Chapter 297: Fungal Human Head

On the Infinite side, Lin Xian heard Xiang Xiang Ningjing's words and replied: "The track laying of 22 kilometers, even by the simplest standard, is not a small project."

"Exactly." Xiang Xiang Ningjing pondered: "My engineering team here has already looked at the reconnaissance images of the drone. There are countless collapses, water accumulation, and blockages. The main problems are two points: track materials, and time and safety issues."

"With so many Doomsday Trains, I suppose everyone has emergency preparations for tracks, right?" Shu Qin asked at this time.

"Already counted just now." Xiang Xiang Ningjing replied: "Everyone only has emergency preparations, a few hundred meters is fine, we add them all up and can solve at most three or four kilometers. Of course, there is another way to dismantle the rear tracks to supplement the front ones, but in this way, the time is..."

In Carriage No. 2, everyone looked at Lin Xian upon hearing this.

"The emergency tracks on our train are only three hundred meters." Building said: "This is not enough at all."

"Lin Xian, 20-plus kilometers, even if you want to manufacture it, it will take a lot of effort, right?" Kiki sat in the swivel chair and looked back at Lin Xian.

Lin Xian shook his head upon hearing this: "Rail manufacturing is very simple, it doesn't take much effort. With so many ability users, clearing obstacles, and Longshan No. 1 having a track laying machine, solving it is not complicated. For me, the only problem... is the material."

He had cleared out all the materials in the decomposition space when repairing the Unit-01 earlier. At this time, in his decomposition space, there was only 30g of iron from devouring a small alarm clock just now...

"But if all the trains are mobilized for track laying, the movement will definitely not be small. Now in this situation, I don't know what will happen." Chen Sixuan said: "22 kilometers, is it feasible to drag us directly with Longshan No. 1's all-terrain vehicle?"

"Drag a 15-kilometer-long train group?" Kiki sighed to the sky: "Even if they grind the tracks of Longshan No. 1, they can't drag it. And once it derails, it won't be so easy to get back on the tracks~"

"She is right."

Lin Xian said at this time: "The best way is still to connect the tracks."

He thought for a while and said: "How about this, let's form a small team, go into the city to get some materials, and then add the emergency tracks reserved by other trains to directly supply Longshan No. 1's track laying machine. This should be the most efficient."

"Seems like the only way." Kiki turned around from the swivel chair, looking at Lin Xian with some teasing: "Have to work hard for you, the savior, again."

She had some heartache that was difficult to notice in the depths of her eyes, but it was well hidden, and her acting skills were super strong.

Hearing this, Chen Sixuan also looked at Lin Xian helplessly: "I always feel that the situation in this city is not quite right, and the air..."

Lin Xian looked at Kiki upon hearing this: "Let's go down and check the situation first."

"Hmm." Kiki nodded.

Immediately, Lin Xian discussed the plan with Xiang Xiang Ningjing and others. Lin Xian took Kiki, let her open a telekinetic shield to isolate the external air, and prepared to get off the train. To be cautious, he also closed the carriage separately, leaving only the two of them to open the carriage door alone.

"Everyone pay attention, I will get off the train to check first, all fleets keep silent and wait for further arrangements."

"Understood, Team Leader Lin."

The voices of more than a dozen fleet captains in the rear came one after another. For this young train captain, everyone had no doubts and followed the Infinite as the leader. After all, this captain of the Infinite fleet was the key figure who solved the Xilan City crisis, and even Luo Yang and others of the Sun Fleet were Lin Xian's loyal supporters.

Whoosh~

The cabin door of Carriage No. 1 opened, Kiki opened a telekinetic shield to isolate the external air, and then the two floated out of the Infinite together.

Outside the carriage, the air was extremely cold. Looking around, it was full of fungal clusters emitting night light, which looked very special in the dark night. On the ground, on the walls, on the cars, on people...

"If this thing didn't grow on people, it would be quite good-looking." Kiki looked at the patches of faint light and couldn't help but say.

"Things growing in the polar night, I'm in no mood to appreciate the scenery." Lin Xian asked her: "How is it?"

"Don't feel anything special." Kiki, who had recovered her spirit, grabbed a glowing mushroom on the ground and squeezed it gently. Pfft~ the mushroom exploded directly, and then sprayed a stream of brownish-yellow powder, rippling toward all directions.

Kiki saw this and hurriedly fanned it away with telekinesis.

"Fungal spores?"

Lin Xian's gaze swept over the patches of human-fungi: "It seems this kind of fungus can parasitize people together."

"It wouldn't be some kind of parasite, a fake person, right?" Kiki was full of resistance: "That would be too disgusting."

After speaking, she stretched her telekinesis toward the human-fungus closest to her. That looked like a tall male, still wearing a thick jacket at this time, but completely changed color under the wrapping of fungal hyphae. Kiki's ability grabbed it, and the fungal mushrooms and fungal vines on the human-fungus peeled off directly from its body... along with the dried clothes and... skin and bones.

Click, click, click—a very strange sound rang out. Kiki felt more and more disgusting the more she pulled, and her brows were deeply furrowed.

At this moment, she felt a strange feeling as if she had accidentally peeled off the crispy skin of fried chicken. Looking at the damp and rotten internal organs under the skin of the human-fungus, she immediately had an urge to vomit.

Ugh~

Kiki retched. At this time, she didn't notice at all that when she was "peeling the shell," the eyeballs of that human-fungus were turning frantically, as if in extreme pain.

Lin Xian also frowned looking at this scene. This kind of fungus seemed to turn people into some kind of plant, and he didn't even know what state this thing was in. If one accidentally got parasitized by this thing, wouldn't it be directly finished?

"Go, go up and take a look." Lin Xian pointed to the sky.

"Good." Kiki let go of her telekinesis and threw the human-fungus away. Crack, the head of the human-fungus snapped off from the neck upon impact, like rotten old wood, and the head covered with fungal hyphae and mushrooms rolled on the ground.

Immediately, Kiki used her telekinesis, and the two wrapped in a telekinetic shield and rose rapidly into the high sky.

Soon, the two came to the sky of several hundred meters. The cold wind rolled up fungal hyphae fragments and hit the gas mask. Lin Xian fastened the cable and looked up, his pupils shrinking sharply. Looking down, the dead silent Yijin City was actually shrouded in all kinds of strange fungal clusters. The original western tourist city had now become the world of fungal spores. Fungal pulse networks flowed on the surface like fluorescent rivers, and spore mists rolled slowly between the gaps of the buildings. Looking at this scene, Lin Xian felt a little shocked in his heart. He agreed with Kiki's words a little at this time. If it weren't for those strange human-fungi, this place would really look like some kind of alien landscape, full of strange beauty.

But you can't look closely. As long as you get close and see those brownish-yellow fungal vines like spider webs intertwined, covering the buildings and the ground layer by layer, the water droplets condensed on the inside of the mask slipped into the collar, freezing Lin Xian and making him shiver. He looked at those night-glowing mushrooms that seemed to be flickering slightly, one bright and one dark. The entire fungal nest city was emitting a rhythmic contraction like a uterus in the wind, making people feel a physiological discomfort.

"I remember before the Apocalypse Day, Yijin was a popular check-in point. Many people would come here to travel, participate in the Western Flower Scattering Festival here, and there was a steam train passing through salt marshes and canyons. Oh right, there seem to be many casinos here, a bit like Las Vegas in the Dragon Country. It was always said that the roast lamb and rose pies here were delicious..."

Kiki looked at the city outline in the dark night and began to mutter. At this time, she suddenly looked at Lin Xian: "You say the polar night covers these cities, is it just to grow these little mushrooms?"

Lin Xian used the power armor's reconnaissance radar and air detection system to investigate, and then said directly to Kiki:

"Alright, let's go back. The air is fine, but we must be wary of these tiny spores in the air, and the dark invasion in the polar night might also be a big problem."

"You are right."

The two returned to the Infinite carriage again. Lin Xian checked the heterogeneous magic cube for the first time, and after confirming that there was no dark invasion in the car, he made a double guarantee and felt relieved.

"Everyone stay on the train, I will form a temporary team to go into the city to collect materials, Longshan No. 1 prepare the track laying machine in advance."

"Team Leader Lin, I will take A-Bai with you." Xiang Xiang Ningjing heard Lin Xian's plan and said immediately.

"And me!" At this time, Luo Yang also shouted: "Team Leader Lin, my night vision is very good, take me."

Lin Xian thought for a while and said: "You all prepare power armor. If it is not full-coverage, you must wear a gas mask."

Since the experience of the fake town, Lin Xian felt that bringing a few more masters to protect him was absolutely correct. Anyway, the 15-kilometer-long train was parked here, and the giant rats in the dark night couldn't cause any trouble to the train, so he might as well bring more people, which could also provide more protection.

And on Lin Xian's side, Kiki naturally had to go. Besides that, Brother Huo actually shouted that he wanted to go too.

"You don't like guarding the car, why do you want to go with us this time?" Kiki looked at Lu Xingchen with some curiosity.

Lu Xingchen smiled dashingly: "In the polar night, we cannot deal with darkness with gentleness, we must use fire."

Hearing Lu Xingchen's words, Lin Xian couldn't refute for a while, but he knew the real reason. This guy was completely hit in Xilan City.

Clearly as a leader among ability users, a violent level, let alone getting the S-level first kill, he was chased all over the city by big worms and giant sea urchins, and had to be taken flying by two people. This was something Lu Xingchen, who had always considered himself the God of Fire, could not accept at all. Lin Xian had seen that this guy was a bit depressed from just now until now, but as soon as he heard about the small team expedition, he immediately got his spirit back.

"Then the 6 of us..."

"And me." At this time, Ding Junyi suddenly walked out from behind the crowd. She said with a calm expression, hands in her pockets, before Lin Xian could speak: "Fungal organisms are essentially different from plants. They have no chloroplasts, rely on decomposing organic matter to obtain energy (heterotrophic), and rely on secreting enzymes to decompose dead/living organic matter before absorbing it. I am very interested in this kind of black night fungus that survives in the polar night, and I can directly sense the dark mark on my body now. Do you have any reason not to take me?"

"Seems like no reason." Lin Xian nodded upon hearing this. He remembered at this time that Ding Junyi seemed very suitable. She could even directly absorb dark invasion and convert it into pure energy for her own absorption, which was simply against the sky. And this strange fungal city really needed Ding Junyi to help study it.

"Teacher Chen," Lin Xian said to Chen Sixuan at this time: "Then you guys guard the car. With so many people with me, it should be very safe." "Hmm." Chen Sixuan nodded: "Then you guys be careful."

Soon, a team of seven consisting of Lin Xian, Kiki, Ding Junyi, Brother Huo, Xiang Xiang Ningjing, A-Bai, and Luo Yang was successfully assembled. The purpose was very simple: to assist Lin Xian in entering the city to devour materials, and then manufacture tracks to escape.

The rest of the main force guarded the train quietly, and the engineers of Longshan No. 1 had already quietly started to act. They used temporary tracks and cranes to complete the installation of the track laying machine, took out a train head separately, and at the same time, other fleets also sent many people to help, all wearing power armor and gas masks. And Shi Diyuan, Infinite's Chen Sixuan, Mo Nika, Qian Dele, Li Yi, and others were responsible for defense work.

The electromagnetic railgun on the roof of the Infinite rose quietly, and under the monitoring of the radar, it quietly searched for suspicious targets.

17:12

The Doomsday Train, stretching 15 kilometers long and consisting of more than 500 carriages, was parked quietly in Yijin City at this time. All carriages turned off the lights and blackout covers, as quiet as a steel beast sleeping in the dark night. White mist constantly rose from the connections of the carriages. The various human-fungi along the way were "watching" this train quietly in the dark night at this time, their eyeballs turning constantly, carrying a strange aura.

Patter.

Lin Xian, wearing TRP power armor and a gas mask, stepped toward the ground again. A cold wind blew, bringing up large patches of dry and broken fungal hyphae. There was not much snow on the ground, and various human clothes could be seen everywhere.

Everyone was fully armed. To ensure safety, Chen Sixuan handed the Black Eagle combat armor to Ding Junyi. After all, among these few people, Ding Junyi's combat power was the weakest at present. Kiki had a telekinetic shield, but she couldn't open it anytime and anywhere, so she also put on a gas mask, and Lin Xian also let everyone not expose any skin to the outside just in case.

This kind of parasitic spore was more terrifying than parasites. If there were conditions, Lin Xian even hoped that everyone could wear full-coverage power armor like the Black Eagle combat armor, which was completely sealed and equipped with an air circulation system, and could even travel in water.

Thinking of this, Lin Xian planned to prepare more materials this time, and then go back to build a set for each backbone member. He would also replace his own TRP armor first for ordinary team members to use, and then iterate later.

!

"Everyone try not to approach and touch these things." Lin Xian led a group of people out from the gap in the wire fence by the track. The outside was some old, dilapidated houses. He didn't turn on the flashlight, but walked through by the faint light of the night-glowing mushrooms.

And those human-fungi seemed to just turn their heads after hearing the sound, and would not move or attack them.

"So strange, some of these people are survivors, and some are zombies..."

Luo Yang followed Lin Xian excitedly, like a fanboy. He stared closely at the fungal cluster groups and the human-fungi around him, saying: "These things don't seem to be here for a day or two."

Lin Xian took out the mobile phone he hadn't used for a long time at this time, searched for a while, found the Yijin City map he had kept before, checked the orientation, and immediately had a plan.

Not far from here was an auto city, and there were many shops along the way. Lin Xian's goal this time was just to collect metal materials, so he only planned to solve the problem quickly. After all, he didn't want to stay in the polar night for a second longer, and with the spread of the No. 5 Star Abyss, the longer he stayed, the longer it would take to escape.

Scrape, scrape, scrape!

An abandoned car on the side of the street covered with mushrooms suddenly turned into a pile of gray dust. The fungal hyphae attached to it still maintained the shape of the car, and the roots were constantly spreading on the ground, looking a bit strange.

Luo Yang and Xiang Xiang Ningjing were seeing Lin Xian's devouring ability for the first time. A whole car disappeared out of thin air, which really surprised the two of them.

"Team Leader Lin, can you make a car disappear from so far away?" Luo Yang looked at Lin Xian at this time, as if he had a feeling of looking at God.

It had to be said that Lin Xian's mechanical ability at this time looked too terrifying.

Raising his hand and waving could make an inorganic mechanical object disappear out of thin air. Even Lin Xian himself felt that this ability to control machines had made a qualitative leap.

"You don't need to touch it to devour it now?" Kiki approached Lin Xian's ear quietly while flying in the air and asked.

"Yes, it counts as... evolution." Lin Xian responded.

"Brother Lin's ability is progressing so fast, it seems that I have been too slack." Lu Xingchen said with a hoarse voice, wearing a gas mask and looking lost.

Ding Junyi looked at Lin Xian's movements with a different gaze, and was also amazed at the changes in his ability.

"There seem to be many monster auras here."

Just when everyone was walking along the road covered with fungal blankets, A-Bai, who was beside Xiang Xiang Ningjing, suddenly said.

Ding Junyi blinked. She knew that A-Bai could capture monster auras and dark marks, so she also tried to feel it at this time. She was wearing Black Eagle combat armor, and in front of her were all kinds of radar and intelligent information. She was very unfamiliar with using the combat armor, so she could only look at the information captured by the combat armor and said to Lin Xian: "Those human-fungi seem to be alive, but the type of anomaly seems to be a bit different."

"Everyone pay attention, we don't know what threat these things have for now, so try not to approach." Xiang Xiang Ningjing said seriously at this time.

"Sister Ning..." A-Bai said with a nervous expression: "I said the aura, not these... fungal people."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's footsteps stopped instantly.

Lin Xian was busy devouring the abandoned cars on the side of the road, and also sensed a trace of something wrong. They were being "watched" by countless human-fungi, but among these gazes, there seemed to be some different existences.

"Kiki."

"Good."

Lin Xian greeted Kiki. They had this powerful telekinetic ability user, and if they encountered any trouble, they could directly take everyone into the air, and the mobility was very strong.

Everyone surrounded Lin Xian at this time, observing the surroundings, while Lin Xian grabbed every second to devour, which was the most important thing.

They were not interested in what monster trouble was in this city, nor did they have the heart to search for any materials here. They were all just to fix the tracks and leave here quickly.

Gurgle~

In the silent and damp street, a strange rolling sound suddenly came, sounding a bit dull. Everyone focused their attention, only to see a black spherical object slowly rolling out from the dark corner of the street ahead.

"Be careful!" Xiang Xiang Ningjing shouted, protecting A-Bai and the others behind her.

When the sphere got closer, everyone discovered from the faint light of the night-glowing mushrooms that it was actually a human head covered with fungal hyphae!

Instantly, there were more rolling sounds. More and more heads rolled out from the dark corners. These heads seemed to possess some kind of life, rolling toward the street corners, utility poles, city flower beds, and billboard corners, then stopped, and then slowly turned a wax-yellow, death-like face covered with damp fungal hyphae, using their eyes to "spy" on these intruders.

"Lin Xian?"

This scene made Kiki feel a bit creepy. She shouted to Lin Xian in a low voice, ready to use telekinesis to run away at any time.

A group of people didn't use any light source, and the sound of action was very small. Lin Xian looked around. Before long, there were such rolling fungal hyphae human heads in every corner of the street, watching them with their eyes.

"It seems to be the living head of a human, just don't know if the state under this kind of fungal parasitism belongs to biological or non-biological." Ding Junyi said at this time. She looked at the fungal hyphae human head closest to them and said: "The best way is for me to take a few samples back to study."

Lin Xian felt his trigeminal nerve ache upon hearing this. Bringing this kind of thing onto the train, then no one would want to rest.

Returning to the current status quo, the increasingly strange situation also made everyone's hearts tighten. Lin Xian pondered for a while, then raised his hand to repair a street lamp in the distance, and installed a battery. With a snap of his fingers, the abandoned street lamp began to emit dim and flickering light.

This was not good. The human-fungi on the street were all twisting violently "click, click, click," pulling up the fungal hyphae blankets stuck to the ground, pulling the rotten leg joints, some walking, some climbing, like puppets moving toward the street lamp. At this time, a strange scene appeared: these human-fungi began to surround the street lamp, gradually gathering into a group. The fungal hyphae on their bodies began to grow frantically, covering, wrapping, and climbing the street lamp in just a few seconds. The fungal hyphae intertwined into a biological dome, directly shrouding the light on the top. In just a few seconds, the battery Lin Xian made rotted and collapsed rapidly, and the electric energy disappeared without a trace.

The street became dark again.

Seeing this scene, everyone's faces changed drastically. Xiang Xiang Ningjing said immediately: "Fortunately, these things didn't climb onto our train..."

"It seems that this kind of fungal hyphae can quickly devour energy." Luo Yang frowned: "And if you attack them, they will explode violently, which is really a bit tricky."

Lin Xian's heart sank. These things were too strange. If they were climbed onto the Infinite, it would definitely cause some trouble. It was simply the nemesis of machines. The most terrifying thing was that these spores were extremely subtle in the air. If inhaled by people, it would be even harder to guard against.

"The human body also has biological energy."

Ding Junyi said at this time: "Looking at it this way, this kind of fungal spore is more dangerous than a virus, and it is not easy to solve with physics."

Lin Xian looked at everyone, and felt a headache: "Damn, if these fungal spores fall on our bodies and cannot be cleaned up, how can we go back?"

"This is simple."

Unexpectedly, Ding Junyi was not worried about this problem: "There are many ways to inactivate fungal spores. We can use the laboratory's ozone room for fumigation, or through ultra-clean bench ultraviolet inactivation, but the premise is..."

She said, looking at the glowing fungal hyphae blanket beside the street: "These things are really fungi, not some kind of strange dark creature."

"Director Ding, look." Kiki pointed to those fungal hyphae human heads staring at them in the corners of the street: "These were not attracted by light, they have just been staring at us."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 298 =====