning Jing.

Undeniably, more hands meant greater speed; the nearly two-kilometer train was swiftly overhauled by hundreds, and after power restoration, the long-idle dockside cranes roared back to life.

In the snowstorm, Longshan No. 's engineers erected rows of powerful lights, illuminating the freight zone; perhaps due to its proximity to Fenglan Mountain, the snowstorm here was less violent than outside the city, and the tall concrete walls gave everyone a strong sense of security.

On the Infinite's side, Lin Xian inspected the damage—armor plates were severely compromised, especially on the left side, which had endured a full day of snow-phantom waves before entering Wuliyasitai Mountain, with heavy perforation density; fortunately, Longshan No. 's all-terrain train had shielded the Infinite's nuclear-powered train during the chase, and the Twin Stars' lead-plated armor had blocked radiation, so damage remained minimal.

But this incident warned Lin Xian: he had kept the Twin Stars at the rear due to nuclear accident fears; though Car 12 was the weapons station, the rear protection was too weak.

So Lin Xian planned to add a specialized protective carriage at the rear, and also install a new electric locomotive to compensate for the power gap caused by the prior use of Huanxing 7F for upgrades.

In the snowstorm, Lin Xian watched the busy repair team of Longshan No. ; here, he ordered no one to assist, instead assigning key backbone members to rest first.

He intended to scout for usable power units and consume more special steel and machinery for materials.

"You're going alone? I'll go with you." Chen Sixuan, seeing Lin Xian assign everyone to rest, spoke with concern.

"I've rested enough. Tomorrow will be busy—I'll need you. You're the one who needs real rest."

In the cockpit, Lin Xian had just finished speaking with Longshan No. ; he turned to Chen Sixuan: "From our entry, Xilan City seems temporarily safe. This opportunity is rare—everyone fought all day; we must seize this chance to rest. You too."

Lin Xian looked at Chen Sixuan; her face was streaked with blood and frostbite. Since his unconsciousness, she had worked nonstop—from the Foundation lab, through Hengshan Pass, past the Lamp-Head monsters—to now. This once frail university teacher had fully joined the combat roster, growing at an astonishing pace; her heavy anti-material sniper rifle was now second nature, solving many team problems.

Lin Xian had rested several hours during his coma and now felt refreshed; his main goal tonight was consuming materials and redesigning the outer armor—no need for many helpers.

"Alright." Chen Sixuan glanced at Lin Xian with complex emotion; for some reason, when he collapsed on the roof, her heart had clenched tight.

Just as Lin Xian turned to leave, she stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her soft lips to his.

The softness vanished instantly; after parting, Chen Sixuan gazed at him with heat: "Take care of yourself."

Lin Xian, startled by this sudden advance, smiled back: "Okay."

Deep night. The snowstorm raged on.

Vrrrm~

Lin Xian activated his Mechanical Heart, pulling up a custom blueprint: a bizarre component, secretly scanned from the Unit-01's right-arm composite armor during his time in the Trakama Ice Valley.

It was an impulsive idea; though Unit-01's armor used high-grade materials like super-carbyne alloy and nano-ceramics—materials he couldn't mass-produce for train armor—he thought he could improvise with titanium alloy, tungsten-titanium alloy, and tungsten carbide steel.

After obtaining this blueprint, Lin Xian was stunned, silently praising his own foresight.

Compared to his crude, hand-drawn armor plates in Jiang City—mere brute steel plates welded together—Unit-01's composite armor design struck him as divine, making him marvel at the Emperor Project's professional designers.

"Active defense layer…"

Composite armor structure (five layers, outer to inner):

Active defense layer (0–5mm)

Material: Monolithic forged Tungsten-Titanium Alloy Type II

Energy dissipation layer (5–15mm)

Material: Boron nitride ceramic / titanium alloy honeycomb sandwich

Primary protection layer (15–25mm)

Material: Super-carbyne alloy

Process: Laser additive manufacturing with alternating porous-dense structure

Additionally, there was a 【buffer isolation layer】 of basalt fiber 3D woven fabric, and a self-repairing inner lining of magnesium-based composite and shape-memory alloy…

Seeing this blueprint, Lin Xian deeply felt the brilliance of his Mechanical Heart—capable of single-handedly solving material science, structural mechanics, metallurgy/chemical engineering, new materials, precision machinery, and military equipment—all the components of a full industrial system.

Now, with the R&D center, even design and development were covered.

"But we don't need this complexity. Simplify the materials—it should still work…"

If armor plates were built with this design, protection would far exceed the old solid-plate setup—and they'd look better too.

The original Infinite was a monotonous black armored rail fortress, utterly lacking aesthetics; though beauty meant nothing in this apocalypse, it was still better than nothing.

Since arriving in Xilan City, he'd seen other convoys stationed here—suggesting relative safety; yet Lin Xian dared not slack off. He had to finish the armor quickly to feel secure.

Since most personnel were ordered to rest—even sentries were absent—the train had its sentinel system, and Longshan No. 's thousand men nearby; Lin Xian could let his team rest under the tree, recovering fully—they'd just endured brutal battles and were utterly drained.

There was another person who was also exhausted, yet Lin Xian kept him working.

Kiki.

"With this armor design, the original grille must be removed—integrate it with the train windows as a unified window system?"

In Car 2, lights were off, but the info center's computer glowed; Kiki sat before it, adjusting the train's armor design.

The girl's eyes were dark-circled, yawning constantly; her psychic energy had been nearly drained in the battle, and now she was exhausted, yet she kept helping Lin Xian, fingers never still.

"Won't that be unsafe? Opening windows connects the interior to the outside, and sealing the whole train feels suffocating," Lin Xian frowned.

Inside, warm, Kiki had shed her heavy winter gear, wearing casual shorts, bare-legged and floating before the screen, poking his chest: "You can't have both, buddy~"

"Just add a layer of high-strength polyester bulletproof glass between the grilles. Open windows when needed—you can't fire blindly outside during combat," Lin Xian said bluntly.

Kiki pouted: "Then why not just install automated autocannons? Control them remotely via monitors from inside."

Lin Xian stared at her: "Then just upgrade us to a rail combat pod."

"Yes yes yes!" Kiki's eyes lit up: "Full-array cannon!"

"Then I'll just upgrade us to a rail battleship."

"Yes yes yes!"

Lin Xian jabbed her finger back: "You're getting ridiculous. If we could build these now, I'd rebuild the train or a floating city—why bother adding armor?" "Hehehe~"

Kiki giggled: "I was just teasing you. But your idea's good—I think it'll work."

Lin Xian exhaled, stood, and nodded: "Alright. Rest now. I'm going to gather materials."

He planned to secure the armor materials tonight and scan Longshan No. 's modified TriangleTrack magnetic all-terrain drive module blueprint—if he could, it'd solve a problem; if made before entering Dayangzhou Rail, the Infinite would gain new mobility options beyond rail terrain.

"Hey, you okay? You passed out earlier."

As Lin Xian turned to leave, Kiki asked in a feigned casual whisper.

"Same as you—just overused energy. No big deal."

"Then~"

Kiki suddenly floated over, wrapping her legs around his waist like a kangaroo, hugging his neck: "Want me to come with you? I can protect you~"

Seeing the bloodshot eyes and dry lips of the girl, Lin Xian sighed, picked her up, carried her to her bed, and gently laid her down.

"You in this state can't protect anyone. Wait till you wake up," he whispered, not wanting to disturb Sha Sha sleeping above.

!

Kiki, furious at being refused, clung to him tightly, legs and arms locked around him, defiant: "You think my powers are useless? Watch this—" She grinned mischievously, aimed for his nose, and prepared to bite him for a little "lesson."

But Lin Xian had anticipated her move; he leaned forward and kissed her lips directly.

Plop~

Kiki froze, reflexively releasing her grip, hand flying to her mouth: "You!"

Lin Xian slipped free, touched his lips, and stared at her meaningfully: "Daring to sneak-kiss me? Fine. Consider us even."

"I—I didn't sneak-kiss you!"

Kiki was speechless at his shameless reply, realizing she'd been outmaneuvered; she was about to throw a tantrum when Lin Xian looked at her seriously: "You keep wanting to follow me—is it just so you can sneak-kiss me?"

"Pfft!" Kiki's face flushed crimson; she spat at him, then, guiltily avoiding his gaze, turned away, pulled the blanket over her head, and muttered: "Hmph. Fine. Don't want to go anyway. Freeze out there. Bye. I'm sleeping."

Lin Xian exhaled, a faint smile in his eyes, then turned and left without a word.

Chen Laoshi and Kiki had been with him since the Infinite left Jiang City; he felt their care—it surpassed the loneliness of the apocalypse, warming his heart.

As soon as Lin Xian left, Kiki quietly turned back, watching his retreating figure, biting her lip in frustration, expression tangled with unknown thoughts.

Then, to block it out, she closed her eyes and whispered: Sleep, sleep, sleep…

The heteromorphic cube in the carriage blocked the fear of night and snowstorm, making the Infinite's interior feel less chilling than outside; seeing the entire train fall silent, Lin Xian exhaled, opened the door, and stepped into the snowstorm.

Above, the lone shadow of Fenglan Mountain loomed; outside, Longshan No. 's figures worked tirelessly—welding, cutting, sounds unceasing through the night.

Lin Xian saw warm yellow lights in the double-decker carriages; behind the armor, families in living cars rested; children, pulled from safety lockers, stared blankly out the windows, spotting Lin Xian and waving.

Lin Xian smiled faintly and waved back.

He climbed onto the train roof, using his powered armor's vision enhancer to survey the snow-covered mining freight station: a vast square piled with thousands of stacked containers, buried under snow.

The rail system extended far into the mountain's base, now fully sealed, apparently collapsed.

Lin Xian climbed a crane, surveyed from above, and saw distant city walls—beyond them, fire still flickered, though far dimmer than when they first entered; though trapped in the snowstorm, for the first time in months, he felt inexplicably safe.

He hadn't felt this in a long time—always fleeing alone through darkness.

No zombies or anomalies had been found in the city; at least thousands of survivor convoys had gathered here; watching those who arrived earlier, resting peacefully in the snow, Lin Xian knew both the Infinite and Longshan No. crews would envy them deeply.

His gaze followed the mountain; he spotted several freight trains still parked there, hauling iron ore; he exhaled, and set off immediately.

After braving the storm for ten minutes, several abandoned mining cars appeared—many buried under deep snow, only their frames protruding.

Freight carriages were useless to survivors—too poor for shelter—and usually ignored; but Lin Xian, with his Mechanical Heart, could extract massive materials from these large mechanical structures.

And this time, he needed not just high-grade but large quantities of material—so these hundreds-of-meters-long freight carriages became extremely useful.

Plus, this spot was far from other survivor convoys—he could consume freely; though he no longer cared if his mechanical ability was exposed, devouring dozens of train carriages at once would still raise suspicion. Better to avoid attention—he couldn't do this among strangers.

"This one will do."

Lin Xian climbed onto the roof of a mine car, swept away the accumulated snow with one kick, and paused in thought.

Just as he was about to begin consuming, his gaze swept across the scene and suddenly caught something that lit up his eyes—he leapt down again and ran along the tracks toward the front, scanning each car until he reached the locomotive's cab, where he discovered a massive machine parked there.

It was a heavy-duty freight electric locomotive of the Weilong class, extremely heavy, composed of two sections with a combined length exceeding sixty meters, painted entirely in yellow and black; one section housed a high-power traction motor, the other the energy storage system and auxiliary motors. Though showing signs of age, its overall build was rugged and robust.

Lin Xian wasn't particularly familiar with this model; only after locating the manufacturer's plate did he learn this locomotive was primarily designed for mining, with a power output of seventy thousand kilowatts—stronger than the previous Huanxing 7F electric locomotive.

"No wonder this is an industrial powerhouse—there's a beast like this."

Lin Xian reached out and placed his hand on it; the Mechanical Heart activated—but after only a moment, his expression changed sharply.

"Broken? No wonder no one took it."

In the post-apocalypse, with energy scarce, such a locomotive had little value anyway—and this one was broken. Lin Xian inspected it: the fault lay within the electrical system. Repairing it was simple for him, but for other survivors, fixing the electrical system of a heavy electric locomotive under post-apocalyptic conditions was no small task.

Now Lin Xian understood why these survivors had lingered in Xilan City for so long and still left this electric locomotive here—after all, many post-apocalypse trains now carried small onboard nuclear power systems; hauling a Weilong-class locomotive shouldn't have been an issue.

If it hadn't been broken, it wouldn't have been left for him.

"Perfect—I got lucky." Lin Xian felt a surge of interest. This locomotive could effectively stabilize the voltage of the Twin Star nuclear-powered locomotive, and its rugged build made it ideal as a rear car, capable of delivering nearly seventy thousand kilowatts of power output at critical moments—perfectly matching Lin Xian's design.

Though the carriages couldn't be directly connected, he only needed to cover it with thick armor plating and surveillance systems; everything else could be ignored. If necessary, he could station PX-05 robots inside to handle maintenance commands.

Speaking of PX-05 robots, Lin Xian planned to build several more of them—they could serve as mechanical repair assistants, solving many of his problems, repairing during combat, and delivering supplies to teammates in emergencies. With proper programming, they could function exactly like service robots aboard the Wuxianhao.

No time to waste—he immediately began consuming the freight cars behind him. Once the tracks were cleared, he would repair the Weilong-class locomotive, tow it back, and attach it to the rear of the Twin Star nuclear-powered locomotive, then begin manufacturing new armor plating.

Hum~

The speed of Level 4 Mechanical Consumption had more than doubled since his time at Yushan Station; where one freight car once took around thirty minutes to consume, he now cleared a ten-ton empty shell in barely ten minutes.

Whoosh!

As the cars turned to ash, vast amounts of snow rained down. Under cover of night, Lin Xian consumed all fifteen freight cars in under two hours.

All this effort netted him only a hundred or so mechanical source points—but his goal had always been materials. Now, the Decomposition Center was once again well-stocked. Having finished, Lin Xian turned to repairing the Weilong-class locomotive.

(End of Chapter)